“This is the beginning of something big. It’s the first day of the rest of your life in many ways,” said Mitch Holmes, Director of Business and Professional Studies and WAVE coordinator. “This is a strong, well-prepared academic group. We have high expectations that they will maintain the GPA of last year’s group.” Second-year WAVE students have an average GPA of approximately 3.1.

WAVE is a tightly-knit program that will assist students with the transition to further education and/or the job market.  It helps individuals succeed in the workplace and educates participants in developing real-world skills. Students are accepted based on academic qualification and federal eligibility requirements. They commit to attending NVCC full-time while working a limited number of hours for at least one year and meeting daily with program administrators through one-on-one conferences, lunches, and classes.

“This year, the program received nearly 150 applications and we conducted interviews with 30 finalists,” said Tracy Mahar, Assistant Worksite Coordinator of the WAVE program.

WAVE is federally-funded through the Northwest Regional Workforce Investment Board and the Workforce Investment Act. At any given time, approximately 30 students are part of the program. The program began in 2005.