NCC Holds Record Graduations
Nash Community College (NCC) held record graduations last week. The College’s 2016 High School Equivalency Diploma commencement ceremony was held Thursday, May 12, 2016 at 6:00 PM in the NCC Brown Auditorium. Dr. Donald Street, Nashville, NC Mayor, delivered the keynote address.
A retired NCC Instructor and Department Chair, Dr. Street earned a Doctorate in Adult and Community College Education from North Carolina State University, a Master of Arts degree in History from North Carolina Central University and a Master of Public Administration degree from North Carolina State University. He graduated from Atlantic Christian College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History. In additionto being mayor, Dr. Street serves his community as chairman of the Board of Directors for Upper Coastal Plain Council of Governments, is actively involved as a member at Nashville Baptist Church and many other community and civic organizations. NCC High School Equivalency graduate, Jessica Enriquez, also shared remarks.
Under their graduation gowns, NCC Associate Degree Nursing graduates were dressed as ‘super heroes’ last Friday.
Immediately following, the College recognized 45 Associate Degree Nursing graduates at the Nurses Pinning ceremony. Sharon I. Sarvey, Ph.D., R.N., Dean of the School of Nursing and Professor of Nursing at Barton College, addressed the nurses.
Dr. Sarvey has served as Dean of the School of Nursing at Barton College since 2010. She received her undergraduate and master’s degrees in nursing in 1980 and 1988 from ECU, respectively. Her doctoral work earned her a PhD in Nursing from University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Dr. Sarvey is a recipient of the North Carolina Board of Governors Distinguished Professor of Nursing (2009) award has been honored by the University of Kentucky as “A teacher who Made a Difference (2014). At Barton College, she received the Lincoln Financial Faculty Member of the Year in 2014. She is an active member of the Society of Pediatric Nurses and serves on the National Education Committee and is the past president of the National Association of Bariatric Nurses. Dr. Sarvey is recognized for her work with children who are overweight and obese. She has published and presented widely on various topics including preschool, school-age, and adolescent obesity; residential weight loss camps; and resources for parents and professionals managing children with weight issues. Dr. Sarvey serves on the Advisory Board of the Healthy Children’s Foundation. Dr. Sarvey previously served at Barton College (then Atlantic Christian College) from 1988-1994 and Berea College in Berea, Kentucky, from 1994-2000.
Students, faculty and staff celebrated Curriculum graduation Friday, May 13 at 6:00 PM with 578 students receiving 780 degrees, diplomas and certificates. Students walked across the stage during the forty-eighth graduation ceremony in the history of the College – a 9.5% percent increase in number of graduates from the previous year. Nash Community College is one of only a few community colleges in North Carolina currently experiencing growth.
Marty Nealey, Vice President of Operations and Plant Manager at Pfizer, delivered the keynote address at the curriculum graduation. Nealey holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from East Carolina University. At Pfizer in Rocky Mount, he oversees one of the largest Sterile Injectibles manufacturing facilities in the world where approximately 550 million doses of sterile injectable medicines are produced each year for US and Global markets.
“As for what’s really important, in my view, at the top of the charts, is yourself, your family and your faith,” Nealey told the graduates. “My advice is be careful the things you chase in life as being important. You might just get them, only to wonder about many other things that have disappeared or been left behind. Education is indeed a lifelong journey,” he said. “It is a zest to understand things, to figure things out, to explore, to look under or over, to peer inside, to ask questions, and maybe to tinker with things. Every day presents a new opportunity for education; you just have to take it in versus passing it by.”
Prior to his current role with Pfizer, Nealey served in various leadership roles with Burroughs Wellcome, Merck & Co., AstraZeneca, Purdue Pharmaceuticals, and Hospira over the past 27 years. He has extensive experience in operations and facilities management, engineering, technical services, supply chain, project management, and quality systems. Nealey recently served as a Board Director for the Strategic Twin Counties Education Partnership. A native of Nash County, he currently is an active Board Member and 2016 Chair-Elect for the Rocky Mount Chamber of Commerce, active Board Member of the Nash UNC Hospital System, and an active Board Member with the Carolina Gateways Partnership.
Online video was streamed live for each ceremony via Youtube.com/user/
