MMA Cooperative Education In Demand

Cooperative education is a proven way to combine classroom-based education with practical work experience, helping young people make a smoother college-to-work transition. The model works because the education is relevant, the experience is real, and the job offers are available.

Introduced in 1967, Cadet Shipping became MMA’s initial version of cooperative education. This important innovation is unlike the traditional training cruise for unlimited license candidates as it places students on working vessels in the merchant fleet for “real life” experience. Requirements of completing assigned sea time (60 days for Marine Engineering students, 90 days for Marine Transportation majors), an extensive sea project and satisfactory evaluations from ship officers, lead to four credit hours and career potential. This program continues today, though ship billets are competitive as other maritime academies also derive benefits from the program.

Due to its success, co-op experiences are incorporated into the majority of MMA programs that have been added over the years, however, with this growth comes a need for more billets over a broad academic spectrum. Early projections for summer 2018 experiential learning billets show a need for about 130 cadet shipping billets, 10 Marine Systems Engineering industrial co-ops, 60 Power Engineering co-ops, 85 Vessel Operations (limited tonnage) mate billets and 25 International Business & Logistics positions.

Joe Curtis ’97, Director of Career Services and Co-operative Education, and his staff are working diligently to assist students in finding these opportunities. Obtaining a qualified field experience is challenging. Though companies claim to support cooperative programs, the MMA model qualifies field experiences as academic courses that have to meet a set of objectives, and, therefore, a degree of rigor and specific academic expectations.

Including the estimated 300 unlimited license freshmen and juniors making the annual training cruise, more than 600 students, an estimated 75 percent of the student body, will be participating this year in a required course that exemplifies the MMA’s  adage of “hands-on.”

If you wish to consider offering cooperative experiences for MMA students, please contact Joe Curtis, Director of Career Services and Co-operative Education to learn more: joe.curtis@mma.edu or 207-326-0151. (Photo: Logan Goewey)

Bringing MMA Up Close To You

Jeff Wright, Director of the Office of Alumni Relations, visited alumni in selected East Coast locations between March 5 – 8, 2018. The purpose of each Up Close visit was to network, inform and share the compelling story of change, growth and success at MMA.

Presentations were made at Westbury, New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Baltimore, Maryland; and Virginia Beach, Virginia. Sixty-six people attended in total. Jeff’s presentation highlighted academy statistics, recent renovations and upcoming initiatives, including the latest news on the Center for Professional Mariner Development.

“This is the first such Alumni event I’ve attended,” said Carl Welborn ’90, of Chesapeake, “and I am very pleased I went. Very impressive, all that has happened and continues to evolve at MMA in the years since I graduated. My son will be entering a much-improved school this fall from the one I arrived at in 1986! I had no idea until last night’s meeting there were so many of us here in Tidewater.”

John Fairbanks (VA), class of 1952, represented the earliest graduate to attend the sessions while Rachel Jondle (VA), Brad DeLawder (PA), and Sam Peabody (PA) were the most recent graduates (2016). Wall of Honor recipient ADM Mark Whitney attended the Virginia presentation. MMA Alumni Association Board of Directors member (student) Maryellen Musselman (Class of 2020) joined the presentation in Baltimore. The Class of 2005 was represented by the most alumni: Phil Lessard (MD), Steve Case, Jim Jeffcoat, Nate Powers and Mark Stines (VA).

Jeff plans to expand offerings in the near future. If you are interested in hosting an Up Close event, contact Alumni Relations at (207) 326-2337 or alumni@mma.edu.

Great “Up Close” turnout in Tidewater. Our apologies to Chip Callan ’88 and Gary Smith ’80 who were unintentionally cropped out on either end of this photo.

Operation Hat Trick

In 2007, Dot Sheehan was listening to a Boston radio station when she heard about a trivia contest that was underway.

One question was: “What’s the one thing most wanted by head-wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan?”

The answer: Baseball caps to cover wounds, burns, swelling and bandages.

From this simple answer, Operation Hat Trick, an organization dedicated to helping veterans suffering from the visible and invisible wounds of war, was born.

Sheehan was so affected by this she knew she had to do something. She founded the project, initially donating hats to Veterans Administration Medical Centers and selling them locally. But things changed dramatically in 2012 when Operation Hat Trick (OHT) grew to national scale.

Operation Hat Trick’s brand and mission are now embraced by more than 330 colleges and universities in all 50 states, 165 high schools, 21 National Hockey League teams, 70 Minor League baseball teams, 15 NBA teams, and more than 100 companies who help spread the word about our veterans and our obligation to them. The list of new OHT licensees and supporters continues to grow.

Pursuing a recommendation by Peter Archibald ’65, the MMA Alumni Relations Office contacted OHT to inquire about participation in, and support of, this worthwhile cause. After a few phone calls and branding inquiries, Maine Maritime Academy is proud to announce its participation and support in Operation Hat Trick. The initial order of ball caps arrived in December.

Purchasing the first five caps, the Alumni Association sent them to Archibald for his initiative, and to Team MMA (Eric Smith ’88, swimmer, and his support team of Holly Najarian ’91, Pat Duffy ’88 and Tim Reid ’88) for their participation in the Navy SEAL Foundation Tampa Bay Frogman 5k Swim.

A portion of the proceeds from each cap sale is donated to OHT. Contact the MMA Bookstore at (207) 326-9333 for your OHT cap.