Three NECC students sifted through the 3,000 two-sided survey responses and enter it into a data base for the Newburyport Charter Commission.
When the Newburyport Charter Commission was looking for someone to organize and analyze the data it collected from a city-wide survey regarding the nearly century-old city charter, it turned to Northern Essex Community College.
Newburyport Charter Commission Chair Steve Cole approached Ellen Wentland, NECC assistant dean of program, review, assessment, and educational effectiveness, who has experience with large survey data projects and was eager to accept the job on behalf of the college.
The Newburyport Charter Commission was formed following the November 2009 city election during which residents voted to revise the city charter. The commissioners decided to develop a survey which would be distributed to Newburyport households along with the city census, asking residents for their opinions regarding the existing city charter which was established in 1919. By the end of May 2010, close to 3,000 surveys had been collected.
Under Wentland’s direction, three NECC students were hired to sift through the 3,000 two-sided survey responses and enter the data into the computer.
“It was important to us that this be a meaningful experience for the work-study students,” said Wentland.
“I am absolutely delighted with the support and participation in this process by Northern Essex Community College. From initial discussions with Dr. Wentland of how the survey data would be framed, tallied and analyzed, to the commitment and interest in the process by the students, all of whom I met at the beginning of the assignment, on behalf of the commission, we are grateful for the important role that the college is playing, enthusiastically added Cole.
The data entry was completed in June and Wentland has analyzed the quantitative and qualitative data and shared the findings with Cole.
The Charter Commission will use the information in deciding whether to make any revisions to the existing city charter.
This is the second major project which Northern Essex has conducted for the city of Newburyport. Two years ago, the college partnered with the city’s Tree Committee to do an assessment of all trees in the downtown area, a service learning project that involved 150 students from classes ranging from statistics to photography.
With campuses in Haverhill and Lawrence and extension sites in Andover, Methuen, and North Andover, Northern Essex Community College is a state-assisted college, offering over 70 associate degree and certificate programs as well as hundreds of non credit courses designed for personal enrichment and career growth. Close to 13,000 students ranging from recent high school graduates to workers employed locally attend classes days, evenings, and weekends. Northern Essex is the only state college located in the lower Merrimack Valley Region of Massachusetts.
