Norma Bullerman honored for 47 years of service to NICC

Bullerman with President Wee

There have been a lot of changes since NICC Financial Aid Office staffer Norma Bullerman started working at the school almost 47 years ago. Mimeograph machines and stencils, manual typewriters and purple mastersheets were part of the office world back then.  
 
"We didn't have a campus at the time NICC opened," says Bullerman.  "Students attended classes in rented buildings in Calmar, Ossian and Fort Atkinson. Tuition was $50 per quarter so my entire program cost $150," Bullerman recalled. "The Secretarial program was housed in the Fort Atkinson gym. We were on one side of the gym and the Accounting program was on the other side with a partition between us. Joy Schmidt was the first Secretarial program instructor. She was a great teacher. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be where I am today. I learned a lot from her."
 
As a new employee at NICC, Bullerman worked as the only secretary for the Agriculture and Trade and Industry departments in an office off-campus in Ossian. Bullerman finally found a home on campus when construction of Max Clark Hall was completed in 1972, where she worked in the Business and Agriculture departments.  In 1981, she transitioned to the Financial Aid Office and has worked there ever since.
 
To type instructors' tests - that's the secretarial world Norma Bullerman encountered in July 1968 at Area I Vocational-Technical School in Calmar. At that time, she had just graduated from the Secretarial program in May, 20 years before the new school would become known as Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) in 1988. After graduation, she started her career at her alma mater, and on  May 1, 2015, the NICC alumna and veteran staff member retired, just two months short of her 47th anniversary of dedicated service to the College.
 
Bullerman has witnessed, learned from and struggled at times with the tremendous technological advancements ushered in with each decade of service at NICC. However, the College's mission to serve students and meet their needs in an ever-evolving employment and technological landscape is one aspect that maintained its clear sense of  vision and purpose since the very beginning, according to Bullerman.
 
"At  NICC, I worked under the leadership of every College president and
through every name change to the school. I feel proud to be a part of it  for so many years."