MATC Matters

Dear Faculty and Staff,

We are just two weeks into our spring semester and already MATC staff and students are earning numerous honors! Please read on to learn more about these successes, but first mark your calendars for this Saturday, Feb. 3, to attend our Jam the Gym event and celebrate the spirit and heritage of MATC.

I hope to see MATC staff, students, alumni and friends at this special event - held to mark the 20th anniversary of MATC’s first basketball game in the Redsten Gymnasium. The fun starts at 11:45 a.m. with a chili tailgate followed by men’s and women’s basketball games - both versus Milwaukee Area Technical College. Please come out to cheer on our teams and share your school spirit.

In addition to the accomplishments of our athletic program, here are several new successes you also can cheer about:

• The Wisconsin Technical College System has congratulated MATC and Waukesha County Technical College for meeting all student performance indicators the colleges established. The WTCS has been working with its colleges to encourage robust improvement plans for indicators important to maintaining our federal funding of Perkins grants.
• The MATC Volunteer Center was selected and recognized on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, which promotes the civic engagement mission of our nation’s college and universities. MATC and Northeast Wisconsin Technical College are the only two programs in Wisconsin to receive this honor.
• Four MATC apprenticeship students won awards - two first and two second place - at the Sheet Metal Workers 2007 Regional Apprenticeship contest. This competition tests the skills and trade knowledge of sheet metal apprentices from North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Both first place winners will advance to compete in the 2007 international competition to be held in March. Congratulations and thanks to apprenticeship instructor Tom Scott and his students.

You may have seen the posting of the position of Vice President for Infrastructure Services on our website or in the newspaper. As you will remember, Rick Graves has been filling that position on an interim basis. Soon, the college will begin a search for the other open leadership positions in Infrastructure Services.

Also, please tune into Governor Jim Doyle’s State of the State tomorrow evening, Jan. 30, at 7 p.m. The Governor has been a consistent and passionate champion of our technical colleges since he took office, and I hope we may hear him once again comment on our crucial role in building Wisconsin’s workforce and economy.

MATC Marvels
Here are some “favorite teachers and staff� as mentioned to me by students last week:

Tom Curtis, English
Mary Nelson, medical lab tech
Joline Saunders, medical terminology
Randy Sellnow, medical assistant
Crystal Hansen, nursing
Bob Corbett, architectural tech
Keri Allard, health and safety education administrative assistant, “…provided me excellent assistance. I don’t know what I would have done without her help!”

Other MATC Marvels

Nancy Schley, instructional design coordinator, wrote an article, The Importance of Student Self-Assessment, that was published in the November/December issue of CAFE (The Center for the Advancement of Foodservice Education).

Teri Raffel, vet tech instructional assistant, will serve on a distinguished panel that will discuss the expanded role of vet techs at the CVC East continuing education conference in April. Next week, Teri assumes the role of president of the National Association of Veterinary Technician in America.

Highlights of my week

• Visited the DeForest School Board with MATC District Board trustee Jon Bales, and the Watertown School Board with MATC District Board Trustee Carolyn Stoner, to talk about enhancing our services and partnerships with the districts.
• Attended the WTCS State Board meeting.
• Attended Downtown Madison Rotary meeting and enjoyed learning about how The Figureheads Musical Group have used hip hop music to work with autistic children.
• Attended the MATC District Board meeting and heard Terry Ludeman, recently retired as the state’s chief labor economist, talk about Wisconsin’s economy and job market forecast.
• Attended the Wisconsin Business Leaders Luncheon hosted by Governor Doyle.
• Represented the WTCS presidents at the WTCS Advisory Committee on Curriculum and Educational Initiatives.

In closing, I would like to share one of my favorite sports quotes by Michael Jordan to celebrate the 20th anniversary of our first basketball game in the Redsten Gym:

“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

Have a great week!
– Bettsey

Bettsey L. Barhorst, President