MATC Matters

Dear Faculty and Staff,

I attended the annual conference of the Cooperative for the Advancement of Community-Based Postsecondary Education (COMBASE) and would like to share with you the 14 points that George Boggs, president of the American Association for Community Colleges (AACC), presented. He outlined current issues of concern for community colleges including resources, safety, leadership and other challenges. I’ll list seven in my message today and the other seven in next week’s message.

1. Resources. The single biggest issue among community colleges is securing the resources to do what we need to do. Right now we are facing a major funding challenge as the Wisconsin State Assembly recently passed AB-507, which will continue key levy limits on local governments approved last budget and establish a new 2.6 percent increase limit on technical college levies for the next two years. (We have kept ours at 4.9 percent the last two years.)

The balance of technical college funding has shifted dramatically in recent years with the state’s share dropping from 30 percent down to 14 percent. MATC’s state share is only 11 percent. That means local property taxpayers - including our own students - are picking up more than two-thirds of the costs for funding the Wisconsin Technical College System.

Please take a few minutes today to contact your state legislator, or more importantly, all members of the State Budget Conference Committee (WORD: 28KB) and urge them to support the technical colleges in this budget quagmire. We are particularly concerned about the tax caps for our levies and the proposed college transfer tuition increases.

For more information of how technical colleges and our graduates impact the state’s economy, see the recent Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance report (PDF: 144KB)

2. Campus safety. This issue is not new. However, in light of the Virginia Tech shootings and last week in Delaware, it has been brought to the forefront. Governor Doyle formed a Task Force on Campus Safety, and MATC is represented on this task force by Jacquelyn Thomas, employee development consultant in our Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL).

The Task Force delivered an Interim Report (PDF: 3.9 MB) to Governor Doyle on August 15. A final report will be published November 1.

3. Conflicts of interest regarding student loan and other issues such as study abroad and credit card offers. For example, if banks that provide loans to our students also donate resources to our colleges, what ethical concerns might this cause, and how do we ensure fairness and transparency on this issue?

4. Accreditation. Spellings Commission Report and the federal government are looking for common standards among the regional accrediting bodies, stressing outcomes reports and attempting to take the larger role in accrediting.

5. Leadership and faculty turnover. The retirements of baby boomers and the fact that most community colleges opened 40 years ago are causing considerable turnover of faculty and leaders across the country. We have experienced some of this in Madison evidenced by the many retirements this year. George Boggs asked presidents to build up the leadership pool by mentoring as many upcoming leaders as possible. If anyone is interested in advancement at the college in terms of advanced degrees or leadership opportunities, please let me or any of our vice presidents know. For example, we currently have three people in the Educational Administration Doctoral Program at Edgewood College.

6. Credential creep. The movement to certify BSNs rather than ADNs is again being seen across the country. A study in Pennsylvania showed a lower death rate in hospitals that only hired BSNs. Though many factors contributed to these numbers they are still being used as support for putting ADN nurses on probation.

7. Environment. Over 400 presidents have signed the American Colleges and Universities Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) agreement to do all we can on our campuses to support climate sustainability. Through the encouragement of Ken Walz, one of our chemistry instructors, the cooperation of our Facilities Department and the support of our district board, I signed the agreement in June.

I hope these points will encourage thoughtful discussion as we plan our road ahead. Next week, I’ll share seven more issues as outlined by Dr. Boggs.

MATC Marvels
Here are this week’s “favorite teachers,” as mentioned to me by students:
Maureen “Punky� Egan, baking/pastry
Bradley McDowell, psychology
Barbara Jensen, northern region, communications
Megan Blount, northern region, anatomy/physiology
Ronald Morello, machine tool
Gaila Olsen, mathematics
David Sarocka, mathematics

Other MATC Marvels
Congratulations to Regina Mosher, manager of administrative applications in Technical Services, who has completed the Academy for Leadership and Development leadership training program.

In sympathy
I want to share with you some sad news about the passing of William Feeny, who was an art instructor at MATC from 1969 until 1992, and take this opportunity to offer my condolences to his family to his many friends at MATC. A memorial service is planned at the Community of Hope, UCC, starting at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 29. His family shared with us his obituary outlining his many contributions to the community, which we’ve included in MATC Matters this week..

We also recently lost friend and colleague, Clarence “Swede” Swedberg, who served as supervisor of the MATC mailroom for 10 years. He will be remembered fondly by those who knew him at MATC, friends and family. A memorial service will be held at Gunderson East Funeral Home, 5203 Monona Drive, at 10:30 a.m., Friday, Oct. 19.

Highlights of my week
In addition to events on our campuses, I’ve had the opportunity to go out into the community and nationally to share news about MATC and to bring back information on what’s going on outside our area. Recently, I took part in these events:

• joined three other college presidents on a panel (including Beverly Simone from Southeastern Community College in Iowa) to discuss “The Future of ‘Community’ in Community Collegesâ€? at the COMBASE conference (COMBASE stands for A Cooperative for the Advancement of Community-Based Postsecondary Education);
• participated in the United Way Disconnected and Violent Youth Delegation;
• met with Mark Richardson, deputy secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Tourism along with Kathleen Radionoff, Business and Applied Arts dean, and Paul Short, culinary arts instructor, to talk about culinary tourism;
• welcomed the WTCS instructional services administrators at their state-called meeting hosted by MATC;
• participated in the WTCS Presidents Legislative Committee and WTCS State Board special meeting conference calls;
• attended the first meeting as a member of the Madison Metropolitan School District’s focus group in their search for a new superintendent;
• gave a presentation to the South Metropolitan Madison Business group and sought their input for services;
• attended InBusiness magazine’s executive reception and the Hessen-Wisconsin Transatlantic Partnership 31st anniversary celebration;
• welcomed high school students to our accounting seminar; and
• testified at the Perkins public hearing. As you are well aware, the funds received from Perkins make a huge difference in the lives of students at the college. Some of the programs at the college that are a result of the funds include:
  * Tools for Tomorrow, which supports and guides women in non-traditional occupations;
  * Disability Resource Services;
  * Displaced homemaker/worker services;
  * Special needs instruction for individuals with learning disabilities; and
  * Tutoring services, to mention just a few.
  We aren’t certain what the final outcomes of Perkins IV will bring, though we do know that without the funding, many of the programs I mentioned above wouldn’t exist. Thank you to Keith Cornille, dean for Learner Development, and Denise McKay, grants developer, in arranging the hearing that was held at MATC–Truax.

In closing, I would like to share a quote by H. L. Hunt:

“Decide what you want, decide what you are willing to exchange for it. Establish your priorities and go to work.”

Have a great week!

Bettsey