MATC Matters

Dear Faculty and Staff,

Congratulations to both our Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams on their state titles this past weekend! Both teams won WJCAA State Tournament finals to both claim their second state titles in three years!

The Men’s team beat UW–Waukesha for their seventh consecutive win while the Women’s team beat UW–Fond du Lac for their thirteenth consecutive win. For tournament results and to watch the web stream of the games, check out the WJCAA State Tournament web site. Go WolfPack!

Snow and more snow
I heard last week we not only surpassed all records for snowfall in Wisconsin but we’ve officially dug ourselves out of seven feet of snow so far this winter! John Alt mentioned to me what a wonderful job our maintenance and custodial staff are doing at the Northern Region campuses.

He said, “The snow has been a tremendous safety challenge this year but our walkways, driveways, parking lots and interior buildings are always ready for students and staff.” I would like to echo his sentiments and add thanks to all our staff who have braved the cold, snow and uncertainty over this challenging season.

Forum on Safety and Security
Thanks to all who put together our recent Forum on Safety and Security including panelists Roger Price, vice president, Infrastructure Services; Tyler Mortenson, security coordinator; Jacquelyn Thomas, employment development consultant and member of the Governor’s Task Force on Campus Safety; Keith Cornille, dean for Learner Development; and Rocio Martinez, counselor in Student Development.

The panel convened to discuss safety concerns and issues in light of the recent shootings at Northern Illinois University, but a college-wide team has been in place working on this issue regularly since the shootings last year at Virginia Tech. In fact, schools across the country have been examining and discussing campus safety and security. Statewide campus safety efforts have produced an excellent document, “Governor’s Task Force on Campus Safety Final Report” (PDF: 7.1MB). The MATC team is using this report and other resources in their ongoing efforts to plan for campus-wide safety and security.

“Plan, plan, plan and then plan,” Roger Price told those gathered at the forum. “We must have a plan in place for each department, each unit, and each individual must have a plan.”

He and others on the panel said awareness of your surroundings is a key factor. He encouraged staff, faculty and students to survey their environment and to be aware of anything that might seem amiss. The panel urged people not to hesitate to report anything that feels threatening and to pay close attention to their instincts.

The college is examining a variety of options and resources in this planning stage, weighing the vital importance of privacy for individuals against the overall need to provide all students, employees and visitors with a safe and secure environment. This is an ongoing process. For more information and to view a tape of the forum, please see the Safety and Security web site.

Update on the Facilities Master Plan
At its last meeting, the MATC District Board gave approval for the College to proceed with finalizing a contract with JJR, LLC, an area architectural firm that will act as a consultant on our Master Plan. The Facilities Master Plan will be comprised of four parts:

• Environmental Scan-Includes a look at the neighborhoods and communities served by MATC both from a geopolitical and physical environment: Who are we and where are we now, what do we have to offer and what do we need;
• Academic Plan-What programs and courses do we offer and plan to offer and who do we serve;
• Facilities Assessment-An in-depth look at all our facilities (owned and leased), physical capacities and capabilities; questions of renovation, tearing down or new building needs; and
• Implementation-Putting the information together; deciding where we are, where we want to be and how we are going to get there. This will include identifying project priorities, sequence, relationships, and costs and preparation of an updated Master Plan for all MATC campuses.

MATC has done much of the work already for the Environmental Scan, and we completed our Academic Plan this fall. We are now assessing our facilities and it will take about a year to complete the Master Facilities Plan (February 2009). Thanks to Facilities Director Mike Stark and the Facilities Department staff for all their work as we move forward with this important project.

AQIP
Last week we began an examination of AQIP as a lead up to the site visit by the Higher Learning Commission in April. This week, MATC Matters features a discussion of AQIP Category 1, Helping Students Learn, perhaps the most important and certainly the most encompassing of the AQIP categories. Please take a look at it or visit the AQIP web site for much more information.

MATC Follies
Despite the snow, winter has its delights! Check out this year’s MATC Follies on Saturday, March 1, for a great lineup of talented colleagues-a wonderful way to spend a chilly evening indoors having fun, enjoying music and helping the MATC Foundation!

MATC Marvels
In honor of Black History month, Rhoda McKinney, Delisa Scott, Donna Swadley and Michelle Mitchell coordinated the Third Annual Black History Potluck celebration. Delisa Scott sang The Negro National Anthem (Lift Every Voice and Sing) and encouraged everyone to join in. Carlotta Calmese displayed an array of art from Africa. Thanks for this educational event honoring the contributions of African Americans to our country and the world. Also special thanks to Tom Riffle and Mike Stark for allowing staff the time to coordinate and participate, and the countless contributions of others including Dzigbodi Akyea and the students from Black Student Union (BSU) who helped in set-up and clean-up of the event.

I hope you had the opportunity to experience some of the events for Black History month presented by the student clubs, United Common Ground (UCG) and the Black Student Union (BSU). There’s another opportunity this week, sponsored by UCG, on Thursday in the Truax cafeteria starting at 11:30 a.m.-African drumming and dance with the Ital Caribe Dance Troupe. Thanks to the students and their advisors, Susana Valtierra (UCG) and Dzigbodi Akyea (BSU) for the many events this month!

Highlights of my week

• Met with Don Johnson (superintendent), Tom Wohlleber (assistant superintendent for Business Services) from the Middleton School District to discuss partnerships with them and with other school districts within the southwest region of our district;
• gave a presentation to the UW Student Personnel Association on our partnerships with UW;
• held a President’s Advisory Team meeting;
• met with the officers of the PSRP union;
• hosted State Representative Sheryl Albers; Gary Wolter, MG&E; and Laurie Benson and David Quist from Inacom at the President’s Table;
• met with Joe Lowndes, full-time faculty president;
• dropped in at MATC’s Environmental Sustainability Advocates planning meeting;
• had a photo shoot with BRAVA magazine for their April issue;
• attended Downtown Rotary where Darrell Bazzell, UW–Madison vice chancellor for Administration; Leslie Howard, president of Dane County United Way; and Corey Chambas, president/CEO of First Business Financial Services, discussed Disconnected and Violent Youth in Dane County (this is the commission that Jim Cavanaugh and I served on);
• attended the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce board meeting;
• met with Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and his staff to talk about our protective services program;
• attended the campus safety forum;
• attended the annual luncheon of MATC’s retired staff; and
• participated in the WTCS Advisory Committee on Curriculum.

In closing, reflecting on safety and security, here is a quote by Franklin D. Roosevelt:
“A nation, like a person, has a mind-a mind that must be kept informed and alert, that must know itself, that understands the hopes and needs of its neighbors-all the other nations that live within the narrowing circle of the world.”

Bettsey