MATC Matters

Dear Faculty and Staff,

Welcome back! I hope you enjoyed your break and had no trouble digging out from the snow, again, on Friday. With Sunday’s snow we’ve now officially passed the 100-inch mark for the year. At least there’s “March Madness” to keep us warm!

Speaking of March Madness, congratulations to our women’s basketball team! They captured fourth place in the NJCAA National Tournament and finished 24-9 overall. Thank you to coaches Jessica Pelzel and Mike Mayfield, and of course, each and every team member. On behalf of the staff, administration and students at MATC, we are very proud of you!

In sympathy
We’ve lost two respected colleagues recently. Former diesel program director and instructor David Biegel passed away on March 12. Dave served as program director for about 15 years and as an instructor for at least 32 years.

Recently retired English instructor James Bauknecht passed away on March 15. James began is teaching career in 1978 and taught English at MATC, University of Wisconsin–Madison and Northern Essex College in Massachusetts. There is a fund set up in his name through the MATC Foundation.

Also, Helen H. Henry of Dane passed away on March 19 following a long battle with Alzheimer’s. Helen served on the MATC District Board from 1983 to 1993.

I’d like to take this opportunity to offer my condolences and well wishes to family and friends of David, James and Helen.

Board appointment results
I’m pleased to announce that last Wednesday members of the MATC District Board Appointment Committee reappointed Dr. Vera Riley for an additional three-year term as the Elected Official member. In addition, the committee appointed two new members in the Additional Member category who will begin their three-year terms on July 1, 2008:

• Josephine Oyama-Miller resides in Monona. She is the owner of Big Mountain Enterprises and has been an active member in the community for more than 30 years.
• Joel Winn is a lifetime resident of Jefferson County and resides in Fort Atkinson. He is executive director of the Fort HealthCare Foundation. Mr. Winn was instrumental in the success of the Fort Atkinson campus fund-raising campaign.

The next step is for the WTCS Board to approve the appointments in May.

PACE Survey
We have received the results of the employee survey known as PACE (Personal Assessment of the College Environment) that was administered in early January. We have invited employees to take this survey every three years since 1996, which gives us a good look at the overall trends in how employees view the college climate. The survey instrument defines four categories for college climate-coercive, competitive, consultative and collaborative and rates it on four factors-institutional structure, supervisory relationships, student focus and teamwork.

Results from 2008 show the overall climate score falls within the range of scores we’ve had since 1996 and is in the “consultative” category. This is good news, but we are always seeking ways to improve. Therefore, I am offering the opportunity for employees to attend listening sessions to further explore topics related to the results.

The open listening sessions will be available as follows:

• Monday, March 31
  11 a.m.-12 p.m. at Reedsburg (Room 115)
  1-2 p.m. at Portage (Room 102)

• Wednesday, April 16
  11 a.m.-12 p.m. at Watertown (Room 101)
  1-2 p.m. at Fort Atkinson (Room 116)

• Thursday, April 17
  1:30-2:30 p.m. at DTEC (D331)
  3:30-4:30 p.m. at Truax (Gourmet Dining Room)
• Friday, April 18
  10-11 a.m. at Truax (Student Lounge)

AQIP update
The overview of the AQIP process presented by Becky Bambauch at Convocation gave us a look at the big picture of our involvement in AQIP. MATC Matters has been focusing each week on one of the nine categories of AQIP. New articles will be added soon. Please take a look at past articles or visit the AQIP web site for more information.

The Comedy of Errors
MATC Performing Arts presented William Shakespeare’s “The Comedy of Errors” last week. Congratulations to director, Richard Graves, and all the supporting staff who put on a wonderful performance using talented MATC students.

MATC Marvels
We know that MATC has strong ties to the community. Usually demonstrated through the many programs we offer and support, this sometimes manifests itself in more unexpected ways. This story from CMAT reminds me how much our people are important to maintaining our community connection: A young man named Michael stopped in the CMAT office and explained that he needed a little help. A native of Racine who is attending UW–Stout, he is also a member of the Army Guard. He had been about 60 miles from Madison on his way to military training when he discovered the water pump in his car was beginning to fail. He managed to get his car into Madison, and when he saw MATC, he decided to pull in. His car needed work to make it and he had heard MATC was a good place for technical training. After a short, light-hearted conversation, Ken Starkman walked Michael to the Automotive Technology Department where Paul Flogel, automotive department leader, stopped what he was doing to assist Michael. Paul took the time to drive Michael to his military training, get a new water pump for his car and install the water pump so that it was ready in the afternoon. Thanks to everyone who illustrated such outstanding “MATC Spirit.”

Highlights of my last two weeks:

• met with community and business leaders at a special lecture and reception hosted by Madison TEMPO;
• participated at a Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) board meeting;
• attended the ATHENA Awards Ceremony, where Becky Baumbach was a finalist for the ATHENA Award;
• hosted a president’s table in the Gourmet Dining Room that included representatives from Summit Credit Union, the secretary and deputy secretary of the State of Wisconsin Department of Tourism, and two major donors;
• heard Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk talk about the human misery and economic costs that the abuse of alcohol has on our families and communities at the Rotary Club of Madison meeting;
• met with our district board trustees at the Downtown Education Center where they had an opportunity for a drop-in tour of our programs;
• met with Geoff Bradshaw and Dr. Adrian Sherman, the external evaluator, on our Title VI grant;
• joined Jessica Doyle at a reception hosted by Secretary Celia M. Jackson with the Wisconsin Department of Regulations and Licensing (WDRL) to honor 26 of our photography students whose large prints are hanging in the hallways of their newly renovated building;
• traveled to Milwaukee for the WTCS president’s meeting;
• presented at our mid-semester convocation along with district board vice-chair Jon Bales;
• traveled again to Milwaukee to participate on a panel at the WTCS President’s Renewable Energy Summit;
• visited the Wisconsin Dells School Board with MATC District Board vice-chair Jon Bales to talk about enhancing our services and partnerships with the district. This is one of a series of board-to-board outreach visits we are making to every one of our 40 school districts;
• attended the CETL Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning open house;
• heard from Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Judge Louis Butler at the Rotary Club meeting;
• gave a presentation to the County Board Chairs at the District Board Appointment meeting; and
• attended the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce Board meeting.

As we begin the final journey of the semester, a quote from, “The Comedy of Errors” comes to mind in which one Dromio twin says to the other at the end of the play:

“Let’s go hand in hand, not one before the other.”

Bettsey