MATC Matters

Dear Faculty and Staff,

Happy Earth Week! It was great fun last week to kick off Earth Week events with students, faculty, staff and community members at the dedication for the new solar-powered transit shelter at Truax. The shelter features solar-powered lighting and a radiant-heat floor. The new shelter will protect our students waiting for rides and paratransit from the famous Wisconsin elements. And, it’s roomy! We fit 66 people inside with room for more! See the Channel 3000 website for television coverage of the event (To find the video, put “MATC” in search videos box.)

Time for a check-up!
As you know, MATC will complete its first full cycle of re-accreditation using the process known as the Academic Quality Improvement Program or AQIP. Developed by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, AQIP is designed to guide colleges in their efforts to be quality institutions. One of the steps in the cyclical process is the Quality Checkup, an onsite visit by at least two evaluators to review relevant organizational and AQIP-related material. The visit is this week, April 23, 24, and 25.

A variety of meetings have been scheduled with the visitors-Dr. Maura Abrahamson, Morton College in Cicero, IL, and Dr. Linda Wild, Southwestern Community College in Creston, IA. The meetings offer opportunities for interaction with MATC personnel to assess the strength and direction of our commitment to quality improvement.

You are invited to attend the Open Forum and Listening Session to be held on April 25 from 9:15-10:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.-noon in the Student Lounge of the Truax campus.

Good Taste
Thank you to all involved in The Evening of Good Taste! Special kudos to Paul Short, John Johnson, Joseph Gaglio and Maureen “Punky” Egan, Kathleen Radionoff and Turina Bakken with help from Dawn Anderson, and thanks to Bob Dinndorf and Tricia Weisheipl. Also thank you to all the instructors in the Graphic Design, Interior Design and Fashion Marketing programs including Deborah Vogt, Michael Martin, Penny Aguilera, Tiffany Esser, Betty Hurd and Laura Bisbee, and to the students who were responsible for the new event logo, all event print material, event website, room and table décor, and silent auction table displays. Thanks to MATC facilities staff and security as well.

Here is a note I received Monday morning from a community leader who attended: “Congratulations on a wonderful ‘Evening of Good Taste!’ It was a huge success and the passion of the teachers and the students was incredible! The highlight of the night for me was when one of the students who had received a scholarship from Jack Lussier went over and expressed her gratitude to him. Very touching. Here is how I describe MATC to others….real people, real skills, real jobs!”

MATC Marvels
Here are this week’s “favorite teachers,” as mentioned to me by students:
Lori Mettel, human services
Harold Gates, human services
Gail Bailey, business technology
Paul Harrison, industrial maintenance
Elsayed Mogahed, mathematics

Other MATC Marvels
Karen Romanowski, program director and academic fieldwork coordinator for the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program, hosted a group of five women from Argentina who were sponsored by Rotary International. One of the women was an occupational therapist, two were primary grade school teachers for children with disabilities, one was a councilwoman and one was a teacher’s assistant.

Faculty shared information about MATC and our program, and then our guests participated in a classroom activity with second semester students at our State Capitol. The group practiced mobility training with wheelchairs, walkers, canes and other adaptive equipment in the Capitol Building. At the end of our visit, we sent them off with MATC T-shirts! It was a great opportunity to meet our colleagues from another corner of the world.

Chemistry instructor Holly Walter Kerby discussed her unique “Fusion Science Theater” project on WORT Radio-89.9 FM. The model program can be adapted by teachers and others to teach basic concepts of science to kids. The project is funded by the National Science Foundation.

And, speaking of marvels, this week is Administrative Professionals Week, a time to celebrate and thank the many hardworking administrative staff whose contributions are vital to our mission of serving students and the community. Thank you one and all for the work you do! The Business Technology Department has some events lined up to celebrate.

Last Friday, “Who Wants to be a Super Mathematician 2008″ was held at MATC. George Alexander assisted by Flynn Dustrud, Al Lehnen, Jim Moore and Dave Sarocka did an excellent job! Special thanks to David Kasten with the registration desk and Mitby Theater officials Corey Helser and Matt Breaux, and Dennis James for his i-Clicker training. Thanks to Jeganathan “Sriâ€? Sriskandarajah for coordinating the event.

Highlights of my week:

• attended the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools annual meeting;
• met with John A. List, professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Chicago;
• participated at the MATC Foundation Board meeting;
• greeted a visitor from Turkey (a Fulbright scholar who lectured to business students);
• participated in a WIRED (Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development) Leadership Training session that was the final stage of the implementation plan approval process;
• heard from college staff at PACE listening sessions at Fort Atkinson, DTEC and Truax campuses;
• participated at a Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce Board meeting;
• attended the BioPharmaceutical Technology Center Institute (BTCI) Bioethics Forum;
• attended the “Go Red for Women” American Heart Association recognition event;
• met with Professor Prinya Nutalaya from the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand, who was visiting MATC to learn about our strategic planning model;
• attended dinner for the Bioethics Forum speakers and BTCI board;
• introduced the keynote speaker at the “Mathematics Awareness Monthâ€? event in Mitby Theater;
• welcomed participants to the Wisconsin Distributed Resources Collaborative meeting;
• attended the WolfPack baseball game; and
• attended the Evening of Good Taste.

In closing, here is a quote from Roberts T. Jones, co-author of the book, The Jobs Revolution: Changing How America Works, who was a keynote speaker at the Higher Learning Commission annual meeting which I just attended.

“The American century has changed and we forgot to tell educators. Educational policies today are based on a World that was.”

He, along with other speakers, gave the same themes that we have heard repeatedly:
Challenge #1: increasing global competition;
Challenge #2: demographic change in the U.S.;
Challenge #3: growing demand for more skilled workers; and
Challenge #4: accelerating impact of productivity.

Bettsey