MATC Matters

Dear Faculty and Staff,

With graduation right around the corner, students are anxious, instructors are exhilarated and everyone is excited about the end of the semester. I hope you had an opportunity to relax a little at one of the cookouts last week—we all needed a breather.

Our Cisco Academy turns 10!
Last week I had the opportunity to join in the celebration of the tenth anniversary of our Cisco Networking Academy. Thanks to a partnership with Cisco, MATC was the first college in Wisconsin to become an academy. Since then, we’ve graduated 261 students from the Cisco program. Special thanks to IT instructor Ken McCullough for organizing the event at the Capitol with some of our graduates, Governor Doyle and Chairman Emeritus of Cisco Systems John Morgridge.

Thanks go to MATC IT department faculty and staff who pitched in to make the event a success, doing everything from driving shuttle vans for students to keeping an attendance list: David Dean, Cheryl Halle, Mike Masino, Nina Milbauer. Craig Newman, Malcom Robertson, Bill Schallert, Brent Sieling and John Tomczak.

Bike to Work Week!
Bike to Work Week is May 12-16 (with kickoff events starting May 9). If you haven’t biked to work yet this year, this is a great time to just do it. To sign up for the MATC team, register on the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin Website as an MATC employee and bike to work as often as you can between May 9 and 16, keeping track of the number of one-way trips you make. Our top four days of ridership through Thursday morning will be entered into the competition.

To sweeten the deal, the MATC team will challenge other area teams. Last year first place went to UW Botany and Zoology departments in Birge Hall, second place to Pacific Cycle and third place to the City of Madison Transportation Traffic Engineering. There will be prizes (and pride) for the team that racks up the most miles. For details, contact MATC Librarian Terry Ross, 6635 or Cindi Rutten, Wellness Coordinator, 4133.

The competitive market
At the beginning of the year, I outlined some challenges we face as an institution. One issue was the growth of for-profit colleges offering short-term certificates, associate and bachelor’s degrees. Madison.com reported on Wednesday that ITT Technical Institute, based out of Carmel, Indiana, is leasing space in the Novation Campus in south Madison (Rimrock Road and the Beltline) and will begin offering classes in June. This will be their third location in Wisconsin, joining Green Bay and Greenfield. ITT Technical Institute offers four schools of study: information technology, electronics technology, drafting and design, and criminal justice.

Also last week, the Wisconsin State Journal reported that five students graduating from Herzing College with nursing degrees are suing the school, alleging that they got less than they paid for because the program has not been nationally accredited. The students claim that they were assured by Herzing officials prior to enrollment that the program would be accredited by the time they graduated.

With all MATC has to offer, we know we are still the best value around, but we need to be aware and look ahead for new and innovative ways to offer students the highest quality opportunities and service.

Exciting scholarship news!
MATC Foundation Director Bob Dinndorf gave me some wonderful news about one of our students. Mark Sandberg, a Liberal Arts Transfer student, has been named one of 47 Jack Kent Cooke Scholars for 2008. The scholarship will pay up to $30,000 annually for tuition, room, board and related expenses for two years.

Says Bob, “I announced the scholarship to Mark during a break in his Intermediate Algebra Class Thursday afternoon. He was shocked. His classmates were all buzzing and of course wanted to borrow money. His instructor, Tony Przybilski, was gracious enough to allow my interruption prior to an exam. I also left some Foundation chocolates for Mark to share with his classmates and an MATC T-shirt to wear as he travels to the other end of State Street in a few months.”

MATC Marvels
Here are this week’s “favorite teachers and staff,” as mentioned to me by students:
Juan-Antonio Palacios, automotive instructor
John “Luke” Matthews, anthropology instructor
Debra Olsen, counselor
Anna Marie Hoffmann, campus life and enrichment
Jennifer Tracey, economics instructor

Other MATC Marvels
Congratulations to faculty, staff and students involved in this year’s spring MATC Portfolio Show. The work was breathtaking and I know many area employers were impressed with the quality of the work and eager to hire our graduates!

Paralegal Program Director Anne Schacherl and Senior Information Systems Analyst Fran Moritz shared some great news. The American Bar Association is coming to do a site visit on September 15 and 16. The MATC Paralegal program applied to the American Bar Association to become an official ABA-approved program, and the site visit is near the end of a long process. Congratulations to all involved. We’ll post more news on this as it unfolds in September.

Watertown business technology instructor Gail Bailey works tirelessly to promote awareness about meningitis and, as many of you know, developed a scholarship fund in the memory of Eddy, her son who contracted the disease. Recently, Gail visited Jefferson High School to educate the students on the disease. She deserves our thanks and applause for the work she does to make young people aware of the risks and available vaccine—and she got almost the whole school to wear shorts to help in the awareness promotion!

Among the Downtown Madison Rotary Community Grant recipients announced April 30 at the club’s meeting were two MATC faculty members who are prominent members of their respective organizations: English instructor Anna Purnell represented Child Development, Inc., and IT instructor Andy Czerkas represented The River Food Pantry.

Kudos go to Steve Noll (faculty advisor) and Marketing Club students for being among the top winners at the 47th Annual International Career Development Conference in Atlanta. Students received eight awards, competing against almost 2,000 students from the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico.

Highlights of my week

• participated in the Cisco 10 Year Anniversary Celebration at the State Capitol;
• attended the Spring Portfolio Show;
• met with Ed Hughes, a new member of the Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education;
• dropped in at the Yahara Journal book release reception;
• met with State of Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development Secretary Roberta Gassman to discuss Job Center transformation plans; and
• visited with a major donor.

In closing, here is a quote from Student Employee of the Year Ananda Mirilli from her speech at the Foundation Scholarship breakfast the week before last:

“I believe in the people around me and appreciate how they inspire me to grow and to become a more functional member of this community, but most important I believe in this school. I feel that this institution is very much like me, determined and committed to improvement.”

Bettsey