MATC Matters

Dear Faculty and Staff,

It’s been a somewhat quiet time around the campuses recently except for the sound of hammering and drilling. Yes, welcome to another “construction” season. You’ll notice a lot of small but important projects underway right now as well as the major Fort campus construction.

Projects at Truax include roof replacements above the GH wing and the pool, a few changes in wall configuration in Technical Services and some important indoor air quality upgrades. Yet, the most noticeable changes are taking place in the Cafeteria area.

The kitchen and food service areas are getting a facelift with painting, new ceiling tiles and lighting, a new dishwasher, a new salad bar and a new configuration to improve the general flow. Outside this area, along the wall will be new condiment and soda serving areas. Improvements are in process as well in the snack bar and WolfPack Den, and we’ll see more aesthetic improvements in the seating area-fast becoming a burgundy-free zone. Stay tuned for more improvements this fall!

I had the pleasure of throwing out the first ball at our annual MATC at the Mallards event last week. I hope many of you were able to attend this fun event. If you didn’t get the chance, I encourage you to check out our local men of summer on your own-a great family pastime!

MATC and UW Engineering Transfer Agreement
Exciting news about our latest college transfer agreement! This Monday, I was proud to participate with Veronica Delcourt in signing a new transfer agreement between MATC and UW–Madison guaranteeing qualified MATC students admission to degree programs at the UW College of Engineering. The programs include chemical, civil, computer, electrical, industrial, mechanical and nuclear engineering. The agreement is yet another example of our wonderful partnership with UW–Madison, and I look forward to more. Congratulations to all who made this possible including Veronica Delcourt, Shawna Carter, Todd Stebbins, Jon Christian, David Shonkwiler, John Stransky, Jody Thrush, Terry Webb and Ken Starkman.

Convocation is coming
The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) has just announced the tentative schedule for Fall Convocation on August 19 and 20. The theme this year is “Fostering Student Success: Concrete Ideas/Concrete Action.” Our keynote speaker will be Betsy Barefoot, co-director and senior scholar at the Policy Center on the First Year of College. You may recall from my last message we recently received a letter of commendation from the Policy Center for our first-semester efforts.

This year, we have some major issues to discuss including the Facilities Master Plan Overview and the Foundation Major Gifts Campaign. We’ll also hear more from “Fork and Spoon” on academic integrity and about campus safety efforts underway. I hope to see you there!

MATC Marvels
We have certainly had our share of severe weather this year, and people across the state have proven time and again that we’re a people who really care for one another. I want to take this opportunity to thank our own MATC community for stepping up to help on many occasions.

A couple of weeks ago we were hit by a sudden wind storm that damaged a number of cars in our parking lot, and, frankly, frightened some employees caught up in the storm. I heard from Denise O’Rourke about many of her coworkers who helped her that day. People from across the college stopped with concern and to offer help after her car was damaged including David Kasten, Dian Polly, Roger Price, Scot Vesterdahl, Karen King, Laurel Anderson, Jason Verhelst and Security and Infrastructure Services staff.

Says Denise, “I am so proud in situations like this to work at MATC. There are so many good, caring people here. Infrastructure Services responded as quickly as possible to the situation, which was most impressive. The good news in all this is the way MATC employees and especially Infrastructure Services came together to help others in a time of need.”

Each year at its annual summer meeting, the Wisconsin Technical College District Boards Association presents a Media Award to a reporter who has written an outstanding news article about a Wisconsin technical college. This year’s award went to Heather LaRoi, an education reporter for the Wisconsin State Journal whose article, “New Route: 1. UW Degree 2. MATC Study” was about UW graduates returning to school at MATC to pick up marketable skills.

Congratulations to Heather and to all the MATC people who helped her get information for the story including Diane Walleser, Paula Symons and Bill Bessette from Marketing; Tom Heaney and Mark Shymanski, from Institutional Research and Effectiveness and Terry Webb from Learner Success. This was great coverage and truly a team effort.

The City of Madison Child Care Center has reaccredited our Child and Family Center thanks to the hard work of Charlene Longino, Child & Family Center manager.

Highlights of my last two weeks:

• attended Rotary Club of Madison’s Fellowship Luncheon at the Joint Legislative Council with co-chairs Senator Fred Risser and Representative Steve Wieckert who provided us with the history, importance, and current topics of the Council;
• met with an administrator from the State of Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions;
• attended Concerts on the Square with Godfrey & Kahn and the Madison Community Foundation;
• attended the WTCS District Boards Association summer meeting in Wisconsin Rapids with two of our board trustees;
• welcomed our returning board trustee Vera Riley along with two new board trustees, Joel Winn and Josephine Omaya-Miller, at the annual organizational meeting of the MATC District Board;
• participated in Foundation Board and Campaign Management Committee meetings;
• hosted University of Chicago Professor of Economics Dr. John List and five of his students to help us with Foundation efforts;
• attended Craig and Leah Culver’s “Warm Heart, Warm Home” fundraising event at their home (no frozen custard was served!);
• met with Bob Dinndorf and Pend Armistead (a consultant hired by the MATC Foundation), to evaluate and plan for next steps in the Major Gifts Campaign;
• attended Downtown Madison Rotary, which was Bob Dinndorf’s first meeting as president;
• welcomed participants at the annual Wisconsin Leadership Development Institute (WLDI) hosted at our downtown campus;
• attended the Executive Residence Foundation’s House and Garden Tour and chatted with Jessica Doyle about how wonderful MATC is;
• joined 75 staff, alumni and friends at the annual “MATC at the Mallardsâ€? event (Steve Schmitt - MATC alumnus, Mallards team owner, and Black Earth Shoe Box owner - spent time visiting with the group and escorted me to the mound to throw out the first pitch for the game against the Alexandria Beatles);
• participated in the monthly Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) President’s wisline meeting;
• spoke to a group of staff participating in our annual “Leadership Academy” - sharing my insights and perspectives related to effective leadership; and
• took part in a panel presentation at the Wisconsin Association of School Board’s (WASB) President’s Conference. Other panel participants included Dan Clancy (WTCS President), Ron Singer (UW System Associate Vice President for Academic and Student Services), and Teresa Drabenstadt (CUNA Mutual Group Senior Manager of Internal Audit and IT). We talked about sharing global economy perspectives to help K-12 school board members think about what they need to do to get their students to a competitive level.

In closing, here is a quote by Marshall McLuhan (I recently heard this quote at the American Council of Education Summit for Women Presidents):

“The most damaging thing about communication is the illusion that it has occurred.”

Bettsey