MATC Matters

Dear Faculty and Staff,

I look forward to seeing all of you at Convocation on Friday, March 13. We will give you updates on the college, the state budget and the stimulus plan. That will be followed by a question and answer session. We will have cards available for you to write your questions.

Spring Break Work
MATC’s spring break is March 16-20. While many of you will be experiencing ocean waves and balmy weather, there will be lots of work going on at the Truax campus. Facilities will be replacing the carpeting on the second and third floors. Earlier this year, crews installed simulated wood flooring near the elevators on those floors. We hope you enjoy the new look. And just a friendly reminder—because of spring break—I will not have a message next Monday (March 16).

MATC Name Change
In preparation for our second 100 years as well as our 100th anniversary (which will be celebrated in 2012), we’re considering reevaluating our name—particularly because it doesn’t reflect the fact that we’ve been a community college with both our rich technical history and the arts and sciences transfer courses for more than 40 years. Changing the college’s name comes up in conversations for many reasons. Not that it’s a serious concern, but people outside of our district aren’t always clear about what MATC stands for. A quick Google search comes up with dozens of definitions including Milwaukee Area Technical College—with whom we are commonly confused—as well as Mountainland Applied Technology College and Maine Appalachian Trail Club. 

Name Change History
Did you know that Madison Area Technical College is our sixth name since we opened our doors back in 1912? We were founded as School of Industrial Education and in 1917 changed our name to School of Vocational Education. In 1937, we became Madison Vocational and Adult School, in 1961 Madison Vocational Technical and Adult Schools, and we kept that name until 1967 when we adopted the name of Area Vocational Technical and Adult Education District No. 4. We were apparently indecisive during that time in our history because just one year later, in 1968, we became Madison Area Technical College.

What Do You Think?
I want to know what you think. Do you have a serious idea for a new college name for our second century?  Do you like it the way it is?  Do you like having the same name as MATC Milwaukee?  If you have a suggestion, please e-mail your ideas to Erin Thornley. I look forward to hearing from you!

New Dean
I am pleased to announce we have hired a new Dean of Health and Safety Education. His name is Dr. Mark Lausch. He begins his new duties on March 16. Dr. Lausch comes to us from the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork where he served as the Chief Credentialing Officer and the Director of Education. Please help me welcome Mark to MATC.

MATC Marvels
When I talk to students and hear about their favorite teachers, I also ask them to tell me about anyone at MATC who has especially helped them or been kind to them. Here are the names mentioned to me most recently:
Christopher Gargan, commercial art
Kathryn Grovergrys, Spanish
Penny Aguilera, commercial art
Sarah Johnson, English
Mae Laatsch, marketing
John Roach, machine tool
Holly Mercier, marketing

Other MATC Marvels
Baking/Pastry instructor Maureen “Punky� Egan, Culinary instructors Paul Short and John Johnson, as well as their students, prepared a “state fair� theme (3000 cream puffs, 3000 corn dogs plus cotton candy) for Epic Systems’ annual meeting. Punky and her students also prepared hundreds of petits fours, including a Sacher Torte, and a blueberry and cherry pie for the Rotary Club of Madison. We used the torte and pies as prizes for the “pop quiz� part of my presentation, and then gave the petits fours to everyone else at Rotary.

Congratulations to Marketing and Enrollment Administrative Specialist Marjorie Cook. She won the 2009 Doctoral Scholarship sponsored by the American Association for Women in Community Colleges (AAWCC).

Computer Support Coordinator Jacob Vondra did a great job of running the “I-Clickers� portion of my “Pop Quiz� presentation at the Rotary Club of Madison;

Vice President of Infrastructure Roger Price was appointed to the Urban League of Greater Madison Board of Directors.

Executive Dean for Learner Success Keith Cornille has been appointed to the Business and Education Partnership Board of Directors.
 
Congratulations to the Women’s Basketball team! For the second consecutive year the team is headed to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III National Tournament. This is the program’s sixth national tournament appearance and the fifth appearance in the last seven years. Kudos to head coach Jessica Pelzel and Athletic Director Steve Hauser.

Highlights of my week:
• attended an event hosted by Madison magazine and Wisbusiness.com where we heard from Carl Gulbrandsen with the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF);
• interviewed final candidates for the position of health and safety dean;
• visited with the McFarland School District Board along with MATC District Board trustee Frances Huntley-Cooper 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; we have visited 29 school districts thus far);
• met with visitors from Thailand who were here with the Wisconsin Alumni Thailand Foundation to discuss opportunities for collaboration and partnerships;
• gave a presentation on, “MATC’s Role in Building a Stronger Economy� at the Rotary Club of Madison;
• attended a Black History Month celebration organized by custodial associate Rhoda McKinney and counselor Delisa Scott;
• met with the President’s Advisory Team (next meeting is Friday, April 10 at 8:15-9:15am in the Truax cafeteria); and
• spoke with new employees at their First Friday meeting.

I attended a CEO conference in Madison last week which gave training on dealing with employees during this economic downturn. This quote from Abraham Lincoln was in the handouts:

“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so must we think new and act new.�

Please remind our students we are here to help them and/or can refer them to community-based organizations for further assistance. Thank you. 

Bettsey