MATC Matters

Dear Faculty and Staff,

It’s so wonderful to see students back in the halls. Great news about our summer enrollment—our headcount for credit students is up a little more than 20 percent.
Way to go everyone!

Dining for a Difference
Here’s your chance to enjoy a delicious dinner prepared by Bravo TV’s Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard and help MATC’s Smart Future Campaign at the same time! Stephanie will be the guest chef at
The Madison Club’s “Dining for a Difference� fundraiser on Sunday, June 14. Hurry, seating is limited. Tickets are $100. Money from the event will help fund MATC student scholarships.
Hors d’oeuvres and a silent auction begin at
5 p.m., with dinner at 6 p.m. To reserve your seat, call The Madison Club at (608) 255-4861. Hope to see you there!

Migration Update
The GroupWise to Outlook Exchange migration is progressing well. As of Friday June 5, the Migration Team had successfully migrated 616 accounts. These accounts represent the majority of PSRP and Administration. Regional campuses are on track to be completed by June 16 and Faculty by June 30. Thanks for your patience during this important transition.

Budget Update
This week the Assembly will vote on the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) version of the state budget bill. The JFC version improves technical colleges’ general aid position by more than $5 million and our financial aid position by more than $1 million (compared to the Governor’s bill). It protects technical colleges against the 5 percent across-the-board cuts to general and categorical aid, which would have resulted in almost $14 million in additional cuts. It also protects the small increase in the capital project limits, setting non-resident tuition rates, and using Workplace Advancement Training (WAT) grant funds. Once the bill passes the Assembly it moves to the Senate.

MATC Marvels
I talked with a student the other day who said Wayne Sigelko was her favorite math teacher.

Other MATC Marvels
Board trustee Vera Riley spoke to a group of faculty at a WTCS certification course offered at MATC last week. The course, “Principals of Vocational, Technical and Adult Education,� is a week-long learning academy designed to provide faculty with an awareness of the systems and processes that drive the technical college system. Vera spoke about the board’s composition, appointment process, and governance model.

On Wednesday, Dr. Ken Walz will be at the Rotary podium speaking about the work that MATC and UW-Madison students have done in Costa Rica installing off-grid solar electric systems for low income agricultural workers. In addition, he will present the innovative education curriculum transformations being made at schools such as MATC—that create opportunities for partnerships in emerging renewable technologies.

I received a note from one of our community partners praising the work of Karen Kretschmann. Karen works with the Workforce Development Board getting programs up and running for dislocated workers–while consistently providing top-notch caring and supportive services to anyone she’s associated with.

Highlights of my past two weeks:
• attended a meeting of Madison women leaders;
• attended a student presentation at Taliesin led by architectural tech instructor Devin Rains;
• attended Rotary Scholarship Awards;
• met with Mike Victorson representing United Way;
• spoke at the Smart Future Campaign external phase orientation;
• visited with a major donor;
• met with Jim Riordan, CEO of WPS, and Ken Matusek, vice president and chief operating officer of adtec, about space and donations of equipment such as a computer numerical control (CNC) machine;
• met with Dan Clancy about legislative issues.
• met with Sara Goldrick-Rab with UW-Madison’s Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of  Postsecondary Education (WISCAPE) to discuss the possibility of being a convocation speaker;
• met with the officers of the Paraprofessional and School Related Personnel (PSRP) union;
• welcomed participants to a meeting of the Madison Network of Black Professionals;
• attended Madison Rotary where we heard from Vern Stenman, general manager of the Madison Mallards, and field manager CJ Thieleke who is also our assistant men’s baseball coach;
• addressed the finance department regarding transitions for the business systems process improvement;
• participated in a meeting of the MATC Foundation Board Development Committee;
• attended a networking luncheon of Madison’s Business Forum;
• joined board members Jan Bultema, Jon Bales, Frances Huntley-Cooper and Vera Riley for the GED/HSED graduation ceremony at Truax; and
• attended the WTCS Statewide Marketing Committee meeting at Lakeshore Technical College.

Now that our summer session is in full swing, I thought I would end my message with lyrics from U2’s song “Summer Rain.�

When you stop seeing beauty,
You start growing old,
The lines on your face,
Are a map to your soul.

When you stop taking chances,
You’ll stay where you sit,
You won’t live any longer,
But it will feel like it.

Have a great summer session!

Bettsey