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MATC Using Market Research to Grow Future
Enrollments
Market research designed to help Madison Area Technical College
identify ways to serve a growing number of South Central Wisconsin
residents was presented Wednesday to the MATC District Board at
its September meeting. The research, conducted by Computer-Aided
Planning (CAP) of Sacramento, California, included a scan of the
educational needs of current and potential MATC students, an evaluation
of how those needs are being met and scenarios for future enrollment
growth.
The study provides MATC with econometric modeling that allows
the college to forecast future enrollment trends and strategize
around
key factors that cause enrollment fluctuations, such as student
costs, district budget changes and policy initiatives. Alternative
scenarios are provided to compare the results of continuing current
practices with pursuing new strategies to grow enrollments. The
college’s Enrollment Management Team will use the research
to develop a strategic plan to meet the future needs of MATC’s
rapidly growing, 12-county district.
The board also voted to approve
the district’s Five-Year
Equal Opportunity/ Affirmative Action Compliance Plan for submission
to the Wisconsin Technical College System. The plan notes that
8.9 percent of MATC’s 829 full-time employees are from minority
populations, compared to 7.4 percent of the district’s available
workforce, and that the percentage of minorities hired for full-time
positions in 2004-05 exceeded the percentage of minorities in the
workforce. The report also indicates that 4.4% of MATC students
are from minority populations, compared to 3% of the district's
population available for enrollment.
In other action, the board:
- Approved a partnership between MATC-Reedsburg
and Southcentral Headstart that will give the growing number
of parents attending
MATC easier access to childcare and will provide MATC’s
childcare program students with real-life, practical experience
at the Headstart
site. A new building constructed by Headstart on land purchased
from MATC at the Reedsburg campus will also offer opportunities
for children to receive vision, hearing and dental screening
from MATC program students. In addition, the partnership creates
much-needed
new classroom space at below-market rates for MATC-Reedsburg’s
Nursing Assistant and Arts and Science programs.
- Received a report
on the MATC Foundation’s plans to provide access to
learning for a greater number of students. The MATC Foundation is a not-for-profit
corporation
established in 1973 to develop financial support for students and programs
of Madison Area Technical College. It has provided nearly $8 million of
financial assistance to more than 25,000 students. The Foundation
has set a new goal
of
tripling its assets from $5 million to $15 million by 2010, and will collaborate
closely with the college as well as donors to establish priorities for
use of this increased community support.
- Presented MATC District Controller Ryan
Liebert with a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence
in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers
Association of the United States and Canada for the district’s
Fiscal Year 2004 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. It
is the ninth consecutive year that MATC has earned
this honor for reports that achieve the highest standards in government
accounting and financial reporting.
MATC is one of the Wisconsin Technical College System’s
16 colleges. It provides a comprehensive curriculum of technical, liberal arts
and science, adult
basic education and life enrichment studies and activities, as well as customized
employee training. MATC provides training in more than 100 career programs.
It awards associate degrees, vocational diplomas and certificates, and offers
non-degree
courses. The college serves all or parts of 12 counties located in South Central
Wisconsin and offers instruction through five campuses and numerous other locations
throughout the district.
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Last
Modified:
September 19, 2005
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