President's Message: February 2, 2010

Dear Faculty and Staff,

Becky Baumbach has announced that she will retire from Madison College on June 30, 2010. Becky has been a vice president at the college for 7 1/2 years providing direction for Marketing and Enrollment Development, Foundation, Grants, Institutional Research, Human Resources (including CETL), and our AQIP accreditation. She plans to stay in Madison and do adventure travel and part-time consulting.

Please congratulate Becky when you see her as she has done a wonderful job here at Madison College, especially with our AQIP.

Center for Adult Learning
I hope you had a chance to see Sunday’s Wisconsin State Journal front page story on our new Center for Adult Education. The idea behind the center is to get unemployed people trained quickly in areas where there are jobs available. This fast-track approach is very cutting-edge. There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new center in March (please check Matters). Special thanks to Nancy Woodward, Marjorie Cook and the entire team at the center for making this a big success.

Help for Haiti
Thanks to all of you who have donated to the Haiti Relief Fund. Our donation drop-off box in the Truax Student Life office is half full. Students are hoping to bring the checks/money to the Red Cross next week, so if you’re planning to make a donation please hurry. We’ll have an update in Matters on how much was raised.

Friends of the Zoo
You may have noticed Friends of the Zoo staff members at the Truax campus last week. The visit is part of a special partnership developed by Business and Applied Arts Dean Turina Bakken and Foundation Executive Director Bob Dinndorf. The Zoo is hoping to hire Madison College student interns for a variety of positions and is donating $10,000 this year to the Foundation.

College Marvels
Here are the names of faculty mentioned to me recently by students as their “favorites.”
Harlan Vangen, machine tool
Bernardo Hoes, English
Kristen Muir, written communication
David Sarocka, mathematics
Marline Pearson, criminology

More Marvels
Kathy Waters has been selected to participate in the Go Red for Women Makeover sponsored by the American Heart Association and UW Hospitals and Clinics. Kathy will take part in a 12-week heart healthy program. A clinical team will design a nutrition and exercise plan for her individual health goals. National Wear Red Day is this Friday
(February 5).

Highlights of My Past Week
• guest speaker at the Downtown Kiwanis Club,
• attended Dan Nerad’s “State of the Madison Metropolitan School District” address,
• participated in the United Way of Dane County board meeting,
• attended the Wisconsin Technical College System board meeting,
• attended Governor Doyle’s, “State of the State,”
• attended a meeting of the Rotary Club of Madison,
• participated in the district board meeting,
• met with Michele Mackey, WIRED (Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development) coordinator,
• attended Governor Doyle's announcement on the $823 million federal funding for passenger rail in Wisconsin, and
• met with biotechnology instructor Lisa Seidman.

In closing, here’s a quote I heard at the United Way of Dane County board of directors meeting last week which applies to us and to our students:

“Winning is Work.”

Bettsey