President's Message: January 9, 2012

Dear Faculty and Staff,

I hope you all had time to relax with family and friends over the past two weeks. I can hardly believe we are ready to start our spring semester, and I look forward to greeting you at Convocation tomorrow and Wednesday. The opening session will be in the Mitby Theater and will include updates on our finances and facilities, as well as employee awards. Because of construction, seating in Mitby is limited, so please fill in all seats – including middle and front rows.

Our keynote speaker is J. Noah Brown, president and CEO of the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT). There are a number of great sessions for each of you to learn and work together in your units.

Advanced Cell Culture Education Suite
On Tuesday, January 10, we will be celebrating the opening of the Advanced Cell Culture Education Suite. This expansion is supported through a generous grant from the National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education Program. The Biotechnology staff invites you to attend the reception
(3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.) and program (4 p.m.) in Truax room 178.

Culinary Competition
Chef John Johnson has been busy promoting the culinary competition taking place at the College this weekend (January 13-15.) Professional chefs from Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska and Utah will be among those taking part in the competition on Friday and Saturday. Then on Sunday, Madison College and Fox Valley Technical College culinary students will compete in the state cook-off for the right to represent Wisconsin at the regional competition in Detroit this spring. Good luck to our culinary team!

Marvels
Here are the names of faculty and staff mentioned to me recently as I spoke with students before winter closure:

Michael Bertrand, Mathematics
Amy Grams, Arts and Sciences
John Johnson, Culinary Arts
Timothy Krueger, Criminal Justice
Larry Lathrop, Protective Services
Luke Matthews, Anthropology
Amy Payne, Science
Jonathan Pollack, History
Kent Struebing, Maintenance Repair Specialist
Andrea Thalasinos, Sociology

Recent Activities
• Welcomed international students who joined the College this spring;
• participated in a Wisconsin Technical College System Presidents’ Association meeting;
• attended the Administrative Brown Bag Luncheon; and
• will be hosting a reception for J. Noah Brown, our Convocation keynote speaker, at the Madison Club this evening.

Here's a quote I came across recently in one of the books I am reading. I thought it was appropriate for the beginning of the second semester. “The most important thing to do in solving a problem is to begin.” – Frank Tyger

Welcome back and thank you for everything you do for our students.

Bettsey