President's Message: June 1, 2010

Dear Faculty and Staff,

What a year for Madison College athletics! The WolfPack women's basketball team won the NJCAA Division III National Championship earlier this year, the women's volleyball team was the national runner-up...and now the men’s baseball team is participating in the Division II World Series in Enid, Oklahoma!

It’s Madison College’s first appearance in the World Series since 2005. Congratulations to Athletic Director Steve Hauser, head coach Mike Davenport, assistant coaches C.J. Thieleke and Leo Kalinowski—and the entire WolfPack baseball team!

Open Enrollment
Open enrollment is just around the corner, so we’re running a series of outdoor billboards to let the community know about the excellent careers we offer as well as our value to the community. Billboards located in the west portion of the district will inform people about the new West campus. Timetables were mailed throughout the district. This year the editorial content has been expanded, and we’re using four different covers to connect with specific areas of the population. We welcome your feedback on the new billboards and timetable. 

Madison College Going Tobacco-Free
On July 1, Madison Area Technical College will become 100 percent tobacco-free as part of the College’s efforts to create a safe and healthy environment for students, faculty and staff. The new policy, which fully adheres to city of Madison ordinances, prohibits the use of tobacco products anywhere on district-owned or district-leased property, including buildings, grounds, parking lots and vehicles. This policy applies to all students, employees and visitors of the College. We have posted several messages in Matters that include links to the new policy, the Madison city ordinance and answers to your frequently asked questions.

National Guardian Life Scholarship Endowment
As part of their 100th anniversary celebration, National Guardian Life Insurance Company awarded Madison College a $100,000 grant to help student scholarships! We’re honored to be the only recipient of this generous grant. Congratulations to Bob Dinndorf, Tricia Weisheipl and the entire Foundation office!

College Marvels
We have been informed by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection that the Grazing Education for South Central Wisconsin Farmers grant has been fully funded for $29,324. Please congratulate the following staff for all their hard work in the development and submittal of this grant: Douglas Marshall, principal investigator, Ag and Natural Resources (Reedsburg Campus); David Shonkwiler, Agriscience and Technology; Amy Brown, Budget Office; and Ed Clarke, Dana Maya, Anne Scott and Carol Beechler of the Grants Department.

Thanks to International Education Director Geoff Bradshaw, French instructor Mary Haight and Richard Seibt from Technology Client Services for hosting and coordinating a professional development videoconference between teachers in Madison and France.

Highlights of My Past Couple of Weeks:

• attended a celebration honoring A Fund for Women’s donors, sponsors and volunteers;
• joined Jon Bales, district board chair, at a Hessen-Wisconsin partnership dinner hosted by Hesse’s Secretary Dorothea Henzler and included a delegation from Hesse, Secretary Roberta Gassman and representatives from the Wisconsin Technical College System;
• attended a Tempo meeting where Professor Menzie Chinn, Professor of Public Affairs and Economics at the University of Wisconsin’s Robert M. LaFollette School of Public Affairs, discussed the economic outlook for the United States and the global economy;
• participated at a Schools of Hope leadership team meeting;
• welcomed Governor Doyle, politicians and State of Wisconsin firefighters to an event at our Fire Service Center that included firefighter demonstrations and the signing of numerous firefighter and labor bills;
• participated in the first meeting of a new Collaboration Committee comprised of Madison College and Overture Center for the Arts representatives;
• conducted my quarterly meeting with Mayor Dave Cieslewicz;
• participated in a Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce Public Policy Committee meeting;
• hosted several of our international students at my home for pizza and a boat ride;
• congratulated our students at graduation ceremonies;
• welcomed attendees to the Madison Links Student Recognition Program;
• visited with golfers during the college’s annual Doug Redsten Golf Outing fundraiser and participated at the evening awards dinner;
• attended a WTCS Board meeting and gave a presidents’ report;
• attended a WisPolitics.com luncheon to hear a panel discuss campaign finance reform;
• attended a Downtown Madison Rotary meeting where Dr. Margaret Noreuil, Dean of Edgewood College’s School of Nursing, discussed the nursing shortage and efforts by the Center for Nursing Excellence to provide nurse training;
• participated at a Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce board meeting and gave a college report;
• joined Bob Dinndorf for a visit with one of our major donors;
• attended Madison Magazine’s “Jet Set” event;
• visited with college faculty and staff at a monthly President’s Advisory Team (PAT) meeting;
• travelled to Manitowoc last Monday to participate in a “Partnership for a Stronger Economy” meeting held at Orion Energy Systems. This group, led by Representative Peter Barca, has been charged with getting Wisconsin back on track through long-term, strategic dialogue between job creators, those who train and retrain workers and educate Wisconsin’s future workforce, and state government; you can read more about the partnership on the assembly website;
• participated in a United Way of Dane County board meeting;
• participated in the Wisconsin Campus Compact Annual Presidents’ and Chancellors’ meeting where the featured speakers were First Lady Jessica Doyle, National Campus Compact President Maureen Curley, and board trustee Noel Radomski;
• met with John List, Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, to continue discussion related to funding strategies for our Facilities Master Plan;
• interviewed by Chris Schellpfeffer of Knupp and Watson and Wallman, who is meeting informally with select WTCS stakeholders about the Statewide Marketing Consortium’s development of a new Public Relations Plan;
• joined Bob Dinndorf in accepting a $100,000 check from National Guardian Life Insurance Company to establish a permanent scholarship fund for our students; and
• was honored as a recipient of the YWCA Woman of Distinction Award.

In closing, here’s a quote Mick Conners shared with me, by Norman Vincent Peale, author of The Power of Positive Thinking:

"People become really quite remarkable when they start thinking that they can do things. When they believe in themselves, they have the first secret of success."

I believe in all of you.

Bettsey