How Might We Make a Difference for Junior Achievement?

Last week I attended the “Celebrate Junior Achievement Breakfast” here in the Fox Cities along with several of the College’s key leaders. Just recently, I’ve agreed to join JA’s senior advisory committee and am just beginning to learn of the work of this organization. Junior Achievement inspires and prepares young people to succeed in a global economy through volunteer-led, hands-on activities that reinforce the concepts of work readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy. What incredible alignment there is between JA’s mission and the work that Fox Valley Technical College is doing in reaching out to youth and local schools!

When I think about the incredible staff talent we have at FVTC, I’d really like to see our organization provide a core of volunteers to go into the schools in the coming year to provide JA activities. At this breakfast we learned that dozens of teachers remain on Fox Cities and Oshkosh waiting lists for volunteers to bring JA programming into their kindergarten through 12th grade classrooms. We could help fill that gap. Some of the JA topics are right up our alley—“economics,” “global marketplace,” “entrepreneurship,” “jobs in our community,” “success skills,” “careers with a purpose,” and many more. Each topic is delivered in 5-6 very short lessons delivered in a local school by a volunteer and the curriculum is very well developed.

Ever Think About Teaching?

 

FVTC is hosting a Faculty and Adjunct Faculty Job Fair on Monday, April 29

I actually started my career as a teacher, so this is something close to my heart. The college is hosting a Faculty and Adjunct Faculty Job Fair on Monday, April 29, for individuals who want to explore the possibility of teaching for Fox Valley Technical College full-time, part-time, or on an adjunct (course by course) basis.

Our instructors have expertise in a wide range of fields and, collectively, make an incredible contribution to the region’s economy through the daily development of the current and future workforce. Their expertise in advanced manufacturing, business, health care, transportation, communications, public safety, culinary arts and IT, just to name a few, offers tremendous learning experiences for those they touch.

What’s even more impressive is hearing from our students, graduates, and workplace partners about the role these instructors have played, and continue to play, in their lives.  I don’t have to look very far to find these testimonials. They find me… in the halls at FVTC, during visits to employers, at student and community events, and more.

Perhaps you’d like to consider joining our organization and pursuing a profoundly rewarding career. I can’t tell you how often I’ve interviewed individuals for teaching positions over the years where candidates, often well into their careers, are at a point where they’re looking to “give back” to their industry or field by teaching. What a great capstone experience on a successful career!

Creating futures for students who are working so hard every day to gain a better life is not the only reason FVTC is great place to work. The supportive culture, abundant professional development opportunities, and high-tech facilities and classrooms also make this college a very special “home away from home” for many of us who work here.  Everywhere you turn there is someone willing to help you do your job to the best of your ability!

Please consider joining us on April 29 to learn more. You’ll find the details and registration information at www.fvtc.edu/jobfair.

Not Just Any Day on the Farm

I had the opportunity last week to participate in the 63^rd annual Educational Farm Tour that is organized by our Agriculture Department at FVTC.  Over the years, I’ve participated in many of these programs, but this one wasn’t your typical “day on the farm.”  This year’s event featured several operations in Calumet County and I visited two of the three dairy farms…one with a herd of 140 and the other with a herd of 3,500 cows. No, that is not a typo.

The 63rd Annual Fox Valley Technical College Farm Tour highlighted agriculture technologies at three farms in Calumet County.

Both of these dairies were very successful operations, even though vastly different in size.  Our first stop was the smaller farm with a dairy herd of 140, about the same number of cows my family farm had when I was growing up.  In fact, taking a look at the milking parlor on this farm, the set-up was almost identical to the one I had spent a fair amount of time in as a young person in the ‘60s and ‘70s.  What struck me about this operation, though, was the extensive testing and use of data to improve the milk quality (and ultimately price for that milk).  An on-farm pasteurizer was being used to take milk that would have simply been thrown away years ago, making it safe and better than milk replacer for feeding calves.  Very impressive.

The Technical College Effect: Immediate Results for Employers

Employers give Wisconsin’s technical colleges high marks in graduate skills, value to business, and customized training.

As the final blog post of this short series on “The Technical College Effect,” I will address some of the results we produce for area employers. The “infographic” facts you see included here primarily speak to the ratings employers give Wisconsin’s technical colleges on key factors such as satisfaction with our graduates, the value we bring to their overall business success, and whether or not our customized training services meet expectations. As you can see, those results are extremely favorable.

And while we have industry advisors engaged with every one of our occupational programs helping to guide our curriculum, program offerings, equipment and technology applications, we must continue to find ways to strengthen our working ties with area employers. How do we ensure that the membership of every program advisory committee is representative of that related industry sector across the region? This is really a challenge given the geography we cover and the diversity of employers in virtually every industry sector (e.g. company size, specialized product or service lines, application of technology). But industry diversity is something we must continue to develop in our advisory committees if we are going to be as effective as possible in meeting workforce needs.

The Technical College Effect: Immediate Payback for Taxpayers

Return on investment (ROI)…something everyone is interested in these days. Whether it’s a personal purchase or investment account, a company investing in new equipment, or someone pursuing a college education, all share the same interest…return on their investment. It’s something that we, at Fox Valley Technical College, are very aware of and sensitive to when it comes to providing an excellent educational value and experience for our students.

We care about this investment from a student/graduate perspective and the results they achieve which I highlighted in my previous post. But we also care about the ROI we are providing to our area employers, the local workforce, and the community in general. With the majority of Wisconsin jobs requiring 2 years or less of technical education, we’ve got an enormous challenge ahead in attracting, educating, and graduating individuals with the qualifications necessary to succeed in this skills-based economy. And, at the same time, we need to continue to improve the skills of the region’s incumbent workforce.

The Technical College Effect: Immediate Success for Graduates

One of the things we are most proud of in Wisconsin’s Technical College System is the success of our graduates.  When we can say to prospective students, “if you successfully complete your AAS degree or technical diploma with us, you have a 9 in 10 chance of being employed within six months of graduation,” it’s quite a compelling statement.  And the basis for this kind of statement can be found in our extensive follow-up research that is conducted with our graduates each year.

It’s clear to me that our graduates land very good jobs that are available right here in our local communities with median salaries for AAS grads across our System reaching $36,000 right out of college.  What’s really impressive, though, is what happens to this median salary after just five years of experience in Wisconsin’s workforce where it rises to $44,000 annually—a 48% increase in just five years.  How do we know this?  We not only conduct extensive follow-up studies with our graduates six months after graduation, but also five years after graduation.  You can find our regional graduate survey results at www.fvtc.edu/graduateemployment.  You can also see in the graphics below the types of technical occupations that produce some of the highest median salaries upon graduation—they certainly represent just some of the excellent career opportunities for successful technical college graduates!

The Technical College Effect

Wisconsin’s technical colleges are the state’s largest educational system, impacting about 370,000 students.

As we begin this new calendar year, I thought I would start a short series of blog posts on the effects of Wisconsin’s Technical College System. Unbeknown to many, the technical colleges have success measures in place and data to evaluate effectiveness, and I will examine some of these in this series. Did you know that Wisconsin’s Technical College System serves nearly 370,000 students each year? This is the largest higher education system in Wisconsin. And, nearly 9 of every 10 technical college graduates live and work right here in Wisconsin. This is not the typical “brain drain” we often hear about when the subject of college graduates is brought up.Fox Valley Technical College is currently serving more students than any other technical college in the state; and that we believe is due to our strong partnerships with local employers, the K-12 schools, and the community. In fact, of the 52,000 people served by FVTC programs and services last year, over 24,000 of those individuals were employees in local companies and organizations whose employers contracted with the College to provide customized training and help build the skills of their workforce.