When you work at a college you get used to people coming and going. New students arrive every semester and graduating students depart. Many of our students and area residents revisit CVTC numerous times throughout their lives as they pursue career advancement or perhaps an entirely different occupation.

When the departing individuals are employees, the impact and reaction is more pronounced. Departing peers are not only highly qualified, dedicated individuals who are hard to replace, but they are also our friends. They are always missed.

Each departure also creates a new opportunity for someone else and for the college. In this issue, you will be introduced to some of the new leaders at CVTC. Heidi Fisher and Aliesha Crowe are new to CVTC and Margo Keys and Ellen Kirking are assuming new positions with more responsibility. All four of these individuals are very talented and will play vital roles in the future success of CVTC and our students. I’m looking forward to working with them.

This issue also focuses on some of our student leaders. Student Government has elected new officers, and Phi Theta Kappa, a national student academic honor society, awarded CVTC a local chapter and inducted 58 of our students. My congratulations go out to these students!

I hope you enjoy this edition and will learn something new about CVTC. Please let us know what you like (and dislike) and topics you would like covered in future editions by sending your comments to: cjohnson@cvtc.edu. Thank you.

Bruce A. Barker
President

Dr. Ellen Kirking To Lead Education at CVTC

Dr. Ellen Kirking has been named Vice President of Education at Chippewa Valley Technical College.

Dr. Kirking joined CVTC in 1990 as a nursing instructor. Later she was selected by her peers to be the Nursing Department Program Director. In 2005, she was promoted to Coordinator of the Health Education programs. She became the Educational Director for all CVTC Health Programs in 2008.

Dr. Kirking earned her Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota in Work and Human Resource Education. She holds an Education Specialist graduate degree from UW-Stout, a master’s in nursing from UW-Eau Claire, and a baccalaureate in nursing from Viterbo University.

As the Vice President of Education at CVTC, Kirking will have responsibility for the breadth and quality of all educational offerings at the college. “We examine changing trends that affect our students, their employment, and their careers, and will be working with our partners in education and business to continue to expand opportunities for students,” Kirking said. “We recognize the importance of our partners in helping us to accomplish our mission.”

Kirking will oversee more than 50 associate degree and technical diploma programs with a full-time faculty of more than 220, and an adjunct faculty of over 320. CVTC annually provides educational instruction to over 17,000 area residents at seven campuses in the Chippewa and St. Croix valleys.

Kirking is a reviewer for the Academic Quality Improvement Program, a unit of the North Central Association of Schools and Colleges, an accrediting body. Kirking is also a participant in the Advanced Chair Academy, a national leadership program for two-year college leaders.

“Ellen has distinguished herself in a number of positions at CVTC. She is extremely dedicated to our college and to our district. I am confident that Ellen possesses the skills and vision to lead our faculty and ensure that our college graduates are well prepared for their chosen careers,” said CVTC President Bruce Barker.

Kirking replaces Joe Hegge, who retired in September. Her husband, Dan Kirking, is a middle school teacher in the Mondovi school system. The Kirkings have two children in college and another in high school.

Ag Educator to Pursue CVTC Energy Initiatives

Aliesha Crowe’s duties as Education Director-Agriculture, Energy, Transportation, and Construction began in early August.

She is responsible for the development of a yet-to-be constructed Energy Education Center and helped host, along with President Barker, a related visioning session that gathered input from regional business leaders on which education and training should be made available to aid them in the new energy economy.

“The visioning session provided us with some of the current perspectives of energy trends and employer needs across the energy, transportation, agriculture and construction sectors,” Crowe said. We’ll use that input to design new educational programs and facilities, she said. “We want to help ensure renewable and efficient energy use in day-to-day operations,” Crowe added.

Crowe has responsibility for the operation and long-term success of related academic programs. She reports to the CVTC vice president of education.

For almost eight years, Crowe served as University of Wisconsin Extension Agriculture Agent and department head in Rusk County. She taught vocational agriculture at Cameron High School from 2000-2002.

Crowe’s work in Rusk County agriculture emphasized agricultural/entrepreneurial development, sustainable agriculture, and farm financial management. Value-added agriculture, such as sheep dairying, fresh market vegetable production, and bio-energy were other focuses, she said.

Crowe earned a bachelor’s degree in animal science at UW-River Falls. She holds a master’s in agriculture education with specialization in adult and international education, also from UW-RF.

Raised on a farm in Barron, Wisconsin, Crowe’s family has been engaged in production agriculture for more than 75 years. 

Heidi Fisher to Direct CVTC Foundation

Heidi Fisher is the first full-time executive director of the Chippewa Valley Technical College Foundation and the CVTC Alumni Association.

On staff since August, Fisher is a life-long resident of west-central Wisconsin. She is a UW-Eau Claire graduate and also holds a master’s degree in Non-Profit Management from Hamline University. She has been the Eau Claire Community Foundation Director, and the Literacy Volunteers-Chippewa Valley Executive Director.

“We are extremely fortunate to have Heidi join our organization. She has successfully led other community organizations and we are looking forward to her bringing that same level of success and community service to our Foundation and Alumni Association,” Barker said.

Fisher is a recipient of the United Way Senn Award for Leadership, and the David G. Anderson Community Builder Award from UW-Eau Claire.

“The success of our Foundation and the support from our Alumni Association are critical to the college’s future. As public funds become increasingly scarce, it is important we work closely with our community partners to develop new and innovative means to finance education and job training,” Barker said.

“It is evident that CVTC is a college that builds partnerships, looks to the future, and leads as an innovator.” Fisher said. “The mission of the college speaks to the breadth of impact within our district and beyond. The Foundation and Alumni Association have had a significant impact on the past and present of the college. I look forward to being part of the future growth and innovation,” she said.

Fisher can be reached at 715-833-6479.

 
 Congrats to CVTC’s New Student Government!

From left: Dave Carle, Wisconsin Student Government Governor; Duane Buntz, Treasurer; Arturo Schwencke, President; Shanda Ludwig, Vice President; Alisa Hoepner, Adviser; Melissa Ashley Keim, Secretary; Justin Herrick, Director of Activities and Communications.

"Tomorrow's Energy Technology" Keynoted by Wisconsin Commerce Secretary

CVTC President Bruce Barker has on his office wall a Norman Rockwell illustration captioned, “The street was never the same again.” It’s a picture of a Model A Ford disrupting a circa 1911 street with horses rearing and minor chaos ensuing.

”We are on the brink of that same kind of change” CVTC President Bruce Barker said to a Sept. 25, forum at the CVTC Gateway Campus. The event, titled “Tomorrow’s Energy Technology,” brought energy and energy-intensive businesses together to better inform CVTC about the kind of curriculum and facilities the technical college should have to provide energy-related training going forward. A report on the findings has been published.

“We’ll need new sources of energy” in the near future, the CVTC president told a group of 60 business people. “The future of our economy really is tied to developing our own energy solution,” he said. Geothermal, biodigesters and a whole new area of biorefining must soon begin to account for significant energy production and CVTC must be at the forefront of training the technicians capable of implementing much of the energy changeover. “It will be necessary if we are to maintain that high quality of life” we’ve come to enjoy, Barker said.

Wisconsin Sec. of Commerce Richard Leinenkugel told the same gathering that Wisconsin has the potential to become the leading manufacturer of wind turbine technology.

Scholars Inducted into Phi Theta Kappa

Linda Tetzlaff, a regional coordinator of Phi Theta Kappa, officially inducted CVTC into Phi Theta Kappa recently. CVTC President Bruce Barker sought college membership in the academic honor society.

“Work like you don’t need the money. Love like you’re unafraid of getting hurt. And dance like nobody’s watching,” was part of the advice offered to the 58 scholars inducted into Phi Theta Kappa in late October at CVTC’s auditorium on the Clairemont campus.
Linda Tetzlaff, a regional coordinator for the national academic honor society, offered the advice to CVTC’s new Beta Rho Omega chapter. Tetzlaff is an instructor at Normandale Community College in Minnesota.
“We are making some history today,” said CVTC President Bruce Barker, an initiator of the effort to bring PTK to campus. “This is the gold standard,” Barker said.
Two million students past and current belong to PTK. There are 1,300 chapters in the U.S. Scholarship is not the sole value of the organization, Retzlaff said. Leadership, service and fellowship are part of the mix too.
Bob Brown and Tammy Stone are faculty advisers. Student Life Specialist and Phi Theta Kappa administrative adviser, Alisa Hoepner, organized the event.

Chamber Breakfast Told of Economies, Other Benefits with “Steps to Success”

The costs incurred when up to half of all two-year college students leave prior to graduation is staggering, but can be significantly reduced, Vice President of Student Services Margo Keys told a CVTC- Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce breakfast recently.

The fall breakfast is an annual event showcasing CVTC.

Keys told Chamber members that there are great savings possible if CVTC can meet the challenge of reducing premature student departures.

Keys and others at CVTC have developed the Steps to Success program that they believe will be “proactive and provide timely assessment, more targeted preparation—and critically—an early alert system for students showing academic or other stress.” The considerable effort, Keys predicts, will save students from floundering for lack of direction or preparation.

Proactive WAT Grants Boost Business, CVTC Provides Training

With three corporations—3M, Cardinal FG and ConAgra-taking part, a grant from the State of Wisconsin is paying half the expense of training and re-training workers, and CVTC is coordinating the job-creating effort.

A former dental lab at the Menomonie campus was converted to a Business & Industry training lab, and it’s the location for the customized training.

All three corporations have Menomonie locations and that’s important, says Doug Olson, who directs business and industry training for CVTC. The nearby location of the training reduces travel time for the employees and that goes right to any measurement of productivity, he says.

Olson points to ConAgra’s pudding line expansion—with 30 skilled employees required—as the sort of economic growth effort WAT grants are intended to aid.

The electromechanical and industrial mechanics training is delivered by veteran instructors Tim Tewalt, Jon Brutlag and Jim Kroehn. Roxann Vanderwyst coordinates the effort as the manager of the Menomonie Campus.

Half of the expense is paid by the state of Wisconsin’s acclaimed Workforce Advancement Training grants. Long before there was any mention of stimulus money, WAT grants were employed in the state for projects that increase wages, foster business productivity and advance economic development.

Almost 3,000 workers and students in the 11 counties served by CVTC received training funded in part by WAT grants in 2008-2009, according to Olson. To that training, the WAT grants contributed more than $123,500. The balance is funded by the businesses.

Newsletter Distribution: Bev Hilton and Candy Johnson