2011-12
Activity Plan and Budget
Milwaukee Area Technical College District
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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MILWAUKEEAREATechnicalCollege
June 28, 2011
To the Taxpayers of Milwaukee Area Technical College District
Since its founding in 1912 as a “continuation school” for the “forgotten children” of our
city, Milwaukee Area Technical College has proudly met the educational and training
needs of district residents and regional businesses. Despite the recent recession, we
at MATC continue to welcome the record numbers of students who see technical
education as a means to a better life for themselves and their families. Through highquality programs based on industry-certified skill sets, MATC meets the needs of
employers while enriching, empowering, and transforming lives in our community.
This FY2011-2012 budget demonstrates our commitment to maintaining our national
status as a premier technical college. To ensure our transparency and accountability
to the taxpayers of our district, we have prepared an activity plan and budget for the
July 1, 2011, to June 30, 2012, fiscal year.
Background
MATC is 1 of 16 technical colleges that compose the Wisconsin Technical College
System (WTCS). Unlike other community colleges across the nation, the WTCS
focuses on technical skills programs. Each college offers a broad portfolio of
associate degrees, technical diplomas, apprenticeship opportunities, and certificates
in an array of career areas, trades, and industries. Each technical college in the
WTCS also offers academic programs to complement the training needs of the
employers and residents in its district.
Within the technical college system in Wisconsin, MATC is the largest college with
the most programs. One out of every five students in the WTCS attends MATC.
MATC served 47,270 students last year; included in that number were over 4,200
students with baccalaureate degrees.
Downtown Milwaukee Campus
700 West State Street
Milwaukee, WI 53233-1443
Mequon Campus
5555 West Highland Road
Mequon, WI 53092-1143
Oak Creek Campus
6665 South Howell Avenue
Oak Creek, WI 53154-1107
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West Allis Campus
1200 South 71st Street
West Allis, WI 53214-3110
MATC.edu
414-297-MATC
MATC is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution and complies with all requirements of the Americans With Disabilities Act
Context
To fulfill its multi-layered mission by state statute, MATC provides a broad spectrum
of offerings to meet the complex needs of Milwaukee area employers and residents.
MATC offers 200+ degree, diploma, certificate, and apprentice programs, more
than any other Wisconsin Technical College.
MATC offers the largest non-postsecondary program in Wisconsin through its PreCollege Education Division. This division provides an opportunity for individuals
who did not complete high school to earn a General Educational Development
(GED) Certificate or attend MATC’s Adult High School. During FY2009-2010,
1,346 completed GED/HSED training, and MATC had more than 1,500 students
enrolled in high school coursework.
In addition, 2,976 students attended MATC in FY2009-2010 to improve their
English proficiency through English as a Second Language courses, a program
which has been a part of MATC’s heritage since the college’s inception.
Through the Office of Workforce and Economic Development, MATC provides
customized workplace training for employers and their workers.
The MATC District Board is the license holder for Milwaukee Public Television,
Channels 10 and 36. MPTV has launched a number of award winning shows
focused on the history of greater Milwaukee and current social issues.
Significant Accomplishments
The college has an impressive list of recent accomplishments. A sample of these
successes includes:
Seven of eight MATC graduates find jobs within six months of graduation or
continue their education at four-year colleges.
98% of MATC graduates work in Wisconsin, avoiding the “brain drain” common in
other states.
96% of MATC graduates indicate on surveys that they are satisfied or very
satisfied with the training and education they received.
2,588 students were awarded associate degrees, technical diplomas, certificates,
and apprenticeships.
We have expanded technical diplomas, associate degrees and certificates in new
and emerging occupational areas, such as Human Resources, Food Production,
Quality Technician, Environmental Studies, E-Production and Health Information
Technology.
We continue to expand career pathways for programs, especially from PreCollege to occupational divisions in Office Technology, Culinary, and
Environmental Studies.
We were selected as one of 120 institutions vying for the Aspen Prize for
Community College Excellence. The college was selected for demonstrating
strong outcomes in three areas of student success:
• student success in persistence and completion
• consistent improvement in outcomes over time
• equity in outcomes for students of all racial and socioeconomic backgrounds.
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We have committed to increase our graduation rates by 50 percent by 2020 as
part of President Obama’s national graduation completion initiative (The
Completion Challenge).
We were selected as one of 40 colleges nationally to participate in the national
Voluntary Framework of Accountability to develop standardized measures of
student outcomes.
We have continued to expand high school and four-year articulation agreements.
Fiscal Context
Our national recognition as a premier technical college could not have been achieved
or sustained without the support of Milwaukee area property taxpayers. In FY20102011, property tax revenue comprised 56 percent of our total support. State aid
comprised 10 percent. Student tuition, set by the Wisconsin Technical College
System state-wide, represented 10 percent. The technical colleges have historically
held tuition lower than the universities in the state in an effort to continue to provide
affordable higher education opportunities for its citizens. Given these contextual
variables, the local taxpayers have provided MATC with the greatest portion of
financial support; and they should be recognized and applauded for their investment
in our continued success.
The FY2011-2012 budget presented the MATC District Board, the administration, the
faculty, and the staff with significant financial challenges. On the revenue side, the
WTCS Board increased tuition 5.5 percent. However, state aid for the WTCS was
reduced by 30 percent in the FY2011-2013 budget, resulting in a loss of $7.4 million
this year. Equalized property values in the Milwaukee area are expected to decline.
Because of these reductions in revenue, we clearly had to reduce our overall
operating expenses for FY2011-2012.
Given the context of shrinking resources at the state and local levels, the leadership
team and the MATC District Board, working with our five local unions, developed a
number of strategies for FY2011-2012 that both increase other revenue and
simultaneously reduce on-going expenditures. Among them were:
Increased grant production and grant awards that allow the college to offset
salaries and receive indirect cost reimbursement.
Increased support for public television via the MPTV Friends.
Increased funding due to enrollment growth.
Improved energy savings through conservation and renewable initiatives.
Improved use of capital funds to cover operational costs associated with the
design and development of capital projects.
Reduced healthcare and pension costs via new union contracts that provided for
more cost sharing by employee groups.
Healthcare plan redesign to reduce the overall cost of health care for all
employees.
Reduced personnel costs via frozen positions and administrative reorganizations.
Reduced part time, temporary, and overtime personnel costs.
Increased efficiencies in operational processes.
Reduced printing costs by implementing “pay for print” model for students.
Reduced travel and other discretionary budgets.
Use of available fund balance in excess of targeted fund balance goal.
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Given the above changes, we are projecting an ending fund balance of 12.93
percent, well within the board’s established range of 10-15 percent of revenues. We
anticipate we will continue to maintain our Moody’s bond rating of Aa1.
Continuing Commitment to Improvement
To continue to improve MATC, a number of initiatives will be launched or
strengthened during FY2011-2012:
The College Completion Challenge will be launched to ensure we improve our
graduation rates by 50 percent in this decade.
Academic programs will continue to be monitored to ensure quality, vitality, and
relevance to the needs of employers via our Quality Review process.
A greater emphasis will be placed on the basic skills employers require, especially
mathematics for welding and manufacturing careers.
In response to the M7 emphases, we will be developing and expanding Food
Science programs and certificates, water quality course development, and
manufacturing program site expansion, especially in Welding and Machine Tool.
We will submit our application for the Wisconsin state quality award (Wisconsin
Forward) to ensure continuous improvement.
We will be ensuring improved student success in graduation, transfer, and jobs
through new retention and intervention initiatives.
We will be enhancing our fundraising capacity to ensure we can continue to
support the financial needs of our students.
We take our fiduciary responsibility to district taxpayers very seriously. As a board
and as an administration, we view ourselves as stewards of the public trust. We firmly
believe the goals, strategies, and financial plan summaries on the following pages
fulfill MATC’s commitment to provide high-quality technical educational programming
and services.
Your participation in our planning processes and suggestions for improving MATC
are critical to our success.
Respectfully submitted,
Melanie C. Holmes
Chairperson
MATC District Board
Michael L. Burke, Ph.D.
President
Milwaukee Area Technical College
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