President Dr. Chris Matheny joins WHBY's Focus on Careers with Hayley Tenpas to discuss enrollment trends, new programs at the college, what employers seek in graduates and the intriguing question of how the college is adapting to the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the classroom.

Dr. Matheny shares that FVTC is constantly evolving to offer flexible learning options for both traditional and non-traditional students. He emphasizes partnerships with local employers like Miron Construction, and revitalizing learning spaces for programs such as Culinary Arts and Construction Management Technolgy. 

 

Tap the video to listen to the interview or scroll down to read the transcript.

 

 

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Tenpas: The start of a series that I enjoy so much, is our Focus on Careers. We bring in Fox Valley Technical College to talk about careers of promise. We will be doing it all school year long, but to kick start the series Focus on Careers, we have the president of Fox Valley Technical College, Doctor Chris Matheny, with us to give us some insight into how the school year is going so far. Chris, good to see you.

Matheny: Good morning, Haley. Good to be with you.

Tenpas: Good morning. All right, back to school. I know we sent our 7 and 4-year-olds off to school last week. Kids a little older than that, of course, starting at Fox Valley Tech. What have those first couple of weeks looked like for you and your team?

Matheny: Oh, they have been great. Every year since we have come back from the pandemic, we have just seen increasing enrollments. Students are interested in the kind of work that we do to help people change their career trajectories and change their lives for the better in this community.

Tenpas: I am seeing some numbers here, enrollment is up almost 3% year over year, and you are building on a 4% enrollment increase from the year prior. That is fantastic.

Matheny: It is fantastic. Really what is fantastic about that is it means that we are putting skilled workforce into our communities in many areas that really need it.

Tenpas: More than 200 students, a couple of highlights here. The Associate of Arts or Associate of Science program brings some transfer agreement opportunities. You are not only partnering here with Fox Valley Tech, but you are getting students out into the UW system as well.

Matheny: Absolutely. I think one of the things that we have heard a lot from our students over the years that we have been doing this work is that we need more transfer options. Students who want to get an associate's degree and then go to work for a few years as they are advancing in their careers have opportunities to transfer. We have been working at that for a very long time to give our students that opportunity and our discipline and occupational areas. With the cooperation of our UW partners, we will have the opportunity for them to transfer the first two years of a baccalaureate degree.

Tenpas: Excellent. What about new programs? Any of those you want to highlight?

Matheny: We are always working on new programs. I would highlight for you the Aviation Management Program that we have been working on. We have one that is near and dear to your heart, I am sure, which is Precision Agriculture. We are constantly adding new programs to meet the needs of employers and the communities that we serve.

Tenpas: No secret to the listeners, but something I will mention proudly, my parents, both are Fox Valley Tech alum and my dad I think is back teaching a course this fall.

Matheny: I am sure he is. We are happy to have him on campus all the time.

Tenpas: Absolutely. I thought this was interesting too. In case you are curious, listeners, the programs that have seen the greatest growth are transportation, agriculture, health, and general studies. So those Gen Eds, I would imagine.

Matheny: Yes, and that's part of our Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees that you mentioned a bit earlier. Many students are coming to try and find their way. Not all of us knew what we wanted to do exactly at 18, 28 or 38. For individuals who are just making this first foray into higher education, taking those general education courses as a baseline for what they want to do in the future and doing some exploration and getting their feet wet is a good opportunity.

Tenpas: I would imagine the employer that we're at right here today, Miron Construction, might see a couple of Fox Valley Tech students once in a while.

Matheny: Miron has been a great partner in many, obviously a big player in the community, and we work with Miron on not only looking at what their workforce needs are but what the workforce needs of the future look like as our construction management partner. They come in and help us design the learning spaces and put together attractive spaces for students to learn and grow.

Tenpas: Everyone is connected here today. That is what you are going to find out, that is the secret here. All right, I know the nontraditional student comes to mind as well. We are seeing students coming fresh out of high school, but there are nontraditional students coming back to the classroom, maybe futherning their education. What are you seeing when it comes to that trend?

Matheny: I think a lot more of what we have been seeing almost the entire time at Fox Valley Tech has been in existence. The average age of our students is about 28, so if there are adults out there and you are listening, you are thinking about how to advance your career or what is next for you. Fox Valley Tech is certainly a place where students graduating and coming from high school can go. There are an awful lot of faces around our hallways that I have to stop and scratch my head and say, are you a student or staff member? Or are you a community member here for an event? That is one of the things I love about the college, I can walk around, and everybody is in this peer group. It is a comfortable place for people to learn.

Tenpas: Wow. I love that because people come from all different backgrounds and education can connect us all.

Matheny: Absolutely.

Tenpas: When it comes to some other changes in current students or preferences that you are hearing from them, what do they want the college experience to look like at Fox Valley Tech?

Matheny: It differs based on the student we are talking about. In general, we are seeing a lot of students in this economy where unemployment continues to be at historic lows. Students need flexibility, and a lot of students are taking advantage of our online offerings, our evening and flexible offerings, hybrid offerings, and having the option to do education that fits into their lives and not having to fit education around everything else. And lots of part-time students, those adult students who may be thinking college is not for me. We have part-time options available in almost every one of our programs.

Tenpas: I know one assumption that I have made is that students have a 2 to 4year plan for graduation. And that is not the case, you can sometimes shorten or accelerate those programs to get folks into the workforce a lot quicker.

Matheny: Yes, absolutely. Those short-term offerings are becoming more and more popular. I think what we are finding with both students and employers is they want skills right now, skills that they can put in place in the workforce and use to earn more money or earn that promotion. That does not always mean that they need to earn the entire degree. I encourage students to figure out ways to continue and we are working hard to be able to do that with our students so that they do not have to choose between school and work. They can do both and put those skills that they are learning in the classroom, in our laboratories, right to work and benefit themselves and their employers.

Tenpas: We are talking with Doctor Chris Matheny here today, President at Fox Valley Technical College, continuing our Focus on Careers segment. About every other week we are going to highlight a different career promise. When you hear career promise, what comes to mind for you, Chris?

Matheny: Open up our catalog, I think you could take a look. There is not a week or a day that goes by that I do not get a call or have an interaction with some employer who says, you know, we could really use more. In fact, I was sitting in the dental hygienist chair Tuesday and my dentist came in and said, hey, what are you doing for dental hygiene, what does the program look like? And I said, well, funny you should ask, we are expanding. That is the case whether I go to my auto mechanic, my dentist, my physician, or wherever across the valley. We need more people.

Tenpas: All right. We are going to take a quick pause, when we come back, more of the big happenings at Fox Valley Tech and Artificial intelligence. We will talk about that with Fox Valley Tech and our Focus on Careers after this. WHBY is broadcasting live today from Miron Construction. Once again welcome back to Focus Fox Valley, still to come here on the show we are going to highlight a little from Miron Construction. We are going to talk further about some of their amazing efforts when it comes to wellness, and we will have their wellness coordinator joining us. It will tie back into United Way, and we will hear why Meredith gives to United Way. Coming up we have Fox Valley Tech with us right now, and it is our Focus on Careers segment. Doctor Chris Matheny, President of Fox Valley Technical College, is joining us. I know every year you look to grow and add a little sparkle to campus, some new programs, or big happenings. What are you most excited about? What should listeners know about what is happening at Fox Valley Tech?

Matheny: As you mentioned, we are always looking to add a little pizzazz to our campus. We work hard to make sure that our equipment and facilities are up-to-date and reflective of what is necessary in the industry for students to learn state-of-the-art technology. We have done that in a couple of areas, as I mentioned to you at the break, we are revitalizing our culinary spaces. Our Culinary Program, which has a fantastic reputation in the community, is going to have new baking, meat ID, demonstration kitchen spaces and classroom spaces to teach the next generation of culinary and hospitality students. Related to Miron Construction, we have a new construction management training site that is opening in Oshkosh for training our Construction Management students. I have called it kind of the big erector set, I am not sure that it is the right terminology, in fact, I am pretty sure it is not. But it gives our students a chance to work in the field on an actual construction site, putting up and taking down buildings, so that when they come to places like Miron, they are prepared to manage a real construction site.

Tenpas: That is very cool, I am thinking of a Lego set on steroids.

Matheny: Yes, exactly. Although I am sure I will get some feedback from our Construction Management folks about whether that is right. We are having a great time doing those kinds of things.

Tenpas: Excellent. I know Chef Jeff has mentioned how excited he is for the expansion and the work being done in that Culinary Arts Program. We will talk about that another time when Chef Jeff joins us.

Matheny: We will have you out in the kitchen.

Tenpas: I would love to. Someone I love very much also works in those areas, shout out to my mom. Today is a great example your role gets you out connecting and working in the community, and you are on the board of the New North.

Matheny: I am, yes.

Tenpas: How has that been for you?

Matheny: It is a great example. One of the things that I love about being in this area and being a part of this community is that everything is connected. I can walk anywhere in this community and start to think about an idea, and I run into the person who can help make it happen. That is a form of both giving from a Fox Valley Tech standpoint and then understanding what the resources are so that we can link our communities together in the New North and make this a better place to work, live and play.

Tenpas: Well, being on that board also probably gives you an amazing connection with leaders at different businesses across the area, but you are also hearing their concerns, challenges, and areas we might need to work on just a bit. How do you factor that in?

Matheny: We are taking feedback from our employer partners all the time about how we get better at preparing the workforce and the students for what they need to be successful in their careers. You are absolutely right; we are taking that feedback. You know, it is more of an iterative process than a revolutionary process. The AG Programs, Welding Programs, Culinary Programs and Cosmetology Programs do not look anything like they did five years ago because of the influence of our employers. We have advisory committees for every one of our degree and diploma programs, and we meet with those folks 2 to 3 times a year for them to give us the state of the art and what is going on in the industry. Then we are taking that and making curricular changes, buying new equipment, and updating our labs and teaching methods regularly to meet those needs.

Tenpas: How many updates are you making? I am imagining the curriculum probably ever evolving every single year to keep up with what is happening out there.

Matheny: Yes, you can imagine. You mentioned IT and AI before the break, and you know, those curricular changes do not happen every month, they happen daily. We employ faculty who come from industry. They are experts in their fields, and they are continuing to be connected to their industry, both from their own experience and then through our work with employers and advisory committees. In a case like this, that curriculum is getting updated and rewritten literally on the fly so that we can give our students the best possible experience.

Tenpas: Well, we have to shout out Carmelyn for putting some of these questions together and helping with some points because she brought up artificial intelligence, and I know how I feel about it. I am on the fence a little bit; I do not want my voice to be recreated. That is how I feel, but how is Fox Valley Tech responding to AI? Maybe in the classroom for training, because I can see this on the other side, being an amazing tool in many circumstances to help create different strategies and tactics for students. What is your take on it?

Matheny: We could do a whole day on AI and then probably be wrong about that tomorrow. We have embraced AI in the fact that it is going to be used in our industry. It is already getting used in the industries around us, whether that's healthcare, construction, business disciplines or IT, it is there. Our students are using it, and we need to keep up with what it is that students are doing. I have had experiences where it is going to be a wonderful teaching tool. I had an experience with my children in which they asked me if I could help them do quadratic equations, and I said I didn't like them when I was in high school, and I'm not sure I could do them now, but we went on to ChatGPT and asked about how to do quadratics. It was a good experience, like any technology, it must be appropriately applied. We are working on projects that will look at how we do this in a Communications Skills course and what this means for IT programmers. And making sure that you are not just trusting what is coming out of the large language model or the artificial intelligence, and that our faculty are literate and that our students are literate in AI so that they can use the tool appropriately. That has been our focus on the academic side.

Tenpas: I appreciate that insight. On a personal note, I used ChatGPT to coordinate a grocery list and recipes from my home. So, there's pros and cons.

Matheny: Absolutely, and you are not putting the genie back in the bottle at this point. We are going to have to figure out if you love or are scared of technology and how to integrate it into our daily lives, and our students are going to need that competency as well.

Tenpas: Doctor Chris Matheny is joining us here today, President of Fox Valley Technical College. Believe it or not, you have several weeks under your belt already with the start of the school year. We are looking to October for the next academic start date, but there are a few open houses we want to talk about, too. If people are curious about the campus and want to sniff around and see what it looks like.

Matheny: Yes, anybody who is interested in thinking about whether it is now or sometime in the future for themselves, for a child, grandchild, or a neighbor, I would invite them out on October 8th to our annual Fall Open House that takes place on all of our campuses and locations from 3 to 7. We encourage you to come, check out, and walk around your technical college, your college, and find out what it is like to be a welder or a machinist, or what it is like to climb up in a semi-truck or jump in a combine. We will have all those things available at the Open House. We will have our faculty and student services staff available to talk about how to access the college, how to pay for college, and what a route through Fox Valley Tech might look like for that individual.

Tenpas: Excellent, and if you have not been on campus in a while, you will be blown away byall the changes and the things that have taken place.

Matheny: Absolutely. We are happy to have people come out, look, and show the place off.

Tenpas: All right, final question for you. What are you most looking forward to when it comes to this academic year?

Matheny: What I most look forward to is getting students across the stage and the credentials in their hands, and then out into the workforce. I love to hear the stories of our students and the life-changing impact that education can have on them. I get the opportunity to do that every day, but it all comes to a crescendo on December 13th.

Tenpas: Fantastic. Doctor Chris Matheny, thank you so much for kick-starting Focus on Careers. We will hand the baton off to some of your amazing staff members in the coming weeks and months. Thank you for being here today.

Matheny: My pleasure, thanks.

Tenpas: If you are curious to learn more about the offerings of Fox Valley Technical College, visit www.fvtc.edu.