WTCS President Touts Value of Tech Colleges

Visit to campus is part of Tour of Excellence around state

Monday, May 6, 2024 | By: Daley-Hinkens, Carmelyn M

[Pictured L to R: Associate Dean Cory McKone, Dr. Jennifer Lanter, Dr. Morna Foy, Dr. Chris Matheny]

While visiting the college as part of her “Tour of Excellence,” Wisconsin Technical College System President Dr. Morna Foy weighed in on how the state’s technical college system is focused on flexibility to accommodate the changing demands of students.

Dr. Foy stopped at FVTC as part of a project to visit all 16 WTCS campuses during the 2023-24 academic year. As part of her tour of the Public Safety Training Center, she met students and faculty and dug into some real hands-on training exercises as part of a Women in Public Safety event happening at the PSTC during her visit.

Dr. Foy was asked to reflect on some of the challenges in higher education and how the WTCS is trying to navigate them. Dr. Foy says the system is financially stable, but funding is always a concern as WTCS is already stretching resources to meet the increasing demand for services.

"We want to do more dual enrollment, most of which is provided completely free of charge to high schools and families," Dr. Foy said. "We want to do more customized training or work-based situated training which means faculty going out into businesses and industry. We want to do more of this type of training for our local law enforcement agencies and there's just a limit to our capacity without new investments."