LTE – Terry Nichols – 2-26-2020
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Talk about mission creep of our tech college system. If I told you that Nicolet College in Rhinelander WI. has special agreements with Southwest Technical College in Fennimore Wi, and Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College in Rice Lake relating to two-year General Education, Associate Degrees in Science would you find that alarming? I find it completely unfair and against the Technical College Statutes. The advancement in technology relating to online learning and multiple delivery methods we have today has made these 16 tech district’s physical boundaries in Wisconsin meaningless except for taxation purposes. When I found out about this some years ago, I immediately went to the main Technical College Board in Madison and asked if they had to approve these arrangements. My answer was that these agreements are between tech college districts and they have no say in this. Southwest Tech and WITC both market these programs as cheaper than the UW System saving students money. Keep in mind that Chippewa Valley Tech has been doing this for years. When a student applies for this program, they must sign Nicolet College agreements as basically they are Nicolet students. So, you have Nicolet College Students at Southwest Technical College located in Fennimore, Wi. Geographically you can’t get further apart in this state. The original tech college statutes only allowed these degrees for Madison Technical College, Milwaukee Technical College, and Nicolet College out of Rhinelander because Nicolet didn’t have two-year or four-year university nearby. Recently I read in the Dunn County News that Chippewa Valley Technical College now has an agreement with the “U” of Madison. CVTC’s Associate Degrees in Science will transfer to Madison. Because of all this mission creep of the Tech College System (TCS), it’s now time to move the funding of the TCS to the state level like the UW System. They, too, need direct elected representation by the Governor and Legislature like the UW System. It’s time to reign in the sacred cow of public higher education in this state. Local property taxes in this state are out of control.
Terry Nichols
Colfax, WI