Welcome back, students!
I hope you had time to relax, regroup and recharge yourselves as we enter our spring semester, though it felt more like spring one month ago when daytime temperatures were consistently above 40 degrees and there was no snow on the ground.
While you’ve only been away for a few weeks, there have been some exciting things happening at Madison College. Some of these changes are subtle, others not so much.
Among the quiet changes that have taken place since the beginning of winter break is the turn to a New Year – and the 100th anniversary of our campus. Many special events are planned throughout the coming months to mark this momentous occasion, and we’ll be sure to keep you informed of them so you can be part of this historic celebration, appropriately themed “Honor the Past. Imagine the Future.” In keeping with this theme, we have returned to calling our centers “schools” to more accurately reflect the learning that takes place in each and to make them more understandable to our students – and to other internal and external audiences. Effective immediately, Madison College now has nine schools:
• School of Agriscience and Technology
• School of Applied Technology
• School of Arts and Sciences
• School of Business and Applied Arts
• School of Health Education
• School of Human and Protective Services
• School of Academic Advancement
• School of Online and Accelerated Learning
• School of Community and Corporate Learning
No more acronyms! Perhaps the most conspicuous change – check that, changes– taking place on our campus is the construction of new and remodeled facilities. You can see a 130-foot crane, bedecked with a Madison College flag (an impressive sight on windy days), from miles away. But as you approach the college you’ll get a true sense of the progress that’s being made every day.
The sound of heavy machinery and the sight of multi-story mechanical hoists putting steel beams and cement walls into place are evidence of how quickly things are coming together. By midsummer, we’ll have a new address on Wright Street where the Gateway Center, our new “front door,” is being con- structed. Watch for details.
To be sure, much is changing at Madison College. But through 100 years, one thing remains constant: the shared commitment of our faculty, staff, shared governance groups and board of directors to make every decision with the best interest of our students in mind. While new and remodeled buildings represent our future, it is the teaching and learning that takes place in these facilities that will add to the richness of our region.
Best wishes for a great semester.