Fox Valley Technical College Focus Magazine Fall 2008

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focus Fox Valley Technical College

volume 1, issue 2 • fall 2008

your future

World Class

Ryan Guthrie has used his FVTC Automated Manufacturing Systems degree to build a career as a global robotics expert

inside: >

Energize your career with new energy industry training

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How FVTC helped an entrepreneur find a recipe for success

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Hot job opportunities in the printing industry’s fastest-growing sector

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contents

ON THE COVER: Automated Manufacturing Systems graduate Ryan Guthrie; photo by Dave Kaphingst.

Focus is published bi-annually for the communities of Fox Valley Technical College.

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World Class Life is good for Ryan Guthrie. In the last three years, the FVTC grad has found his niche, traveling the world and establishing himself as an indemand robotics expert—and he’s only getting started.

A Difference-Maker After training at FVTC’s Law Enforcement Recruit Academy, Miriam Roskam has fulfilled her dream of becoming a police officer— and is loving every minute of it.

Fresh Start Wendy Eick found a promising new career path and a powerful sense of self-confidence in FVTC’s Package and Label Printing program.

in every issue

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FVTC 2 Around A quick look at what’s new at FVTC, including the new energy training partnership.

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Focus on Workplace Training The Ariens Co. has discovered that FVTC’s custom training programs are a powerful way to ensure that its employees are prepared for tomorrow’s business challenges.

Focus on the Entrepreneur For David Lindenstruth, FVTC’s Venture Center has helped provide the recipe for his entrepreneurial plans.

Focus on Alumni Waukesha native Ryan Ellenson is flying regional jets for Air Wisconsin Airlines Corp. in and out of some of the country’s busiest airports.

Focus on the Foundation For the Bemis Company Foundation, an investment in FVTC scholarships is an investment in the future of its parent company.

Focus on Student Life A Marketing program project provides students with on-the-job learning and valuable business skills. Also, an annual spring break trip offers a respite from gray skies and the chance to soak up some lasting lessons.

EXECUTIVE EDITOR/MANAGER OF PUBLIC RELATIONS Chris Jossart CUSTOM PUBLISHING SERVICES The Coghlan Group EDITOR Chris Mikko ART DIRECTOR Amy Bjellos CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Phil Bolsta, Sara Gilbert, Dan Heilman, Evelyn Cottle Raedler, Vicki Stavig PHOTOGRAPHY Gary Brilowski, Gary Gawinski, Dave Kaphingst, Patrick Kelly DIRECTOR OF MARKETING Barb Dreger

PRESIDENT Dr. Susan A. May

Fox Valley Technical College 1825 N. Bluemound Dr. P.O. Box 2277 Appleton, WI 54912-2277 1-800-735-3882 TTY (hearing impaired) (920) 993-5106 www.fvtc.edu jossart@fvtc.edu (e-mail inquiries)

welcome

Fox Valley Technical College is accredited

by The Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

I’m proud to be the one to welcome you to Fox Valley Technical College! It’s a great place to learn because the instructors really care about me personally—I’m not just a number here. Plus, I can apply what I’m learning right away as a student teacher in the on-site day care, so I know I’ll be a great teacher when I graduate!

FVTC offers more than 200 associate degree, technical diploma and certificate programs, and instruction related to 20 apprenticeship trades, in addition to providing services to business and industry. Annually, the college serves about 50,000 people throughout its five-county district.

Lucy Echeverria FVTC student, Early Childhood Education © 2008 Fox Valley Technical College.

All rights reserved.

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aroundfvtc New College President Named FVTC’s Board of Trustees has named Dr. Susan A. May as the college’s new president.

May, who started her tenure as president on July 1, replaced the retired Dr. David Buettner, who had served as president since 2002.

May, who previously held the position of FVTC’s executive vice president and chief academic officer, began her career at the college in 1983 as an adult continuing education specialist and subsequently served in roles as manager, dean, and vice president. “It is truly an honor to be selected as the next president of this dynamic organization,” she says.

“Technical education is critically important to this region’s employers and economy, and FVTC represents great opportunities for students of all kinds. It’s a privilege to lead a very talented and dedicated group of faculty and staff.”

May earned the 2008 Athena Award from the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce & Industry for her exemplary business and leadership skills and commitment to community involvement. Her academic credentials include a Bachelor’s degree in Education and a Master’s degree in Vocational Education Administration, both from the University of Wisconsin-Stout. She earned her doctorate in Vocational, Technical and Occupational Education from Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Dr. Susan A. May

New Partnership Addresses Energy Industry Labor Shortage A partnership between FVTC and Bismarck State College in North Dakota is designed to bring revitalized opportunities for careers in the energy industry. The two colleges are collaborating to meet the needs of highdemand energy careers in Wisconsin and upper Michigan.

According to the Public Service Commission’s Strategic Energy Report 2012, approximately 700 highly skilled workers will retire from Wisconsin utilities by 2010—and more than 1,300 will retire by 2015. In addition, increased consumer usage will continue to boost demand.

FVTC, the largest provider of business and industry contract training within the Wisconsin Technical College System, and Bismarck State College, designated in 2007 by the U.S. Department of Energy as the National Power Plant Operations Technology and Education Center, have established two new training offerings. Power Plant Technology training focuses on the operation of modern fossil fuel power plants, gas turbine facilities, water treatment facilities, or other facilities where steam and/or electricity are generated.

The second option, Process Plant Technology, will prepare students for careers in operating refineries, ethanol and petrochemical plants, and natural gas processing facilities.

For more information, visit www.fvtc.edu/energytraining.

Built for Speed A student project for a national competition raced to success during the Bonneville Salt Flats Racing Association’s annual World of Speed in Utah. During the three-day event in September, the modified 1986 Firebird twice ran 153 mph or better, The FVTC team and its modified 1986 Pontiac Firebird qualifying it for the association’s at Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats.

150 MPH Club.

FVTC Automotive Instructor Dave Sarna and several students and faculty members worked on the car for nearly a year, which also placed in the association’s 130 MPH Club. The students raised more than $6,000 to modify the car and prepare it for the competition.

For more information, visit www.fvtc.edu/automotive.

Technology Meets the Future at GirlTech Camp Working with robots and designing colorful Web pages brought new meaning to summer fun for girls entering the sixth through eighth grades last July at FVTC’s first-ever GirlTech Camp. Designed to enhance the exposure of technology programs to females, the camp quickly filled to capacity, and the participants engaged in several hands-on activities, including robotics programming, computer programming and design, landscaping, welding, and more. The college plans to host GirlTech again in 2009.

For more information, visit www.fvtc.edu/girltech.

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Fox Valley Technical College

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News Briefs Aiding Industrial Growth in Waupaca The Waupaca area workforce received a boost thanks to a $30,000 contribution from the Waupaca Industrial Development Corp. (WIDC) to the Fox Valley Technical College Foundation in support of the college’s business growth initiatives. The funds are intended to spur industrial development in the greater Waupaca region by helping offset costs for companies in need of customized training.

Pictured during a recent check presentation to commemorate WIDC’s investment in workforce training are, from left: Paul Shrode, manager of FVTC’s Waupaca and Wautoma Regional Centers; Waupaca resident and WIDC committee member Rick Johnson; and Chris Matheny, FVTC’s vice president of Student and Community Development.

30-Year Training Milestones Firebird

The 2008-09 academic year marks the 30th anniversary of two successful programs.

Since 1978, the Dental Assistant program has witnessed about a 97% employment rate for approximately 1,200 graduates. Guided by licensed instructors, clinical dentists, and recognition by the American Dental Association Commission of Accreditation, students gain hands-on experience in the college’s state-of-the-art lab and through “real life” clinical settings. Graduates are immediately eligible for the Dental Assistant National Certification Examination, and can transfer 10 credits into any dental hygiene program in Wisconsin.

The college’s Cooperative Association of States for Scholarships (CASS) program celebrates three decades of empowering nearly 350 students from Central America with personal, academic, and technical skills. Upon graduation, CASS students return home to make positive contributions to the development of their countries, nurtured through relationships with host families, other students at FVTC, instructors, and engagement in community activities.

• Agriculture Department Chair and Instructor Randy Tenpas received an award for 25 years of service with Wisconsin Association of Agricultural Educators (WAAE). Faculty members Dale Drees, Outdoor Power Equipment (OPE) lead instructor (below, left), and Dave Gerlach, Agriculture instructor (right), also were recognized during a WAAE conference in Madison.

Drees accepted an award on behalf of FVTC’s OPE program for acknowledgement as the Outstanding Post-Secondary Program. Gerlach won this year’s Outstanding PostSecondary Instructor award.

• The National Academic Advising Association selected Kaye Krueger, Applied Engineering Technologies instructor (right), as a 2008 Outstanding Advising Certificate of Merit recipient in the Faculty Academic Advising category. The category represents individuals whose primary responsibility is teaching, with a portion of their time providing academic advising services to students.

• A new book, You’re Not Alone: The Journey from Abduction to Empowerment, prepared by FVTC in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice, chronicles the experiences of five abduction survivors. The book, which was recently highlighted on the Oprah Winfrey Show, details the trauma behind each victim’s journey to safety and hope. It also includes the authors’ insights on personal safety. Free copies are available by calling (920) 735-5738.

• In August, FVTC’s Supply Chain Solutions team recorded its 1,000th APICS (Association for Operations Management) CPIM online course offering in less than six years through the college’s Lean Performance Center. The center offers customized lean processes training worldwide, and has helped small businesses to Fortune 500 companies improve systematic operations. APICS is the premier source of operations management knowledge on such topics as production, inventory, supply chain, materials management, purchasing, and logistics.

• In collaboration with partners of the Wautoma Welding Center, FVTC received a 2008 “Promising Practice” award from the Wisconsin PK-16 Leadership Council in October. The center provides welding instruction to high school students to improve their occupational and earning potential, and gives them the first step in an educational pathway to a career in welding.

Visit www.fvtc.edu/e-news to receive e-news updates from Fox Valley Technical College! focus

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on workplace training Partners in Progress The Ariens Co. has discovered that FVTC’s custom training programs are a powerful way to ensure that its employees are prepared for tomorrow’s business challenges.

By Vicki Stavig For 75 years, the Ariens Co. in Brillion has been manufacturing outdoor equipment that is sold around the globe—everything from snow blowers to mowers for golf and sports turf. The company employs about 1,200 people worldwide and has manufacturing facilities in Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Alabama, and parts operations in Indiana, Michigan, and Australia.

Along with that impressive growth in both products and locations came a need for training to ensure that Ariens’ employees maintained the skills necessary to drive the business and produce products of the highest quality.

The company recognized that in order to accomplish those goals, it would need to provide training specifically designed for its employees, particularly welders.

“People aren’t drawn into welding as much anymore, and we’re not a union company, so we don’t have an apprenticeship program to train them,” says Suzette Mitchell, Ariens’ manager of Human Resources. “We knew we would have to grow these workers within the company. We turned to FVTC, which has a good reputation, and a number of our standout welders earned their degrees there.”

Following an assessment led by FVTC to identify the type of training the company needed, Ariens began to put its employees through the Grow Your Own Welders program. “Eighty employees have gone through the training so far,” Mitchell says. “The training was conducted here and went very smoothly. We run three shifts, and the people at FVTC were very flexible in meeting our needs on each shift.”

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Ariens’ employees are also participating in FVTC’s Blueprint Reading training program, and the company is addressing other training initiatives as well. “Our focus is to increase the skill level of employees and the The Ariens Co. snow blower production line. quality of our products,” Mitchell Mitchell is pleased with the training says. “We have very talented people partnership Ariens formed with FVTC. who want to move up, and we want to “They made a point of understanding give them a career path. We’re investing our business needs and worked hard to in growing and retaining our own get grant funds to support some of this people.” training. The college is a good partner for us.”

Skill Building

FVTC also provides customized training for companies from the greater Fox Valley to abroad. “In 2007, we had $7.6 million in contract training and worked with 1,500 employers with enrollments of more than 22,000 employees,” says Mary Frozena, FVTC’s associate director of Business & Industry Services. “We work with organizations from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies to major government organizations.”

Training plans typically begin with an assessment of the company’s current needs, followed by a training program that is customized to meet immediate and future skill gaps. “We continue to reassess clients’ needs to see if they change,” Frozena says. “What they need today might not be what they need a year from now. With Ariens, for example, we customized training to meet its needs, but those needs are fluid and changing, so we are always making modifications and changing the program.”

FVTC conducts training either at the client’s site or on campus, and it does so at a time convenient for the client, even if it’s in the middle of the night. “We deliver around-the-clock training,” Frozena says, which is especially appealing to clients in the manufacturing industry that run three shifts.

Fox Valley Technical College

Helping Hands FVTC staff members also help clients write grant proposals to fund training programs. “Grant dollars are focused on employees,” says FVTC’s Mary Frozena, who recently wrote a proposal for a Workforce Advancement Training grant for a consortium of three local companies, including Ariens. “If we can keep employers local and viable, it adds to the economic vitality of the community.”

“The employers, as part of this consortium, support the 3,000 residents of Brillion,” Frozena adds.

“Both the organizations and workers understand it’s economically imperative to build skills to position the local companies for growth and success.”

FVTC’s Business & Industry team is the largest provider of contract training and related services within the Wisconsin Technical College System.

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For more information, visit www.fvtc.edu/bis.

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on the entrepreneur

Some Like it “HuHot” For David Lindenstruth, FVTC’s Venture Center has helped provide the recipe for his entrepreneurial plans.

By Vicki Stavig David Lindenstruth admits he’s a risk taker. That explains why, even though he had a good job and an engineering degree, he decided to venture into the restaurant business. Lindenstruth knew that buying a franchise would increase his chances of succeeding in the ultracompetitive industry and after identifying Asian food as a growing trend, he and his wife, Tracy, decided to open a HuHot Mongolian Grill in Appleton.

Lindenstruth also realized that he needed specific business training. “I did some research online and found a questionnaire on the Small Business Administration Web site,” he says. “I filled it out and the results showed I didn’t have the appropriate management or entrepreneurial experience, which would be a concern to lenders.”

Enter FVTC. After reading about the college’s E-Seed™ program, Lindenstruth enrolled. “It gave me enough of an overview to know what to expect and where to go for other resources,” he says. “One of the more valuable elements was networking with other students. We had entrepreneurs in all stages of business, from an idea written on a napkin to a few years of experience.”

E-Seed™ is a 15-week entrepreneurship training program run by the college’s Venture Center that helps start-up and early-stage entrepreneurs develop business management and planning tools. The training paid tangible results for Lindenstruth. By the end of the program, he had written his business plan and was moving forward.

“The next step was to take that plan to a lender and get financing,” he says. “One of the things I learned in the program was to approach three to five lenders. By doing that, I got my best loan offer from someone I probably wouldn’t have approached otherwise.”

Open for Business In February 2006, with financing in hand, Lindenstruth opened his first HuHot restaurant in a 5,500square-foot space in a new strip center in Appleton. By October, he quit his engineering job and began to manage the restaurant on a full-time basis.

In October 2007, Lindenstruth opened a second HuHot restaurant, this one in a 6,000-square-foot space in Green Bay. He and Tracy have since purchased the rights to five more HuHot restaurants and will open their third in Madison.

“Each of our restaurants serves 200,000 guests per year, and we now have 125 employees,” he says.

Lindenstruth adds that one key to his success has been a willingness to hone his entrepreneurial skills. With that in mind, he enrolled in FVTC’s Pro-Seed™ program, which combines online learning and one-to-one business coaching. “I went to an informational session, and it seemed to be what I was

David Lindenstruth

looking for,” he says. “Pro-Seed takes an existing business owner and deals with setting up systems and procedures, creating an infrastructure so the company can run smoothly.”

Lindenstruth credits E-Seed with getting him started on the right path and Pro-Seed with helping him expand.

“Writing a business plan can be pretty intense,” he says. “I can’t say enough about E-Seed and Pro-Seed and the help these programs provided me.”

Good to Grow How E-Seed and Pro-Seed can help turn your business dreams into reality.

FVTC’s Venture Center is designed to help entrepreneurs and small business owners start and expand their businesses through a diverse menu of programs. As was the case for David Lindenstruth, two of those programs—E-Seed and Pro-Seed—have been particularly beneficial.

“We’ve seen about 160 business launches and expansions as a result of E-Seed,” says Amy Pietsch, director of the Venture Center. “In 2007, we surveyed 50 of those businesses. They had collectively created more than 200 jobs, generated gross sales of more than $13.5 million, and invested more than $11 million in starting and growing their businesses.”

Pro-Seed is a blended training experience that includes an online curriculum developed by E-Myth®, a Santa Rosa, Calif., firm. In addition, Pro-Seed provides one-to-one business instruction and quarterly networking events. Pietsch notes the program is quickly gaining popularity with small business owners who want to identify and create systems that will expand their businesses.

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For more information on E-Seed, Pro-Seed and other Venture Center programs and offerings, visit www.venturecenterwi.biz.

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Class WORLD Life is good for Ryan Guthrie. In the last three years, the FVTC grad has found his niche, traveling the world and establishing himself as an in-demand robotics expert—and he’s only getting started.

By Phil Bolsta

After studying and working for nearly two years in Germany, FVTC grad Ryan Guthrie headed to London in September to start a new job for Toshiba Robotics as one of the company’s leading programmers in Europe. In fact, he was able to secure a work permit and visa in the United Kingdom because few people there can match his programming skills—not bad for a 23-year-old guy from Brillion, Wis., with a two-year associate degree.

Life has been a whirlwind for Guthrie since he graduated from FVTC in December 2005 with his degree in Automated Manufacturing Systems (AMS).

Seven months later, he headed for Germany to study abroad on a scholarship from the CongressBundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) for Young Professionals, a program made available through the college’s Global Education and Services division.

The 75 American participants start with two months of intensive German language training, followed by four months of classroom instruction at a German college, and then a fivemonth internship in their career field. “It’s more of a cultural exchange than a school exchange, as well as a chance to meet people in my profession,” Guthrie says.

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Ryan Guthrie, technical & application support engineer, TM Robotics (Europe) Ltd.

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Guthrie scored an internship at K-Robotix in Bremen, Germany, after placing a cold call to the company. He was invited for an interview and hired on the spot to do basic programming on Toshiba robots.

After five months at K-Robotix, Guthrie’s CBYX scholarship required him to return to the United States for an end-of-year seminar and debriefing in New York City. He returned to Germany to work for K-Robotix as a full-fledged employee on a nine-month contract. Fluent in German by this time, Guthrie worked in the field to help customers optimize the programming of their robotic systems by troubleshooting, editing, and rewriting code.

One Look is All it Took Guthrie credits his career path to luck and good timing. As a junior in high school, he toured FVTC with one of his classes. “I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do, so I signed up for the computer programming tour,” he recalls. “After touring the computer department, we had five extra minutes, so they walked us past the AMS lab. That five-minute visit sold me on the program.

It had everything I was looking for: computers, technology, and constant change. Plus, the automation market was the best new industry to get into because there was so much opportunity.”

His parents, both of whom are FVTC instructors, endorsed the idea. His father, Kevin, has taught in the General Motors Automotive Service Education program since 1998. His mother, Rose, has been an instructor in the Information Technology department since 1999. Ryan’s younger brother, Kyle, is studying Mechanical Design at FVTC. “I guess it runs in the family,” Guthrie laughs. “We’re all into engineering, computers, and using our hands to take things apart and put them back together.”

Indeed, the promise of hands-on learning was a huge attraction. “From the first day at FVTC, I was out in the lab physically working with the equipment,” Guthrie says. “I had wires in my hand. I was working with the computers. I was sold on the fact that I could do things As far as I’m from day one.” concerned, FVTC is That’s actually an understatement. Automation employs a unique combination of computers and electronics. The second to none in FVTC program touches on every aspect of industry.

Graduates work as AMS technicians who can install, keeping up with program, design, troubleshoot, and repair automated technology. systems.

Guthrie’s final project was a remarkable one. In his last semester, he teamed up with fellow students Ryan Vandehey Ryan Guthrie and Aaron Daane to design a completely automated blackjack-playing robot. “We built it as a recruitment tool for our program,” Guthrie says. “We wanted it to be portable so we could tour area high schools and tell students, ‘If you were to go to FVTC in the AMS program, look at the kind of things you could build.’”

As president of the AMS Club and a member of the college’s Student Ambassador recruitment program, Guthrie took every opportunity to get the word out about the school. “Ryan was highly motivated and eager to learn,” notes AMS instructor Jon Stenerson. “He’d help us out with tours and was really good about explaining the program and what he was learning. From his exposure to people and industry representatives visiting for tours, I think he had 17 job offers before he graduated.”

Guthrie’s two-and-a-half years at FVTC were everything he had hoped for. “When I was looking for a career field in high school, I wanted something where I could be doing things differently every day.” he says. “I didn’t want to be stuck doing the same thing day in and day out for the rest of my life. I wanted to meet exciting people, go to exciting places, and do exciting things. The AMS program was exactly what I was looking for, and I had a lot of fun the whole time I was there.”

“

”

Living Large in London Guthrie didn’t choose to work in London; the city chose him. “When I was interviewing for my internship in Germany, a man named Nigel Smith just happened to be at K-Robotix that day.

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Nigel’s company in London, TM Robotics, is the European distributor for Toshiba robots, which means that every single Toshiba robot in all of Europe is sold through him.”

Smith sat in on Guthrie’s interview with K-Robotix and was impressed enough to keep in touch with the FVTC grad and monitor his progress during his time in Germany. As Guthrie’s time in Germany reached fruition, Smith contacted him and sought his interest in working in London.

Guthrie jumped at the opportunity.

One person who isn’t surprised at Guthrie’s global successes is Peter Kittle, Brillion High School’s athletic director, math instructor, and head football and basketball coach. “Ryan is a very personable young man and someone who

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would be very adaptable to adjusting to different cultures and lifestyles,” Kittle says. “The thing I always thought was unique about Ryan is his creativity. He always seemed to look at problems from a little different angle than most kids.”

In moving from Germany to England, Guthrie will transition from working for an integrator to working for a distributor. His primary work responsibilities will be after-sales technical support. “It will take me about a year to really get into the swing of things,” he says. “By the second year, I will probably be traveling all over Europe three weeks out of every month helping clients with advanced programming and installations of robotic systems.”

Next Steps Guthrie’s ultimate goal is to return to Wisconsin and open up his own automation integrator business, which would help customers integrate robots and automation into their manufacturing processes. Part of that plan includes earning a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Management from the University of Wisconsin-Stout, which has a creditsharing agreement with FVTC. In fact, after graduating from FVTC, Guthrie took some business courses while waiting to learn if his scholarship to go to Germany would be approved.

He also harbors another goal. “Maybe I’ll end up teaching at FVTC,” he says. “The opportunities it has opened up for me are unbelievable. Down the road, I would love to be able to give back by teaching there and telling future students about the opportunities waiting for them.”

When he visited FVTC this summer, Guthrie was again impressed by the school’s state-ofthe-art AMS lab. “When I started in 2003, I walked into the lab, saw all the robots and equipment, and was hooked from day one,” he says. “By the time I graduated, the lab didn’t look like the same lab because so much new equipment was added. Now, a few years after graduation, I saw even more new equipment all over the place.

As far as I’m concerned, FVTC is second to none in keeping up with technology.”

Guthrie has come so far so fast that even he can’t believe it sometimes. “I always joked when I was in high school that I was going to travel the world before I settled down,” he says. “And lo and behold, here I am, traveling the world!”

AMS @ FVTC FVTC offers a two-year, 70-credit Automated Manufacturing Systems Technician degree. Students spend four semesters learning the fundamentals of electronics, computers, control systems, programming, robots, fluid power, sensors, PLCs, and vision systems. By program’s end, they’ll thoroughly understand how to integrate these sorts of devices together and how to control related systems through hardware and software.

The college also offers a 14-credit Industrial Maintenance Certificate that introduces students to automation concepts.

Guthrie prepares for a robotics trade show in Germany.

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For more information, visit www.fvtc.edu/ams.

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a

Difference maker

After training at FVTC’s Law Enforcement Recruit Academy, Miriam Roskam has fulfilled her dream of becoming a police officer—and is loving every minute of it.

By Evelyn Cottle Raedler

Police Officer Miriam Roskam Appleton Police Department

When Miriam Roskam was a high school student in Shelby, Mich., one of the boys in her class wouldn’t leave her alone and a policewoman had to intervene.

Ever since then she knew, without a doubt, that she wanted to be a police officer too. “I was really impressed with the way she handled the situation,” says Roskam. “I decided I wanted to make a difference just like she did.”

Today, Roskam is making a difference on the streets of Appleton, Wis., where she has been a member of the city’s police department since January 2008— one month after graduating from FVTC’s Law Enforcement Recruit Academy. “I’ve always been sure that this was what I wanted to do and now that I’m doing it, I’m more certain than ever,” she says.

“I love everything I do, and I’m still learning there is always room for improvement.”

After high school, Roskam spent two-plus years as a criminal justice major at a university in Michigan. She didn’t care for all of the program’s classroom hours.

She also knew that the region’s tough economic climate meant there would be few job opportunities after graduation.

Roskam decided to take a break from college.

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Best of the Best FVTC’s Law Enforcement Recruit Academy and other Criminal Justice programs have earned national reputations for excellence.

“Our students are ready for the street when they leave,” says Dan Feucht, an FVTC Forensics instructor and the coordinator of the College’s Law Enforcement Recruit Academy. “We have top-of-the-line instructors who work full-time in law enforcement and are certified to prepare our students for any call they will get in the real world.”

As the academy’s coordinator, Feucht ensures that all the performance objectives and competencies required by the Department of Justice’s Training and Standards Bureau are followed “to a T.” These changes are immediately incorporated into the curriculum, keeping FVTC on the cutting edge of law enforcement. The result is that many graduates return for specialized training on the newest technology and techniques.

“Every officer in the state is required to have at least 24 hours of training each year to maintain his or her certification,” says Dr. Patricia Robinson, dean of the college’s Criminal Justice division. “We offer more than 100 advanced training courses on campus. Our fees are affordable and our location is convenient.” Many classes are also available online.

The division also has a strong national reputation that is buoyed by federal funding for numerous training programs offered throughout the country. These include courses in child protection (some in partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children), the AMBER Alert system, and combating Internet crimes against children. The programs draw experts from a pool of the best speakers and consultants in the United States. “You can go almost anywhere—Ohio, New Mexico, California—and you’ll see the FVTC logo on all the materials,” says Robinson, a former police officer in Madison. “We have an office in Washington, D.C., which was put in place several years ago when we started earning a fair number of federal grants. Our Washington staff is on the scene and can negotiate through the maze of the federal government.”

Robinson, a former police officer in Madison, adds that law enforcement is a true calling. “It’s an exciting and meaningful career that demands a lot, and in return provides great satisfaction.”

Feucht says that people who choose a law enforcement career are already predisposed to public service. “They know that it’s their main function or they wouldn’t be here,” he says. “Our recruits voluntarily get involved in the community while they’re at the academy.”

Both Feucht and Robinson acknowledge that the terrorist events of 9/11 have changed the College’s training programs as well as its outreach to the community.

“We are doing a lot of training in disaster-scene management,” says Feucht.

“It includes how to protect ourselves, how to work with fire and emergency medical services, and other response agencies. We are the backbone when it comes to terrorist actions, but we can’t do it alone.”

“We’re also training the public in how to report suspicious activity,” he adds. “That way, we’ll save a lot more lives than we will ever realize. We want our officers to be safe. We want our community to be safe.

So we try to provide the training to do all of that, and at the same time, get those criminals off the street and protect the innocent.”

For more information, visit www.fvtc.edu/cj.

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Fox Valley Technical College

During that time she began researching other programs. That’s when FVTC appeared on her radar.

“I did a lot of research and found that FVTC has one of the better police academies in the country,” she says. “I applied and fit all the criteria, and everything fell into place.”

At age 20, she was the youngest recruit in her class of 24, one of the smallest at 5 feet 6 inches, and one of only three women. “Miriam was an outstanding recruit,” says Dan Feucht, an FVTC graduate who now works at the college as a forensics instructor and coordinator of the Law Enforcement Recruitment Academy training program. “Her test scores were way above average, and she exceeded expectations in just about everything she did. She was also very mature for her age, very capable, and combined good judgment with common sense.”

Roskam notes that her academy group’s male-female ratio was a non-issue. “Women weren’t treated any differently at the academy, and we’re not treated any differently in the police department (where she is one of 10 women in a force of 110). In fact, females can bring a lot to policing. Sometimes women won’t talk to a male officer because they feel intimidated. We can approach the person from a different perspective.”

Passion and Practice After 13 weeks of intense training, Roskam was prepared to go directly into a full-time job, something she attributes to the high quality of the program’s instructors. “They’re all experienced police officers who have a strong passion for what they do,” she says. “They’ve spent their whole careers in the field, and they’re known throughout the state for the training they provide.”

She singles out Ron Lewis for his sensitive crimes classes; Tom Fassbender and Mike Kneeland for firearms training and shooting; and Dan Feucht for forensic investigations. “We learned everything from them in the classroom—with stories of their own experiences, videos of real situations, and hands-on

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Miriam Roskam

demonstrations,” she notes. “And then they said, ‘OK, now we’re going to go out and do it.’”

Before the students hit the streets, however, they spend 32 hours working on highly detailed simulation scenarios. As Roskam notes, they had to practice their skills in 12 different role-playing situations that included civil disturbances, bar scenes, and traffic/DWI stops. The scenarios, which were videotaped by the instructors for review, were highly realistic. Over the course of the week, Roskam was shot by a Taser® (“the worst five seconds of pain I’ve ever felt”), sprayed in the face with pepper spray (“I opened my eyes and fought through it”), and faced many other situations that a police officer might encounter.

“At the end of each simulation scenario, we I did a lot of research watched the videotapes with the recruits and point out what they did right and wrong,” says and found that FVTC Feucht. “It’s the best way to learn, and they’ll has one of the better never forget it.”

Roskam also spent the last few weeks of the police academies in program looking for a job. Her first choice was the Appleton Police Department, where she went the country. through three separate interviews, physical testing, psychological evaluations, and Miriam Roskam background investigations. “It was a lot of work, and then I had to wait three weeks to hear if I got the job,” she says. “But it was worth it. Other places wanted to hire me too. I was happy when Appleton made the first offer.”

Roskam adds that she was thrilled to start her first job. “I knew I was ready, and I’m glad I was able to start right away,” she notes. “I work in my own squad car during the week, and I do a foot patrol near Lawrence University on the weekends.”

“

”

Put to the Test Before she could patrol in a squad car on her own, Roskam had to spend another 13 weeks of training with an Appleton officer riding next to her. “We’re evaluated over four phases by three different officers and critiqued every day,” she says. “After we passed one phase, we go on to the next phase until we meet the criteria for all four.”

In May, she progressed through each phase and was declared fit to be a member of the department and work alone in a squad car. In that very first week all her training was put to

the test. She pulled over a driver who appeared to be intoxicated.

When he exited the car, he started running. “I chased him behind a gas station, it was dark and he squared off with me,” says Roskam. “He was larger than me, and I didn’t know if he had a gun or if he was going to run at me. I gave him commands to get on the ground or he would be tased. He refused to listen to my directions and he started running. I tased him twice to gain control of the situation.”

“The adrenaline was really going,” she adds. “But we are trained to be ready when those moments come. We must be calm, cool, and collected and use our heads to keep ourselves alive.”

Now that Roskam has fulfilled her dream of becoming a police officer, she is firmly focused on the future. “It’s very exciting for me to look at where I am now and where I’ll be 10 or 20 years from now. I’ll always be learning and I’ll never know enough, but I do know how much better I will be.”

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For more information, visit www.fvtc.edu/cj.

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FreshSTART

By Dan Heilman

Wendy Eick found a promising new career path and a powerful sense of self-confidence in FVTC’s Package and Label Printing program.

Some FVTC students soon discover that when it comes to learning an exciting new trade, age is nothing but a number.

Wendy Eick of Seymour recently graduated from the one-year Package and Label Printing program at FVTC’s Appleton campus, and the rewards have gone beyond job opportunities.

“I’m a braver person from going through this program,” she says. “I’ve been on the Dean’s List every term since I returned to college, and my parents tease me and say, ‘They must have you mistaken for someone else.’”

Ready for the Challenge Package and label printing—known in the industry as flexography—is a method of printing most commonly used for packaging on such surfaces as labels, tape, bags, boxes, and banners.

It’s a complex series of processes to learn, but if anyone was ready for the challenge, it was Eick. By her own admission, the 47-year-old mother of four was not a stellar student in high school. She devoted much of her adulthood to raising her kids and eventually getting out of a bad marriage. “I was working in a grocery store and I didn’t really care for it,” she says. “I was at a dead end, and not getting ahead at all. So I figured, OK, all my kids are going to be grown soon, what am I going to do? My youngest child was a senior in high school. I knew I had to do something-and I had to do it now.”

On a whim, Eick visited FVTC counselor Sandi Moore and took a career choice evaluation test. Not surprisingly, given her background, Eick’s results pointed toward food service and child care. After attending an open house at FVTC’s Graphic Arts Center, however, Eick thought some more. She remembered that earlier in her life she enjoyed working at B&J Supply, a now-defunct Fox Valley-area paper converting mill. The sight and sounds of paper production again resonated with her, and further conversations with

Wendy Eick

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Just the Ticket for Success FVTC’s Package and Label Printing Technician program can position you for a career in one of the area’s hottest industries.

Careers in flexography are growing at an 8% rate every year, making it the printing industry’s fastest-growing job sector. Between that and the Fox Valley area’s position as the printing capital of the upper Midwest, FVTC’s Package and Label Printing Technician program is also a great choice.

Eick and instructor Scott Gehrt discuss a flexographic project.

FVTC counselors led her to the college’s Package and Label Printing Technician program. “I loved my job at the converting place,” she recalls.

“I’m more comfortable in a hands-on work setting than I am at a desk, anyway. I read about the flexography program and thought I could do it.”

Facing the Fear Once the decision was made, Eick still faced a significant obstacle: a lack of confidence. “I hadn’t been to school in a while,” she says. “It’s scary going back to school at that age, and not really knowing which way to go. But the more students and counselors I talked to, the more relaxed and confident I felt.”

Eick’s strong work ethic and her growing confidence helped her ease into the program, which contains about 25 students at any one time. While attending classes, she worked odd shifts in the folding packaging division at Green Bay Packaging in DePere to help make ends meet and bolster her printing and packaging knowledge. “They worked around my schedule,” she says of her supervisors at Green Bay Packaging. “They’ve been great.”

Any fears she had about returning to school as a “nontraditional”—that is, older—student, quickly evaporated. “At FVTC there is no age factor,” she says. “The young kids will talk to you like they’re your peers, because everyone is there for the same reason: to learn. The instructors welcome any question, no matter what it is.”

“Wendy’s enthusiasm was at the top of the charts,” says Scott Gehrt, an instructor in the Package and Label Printing Technician program. “Many of the students we get in the program are 25, 35, and older, so this was just right for her.”

Right Place, Right Time According to the Flexographic Technical Association, the North Central region of the United States accounts for more than one-third of all flexographic printing plants and presses in the country. One of the largest concentrations of printers using flexography in the country is located in the Fox Valley area of Wisconsin.

Eick realizes that after years of struggling, she’s chosen the right career in the right place at the right time. She loves her current job, but also realizes that with degree in hand, her options have expanded immensely.

“With this degree, there are a lot of different directions I can go,” she says. “There are a lot of printing places I can look at. There are actually a couple of places in my hometown of Seymour that do the kind of work I’m learning. So I’ll just keep my eyes and ears open.”

More importantly, she’s developed a reservoir of self-confidence, and given her children a tremendous example of resiliency and perseverance.

Even old acquaintances at her high school are amazed by what she’s accomplished with a second try. “The counselor at Seymour High School tells me, ‘You’re my hero,’” Eick says proudly. “He uses me as an example of what kids can do if they keep bouncing back.”

Training for the two-year associate degree program is provided in FVTC’s state-of-the-art, nationally recognized Flexographic Training and Research Center. In the program, certified technical instructors train students in all areas of the flexographic process, from electronic prepress, platemaking, and plate mounting to ink management, printing press operation, and more. Students are also trained in team building, quality, process control, and There is great technical reporting.

The program also job potential in instills valuable “soft the printing and skills” like leadership, teamwork, time converting management, and continuous process industries. improvement.

“

”

Scott Gehrt

FVTC flexographic instructor Scott Gehrt says press operator and press helper are the two positions most in need with this certification. “Each student typically has up to four career paths to choose from once he or she completes the program,” he says.

“Companies are competing for students with these skills. There is great job potential in the printing and converting industries.”

Visit the Graphic Arts & Printing Technologies Career Night and Open House Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009, 4:30-7 p.m.; (located at 5 Systems Drive, across from the main campus).

Explore the latest technology, learn about career opportunities, meet faculty, and more!

Register by visiting www.fvtc.edu/printingopenhouse, or call (920) 735-4755 for more information.

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For more information, visit www.fvtc.edu/graphicarts.

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on alumni

Q&A with Ryan Ellenson, Air Wisconsin Airlines pilot.

By Phil Bolsta

“

It was nice to know that I could actually go on and do something I really wanted to do.

This 29-year-old Waukesha native is flying regional jets in and out of some of the busiest airports in the country.

”

Ryan Ellenson Pilot

When and why did you attend FVTC? I started in the summer of 2001 and graduated in the spring of 2003. I had always wanted to fly, but I was still working at a machine shop two years after high school. I figured it was a lot more financially feasible to get an apprenticeship in the trades than go to college. Then I came across FVTC. It was nice to know that I could actually go on and do something I really wanted to do.

What degree did you earn?

I earned a two-year Associate degree in Aeronautics Pilot Training. When I graduated, there wasn’t a whole lot out there to choose from because the airline industry hadn’t recovered from the September 11 attacks. So I started working for Air Wisconsin as a ground handler. To get more flying hours and build upon my experience, I did some aerial photography flying. I also flew skydivers from a small grass strip north of Appleton.

How did you get the opportunity to fly for Air Wisconsin?

A former flight instructor at FVTC who was in the ground training program at Air Wisconsin, notified me that the company was hiring. He put in a letter of recommendation for me and I submitted my resume. I was called in for an interview and the next day I was offered a position as a pilot. I started training on July 4, 2005.

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What does a typical work week look like?

I fly 50-seat passenger jets. I usually work three to five days on, with two to three days off. All of Air Wisconsin’s operational bases are on the east coast, but we fly as far west as the Mississippi River. It hasn’t been too long since I’ve been out of school; sometimes I think back and can’t believe I’m actually flying a commercial airplane.

biggest problem with that is the pay decrease, but at least I’m fortunate enough to still have a job doing what I love.

What do you do in your leisure time?

I just got married in June. My wife, Jennifer, and I enjoy going up to our family cottage in central Wisconsin. I also enjoy hunting and fishing and being outdoors.

How did FVTC help to get you to where you are today?

All I had when I started was a dream.

FVTC gave me the tools and experience I needed to earn my private pilot’s license and flight instructor ratings. I learned leadership and decision-making skills. Even though you’re dealing with the same kinds of procedures every day as a pilot, you have to think on your feet and always adjust because things are always changing.

What challenges are you facing in your job?

Anybody with a TV knows what’s going on in the airline industry. It’s a cyclical business, and the downturn in the economy hasn’t helped. I had worked my way up to be a captain at Air Wisconsin, but due to layoffs, I was downgraded to a first officer again. The

Fox Valley Technical College

Career Focused

> > >

92% of FVTC alumni are employed within six months of graduation.

The average starting salary of a 2007 FVTC graduate is nearly $33,000 a year.

38 of FVTC’s 80+ degree and diploma programs have 100% job placement.

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Source: FVTC 2008 Graduate Employment Research Report

For more information, visit www.fvtc.edu/alumni.

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on the Foundation

Lasting Impact For the Bemis Company Foundation, an investment in FVTC scholarships is an investment in the future of its parent company.

By Vicki Stavig “It’s a tremendous endorsement of what we’re doing,” says Fox Valley Technical College Foundation Manager Deb Woodworth about the $103,000 gift the Bemis Company Foundation presented to the college for scholarships. “It was the single-largest gift our Foundation ever received,” she adds.

Bemis, one of northeast Wisconsin’s largest employers, manufactures flexible packaging and pressure-sensitive materials that are used in such industries as food, medical, pharmaceutical, chemical, agribusiness, and graphic arts.

Founded in 1858 by Judson Moss Bemis, who then had only three employees, the company now employs around 15,700 people in 10 countries. “The majority of our packaging is used in the food industry, and you can find Bemis products in almost every aisle of the grocery store,” says Gene Seashore, Bemis vice president and chair of the Bemis Company Foundation’s Contributions Committee.

The company established the Bemis Company Foundation in 1959 to encourage the development of social welfare and health, educational, cultural, and civic institutions in the communities in which it operates.

“

The Bemis scholarship allowed me to apply my skills in a fun and challenging work environment.

”

Thomas Hintz

Electromechanical Technician, Bemis Company

Smart Investment Bemis’ gift to FVTC will make a long-lasting impact on the college and its students. “From the gift, $80,000 established endowed scholarships,” Woodworth says. “With that amount, Bemis is investing in students who are directly related to its business. It funds three scholarships; two in Electro-Mechanical Technology and the other in our Packaging and Label Printing Technician program.

The endowment funds more than $4,000 collectively for these three scholarship awards annually.”

Thomas Hintz, a two-time recipient of a Bemis Company Foundation scholarship, is now employed at Bemis as an electromechanical technician and credits the scholarship with preparing him for his career. “The Bemis scholarship allowed me to apply my skills in a fun and challenging work environment,” he says.

In the past, Bemis has also contributed to the college’s capital campaigns. “As a major employer in the Fox Valley, Bemis wanted to do what we could to encourage the continued development of a strong local workforce,” Seashore says.

“Contributing to local educational institutions represents an important way to do that.”

Woodworth couldn’t be more pleased with the financial support Bemis has provided to the College. “Businesses in the community know that we’re training their future workers,” she says.

“The scholarships we award through partnerships like this one with Bemis help develop a strong workforce.”

Thomas Hintz, electromechanical technician, Bemis Company; Stacy Kropidlowski on behalf of the Bemis Company Foundation; and Terry Fleischman, Ph.D., department chair, FVTC

FVTC Scholarships at a Glance • Scholarships are funded by individuals and organizations, as well as local, regional, and national companies.

• Scholarships supplement students’ financial aid packages and reduce their dependency on loans.

• The number of scholarships available to FVTC students has increased more than 10% annually since 1996.

• More than 800 FVTC students received scholarship assistance in excess of $547,000 during the 2007-08 academic year.

• During the Fall 2008 Staff Giving Campaign, 55% of all FVTC staff, along with college and Foundation board members, contributed more than $167,000.

If you are interested in contributing to the Fox Valley Technical College Foundation—giving that works—contact Deb Woodworth at (920) 735-2478 or visit www.fvtc.edu/foundation.

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To view our Annual Report, visit www.fvtc.edu/givingthatworks.

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on student life

By Sara Gilbert

The Real Life Xpress A Marketing program project provides students with on-the-job learning and offers valuable business skills.

Ross Treichel had always dreamed of running his own restaurant. That’s one of the reasons he enrolled at FVTC. He had no idea, however, how one experience would bring him closer to reaching his goal.

Treichel, who graduated in 2007 with an associate degree in Marketing, worked as the manager of Fox Xpress, a food-service kiosk owned and operated entirely by students at FVTC’s Oshkosh Riverside campus. Launched by a group of Marketing students three years ago, it has also become an example of hands-on learning within the FVTC system.

Treichel, who managed the store for a semester in 2007, is taking this experience and turning it into a real-life opportunity. “I just finished the business plan for my own restaurant,” he says.

“Fox Xpress definitely helped me do that. I will take that experience with me for the rest of my life.”

Even students not interested in the food-service industry are learning

valuable lessons from Fox Xpress. So far, almost 20 of them have had the opportunity to work at the kiosk—and almost 200 more have been involved in some way or another, according to Marketing Instructor Teri Stark. That number includes the original group of students who conducted market research and developed the business plan for the venture.

As the store has become part of the curriculum for the college’s Marketing program, it also has grown to include other students who have worked on marketing plans, store layouts, vendor relationships, and more as part of their classwork. Even Accounting and IT students have recently become involved in Fox Xpress. “One of the reasons behind developing Fox Xpress was to include a broad base of students in the learning experience,” Stark says.

Stark and two of her instructional colleagues, Sandy Plank and Caethe Brockman, helped students launch the project and have offered guidance along the way. They have also been careful to let students make their own decisions.

“We are happy to help in an advisory capacity,” Plank says. “But they are the managers; they make the decisions.”

The emphasis is on learning. Fox

Sun, Sand, and Service Learning

Ross Treichel and Sandy Plank

Xpress is like a real-time learning lab, reinforcing the importance of understanding the operations and efforts of a small business.

Like other businesses, Fox Xpress doesn’t make money every day, but the kiosk overall has turned a profit. Those dollars are being used to pay the student workers and to fund scholarships for students on the Oshkosh campus. To date, students have received $2,500 in scholarships thanks to Fox Xpress.

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For more information on the Marketing program at FVTC, visit www.fvtc.edu/marketing.

An annual spring break trip offers a respite from gray skies and the chance to soak up some lasting lessons.

Seven days in Jamaica may sound like a dream spring break. But for the FVTC students who have visited the impoverished island country for a week each of the past seven years, it’s been far more than fun in the sun.

Three days of the trip are devoted to service work: painting an early childhood center, for example, or volunteering in an adult literacy class.

Another three days are packed with what Vicky Barke, FVTC’s director of Student Life and one of two leaders on the trips, calls “cultural experiences.” These include visiting a Students visit a local technical college, watching one school in Jamaica. of the largest companies in the country manufacture its product, or bartering with vendors at a local market. The last day is a free day. “So there is certainly time to get to the beach,” Barke says.

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Fox Valley Technical College

The trips are designed to offer students a chance to help other people and to learn about an entirely different culture.

For Alene Scott, a student who took the trip in March 2008, the biggest impact came when she returned home. In the process of meeting the people, eating the food, and working in the schools, she saw how pervasive poverty is in Jamaica—and learned how much she has to be thankful for in America. “I learned to truly appreciate where I live,” she says. “That’s something that came home with me-and something that will stick with me for a long time.”

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For more information on service trips for FVTC students, visit www.fvtc.edu/studentlife.

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in National

Spotlight Marketing student Avneet Kaur was a member of FVTC’s first-place team at the National Management Institute competition during the DEX International Career Development conference in Atlanta. Her four-member team created a retail concept encompassing fashion and design specialties, and included a financial plan, geographical marketing objectives, and business growth strategies. They also received a prestigious invitation to present the project before members of Piper Jaffray and Co. in Minneapolis, the sponsoring organization of the competition.

Outdoor Power Equipment student Ken Mauer earned first place in the Power Equipment Technology category at the annual National Leadership and Skills Conference, part of the SkillsUSA Championships in Kansas City. He was the competition’s only first-place winner from Wisconsin.

The SkillsUSA Championships are considered the largest single day of corporate volunteerism in America. More than 5,000 students from every state and three territories participate in the contests.

FVTC Marketing student Avneet Kaur.

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For employment opportunities, please check our Web site at www.affinityhealth.org or call the Affinity Jobline at 1-866-562-7100.

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