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state funds) help fund the system. "It was created so that every person could find their place in the workforce, of Lakeshore Technical College. "When you look at it, we're the only higher education system that has putting people to work in jobs as part of their mission, and I think that's really at the basis of why we've stayed relevant. Not every state has such a " says Mike Lanser, president " comprehensive system. Nor does every state have a shared governance system between the state and local governing boards that help operate the system and determine direction on both a state and local level, Foy says. "That model of governance has essentially survived a century of political change, government, reform, education reform," Foy says. "It's time- tested as being a very successful model for how to both infuse the interests of the state in a public higher education system and what direction it wants it to go, and what the economic and educational needs of the state are. At the same time, the technical " colleges are each unique institutions that are responsive to the local needs of their communities, she says. "You are going to get a very different feel and programmatic activity at the colleges depending on where they're located and what the local community and economic needs are, rolled out a new associate degree in environmental engineering to work For example, this year NWTC " Foy says. The Wisconsin Technical College system grew from "continuation schools" into a network of 16 colleges with 48 campuses statewide. Shown is a 1940s typing class at the Fond du Lac Continuation School, which later became Moraine Park Technical College. with waste and water technology, and next year plans to introduce a program in health and wellness promotion to help deal with the growing issue of health care costs and obesity. Fox Valley Technical College is in the middle of several expansion projects resulting from April's successful referendum vote that will accommodate demand in several areas including health technology and public safety. MPTC is offering new programs in marketing and human resources, and Lakeshore has seen a boom in hospitality programs and recently "We might have different technology, we might have global reach right now – students can go anywhere in the world once they graduate, but it seems that basic statement, that relevance of technical colleges, is the same now as it was at that time." – KAREN SMITS, NWTC vice president of college advancement www. insightonbusiness.com updated others such as its nuclear technician program. "I had somebody in here the other day that graduated in the '70s or '80s from a draſting program," Lanser says. "I said, 'Well, we still have those draſting tables but they're in a closet. It's not necessarily always about adding new programs, but making sure existing programs are current. ' " Looking ahead In 1927 a publication by the Green Bay Board of Vocational Education wrote, "A rapidly changing world forces American citizen to face the constantly changing problems, and difficulties of an almost kaleidoscopic environment, even the individual himself, is in a ceaseless process of change in his employment, attitudes and ambitions, his social contacts, his interests and his opportunities. technology, we might have global reach right now – students can go anywhere in the world once they graduate, but it seems that basic statement, that relevance of technical colleges, is the same now as it was at that "We might have different " [continued] » October 2012 • INSIGHT | 37 COURTESY MPTC