WTCS President Dan Clancy’s
Statement on the American Graduation Initiative
Yesterday, President Obama announced the American Graduation Initiative, a plan to help an additional 5 million Americans earn degrees and certificates in the next decade. The proposal challenges the country to transform U.S. future economic prospects with the most skilled, creative and technically sophisticated workforce in the world. To meet this challenge, the President recognized that "community colleges are an essential part of our recovery in the past – and our prosperity in the future."
In a time of declining resources, the President praised the successful efforts and long history of two-year colleges that provide hands-on occupational training to meet the needs of business and industry, such as the 16 members of the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS). It is these two-year colleges that the Obama Administration believes are in the best position to rapidly serve record numbers of students and re-tool and re-shape American industries and the American workforce. Faced with historic enrollment and program demands, Wisconsin’s technical colleges are already designing new programs, developing online and alternative means of teaching and learning and educating our state’s workforce in the very industries economic experts believe will ensure America’s future prosperity: clean energy, renewable resources, healthcare, and advanced technology.
More must and can be done. The American Graduation Initiative is a bold and timely investment, which will help Wisconsin and it deserves our support. The WTCS will work with the Administration and Congress as the Initiative advances through the legislative process. With the new federal investments proposed by President Obama, Wisconsin’s Technical Colleges will develop more options for students to pursue degrees and certificates online and to accelerate their academic achievement in programs that combine occupational learning and skills development. We will build upon our strong partnerships with Wisconsin business, labor and employers to further improve the alignment between technical college curricula and workplace needs. We will share our experience and success in evaluating education performance and demonstrating public accountability to students, policymakers and taxpayers. Most importantly, our technical colleges will educate more workers for the jobs of the future and provide the highly skilled workforce necessary for Wisconsin’s long-term economic health and vitality.
Dan Clancy is President of the Wisconsin Technical College System and serves on the National Council of State Directors of Community Colleges, an affiliate of the American Association of Community Colleges.
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