Michael Olesen Joins PTC Staff

Michael Olesen,  a technology and grant administrator with over 33 years of experience in higher education, has been appointed Director of the Rural Information Technology Alliance (RITA) Consortium at Pine Technical College. He will begin Monday, Feb. 10.

Back in September it was announced that Pine Technical College has received an $18.3 million four-college, multi-state consortium grant in part of an effort to expand demand-driven skills training, and strengthen employer partnerships. These grants are the third installment of a nearly $2 billion community college initiative, and the four-year grant began Oct. 1, 2013.    

Over the past five years Olesen was the Director of Information Technology, Biosciences, and Research for the University of Minnesota Rochester (UMR). With UMR's transition to a system campus and the introduction of a Biomedical Informatics and Computational Biology Research and Academic program and the launching of BS in Health Science in fall 2009, Olesen played the lead role in planning, developing, implementing, and managing UMR's information technology infrastructure. This included facilitating the development of UMR’s leading-edge Minnesota High Tech Associate (MHTA) TekNe award winning learning management system iSEAL (intelligent System for Educational Assessment and Learning) and implementing active learning classrooms at UMR. In addition, he was responsible for research administration and research programs of the Biomedical Informatics and Computational Biology (BICB) program.

Prior to joining UMR, Olesen was Associate Director of the University of Minnesota Digital Technology Center where he was involved in building university-industry research consortia and Assistant Director of the Minnesota Supercomputer Institute where he implemented high performance computing solutions.

Michael has a B.A. in History from Hamline University and a MS in Higher Education Administration from Saint Cloud State University.

Pine Technical College Expands Mission, Changes Name Change

The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees approved on Jan. 22 an expansion in the mission of Pine Technical College to a comprehensive technical and community college. The change enables the college to offer, perhaps as early as the Fall, the Associate in Arts degree. To reflect this change, the Board also approved a change in the name of the institution to Pine Technical and Community College. The change in mission will also require approval of the Higher Learning Commission, at which time the name change will become effective.

“The mission expansion, coupled with this name change, empowers the college to continue its record of service and program excellence,” said Robert Musgrove, President of Pine Tech. “A balanced offering of liberal arts and sciences and workforce programs is a critical need in our region.”

The new mission will remove barriers that prevent students from taking advantage of higher education due to location or financial issues. “We can now allow undecided students to enroll with a declared major in the Associate in Arts degree and maintain eligibility for financial aid while they are exploring degree and career options,” said Musgrove. “This change will allow us to provide an extraordinary education to more students in our region seeking a broader range of excellent educational experiences.”

In making this change, Pine Tech will retain its focus on serving the needs of students seeking a technical degree. “Our history, heritage, and culture have centered on technical education, and this change will not diminish that focus,” said Musgrove.

The college’s change request to the MnSCU Board also substantiated the need for the expansion by pointing out the low rate of degree attainment in the region.  Each year according to the data, almost 70 percent of 10^th graders in the region intend, at that stage of their lives, to seek a bachelor’s degree.  However, the reality is that only around 40 percent  of graduates in the region actually do enroll after graduation.

“That translates to over 770 high school graduates each year who do not enroll in college – even though they said as 10^th graders that they wanted a career that requires a bachelor’s degree,” PTC Dean of Students Paula Hoffman explained.  “We hope to provide initial access to that degree through our AA for as many of those students as we can reach.”

For further information about PTC’s mission expansion and name change, contact Katie Krier at 320-629-5174, or krierka@pinetech.edu; Paula Hoffman at 320-629-5180, hoffmanp@pinetech.edu; Robert Musgrove at 320-629-5120, or musgrover@pinetech.edu.

Pine Technical College, established in 1965 and accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, serves more than 1,300 students and awards certificates, diplomas and associate degrees. PTC’s notable programs include Accounting, American Sign Language, Automotive Technology, Business Administration, Business Technology, Computer Programming, Computer Science, Early Childhood Education, Gunsmithing Technology, Computer Network Administration, Practical Nursing, Registered Nursing, Precision Manufacturing/Machining, Automation/Robotics Technology, Plastics Technology, Medical Assisting, Human Services Eligibility Worker and many more.

Pine Tech is accepting applications for new students in all programs. For more information about PTC’s programs, including information regarding how to apply, call 320-629-5100 or visit the website at www.pinetech.edu .

PTC is a proud member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, which include 24 two-year community, technical, and comprehensive colleges and seven state universities serving more than 430,000 students. It is the fifth-largest higher education system of its kind in the United States.