PTC to host Twelfth Annual Donor Recognition Event

Pine Technical College will host the Twelfth Annual Donor Recognition Event Fri. Dec. 7, beginning at 5 p.m., at the North West Company Fur Post in Pine City. The event honors those who have given financial contributions to the college in support of PTC’s various scholarship programs, as well as the college’s many scholarship recipients.

 

“This is a very special event that means a lot for our students and for our donors,” says Sandi Carlisle, Executive Assistant to the President and PTC Foundation Coordinator. “This event provides a perfect opportunity for scholarship recipients to meet and thank Foundation donors, and it’s also a more elegant, upscale evening that we intentionally create for honoring the achievements of our students while enjoying the best hors d’oeuvres, wine, and entertainment our community has to offer,” Carlisle adds.

 

The event opens with a social hour complete with musical entertainment by Glenna Reierson, pianist, followed by featured speakers Jasmine Bauer and Timothy Soderbeck. Bauer, a practical nursing student, and Soderbeck, a network administration and business technology student, both began their academic careers at PTC in the Summer, 2011 term, and both have received scholarships from the PTC Foundation. Altogether, the PTC Foundation has awarded more than $51,900 to 45 students over the past year.

 

The event is expected to draw more than 120 attendees, and the public is welcome. Tickets will be sold at the door for $10, and all proceeds benefit PTC’s annual Bridging the Dream scholarship campaign. Attendees have the opportunity to participate in a raffle, with prizes that include an IPad2 (generously donated for the event by Wyoming Machine and Atscott Manufacturing) and a 26” Vizio LED HDTV (generously donated by Walmart). The event’s refreshments are provided by Chris’ Food Center, Chubby’s restaurant, Grand Casino –Hinckley, Taco del Norte, and Wild Bamboo, while wine is provided by the Voyageur BottleShop.

PTC announces nominees for annual statewide awards program

Several Pine Technical College faculty members have been nominated by their students, faculty colleagues, peer staff members, administrators, alumni, and members of the Pine community for the prestigious Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees Educator of the Year Award for Excellence in Teaching program, which acknowledges exceptional individual professional accomplishment in providing instruction that prepares Minnesota’s college and university students for their professional, scholarly, and civic lives.

 

The recognition program, in its seventh year, is the result of the dedicated work of faculty, students, campus award committees, and a systemwide Teaching Award Review committee. Each year, members of campus communities nominate and select from among faculty whose excellence they wish to reward, and college and university presidents across the state designate campus nominees as Outstanding Educators to the Board of Trustees. Nominees from Pine Technical College for the 2013 round of awards include: Elayne Beehler, nursing instructor; Stacey Foster, English instructor; Pamela Munkberg, nursing instructor; and Julie Shores, accounting and business administration instructor. The next step in the awards program calls for PTC’s Award Review Committee to review nominees’ profiles and designate one Outstanding Educator from PTC for the systemwide Teaching Award Review Committee, who will vie for the Educator of the Year award to be named in April, 2013.

 

“I am so proud of all nominees on our campus,” says Joan Bloemendaal-Gruett, Pine Technical College Dean of Academic Affairs. “We have so much talent here, and this program gives us a mechanism for publicly recognizing our instructors’ skill, dedication, and expertise on a statewide stage,” Bloemendaal-Gruett adds.

 

Since 2007, the MnSCU Board of Trustees has recognized 172 Outstanding Educators, 23 of whom have received the Educator of the Year award. Last year, PTC’s Ann Boldt, instructor of developmental courses and English communications courses, received the Outstanding Educator award for PTC, and in 2011, PTC’s Melissa Felland, an instructor within PTC’s early childhood education program, was nominated for PTC’s Outstanding Educator award.

PTC's Continuing Education & Customized Training department temporarily housed at credit union

Pine Technical College's Continuing Education and Customized Training (CECT) division has been temporarily relocated to office space within the Greater Minnesota Credit Union (GMCU), PTC's next-door neighbor on Main Street/Hwy. 61. The building in which CECT is normally housed is set to undergo significant construction to house an Entrepreneurship Center and Technology Business Incubator  as well as to make way for a larger CECT office to serve the department's growing student and client population.

"The Greater Minnesota Credit Union is kindly leasing us office space so we may continue to serve our students and industry partners while we prep for construction, and later, while we're under construction," says Jason Spaeth, Dean of Continuing Education and Customized Training. "GMCU stands as an excellent example of community spirit," Spaeth adds.

PTC's CECT division will remain in their temporary location until construction is complete, likely sometime during the Fall, 2013 term. PTC's Continuing Education department offers a broad range of courses designed for an individual's professional growth and development, while the Customized Training department provides education and training tailored to businesses' specific needs. Altogether, the CECT division provides quality workforce training and development to help grow and prosper the Pine region and beyond.

The new Entrepreneurship Center and Technology Business Incubator will house light manufacturing and technology-based businesses working toward producing innovative products or services. The facility will be designed to house two to three start-up companies simultaneously, as well as comfortable meeting space. Additionally, the facility will be designed in a resource-efficient manner, using renewable energy. Groundbreaking for construction is tentatively set for April, 2013, and the incubator’s first tenants may begin operations from the center sometime during the Fall, 2013 term.

 

"It is our vision the incubator will serve as a solid foundation for highly successful companies," says Musgrove. "PTC can offer promising start-up companies a nurturing environment for growth as well as opportunities to tap into a rich network of business resources that are invaluable to a company’s development."

PHOTO at top:
An artist's rendering of how the remodeled addition and expansion of the building may look once construction is complete.

PTC waiving application fees this week

In recognition of Minnesota College Application Week, PTC will waive the typically-mandatory $20 application fee this week -- today through Nov. 16. Nearly all Minnesota State Colleges and Universities are participating in the weeklong push to encourage those thinking about starting or going back to college to apply by waiving application fees.

“This is a golden opportunity for those thinking about college who need that final nudge of encouragement to apply and find out that college really is possible," says Danielle Chandonnet, Director of Marketing and Admissions. "College Application Week also provides an opportunity for our applicants to discover that financial aid, grants and scholarships are available to assist with tuition and other costs associated with college.”

Minnesota College Application Week is part of a national initiative brought forward by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO). The weeklong event urges high schools and postsecondary institutions to collaborate in a concentrated effort to engage and inform underrepresented (first-generation college students, students of color, and low-income) students about the college application process.

Applicants are encouraged to submit their applications during this week at no charge. Courses start Jan. 14. For more information about applying, visit PTC's "Apply Now" page, or call 320-629-5100.

Student-Parent Support program celebrates one-year anniversary

This fall semester marks the one-year anniversary of PTC’s Student-Parent Support program – a program partly sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Health’s Young Student Parent Grant Initiative, designed and established especially for PTC students with children.

“The Student-Parent Support Program exists to support students with children and help them navigate all the demands of life, including coursework, family life, and more,” says Laureen Williams, PTC’s Student-Parent Support Program Director. “College is both a stimulating and stressful time for students, and for two-thirds of our students who are also students with children, college poses a special challenge; students, as parents, must balance multiple demands on their time and energy, and Student-Parent Success programming helps link students with resources to meet individual and family needs,” Williams explains.

The Student-Parent Support Program provides all the following, and much more:

· One-on-One Support

· Lactation Room (Wellness Room)
· Laptop Loan Program
· Resources & Referrals (on- and off-campus)
· Family-Friendly Study Spaces
· Scholarship Links
· Emergency Services
· Parent Support Groups (Parents’ Café)

For more information about how the Student-Parent Support Program may help you, contact Laureen Williams: Tel - 320-629-5198; E-mail - WilliamsL@pinetech.edu; or in person - located in “The Cottage” at the north end of the campus.

 

IMAGE ABOVE

Laureen Williams, Student-Parent Support Program Director.