This is an incredible space to serve our students and a very welcoming space.
Joe Tuttle sees the new Healthcare Academic and Career Pathway offices at Milwaukee Area Technical College as the safest of spaces.
In the glass-enclosed suite of rooms on the third floor of the H Building at the Downtown Milwaukee Campus, students can speak openly about any challenges they face, said Tuttle, a retention coach in the Healthcare Pathway.
And a few private, in-person moments with an advisor or coach can help them stay in school, finish a program or start a great career.
“This space is open and inviting but provides the privacy you need,” said Tuttle, who has been at MATC for 25 years. “The old space had cubicles. In a setup like that, you might not always get the whole story when you talk to students. This way, I feel conversations can be a little more genuine.”
Healthcare Pathway faculty and staff, college administrators, and MATC President Anthony Cruz celebrated the opening of the new Pathway office on Monday, August 18.
The college began transforming several classrooms and offices into the Pathway headquarters in December 2024 and finished the project in July 2025.
On Monday, Dr. Cruz, administrators, Pathway employees and Dr. Eric Gass, dean of the Healthcare Pathway, gathered to snip a strip of medical gauze at the office entrance, in a grand opening ceremonial fashion.
“This is an incredible space to serve our students and a very welcoming space,” Dr. Cruz said.
The new offices will allow deans, Pathway advisors and retention coaches to not only better serve students, but also serve more students, Dr. Cruz said. Enrollment in healthcare programs has increased 40% in the past three years, he said.
The Pathway also has added an Integrative Health associate degree program and will expand enrollment in the Dental and Radiography Technology programs in the fall of 2026, Dr. Cruz said.
“That’s a testament to the training provided by our faculty and staff, as well as the state-of-the-art facilities we have,” Dr. Cruz said. “We’re meeting the needs of our community by training tomorrow’s skilled healthcare professionals.”
Dr. Gass recalled the original Pathway office, which opened in June 2020 on the first floor of H Building. “We made that office our own, but we quickly needed something bigger to represent how our programs were growing,” he said.
The new area includes individual offices for all eight advisors and retention coaches; computers for student use; a handicapped accessible, sound-proof room; and plenty of windows, Dr. Gass said.
“The natural light makes everyone more productive, more efficient and more energized,” Dr. Gass said. “For me, the day just flies by.”
Healthcare Pathway advisor Rachel Dietrich moved from the Mequon Campus to work in the new office.
“I’m seeing a ton more students in person than where I was,” said Dietrich, who has been at MATC for nearly five years. “There are students I have been communicating with for three years that I am finally meeting face-to-face.”
“I think there’s real value to having students right there with you,” Dietrich added. “When they feel they know you, when they recognize you walking down the hall, I feel they open up.”
Learn more about MATC’s Healthcare Pathway
About MATC: Wisconsin’s largest technical college and one of the most diverse two-year institutions in the Midwest, Milwaukee Area Technical College is a key driver of southeastern Wisconsin’s economy and has provided innovative education in the region since 1912. More than 30,000 students per year attend the college’s four campuses and community-based sites or learn online. MATC offers affordable and accessible education and training opportunities that empower and transform lives in the community. The college offers more than 180 academic programs — many that prepare students for jobs immediately upon completion and others that provide transfer options leading to bachelor’s degrees with more than 40 four-year colleges and universities. Overwhelmingly, MATC graduates build careers and businesses in southeastern Wisconsin. The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.