Think about what is both possible and impossible. The status quo is our biggest enemy. If we keep doing what we are doing, these scores won’t change.
To help more Milwaukee Area Technical College students thrive, succeed and graduate, there are no bad ideas.
The college’s faculty and staff must devise innovative ways to improve the student experience and address challenges reported in the latest Student Satisfaction Survey (SSI), said Dr. Anthony Cruz, MATC’s president.
“Think about what is both possible and impossible,” Dr. Cruz said. “The status quo is our biggest enemy. If we keep doing what we are doing, these scores won’t change.”
The SSI, completed by colleges every two years, helps institutions identify areas of strength and weaknesses, compare student satisfaction against importance, and allocate resources to improve student life and learning outcomes.
On Wednesday, October 15, MATC employees gathered at the first Voice of the College Live session of the 2025-26 academic year, reviewed the results of the satisfaction survey and started brainstorming.
Dr. Cruz introduced Voice of the College Live in the spring of 2025 as a way to collect direct input from faculty and staff about crucial issues like hiring and student retention.
Faculty and staff attended Wednesday’s session either in person at all the college’s campuses or viewed it online.
The college sent the survey to almost every student in April 2024 and collected responses for a month. Nearly 1,350 students responded, about 10%. They answered 40 questions about their satisfaction with advising, admissions, registration, climate, services and safety.
Institutional Research employees also met with students in the spring to collect direct feedback.
MATC scored relatively well in almost every category, said Olya Finnegan, manager of research and reporting. Students reported both high satisfaction and high importance in the college’s:
- Inclusiveness of diversity
- Accessibility to computers and Wi-Fi
- Academic plans specify which courses to take
- Effective communication of important information
- Quick response to calls for assistance
- Welcoming environment.
Areas that received the lowest percentage of students being either satisfied or very satisfied included having enough financial support to complete their program, getting the “run-around” by workers, and adequate and safe parking.
On Wednesday, employees developed both small ways and big ways to ease these challenges.
- To eliminate “run around,” the college could use student ambassadors as building guides and better publicize when departments move to new locations.
- To make parking lots safer, the college could paint murals in areas connecting the community to the college.
- To increase advising time, the college could staff Pathway offices with advisors between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
- To ease anxieties over finances, the college could market existing scholarships through QR codes and tabletop cards around campus.
“There is a lot of great feedback coming in,” said Greg Ware, manager of quality improvement projects and planning, who supervised the exercise at the Downtown Milwaukee Campus.
The feedback collected Wednesday will be reviewed by the Executive Leadership Team, which will create action plans to address the challenges, Ware said.
The next SSI survey is scheduled for spring 2026.
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.
