Beyond Classrooms: Community partners value campus spaces

While our campus spaces are bustling with students throughout the week, we are also a valued hub for community and corporate events.

“You can walk around campus most evenings and weekends, and there is something going on. It amazes me to see so many organizations and partners using our spaces,” says Shawna Marquardt, who oversees regional campus operations for Madison College.

Over a six-month period, the Watertown campus alone has hosted 38 different events ranging from law enforcement trainings and elections to State Department of Agriculture and Rotary meetings.

Organizations cite the high-quality space, technology that meets their event needs, and the opportunity to introduce more people in the community to the amenities and work at our campuses.
 

Versatile Spaces for Versatile Needs

Jeff Westra, business services manager for the Workforce Development Board of South Central Wisconsin (WDBSCW), regularly holds events across our campuses. He shared, “The WDBSCW looks to Madison College as a partner site to host many of our events. This produces an additional benefit of creating opportunities for professional networking between our workforce system partners and Madison College staff.”

From a corporate perspective, Tracy Michaels of General Engineering Company in Portage looks to us when their training needs exceed the capacity of their own spaces: “Having access to Madison College’s Portage facility has been a valuable asset, providing a clean, comfortable, and well-equipped space for day- to multi-hour sessions—ensuring our staff gets the most out of their time and training.”

Exposure to opportunities is one reason Matthew Noll of Crossroads Alternative School uses our Fort Atkinson campus as its home base. “We recently moved to improve transition services for our students and to raise their awareness of the post-secondary opportunities available to them literally right across the hall. Our students have benefited from the increased space, improved technology, and great exposure to the programming going on within the same walls.”

Our campuses are versatile venues, offering spaces and solutions for events and conferences.