MBU Hosts Jim Falco, Associate VP for Regional Campuses at Madison College
On October 16, 2018, Maranatha hosted an open business breakfast for the local community and students. Cassandra Schug, school superintendent of Watertown, WI, opened for James S. Falco, the primary speaker of the event. The breakfast focused on the school systems of Wisconsin, highlighting areas that could use improvement but also bringing to attention the multitude of resources available to not only students, but also the community as a whole.
Schug spoke primarily on the Referendum and two different proposed budgets for schools that will be voted on in the near future. She evaluated the pros and cons of each budget, explaining what would happen with each should they be adopted. She closed her time by encouraging the community to go out and vote in the coming elections.
James S. Falco, Associate Vice President for Regional Campuses at Madison College, spoke mainly on aligning a workforce to create a collective response to economic and labor market challenges. The suggested solution included opening colleges’ resources up to the community so that everyone can have access to the needed education for different job opportunities. In this way, no one is cut off from getting the sort of experience that employers are looking or for what certain jobs need.
Falco went on to describe that the easiest way to close the gap between the workforce and the number of jobs that still need to be filled is by providing the education to lift employees to the level that employers need. Falco explained the different resources that colleges could provide in order to do just that.
Falco ended his presentation with a quote from Stephen Hawking: “All we need to do is make sure we keep talking.” He stated, “As long as everyone continues to bring ideas and potential solutions forward to solve problems, then the community can always continue to improve. Problems and areas of need can be addressed and taken care of by keeping up the conversation.”