Fox Valley Technical College

Fox Valley Technical College
Motto	Knowledge that Works
Type	State Technical College
Established	1912, 1967
President	Dr. Chris Matheny
Students	About 50,000
Location	Grand Chute, Wisconsin, United States
Campus	Urban
Nickname	Foxes
Mascot	Sly Fox
Website	www.fvtc.edu

Fox Valley Technical College (Fox Valley Tech or FVTC) is a public technical college in Grand Chute, Wisconsin. It is a member of the Wisconsin Technical College System and serves people in the Appleton, Wisconsin/Fox Cities area. It serves about 50,000 people each year and offers more than 200 associate degree, technical diploma, and certificate programs as well as instruction related to 20 apprenticeship trades. It has credit transfer agreements with more than 30 four-year colleges and universities.

The main campus is in Grand Chute with a second campus in Oshkosh. FVTC has smaller regional centers in Chilton, Clintonville, Waupaca, and Wautoma. It also operates a Public Safety Training Center in Greenville.

Accreditation[]

FVTC is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. FVTC maintains its accreditation with the Higher Learning Commission through the Academic Quality Improvement Program (AQIP) process. FVTC has been NCA-accredited since 1970.

Presidents[]

William M. Sirek, College's inception in 1967 – June 30, 1982
Dr. Stanley J. Spanbauer, July 1, 1982 – June 30, 1993
Dr. H. Victor Baldi, July 1, 1993 – December 31, 1999
Dr. Laurence F. Johnson, July 1, 2000 – June 22, 2001
James Milslagle, June 25, 2001 – December 31, 2001
Dr. David L. Buettner, January 7, 2002 – August 15, 2008
Dr. Susan A. May, July 1, 2008 – July 31, 2021
Dr. Chris Matheny, August 1, 2021 – Present

History[]

Starting in 1912, city vocational schools were formed at six locations (Appleton, Brillion, Kaukauna, Menasha, Neenah, and Oshkosh) in the current district. In 1967, the Wisconsin Legislature divided the state into sixteen districts, which led to the formation of Fox Valley Technical Institute (FVTI). In 1987, the college (along with all of the state technical colleges) was renamed and it became known as Fox Valley Technical College.

Key dates in FVTC history[]

1912 (1912): City vocational schools organized in Appleton, Brillion, Kaukauna, Menasha, Neenah, and Oshkosh
1967 (1967): Fox Valley Technical Institute (FVTI) established by the Wisconsin Legislature
1968 (1968): Held first public referendum
1972 (1972): FVTI opened its main campus at 1825 N. Bluemound Drive in Appleton, WI.
1976 (1976): FVTI Foundation Inc. established
1978 (1978): Wautoma Regional Center opened
1979 (1979): Clintonville Regional Center opened
1981 (1981): Chilton Regional Center opened
1982 (1982): Oshkosh Riverside Campus opened at 150 N. Campbell Road
1983 (1983): Neenah Regional Center opened
1987 (1987): Name changed to Fox Valley Technical College (FVTC)
: D.J. Bordini Center opened
1993 (1993): Waupaca Regional Center opened
1994 (1994): "Knowledge That Works" became the college's slogan
1998 (1998): Held public referendum
2012 (2012): Held public referendum
2015 (2015): Public Safety Training Center opened in Greenville

Special Programs and Facilities[]

Public Safety Training Center[]

In 2015, FVTC opened their Public Safety Training Center in Greenville on the south end of Appleton International Airport. The center contains multiple state of the art simulators as well as a mock town to train students enrolled in the school's public safety programs.^[1] The center has a Boeing 727 which was donated by FedEx Express.^[2] The facility is also used frequently by public safety agencies all over the United States for their regular training. Pierce Manufacturing also uses the center to test out their new fire apparatus.

In October 2018, FVTC started work on a $10.4 million expansion of the center which is being funded by the Federal Aviation Administration. The expansion will add facilities for aircraft firefighting training which will be used by aircraft rescue and firefighting personal from airports across the United States.^[3]

Flight School[]

FVTC has an FAA certified flight school offering pilot training, Aircraft maintenance technician (A&P), and aircraft electronics programs. The school is located in Oshkosh on the eastern edge of Wittman Regional Airport.^[4]

Ione's Dining Room[]

FVTC's Appleton campus houses Ione's, a student-operated "full-service fine dining room and a premier learning lab for Culinary Arts students."^[5] The department of Culinary, Hotel and Restaurant Management had wanted to remodel the dining room and a 2002 gift from Ione Berg helped bring the goal to fruition.^[6] "Restaurant Operations, the course that is housed in Ione's Dining Room, is the capstone course of the College's Culinary Arts program. Students are expected to bring their skills together there, including all the cooking components, as well as management and leadership."^[7]

Recognition[]

The school's Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP) student club has won several national awards at AITP's national convention. FVTC's club competes on equal terms against clubs from major four-year national colleges even though it is a two-year community college which only offers Associate's degrees.^[8]

FVTC's AITP club won its first national award when it took first place award in Graphic Communications at the 2009 national convention.^[9] For 2010, the club won the "Graphics Communications Contest" and "Top Faculty Certification Scores – ACP" categories, finished second against 124 colleges in the "PC Troubleshooting" category, and took third in the "AITP Student Chapter Banner Contest".^[10] Fox Valley's AITP club was awarded the "Outstanding AITP Student Chapter of the Year (2008-2009) – Region 5".^[10]

In 2011, the club won a first place award for the third straight year.^[8] It took first place in the "Professional Banner" category and second place in the "Artistic Banner" category.^[8] Club advisor Brenda Wilz was awarded the "2011 AITP Faculty Advisor of the Year".^[8]