Letter from NCATC President Scott Murakami
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From the lessons learned in 2009 and looking to future, NCATC’s main priority for 2010 will be to foster greater community between member centers, colleges and our strategic alliance partners. This will allow your center to quickly construct regional or national consortia that increases your competitiveness in seeking federal funding. |
This priority will be achieved through a number of new initiatives. Here’s a brief overview. First, a new member driven database is available for your use. The benefits of this new database include the ability to control your own information about your ATC. This makes the information from the database much more timely and accurate. The database has also been expanded to allow you the capability of searching for member organizations by both location and area of specialty. This will provide you with timely and accurate information readily and securely available through the NCATC member website.
Second, we believe that by changing our operation as a board and Regional Coordinators, we may better leverage resources that will provide more horsepower to NCATC. This will position NCATC with access to greater resources and the ability to capitalize on future opportunities in a dynamic and fast paced future. To accomplish this, we will be reforming the Board of Directors and Regional Coordinators semi monthly meetings beginning January 2010. This will be done in an attempt to maximize the varied talents that your board and regional coordinators volunteer to NCATC. We believe that by harnessing this horsepower, our membership can collectively make a significant impact on national workforce development issues in advanced technology.
In Summer 2010, we are planning a Board of Directors and Regional Coordinators Strategic Planning Session in New Mexico. This session will allow board members and regional coordinators to work together on developing a focused evaluation of NCATC’s strengths and vulnerabilities and also, chart a new course into the future and position NCATC to capitalize on the opportunities and manage the adversity that we will face as a membership in a new, dynamic and highly complex US economy.
Last, we will continue to work diligently at creating exciting and valuable networking and learning opportunities at both the 2010 Summer Workshop hosted by Santa Fe Community College in New Mexico and the Fall Conference hosted by Milwaukee Area Technical College in Wisconsin…events that you simply should not miss.
In 2009, we learned some tough lessons about ourselves and our vulnerability as a nation. At NCATC, we believe that true strength of character and leadership shines though in our darkest hour. As a coalition we are proud to represent you as a national collection of leaders who have stayed the course and have sacrificed much to develop, in some cases even a semblance of a workforce during our nation’s most challenging economic times. This was not in vain. The chaos and furious pace that we all lived through is the surge of a wave of transformation that will restore our national economic strength and prominence. Though your steadfast leadership in creating value and not just measuring it, ATCs nationwide now have the opportunity to play a critical role in this transformation.
On behalf of your Board of Directors and your Regional Coordinators, I thank you for your dedication, commitment and sacrifice to building a new economic future for our nation.
With our appreciation for all that you do,
Scott Murakami
2010 President, NCATC