KENOSHA — Gateway Technical College President and CEO Ritu Raju focused on advancing technology and industry partnerships in her first-ever State of the College address on Jan. 25.
The address included mentions of the successes in the past and previews of upcoming plans for the year, according to a press release from the college.
Raju congratulated the school’s faculty for adequately preparing its technical and two-year college students to enter the workforce.
“Our work in populating the workforce pipeline has never been stronger,” Raju said.
Triumphs and importance of Gateway’s partnerships mentioned
Raju pointed to area high schools and colleges for their successful partnerships, in which students are given the opportunity to begin college early.
“She included the recently implemented Gateway Edge in the Elkhorn Area School District as one of those successes,” the press release reads. “High school students in the Edge will be able to earn their associate degrees while completing high school requirements so they can transfer to a four-year college right out of high school.”
Raju then said Gateway’s hope is to expand this program.
UW-Milwaukee and Carthage College were two other schools named for their participation in transfer agreements with Gateway.
The school isn’t only partnering with other schools – Raju mentioned their partnership with Microsoft, too, for which Gateway is developing a curriculum that meets the standards needed to operate Microsoft’s data center. The data center will be located in Mount Pleasant upon completion of construction.
“We are very grateful to all our industry partners for their support through the years,” Raju said.
Future plans, projects
The college will continue to forge partnerships in the future. One such partnership is with Moon Shot for Equity, a consulting program offered by EAB (formerly known as Education Advisory Board).
“Our innovative partnership and work with Moon Shot for Equity represents a win-win because eliminating equity gaps and producing successful graduates allows us to transform our students’ lives and meet our community and industry needs at the same time,” Raju said.
New technology implementation
Gateway’s Architecture-Structural Engineering Technician associate degree program is also seeing improvements through the use of new and advanced technology implementation in the classroom.
Augmented reality and virtual reality are being brought into the classroom with the help of ImaginX, “a tool that allows students in the program to conduct home inspections in a virtual environment,” according to the press release.
Bob Kaebisch, an instructor in this program, expressed excitement over this development.
“This is critical to providing practical, hands-on experience in a field where every detail counts and safety matters,” Kaebisch said.
Another technological development Raju addressed was that of AI use in the classroom.
“Artificial intelligence, or AI, will continue to inform teaching and learning and provide new ways to integrate hybrid learning seamlessly into our academic curriculum,” Raju said. “We have already been offering micro credentials and stackable credentials – these will continue to grow.”
President Raju’s message
Over the course of her State of the College address, Raju brought attention to why these developments matter: to ensure the success of students in an evolving world.
She said she frequently asks herself and her teams, “Who are we not serving?”
In response to this question, Raju’s next area of focus will be on Gateway’s “uniquely-abled” students.
“Our goal, through all of these endeavors, is to remove barriers to student success and produce graduates with highly relevant credentials that address the current and future workforce needs of our region,” Raju said.
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