Respect at ACCT

The Wisconsin Boards Association began the decade of the 1990’s by hosting a joint meeting of the Association with the ACCT central region seminar at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee on June 28-30, 1990.  A new dimension of cooperation was attained with State Director York when he participated in the 1990 national legislative seminar.  Wisconsin was recognized in 1990 as one of only 15 states with 100% ACCT membership among its college boards.

In 1993, Joan Jenstead of the Waukesha County board was elected to the ACCT board of directors as the central region representative.  Joan was an outstanding representative, having graduated from WCTI, pursued a successful business career, served on the board of WCTI since 1984, and elected as vice president (1989-1991) and president (1991-1993) of the Boards Association. 

In 1997, Wisconsin again gained national visibility and recognition when Fox Valley Technical College trustee Jerald Schoenike received the ACCT Central Region Trustee of the Year Award. 

Wisconsin continued its active participation in the fall of 1998 when Linda Christman, MATC-Madison, was a candidate for the ACCT national board. 

Reflecting

The commitment by board members to make the Boards Association a stronger voice for vocational and technical education was evident throughout the 1990’s and prepared the way for the appointment of a new executive director.  Association programs on board member development proved worthwhile and cooperation between the colleges and other groups on influencing legislation was effective.  Through participation in ACCT, Wisconsin was recognized as a national leader in technical education.  The VTAE system became known as the Wisconsin Technical College System and the Association changed its name to the Wisconsin Technical College District Boards Association.