12/16/2019- Individually they’re transforming students, but together they’re working to transform the community. Administration and staff from both the NWTC Marinette Campus and UW-Green Bay, Marinette Campus have joined forces to establish the Marinette Area Higher Education Coalition and bring a shared vision of public higher education to the region. Cindy Bailey, Campus Executive Officer at the local UW campus, says it’s about reducing duplication, increasing collaboration, and creating new opportunities.
“We’re very fortunate in this community to have two areas of higher education and what really makes sense is, together we can really offer more. We’ve had some duplication of services in the past and what we’re really trying to do is streamline those services and streamline the course offerings for our community and really listen to our community’s needs…and the coalition is driving those efforts forward.”
Through the coalition, the two schools are now sharing various student resources and events. They’re also meeting jointly with community and industry leaders to craft new solutions to the need to attract and retain a skilled workforce. Jennifer Flatt is the Dean of NWTC’s Marinette Campus.
“We know that higher education is one of the great draws to an area because you’ve got families that are trying to move here or to stay here and they need to know that there are cultural events, there are trades opportunities, you know, the whole wide range, and so we’re working together to communicate who we are as higher education in the area to help with recruitment and retention. And, of course, we can better serve industry needs because we can offer more classes together and more degrees together when we reduce duplication.” 
The campuses are jointly hosting Quick Start events to provide more information about the Marinette Area Higher Education Coalition or NWTC or UWGB, Marinette Campus individually on January 9th. There prospective students can also apply to either of the schools or take their admissions tests at no charge.