UWRF, CVTC meet in spring to restate commitment to student success at Reaffirmation Day

Matthew Baughman, The Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire, Wis.
·3 min read

EAU CLAIRE — When it comes to post-secondary education, opportunities or instances in a student’s life can occur which may lead to them transitioning between a technical college and a university.

For the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and Chippewa Valley Technical College, Reaffirmation Day gives them both a chance to reaffirm their commitment to students and enable them to transfer more easily when situations like that can arise.

Many of these events occur throughout the year, as CVTC reaffirms its student commitment with many of its university partners, including UW-Stout and UW-Eau Claire. Reaffirmation Day for CVTC and UWRF was held on Apr. 30 at the technical college’s main campus in Eau Claire.

“We are getting together to talk about opportunities that both of us have to support students in our local area,” said David Toles, assistant director of Admissions at UWRF.

“There is a CVTC River Falls campus, so we partner really closely with CVTC as a whole, but really try to make sure that we are making connections and can support students throughout the entirety of the area that CVTC serves.”

As the event offers in-person socialization, Toles said it is an opportunity for departments from the two institutions to connect, which leads towards being able to better support transferring of students.

Tricia Davis, director of General Education and Associate Degrees at UWRF, said that an example of how transferring can play into a student’s life is with someone at the technical college who may be interested in pursuing elementary education. In that scenario, acting as a resource and allowing the student to know what steps they need to take between their technical college education and a four-year degree can make a transfer experience much more efficient.

In that regard, setting up a good, strong relationship between the two institutions is a benefit for the college students who may contribute to Wisconsin’s workforce.

While at the event, both UWRF Chancellor Maria Gallo and CVTC President Sunem Beaton-Garcia spoke about their commitment to students.

“This work is really important in terms of offering our students as many opportunities as possible to find their academic paths and provide them with the resources they need to have successful outcomes,” Gallo said, in a university press release.

“We work all year long to create great outcomes,” Beaton-Garcia said in the same university press release. “We need to continue to do that work and to be willing to address the areas where we may be falling short.”

But as spring represents a busy time for both institutions, with classes wrapping up and finals taking place not too long afterwards. With both UWRF and CVTC still continuing their Reaffirmation Day during that time, Toles said it shows how important their student’s education is to them.

“For both institutions to say that it is a commitment and a priority for us to get together, I think it is really cool to be able to support staff going to these types of events and being able to make those connections with colleagues at CVTC,” he said.