Category: News

Just nine months ago, Western Technical College grad Ruth Dupey was in a classroom, learning the various ways to collect and analyze blood. Now at Gundersen Health System in La Crosse, Dupey was originally hired to conduct regular testing in the hospital. However, the COVID-19 pandemic caused her to move to the COVID extraction unit. […]

Like nearly every higher education institution, the fall 2020 term at Western Technical College has been a sweeping challenge.   Nearly two-thirds of Western’s programs are in alternate formats this fall. Classes that require in-person instruction, like manufacturing and health care, are limited to nine students. Since planning for the fall began back in the […]

To mark National Apprenticeship Week next week, Western Technical College officially opened its newly remodeled Apprenticeship and Industry Training Center, completing a $3.5 million project that significantly upgrades the facility located at 2860 21st Place South, La Crosse. The project, which began in May of this year, upgrades the space into a state-of-the-art classroom for […]

Officials with Western Technical College and UW-Stout have formally announced a new transfer agreement for students beginning this fall. The new agreement allows students who completed the Electromechanical Technology and Automation Systems Technology associate degree programs to transfer into UW-Stout’s Engineering Technology-Automation bachelor’s degree. In addition, students in Western’s Mechanical Design Technology program can transfer […]

Access to affordable education was already challenging before COVID-19. Around the country, rising costs of education are leading to more debt among graduating students. Students in low-income areas are continuing to struggle returning to school, often balancing work and attending classes at the same time. At Western Technical College, efforts have been underway to find […]

Western Technical College’s Learner Support and Transition division was recently recognized as an innovative practice in adult education by the Advancing Innovation in Adult Education Project, a national project that recognizes achievements in adult education. The division is being recognized for its curriculum and delivery, designed and built to address the needs of at-risk adults […]

Western Technical College is one of eight community and technical colleges selected through a competitive application process to participate in College Success for Single Mothers. Funded by ECMC Foundation and led by the National College Transition Network (NCTN), the goal of the three-year project is to identify the needs of single mother students on campus and develop a plan […]

Western Technical College’s Respiratory Therapist program was recently honored with a Distinguished RRT Credentialing Success award earlier this month by the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC). Programs are awarded using specific requirements, including: having three or more years of outcomes data, hold accreditation without a progress report, document RRT credentialing success of 90% […]

Western Technical College’s Electromechanical Technology program is highly developed for the manufacturing world. Students learn about systems that integrate with computers, hydraulics, and mechanical control systems. It’s a mix of both theory and hands-on work, and prepares students with a skillset in an increasingly technological field. But a few weeks ago, everything changed.  Since the […]

Western Technical College’s Alumni Association awarded this year’s Distinguished Alumni Award to Chad Wehrs, owner of Wehrs Machine and Racing Products and an advocate for career and technical education in the area. Wehrs is a 1997 graduate of the Machine Tooling program. Following graduation, he used his life savings to purchase equipment in designing and […]