On a recent fall morning, new Madison College president Jennifer Berne wore a white hard hat and a yellow reflective vest as she toured a new child care center, set to open on the college’s Goodman South campus in January.
She looked like one of the many construction workers filling the former fire station on West Badger Road. Soon, the building will welcome up to 86 children, ages 6 weeks to 5 years old, who will learn and play in the classrooms and on a playground outdoors.
While the child care center will primarily serve Madison College students, staff and faculty, some spaces will be available to families in the community, too. People can join the waitlist on Madison College’s website.
“I’ve really focused on learning about the communities,” said Berne, who became the president of Madison College in July. “We have seven campuses — three in Madison and then four in the more rural areas. … Each has a distinct personality, and a lot of people committed to it.”
Berne succeeded Jack Daniels, Madison College’s longtime president, who retired at the end of last year. She came to Wisconsin from Michigan, where she served as provost of Oakland Community College.
Ahead of the child care center tour, Berne discussed the challenges students are facing from the federal government and what enrollment looks like this fall.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
In an introductory video, you said you’ve held just about every position you can in academics, from professor to provost. You said you hope Madison College will be your “very last place.” What are your long-term goals in Madison?
It takes a long time to make change in higher education. We make small changes every day, but the big movements take a long time.
I would like to spend this next decade really working with the community to make sure that we have every opportunity available for every citizen here.
Personally, I am putting down roots here, finding my way around a city that feels both very familiar to me because I’ve been in two other college towns, but also brand new.
For me to be able to discover all the communities that make up Madison College will take me a while. I’m planning on having plenty of time to do that.
Eric Anderson, right, gives Jennifer Berne a tour of the construction progress on the new child care center at Madison College’s Goodman South campus.
As you’ve been getting the lay of the land, have you identified key opportunities and challenges ahead at Madison College?
I think the key opportunities are to continue to interact with our workforce partners to make sure the education we are offering our students is in alignment with the needs of the workforce. Community and technical colleges are very good at being nimble. New technologies arise, and you need technicians for them, and we pride ourselves on being able to do that.
A further opportunity is to recognize the significant mental health, economic (and) family challenges that our students have and think of creative ways to break down barriers.
It’s challenging to serve a population of students who are feeling federal pressure. They’re worried about child care. They’re worried about their SNAP benefits. They’re worried about their health care costs escalating. They’re worried about the high costs of living here.
To bring all those worries to the table and still be able to push through them and look toward your future is very difficult. We want to partner with our students to give them what they need.
It’s a tumultuous time in higher education. What effects has Madison College felt as an institution?
We are not heavily reliant on federal funds. It’s less than 3% of our budget, and we have spent a lot of the time this fall preparing in case those funds dry up. They currently haven’t. Some of those funds support our neediest population, our adult basic education students, our English as a Second Language students.
Construction crews are turning a former fire station on West Badger Road into a new child care center for Madison College students, faculty and staff.
We’re extremely worried about our students’ ability to access federal financial aid. Right now is not very busy in the federal financial aid disbursement world, but in about six weeks it will be quite busy as students apply for funding for spring classes. There’s a tremendous amount of concern and tension around that from our students and from us. How can we defend their right to the monies that they need and the community needs them to have so they can build their futures.
How are enrollment numbers looking this fall? What are your takeaways?
The fall numbers are robust. We were very busy in fall registration, and we are up about 6%, or more than 1,000 students, over last year.
We are getting close to prepandemic numbers. Community colleges, in particular, lost students in 2020, 2021 nationally. 2022 kind of leveled out, and 2023, 2024 have been growing steadily. We’re really pleased that our students are returning.
Is there anything else you want the Madison community to know about you?
I want the Madison community to know that when they think of Madison College, (we’re) really thinking about them. Students who come to us, whether they are 18 or 38 or 58, should feel like we have support systems for them.
We used to say that students need to be college ready, and now we say the college is student ready. Wherever the students are in their life, plans, academic background and goals, we’re here for them. And I just hope they take that seriously and open the door to Madison College.
