Ready for an Exciting 2020 – All Year Long!

By John Willis, MIAT College of Technology Houston Campus

The Roaring 2020s are here, and we are ready for another exciting year! As we begin a new decade it is important to not only reflect on our accomplishments but also set our eyes upon the horizon and what we still need to achieve.  As educators, it is my belief that the choices we make on a daily basis not only impact our current students, but also future generations. Many of our students are first generation college students, and I know their success can be a source of inspiration for a sibling, a spouse or a child.  For 2020, I have challenged my staff with one simple goal – that is to “Be Generational.” I want them to embrace this concept and to remain humble regarding the positive influence that they can have on our students and future generations.  

Those who know me well also know that I am big on goal setting. Here are five key goals for our Houston campus  that I would like to share for 2020: 

1) MIAT Houston is seeking to increase classroom partner sponsorships for 2020.  We would like to add three or more new employer or industry association partners to our classroom sponsorship roster.

2) Our Houston campus is planning to be active participants in two or more local charity events. For example, I participated in the American Cancer Association’s Real Men Wear Pink Houston campaign in 2019 and raised over $3,000. In 2020, I would like to reach or exceed $5,000 in funds raised for breast cancer awareness and treatment. 

3) We are excited  to see our new Non-Destructive Testing Technician Program take off, with ever increasing enrollment throughout the calendar year. Our first class is set to start this month. We hope our first-year enrollment will exceed 50 students.

4) Achieving an employment rate of 90 percent in our graduates’ field of choice within six months of completing their program. Currently, the average post-graduation employment rate is  79% for all programs.

5) Continuing to hire the best and brightest faculty and staff members is a high priority for 2020.  Within the next few days, we will be announcing the addition of five new members of our Houston team. Watch for a news release about this!

This New Year is sure to be an exciting journey. Here are a just a few of many reasons why:

1. Our graduation numbers continue to climb, with about 300 students on target to graduate in 2020. 
2. Student enrollment is continuing to increase, up from 48 in 2015 to approximately 500 at the beginning of this year.
3. We will be hosting our first on-site  job fair in early February and many employers will be here to interview our students and graduates. We are hosting a major event at our Houston campus for high school counselors in April and another major event in October for employers, community leaders and elected officials. 

What I know to be true is that this New Year and the decade that we have entered are full of potential for growth. I look forward to sharing more of our MIAT story over the next several months.

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I welcome your comments and feedback, now and always. Please email me any time at jwillis@miat.edu. To learn more about us or to schedule a tour of our Houston campus, please visit www.miat.edu.