For Immediate Release

Contact: Daniel Wackershauser, Marketing and PR Specialist
Phone: 608.822.2303
Mail: 1800 Bronson Blvd., Fennimore, WI 53809
Date of Release: October 10, 2022

Student housing benefits all students

Real Estate Foundation transfers $106K to Southwest Tech Foundation

Fennimore -

For the first time since its creation, the Southwest Wisconsin Technical College’s Real Estate Foundation (REF) is able to gift funds to the college’s foundation to support students. The REF was established in 2015. At the conclusion of the fiscal year, which ended June 30, 2021, the REF transferred $106,000 to the Southwest Tech Foundation. Through a Memorandum of Understanding, the REF is able to transfer funds to the Southwest Tech Foundation, in support of students.

The money was placed in the foundation’s College Priorities Fund, which can be used in a variety of ways to support goals mutually established by the college, the Southwest Tech Foundation and the Real Estate Foundation. According to Kim Schmelz, foundation director, the money can be used for scholarships, to continue funding the dual credit recognition program for district high schools, and for other priority projects.

According to Caleb White, vice president for administrative services, during the early years of the REF, housing finances were used to expand housing stock on campus. During COVID, campus housing was at 75-percent capacity and the revnue wasn’t available. Since COVID, housing capacity is back to 100-percent, with a waiting list. White noted there have been discussions about housing expansion, to help elleviate housing demands.

Southwest Tech is one of six colleges in the Wisconsin Technical College System that offers on-campus housing. Currently, the college offers 44 apartments providing housing for 132 students.

Information about Southwest Tech housing: swtc.edu/housing.

| Southwest Wisconsin Technical College, a finalist for the 2023 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, is one of 16 institutions that comprise the Wisconsin Technical College System. Southwest Tech offers more than 60 programs in a wide variety of disciplines. Courses are offered on campus, online, HyFlex and in a blended format. The college provides apprenticeship, certificate, technical diploma, and associate degree programs that respond to district workforce needs and prepare student for family-sustaining jobs and career advancement. |