2010 Spring Articles

Your Portal To Success

The ins and outs of Online DCTC

Online learning, sometimes called distance learning or e-learning, is all about flexibility for the time-challenged student. As a state-of-the-art Web site, Online DCTC is all about providing the easiest, smoothest and most efficient means to access coursework and resources for online enhanced, hybrid online and flextime/online courses as well as online certificate and degree programs at Dakota County Technical College. Read more…

40 Years in Gear

It's still about jobs, jobs, jobs

By Sharon LaComb, DCTC Vice President
Since DCTC opened its doors in 1970, the college's administration, faculty and staff have been working toward one goal—providing individuals with the education they need to enter the workforce with the knowledge and tools to not only prosper, but to also give back to their communities. Read more…

Onward & Upward

Former UB student Nellie Francis goes global

As a sophomore at Simley High School in Inver Grove Heights, Minn., Nellie Francis was already ambitious. She knew where she wanted to go—a good college or university, she just didn't know how to get there. A friend told her about the Upward Bound program at Dakota County Technical College and the rest, as they say, is history. Read more…

The Transfer Track

Navigate transfer opportunities

Higher education could easily be renamed higher and higher education because learning never stops and advanced degree paths are virtually unlimited. As students progress through their educational careers, they need to be aware of all the opportunities that await them at the college and university level. Even if students don't know what they wish to ultimately do for a living, they still need to ask, "Where can I go from here?" Read more…

Not Just for Kicks

Soccer complex shines for whole community

A beautiful late summer afternoon greeted the Blue Knights as they arrived at the championship field where both the women and men's soccer teams would be playing all their future home games. That Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009, Dakota County Technical College hosted the Kickoff Celebration for the grand opening of the new Ames Soccer Complex on the college's Rosemount, Minn., campus. Read more...

Mathematical Might

Doing a number on numbers

Remember the movie Good Will Hunting? Remember how you thought, Wouldn't it be cool to be a math genius like the one portrayed by Matt Damon? Or how about A Beautiful Mind? Did you admire the phenomenal brainpower of John Nash, but think to yourself that paranoid schizophrenia really wasn't all that cool? And don't forget "Charlie Eppes" on Numb3rs. What isn't cool about solving crimes with glowing numerals? Read more…

Growing an Industrial Strength Program

How Landscape Horticulture work with industry

Matt Brooks, a landscape horticulture instructor at Dakota County Technical College, handles the design side of his program. Jeff Kleinboehl teaches landscape construction and maintenance. Both instructors are tops in their field, but they will be the first to tell you that a key property of any academic program is the depth of its connection to its corresponding industry. Read more…

Blazing a Multilingual Trail

Find your voice with ESOL

When Fahmo Sulieman ventured to the United States in 1998, she was leaving behind life in Mogadishu, Somalia, one of the most dangerous cities on Earth. Fahmo spoke fluent Somali, of course, and a smattering of British English she had learned in high school, but she wasn't conversant enough with American English to make headway in the work world or advance her education. Read more…

Student Services Metamorphosis

Welcome to your new point of entry

The craftsmen from our Operations department have put away their tools. Staff members are back at their desks. And DCTC Student Services is looking sharp and ready to roll after a full-out renovation. Read more…

Advancing Business Through Training

Customized Training delivers at Uponor

The Continuing Education & Customized Training division at Dakota County Technical College never stands still. For the division's CT directors, "cutting-edge" isn't a stale buzzword, it's a state of mind they carry forward as they work to develop and deliver the best and brightest management, workforce and technical training in the business. Read more…

Put Some English on Your English

Or, what do you mean nothing rhymes with angst?

With roughly 375 million native speakers worldwide, English is a serious language. Most experts rank only Mandarin and Hindu/Urdu as more popular with Spanish running just off the pace. Throw in non-native speakers and English starts looking like the busiest tongue on the planet. Read more…