John Pludeman Letter

John Pludeman Letter

MATC

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

As another school year passes, our department would like to take this time and update the funeral service community about what is happening at MA TC's Mortuary Science Program. As many of you may know by now, the funeral service department has undergone many changes. The most significant change is that the program has relocated to a new facility. The "new" facility is state of the art, reflecting the MATC Funeral Service Department's long term commitment to the funeral service community. The new facility includes a 3 station preparation room area; a walk in refrigeration unit; restorative art lab; arrangement office; selection room; chapel and lecture rooms with multi-media applications available.

In addition to the new facility, there has been the addition of a new faculty member. Michael Cornelius joined the funeral service department in the Fall of 2010. Michael brings over 25 years of experience in all phases of funeral service to the department. With over 35 years of experience in funeral service, I will continue in the position as Program Coordinator and Instructor. Collectively, the department brings over 60 years of funeral service experience to students attending the mortuary science program at MATC's West Campus. With a new faculty member and new facility, the outlook for funeral service education in Wisconsin has never been better!

It has recently been brought to our attention that there have been questions regarding the accreditation status of the Mortuary Science (Funeral Services) program at MATC's West Campus. On April 22, 2010, The American Board of Funeral Service Education moved to place the MATC Associate Degree in Funeral Service program on probation and requested that a National exam pass rate improvement plan be submitted to the Board. We are glad to inform the funeral service community that on April 22, 2011, the American Board of Funeral Service Education - Commission on Accreditation informed our college of an error in calculations of the pass rates for our graduates taking the licensure exam. Based on the re-calculations of the results (Standard 11.6.1), the pass rate for 2010 graduates merited a Iift of the probation status. A copy of the notification letter and a copy of the MATC pass rate improvement plan can be shared upon request. We will notify the funeral service community when the Funeral Service program has been placed on full approval status.

As our department moves forward, we will be making the mortuary science department resources more accessible to our friends in the funeral service community for various continuing education events and professional seminars. We would encourage all funeral service professionals and prospective students to visit our mortuary science department when you are in the area. Our new location is 1205 S. 70th Street in West Allis, WI.

Sincerely,

Program Coordinator/lnstructor

(414) 456-5320

pludemaj@matc.edu