Madison College President Jack E. Daniels III to Retire

In his eleventh year of stewardship, Madison College President Jack E. Daniels, III has announced he will retire in June of 2024. The announcement was made at a meeting of the Madison College District Board on October 4.

In an email to Madison College faculty and staff, Daniels reflected on some of the transformative work that they have collectively accomplished:

We’ve established Madison College as an engine of innovation, a driver of economic impact, and a collaborator in far-reaching community and educational partnerships. We’ve significantly changed the physical landscape of our facilities and reshaped the perception of a high-quality, community college experience.

Daniels came to Madison College in 2013 from Los Angeles Southwest College and quickly became a leader in the community as well as at the college. He has served area non-profits, the business community, and worked with multiple organizations all while cementing Madison College’s role as a catalyst for economic and workforce development.

“It’s been a privilege to serve this community and this institution,” said Daniels. “Madison College stands head and shoulders above most and is exceptional in what it does and provides. And our faculty and staff understand, fully, our role in the community, and how we can best serve and have meaningful and lasting impact that changes lives.”

Among his many noteworthy accomplishments are the vision for and creation of Madison College’s Goodman South Campus and the dedicated coalition of area leaders he assembled to execute that vision of intentionally serving and supporting the south Madison community. His leadership was also instrumental in instituting the college’s shared governance model and philosophy for participatory decision-making practices. He worked with college leadership to expand program and apprenticeship offerings, craft new curricula to meet the needs of a changing workforce and institute numerous new transfer agreements with four-year colleges and universities.

Daniels helped guide the college’s extraordinary response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which included continuing to provide high-quality, accessible educational opportunities while prioritizing the health and safety of students and employees and ensuring access to necessary services and aid. His tenure also coincided with challenging and tumultuous societal moments during which the school remained steadfast to its unwavering commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Under his leadership, the number of students of color served by Madison College increased from 22% to 35% over the past decade. Similarly, the number of employees of color has also grown. Since 2015, full-time staff of color has grown 44% and full-time managers of color has grown 45%. Additionally, Black full-time faculty has grown 20% and Latino full-time faculty has grown 15%.

“Dr. Daniels’ leadership and vision leaves Madison College in a strong position for the future and uniquely suited to meet the opportunities ahead,” said Donald Dantzler, Madison College District Board of Trustees Chair. “Both the college and community have benefited from his guidance, voice and steady hand, and we are indebted.”

Madison College will be launching a national search for Daniels’ replacement in the coming weeks.

For all media inquiries, please contact Mel Charbonneau, Madison College’s Director of Communications at 906.361.7263 or mcharbonneau@madisoncollege.edu.

Naviant, Inc. Forms a New Alliance with Jadu to Offer Accessible, Automated, Digital Self-Service to its Customers

VERONA, Wis – U.S; LEICESTER, England – U.K. – October 2nd, 2023 – Naviant, Inc., a leading provider of  Hyland and  ABBYY intelligent automation solutions  has partnered with Jadu, a leading provider of Web Experience Management, portal, eForms, and CRM software. Through the new partnership, the companies will deliver accessible, Section 508-compliant, automated solutions to enable organizations to streamline digital self-service offerings to their customers and constituents.

Jadu builds its software to support accessible design principles and standards to deliver solutions that work for everyone. Web accessibility is an issue that is becoming increasingly more mainstream as large organizations begin to focus on equality and diversity. The US has also seen a sharp increase in the number of lawsuits for failure to meet Section 508 and The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility law, particularly in the education sector, as recently reported by Usablenet.

As a provider of expert consulting services for customers who leverage Hyland OnBase, Naviant will offer Jadu’s web portal and CRM platform, which integrates seamlessly with OnBase and ‘WorkView,’ the low code workflow tool by Hyland. Naviant will also add the full Jadu Digital Platform to its solution suite to offer its other customers.

“We are thrilled to offer the Jadu Platform to our customers,” says Michael Carr, President, and CEO at Naviant. “Being able to offer Jadu’s powerful self-service portal, eForms, and CRM opens up a new level of digital transformation, bringing the ‘Amazon-like experience’ to our customers. The opportunity to offer solutions at a level of accessibility that leads in the digital experience market will open up vast opportunities for our customers and the market.”

“Jadu is on a mission to become the world’s most accessible digital platform, and we’re focused on building alliances with organizations that want to deliver inclusive web experiences,” says Suraj Kika, Founder and CEO at Jadu. “We could not be more excited to be partnering with Naviant, who, with their leading expertise in content services, will offer unique value to organizations wishing to provide automation and self-service to their customers and constituents.”

Jadu will be joining Naviant at the Hyland CommunityLive conference in Las Vegas on October 1st – 5th.

About Naviant

Business processes and solutions that empower better and faster decisions are what we do best. As a nationally recognized intelligent automation solutions integrator and business process consulting organization with over 30 years of experience headquartered in Verona WI, our clients do more with less by streamlining processes and gaining visibility into the information they need to make better decisions. As a long-standing key partner of Hyland, Naviant helps organizations operate more efficiently using Hyland’s OnBase enterprise information platform, Brainware intelligent capture platform, the Hyland Cloud, and Hyland RPA, as well as the ABBYY intelligent capture. Naviant’s “process-first” approach brings focus to the importance of process improvement prior to implementing best-in-class enterprise content management (ECM) solutions and technology. Naviant is a top-tier partner for Hyland’s OnBase, an enterprise information platform for managing content, processes, and cases, that combines ECM, case management, business process management (BPM), records management, compliance, and capture functionality on a single platform.  To learn more about Naviant, visit Naviant.com.

About Jadu

Jadu has over 20 years of experience digitally transforming hundreds of government, education and private sector organizations around the world.  With offices in the UK, North America and Australia, Jadu is a leading global provider of accessible web experiences, specializing in low code, CRM, accessible websites (CMS) and online forms, customer case management for the enterprise and expert digital design services. Millions of users use Jadu to access important digital services every day.  Jadu focuses on using technology to connect communities and empower effective self-service. Their expert team continues to deliver solutions to transform the way the public sector delivers services to communities, focusing on low-code platforms and tools, accessibility, automation, and user-centered design.  By providing the foundation of many accessible, responsive and award-winning websites and digital transformation projects, Jadu helps to improve processes, service delivery, and saves companies valuable time and money to be invested in other vital services – that help citizens, students and staff. For more information, please visit Jadu.net, and follow its accounts on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter (X).

Bank of Sun Prairie Launches New Financial Education Program for Sun Prairie High School Students Across Three Area High Schools

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 4, 2023

Contact: Jimmy Kauffman, President and CEO,
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Bank of Sun Prairie
608.837.4511 ● jimmy.kauffman@bankofsunprairie.com
www.bankofsunprairie.com

Bank of Sun Prairie Launches New Financial Education Program for Sun Prairie High School Students Across Three Area High Schools
Sun Prairie East, Sun Prairie West, Prairie Phoenix Academy Adopting New Curriculum

Sun Prairie, Wis.— Bank of Sun Prairie today announced the launch of EVERFI: Financial Literacy, a new personal finance education program for high school students in grades nine to 12 at Sun Prairie East, Sun Prairie West, and Prairie Phoenix Academy. The course has been made available through Bank of Sun Prairie’s relationship with EVERFI from Blackbaud, the leader in powering social impact through education.

EVERFI: Financial Literacy teaches high school students how to make smart financial choices that promote financial well-being over their lifetime. The program features an interactive learning platform designed specifically to translate complex financial concepts like understanding a pay stub or completing the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) form and introduces the basic financial literacy skills needed as high-school students transition into adulthood. According to EVERFI, 71 percent of teens agree students should receive financial education in schools.

“In working with students, teachers, and advisors through the ACCEL Academy, Bank of Sun Prairie learned high school students were demanding formal education on financial topics. The students conducted extensive market research and hand selected EVERFI: FinLit as their curriculum of choice,” shared Jimmy Kauffman, Bank of Sun Prairie’s president and CEO. “And because of our priority focus on financial literacy, we immediately knew we were the right partner to bring this critical financial education to Sun Prairie Area School District.”

Through a series of interactive lessons, EVERFI: Financial Literacy helps students develop actionable strategies for managing their finances. The robust course library covers a number of topic areas, including income and employment, budgeting, credit and debit cards, and financing higher education. The seven-module course immerses students in real-life financial scenarios and allows them to move at their own pace through the lessons, providing bite-sized instructional animations that make the topics approachable and relatable.

“Understanding your finances and making sound financial decisions is key to a strong future, but many people don’t know where to turn to get the information they need in a way that is age-appropriate and easily understandable,” said EVERFI Co-Founder and President Ray Martinez.”

By laying the foundation for financial literacy at a pivotal age, students will be prepared with the skills needed to enter the new economy and make a smooth transition into adulthood.”

The platform offers detailed data and reporting allowing teachers to uniquely track progress and performance of every student and see real-time data on student performance, while the technology aggregates crucial data on hours of learning completed and knowledge gains.

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In-person interviews in the classroom are possible.

ABOUT EVERFI from Blackbaud 

EVERFI from Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) is an international technology company driving social impact through education to address the most challenging issues affecting society ranging from financial wellness to mental health to workplace conduct and other critical topics. Founded in 2008, EVERFI’s Impact-as-a-Service™ solution and digital educational content have reached more than 45 million learners globally. In 2020, the company was recognized as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company and was featured on Fortune Magazine’s Impact 20 List. The company was also named to the 2021 GSV EdTech 150, a list of the most transformative growth companies in digital learning. Blackbaud acquired EVERFI in December 2021. To learn more about EVERFI, please visit everfi.com or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or X/Twitter @EVERFI.

About Bank of Sun Prairie

Bank of Sun Prairie is a locally owned, full-service community bank with $719 million in assets and five branches in Sun Prairie and Cottage Grove, Wis. Its mission is to be trusted advisor for families, businesses and communities offering a complete range of services, while delivering fair returns for stockholders. Member FDIC. Equal Opportunity Lender.

Summit Credit Union’s Co-Op Connection Takes Place on Oct. 7

Madison-based financial cooperative celebrates local co-ops

Media Invite: If you wish to attend the Co-Op Connection event, contact Jason Waller at 608 698 5948 or Jason.Waller@summitcreditunion.com for photo or filming opportunities and interviews.

• When: Saturday, Oct. 7, between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m.
• Where: Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, next to the Dane County Farmers’ Market

MADISON, Wis.— Summit Credit Union’s twelfth Co-op Connection will take place on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, next to the Dane County Farmers’ Market on Saturday, Oct. 7, between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. Many Wisconsin cooperatives will take part in the event to celebrate the movement.

“We are honored to host the Co-op Connection event again this year,” said Summit Credit Union CEO & President Kim Sponem. “Our cooperative structure is what sets credit unions apart and this event is a great way to collaborate and show our community what Wisconsin cooperatives have to offer.” 

Co-op Connection is hosted by Summit Credit Union and sponsored by the Willy Street Co‐op, The Wisconsin Credit Union League, UW Center for Cooperatives and Wisconsin Farmers Union. It offers a variety of family-fun activities and prize drawings from participating co-ops. There will be representatives from a variety of sectors joining us this year, including grocery, farming, housing, interpreter and co-op education organizations. 

This event promotes cooperative principle number six: cooperation among co-ops. It also allows the public to discover and learn about cooperatives in their community, our common guiding principles, and the benefits of co-op membership. It also provides an opportunity for the co-ops to develop strong and lasting relationships with one another.

Summit Credit Union Background
Established in 1935, Summit Credit Union is a member-owned financial cooperative. Summit holds $6.6 billion in assets and has more than 250,000 members and 941 employees across 56 locations throughout south-central and southeastern Wisconsin. Since 2002, Kim Sponem has been CEO & President of Summit Credit Union, formerly known as CUNA Credit Union/Great Wisconsin Credit Union.    

Recognized for its excellence in employee engagement, in 2021, 2022 and 2023 Summit was named both a Top Workplace in the USA by Top Workplaces USA and a Top Workplace in the Madison area by the Wisconsin State Journal. In 2023 it has added a Top Workplace award in Milwaukee by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.  

For more information, visit www.summitcreditunion.com or call 608-243-5000 or 800-236-5560.   

For additional media information, visit https://www.summitcreditunion.com/about-summit/press-room or follow Summit on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

WPS Health Solutions adds two new Board members

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
DeAnne Boegli
Vice President of Communications
608-512-5754
deanne.boegli@wpsic.com

WPS Health Solutions adds two new Board members
New members expand federal contracting expertise

MADISON, Wis.—Oct. 4, 2023—In September, the WPS Health Solutions Board of Directors voted to add two new members to its roster. Joining the WPS Board are Karen Jackson and Larry Kocot.

Jackson retired from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in March of this year, where she served as Deputy Chief of Operations. At CMS, she was responsible for directing operational support for more than $1 trillion in health care spending with an annual budget of $7 billion, which included information technology, human capital, physical and systems security, risk management, and more.

Kocot retired at the end of September from KPMG LLP, a global professional services firm, where he has been a Principal and National Leader for the firm’s Center for Healthcare Regulatory Insight. Prior to KPMG, Kocot was a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Senior Counsel at Epstein Becker Green, PC. He was also Senior Advisor to the Administrator and a key member of the management and operations team at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for the implementation of Medicare Part D.

“These two individuals are highly experienced with extraordinary backgrounds that will help take WPS to the next level,” WPS Board Chair Steve Skoronski said. “I’m grateful they have agreed to join us as we move forward with our growth strategy.”

The terms for each new member run through the company’s annual meeting in 2026. Other WPS Board members can be found online at wpshealthsolutions.com/about/board-of-directors.shtml.

About WPS Health Solutions®

Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation (WPS Health Solutions), founded in 1946, is a nationally regarded benefits administrator for a variety of U.S. government programs and a leading not-for-profit health insurer in Wisconsin. WPS Health Solutions serves active-duty and retired military personnel, seniors, individuals, and families in Wisconsin, across the U.S., and around the world. WPS Health Solutions, headquartered in Madison, Wis., has more than 2,800 employees. Within the enterprise, there are three divisions: WPS Government Health Administrators, WPS Military and Veterans Health, and WPS Health Insurance. For more information, please visit wpshealthsolutions.com.

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