No one understands the challenges faced by
Moraine Park students more than instructors
Jeff Quackenboss, Amy Harmsen and Vicki
Nelson. All three earned degrees at Moraine
Park while simultaneously juggling work and
family responsibilities. Today, as Moraine Park
educators, they work to instill confidence and
competence in their students � nudging them
toward a life of learning and success.
As a Moraine Park nursing instructor and a
1999 graduate of the College's Nursing �
Associate Degree program, Nelson works to
instill a joy of nursing in her students. "If you
don't love what you do, it will show in your
work," she says.
Amy Harmsen, a Moraine Park office
technology/computer applications instructor
and a 1999 CIS � Technical Support Specialist
program graduate, strives to inspire a love of
learning. "I want to fill students' cups with the
confidence and skills they need to continue on
and pursue their love of learning," she says.
And Jeff Quackenboss, a Moraine Park
mechanical design technician instructor and
a 1981 graduate of the Mechanical Design
program, works to help students develop the
belief that they can succeed.
Mentoring their students to a new level of
skill attainment and self-confidence isn't easy,
especially since most students simultaneously
attend school, work and nurture their families.
But, Quackenboss, Harmsen and Nelson faced
similar challenges as students, so they under-
stand well what it takes to succeed.
Balancing work, family and school, Harmsen
earned a bachelor's degree in organizational
psychology from Silver Lake College and a
master's degree in educational technology
from Marian University. "My goals as a teacher
relate back to the instructors who inspired
me," she says. "I want to encourage and
challenge students every day to do their best.
I am their encourager and cheerleader. To me,
Moraine Park is a stepping stone to further
education. When students graduate, I hope
they leave with a greater sense of themselves.
I want them to have the confidence and skills
to further their education," she says.
While Harmsen enrolled at Moraine Park as
an older student, Quackenboss was fresh from
high school. He remembers not knowing what
field to enter or what program to pursue. But
he got help from a Moraine Park counselor
who asked Quackenboss about his interests
and capabilities � recommending the program
from which he eventually graduated. "Without
my education, I would not have been able to
enter the mechanical design field," he says.
"Moraine Park taught me to think ahead to
the future and to accept challenges, and they
helped give me the confidence that I could
succeed in the workforce."
Quackenboss went on to work in his field for
22 years before returning to Moraine Park to
serve as a mechanical design technician
instructor. Every day he strives to help
students develop the skills and confidence
they need to find similar success.
So does Nelson. As a single parent of three
daughters, she earned her associate degree in
nursing from Moraine Park in 1988. She went
on to earn a bachelor's degree in nursing and a
nurse practitioner certification from Concordia
University � working all the while. "It took only
15monthstogetmybachelor'sdegree
because my associate-degree coursework
transferred for credit," she says. Nelson
served others as a nurse for 10 years before
taking on an instructor role at Moraine Park.
She still works three or four hours per week
as a nurse practitioner. In doing so, Nelson
maintains she's a better instructor. In the
classroom, Nelson works to encourage
her students.
"Some people are going through career
changes when they enter Moraine Park's
nursing program," she says. "Nursing isn't an
easy program, but we work hard to make stu-
dents believe they can do it. I try to develop
an individual rapport with students because
everyone comes from a different place in life.
I tell them, `I've been there, and I know they
can do it.' I let them know I care about them
and that I want them to be successful."
Just as they have experienced success from
learning, Nelson, Harmsen and Quackenboss
want success for their students. Moraine
Park, they agree, is a great first step.
"I feel really lucky," says Nelson. "The best
decision I ever made was to go to Moraine
Park. I am so glad I did it."
� Teaching Success �
Moraine Park Alumni/Instructors Mentor Students
You've got your associate of applied science degree. Did you know you may be able to use it toward your bachelor's degree through one of our
credit transfer agreements?
An associate of applied science degree (AAS) from Moraine Park can be a springboard, with 2+2 options covering a growing number of degrees. ("2+2" refers to two years spent on your
AAS at Moraine Park and two years completing your bachelor's degree elsewhere. Actual completion times may vary for some students.) With your AAS degree, you can pursue your
bachelor's degree through one of Moraine Park's many partnerships with four-year universities and colleges. For example:
�MoraineParkandUWOshkoshcollaboratedtoprovide
Moraine Park AAS degree earners with an opportunity
to transfer their credits toward a Bachelor of Applied
Studies (BAS) degree in Leadership and Organizational
Studies from UWO. Students can transfer up to
45credits,plusapplicablegeneraleducationcreditson
a course-by-course basis. Moraine Park graduates from
information technologies, marketing and management
programs also have the opportunity to transfer their
credits toward a bachelor of liberal studies (BLS) major
with an emphasis in organizational administration.
Additional "program-to-program" transfer possibilities
exist with UWO in areas of nursing, criminal justice,
education and fire protection.
�InapartnershipwithChadronStateCollegeinNebraska,
Moraine Park students can transfer 64 to 67 credits
toward a bachelor of applied science degree with an
option in Management or Management and Communi-
cation through fully online courses that are offered at
the same flat-rate tuition for both in-state and out-of-
state students. Working adults can take advantage of
four-week (summer), eight-week and 16-week formats.
An online master's degree is also available.
�MoraineParkandLakelandCollegeinSheboygan
signed five agreements that created program-to-
program transfer possibilities for students enrolled
in Accounting, Marketing, Business-to-Business
Marketing, Business Management and Administrative
Assistant programs. Students in these programs can
simultaneously earn a Moraine Park AAS degree and a
bachelor's degree in a similar major from Lakeland.
Moraine Park has additional program-to-program transfer agreements with private four-year colleges and most of the colleges within the University of Wisconsin System, in
which certain Moraine Park AAS degree programs articulate to a bachelor's degree. With these winning combinations, you can build a powerful r�sum�, earn money while
continuing your education and improve your future employment and salary prospects.
New transfer agreements are always in the process of being developed. View our current transfer opportunities.
Associate Degree = Bachelor's Degree in Less Time

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