Rafn honored for leadership by Wisconsin Technical College System

NWTC President Jeff Rafn received the 2020 Eagle Management Leadership Award from the Wisconsin Technical College System. 

The award recognizes a manager in the Wisconsin Technical College System who excels in a wide variety of areas such as achieving results and student success at both the district and state levels. 

Rafn—who came to NWTC in 1997—is the longest-serving president in the system, and he has mentored several other WTCS presidents. Under his leadership, the 107-year-old college has been transformed into a team-based, customer-focused organization with strong enrollments and industry-leading facilities. NWTC was recently ranked in the top 10 percent of U.S. community colleges in demonstrating high levels of student success by the Aspen Institute. 

At the state and national level, Rafn has been named to the Governor’s Task Force on Climate Change and Governor’s Task Force on the Health Care Worker Shortage. He led WTCS Presidents’ Association initiatives to bring grant funding to Wisconsin and support kindergarten through 12th grade partnerships. He serves on the executive boards of Community Colleges International Development and the Workforce Development Commission of the American Association of Community Colleges. 

Dr. Rafn’s leadership has been celebrated on multiple levels. In 2019, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Tec/Vistage III. NWTC has been recognized as an Achieve the Dream Leader College for student success initiatives and has been a finalist for several American Association of Community Colleges Excellence Awards.