What began as an opportunity to observe quickly became a chance for Electrical Apprenticeship Instructor Matt Bishop to showcase the expertise of FVTC faculty on a national stage.
This summer, Matt participated in the National Training Institute (NTI), one of the country’s largest professional development events for electrical industry educators and trainers and takes place each summer in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The opportunity had been nearly a decade in the making.
“I was approached around 10 years ago by a professor I had at UW-Stout,” says Matt. “The problem was that they require a doctorate to participate, which I just finished in March of 2025.”
Matt entered NTI as a visiting scholar, a highly competitive program designed to identify educators with the potential to join the institute’s teaching faculty. Initially, he expected to spend the week observing classes and learning from experienced instructors.
As the event approached, those plans changed.
“Being a visiting scholar meant they were going to pay me for a week to simply absorb what was going on,” he explains. “Then, as it got closer, they asked me to jump right in and take two sections.”
Each morning, Matt taught two 110-minute courses. In the afternoons, he visited classes at Eastern Michigan University and Washtenaw Community College, learning from educators across the country while sharing his own expertise.
The experience also stretched him professionally. “This was the first time I stepped out of teaching pure electrical and taught teaching methods in a lab environment,” he says.
Matt’s team included tenured faculty members from prominent universities, and he connected with instructors from institutions such as Purdue and Auburn. While initially unsure how he would fit in, he quickly discovered that his hands-on experience teaching electrical apprenticeship courses at FVTC was highly valued.
“I feel incredibly fortunate to represent the college in such a powerful way,” says Matt. “My three teammates were all tenured professors at rather prestigious universities. I was nervous that I might not belong.”
By the end of the week, those doubts had been erased. NTI leaders asked whether Matt would be willing to return, and he later received an official invitation to join the institute’s Professional Education faculty.
For Matt, the recognition reflects not only his own work, but also the quality of instruction at FVTC. “They treated us like gold, and it was incredible that FVTC got to play in a sandbox with the largest post-secondary institutions in the country,” he says. “It was surreal seeing my name on the door.”
