The North Central Kansas Technical College Board of Trustees held their monthly meeting on campus Monday night at the Severance Student Union conference room. Beloit USD 273 Superintendent Jeff Travis made a presentation to the board on the relationship between USD 273 and NCK Tech.
“The (USD 273) Board of Education and I both feel that the partnership has been great, and that it has been beneficial for our students, faculty and staff,” Travis said.
He thanked NCK Tech for the welder donated to the BHS Vo-Ag classroom as well as for including them in the surplus auction recently held at the college. Travis also highlighted other resources and space the schools share in a power point presentation. You can view Travis’s full presentation at this link. Tech College Presentation
He also talked about their cooperative agreement with DS Bus Lines where NCK Tech students and instructors perform light maintenance on the leased busses.
Travis said, “I met recently with the bus company (DS Buslines), and they also want to express their thanks for all of the cooperation that has gone on with their agreement.”
Mr. Channel, of NCK Tech, teaches on-site woods classes to high school students, and Mr. Pingel teaches College English at BHS. The high school also has students who attend Auto Body classes at NCK Tech. They are examples of concurrent and dual credit courses that are offered to Beloit students via NCK Tech.
“This is what I like about our partnership,” Travis concluded. “That we have not been afraid to ask what we can do to help each other. We have discussions on the opportunities, and we have been able to make these happen in positive ways for both of our institutions.”
President Eric Burks said he testified twice at the Kansas Legislature in Topeka in February. Once before the Senate Utilities Committee about their Telecommunications program and once before a Higher Education Subcommittee of Ways and Means.
Burks said that in both testimonies he shared, “Since fiscal year 2011, as a sector we have grown 36.9 percent in enrollment, awarded 25.7 percent more degrees and certificates, maintained the highest graduation rates in the state, placed 90 percent of those graduates into jobs, and 90 percent of those placed are working in Kansas!”
All of this has cost the state less than $22 million, and Burks said they represent an $11 return on every state dollar invested. Yet, since 2009 the funding has been reduced by more than 10 percent. All while costs continue to rise which ultimately gets put on the backs of students.
“We need to stop the cuts, restore the 4 percent, and we need $10 million to fully fund the tiered side of the cost model to sustain our success,” Burks said.
Burks also announced that NCK Tech will soon have its own HDTV channel courtesy of Cunningham Telephone and Cable. They are in the process of setting up the equipment with the IT Department and then the programming schedule will be determined. The station will be shown in 12 area communities.
In a section of his report, Dean of Instructional Services Corey Isbell said that March 6-9 NCK Tech will hold a Department of Homeland Security All Hazards Assessment. This is a comprehensive, but non-mandated, exercise intended to help discover opportunities in the areas of security and emergency preparedness. NCK Tech staff, first responders and other key personnel along with several departments within NCK Tech at both campuses in Beloit and Hays will participate. The first two days will consist of conducting interviews while the final two days will involve inspection tours of both sites. The DHS will then provide a detailed assessment which will identify strengths and weaknesses concerning security and emergency preparedness.
Dean of Student Services Angel Prescott provided a three-year enrollment comparison. It showed that NCK Tech accepted 183 students in the 2015-16 academic year, 218 in the 2016-17 year and has accepted 185 students for the 2017-18 year so far. The programs with the highest number of students in the current year include Welding with 34, Diesel Technology 28 and Ag Equipment Technology with 20 students.
Prescott also said 502 Media was on campus February 21 to work on a digital marketing promotional video. She also encouraged people to visit, like share the NCK Tech page on Facebook @ncktc.
Dean of Administrative services Brandi Zimmer said the Gateway enrollment with FHSU was finalized in February. They currently have a higher number of Spring Semester participants, at 226, of any year going back to the inception of program in 2011-12.
She said financial aid distributions took place on January 27, and that the fire marshal completed their annual inspection on January 26 and 27. She said there were minor corrections need which have been completed by the maintenance department.
The NCK Tech Board of Trustees will hold their March meeting at the Hays Campus on Monday, March 27.