BCC Barton Community College administrators will know by the end of the year if the college’s application for a $2.8 million federal grant is approved, Barton President Dr. Marcus Garstecki told the board of trustees this week.
Trustees heard about the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) grant at their November board meeting. Garstecki provided an update on this and other recent activity on Tuesday at the December meeting. The grant is part of Barton’s efforts to develop and enhance AI skills and training programs. “Our grant proposal requests $2.8 million to include faculty/staff, equipment and hardware, and funds to help us deliver the training,” he said.
Here are other highlights from the president’s report on recent activities:
• Last Wednesday night (Dec. 3) was the official opening of the Cougar Den during the Men’s and Women’s basketball games against Hutchinson. We had a great turnout, and it was a great event to welcome the community and showcase our newly renovated facility.
• I attended the KACC (Kansas Association of Community Colleges) Quarterly meeting in Garden City from (Dec. 4-6). Jee Hang Lee, KACCT CEO, attended the meeting to discuss many of the issues currently happening at the Federal level and the higher education landscape. There were several state Legislators in attendance who shared their perspectives on the upcoming legislative session.
• The Barton team submitted our Aspen Award documentation. We are currently a Top 200 institution in the nation for best community colleges. The next level is the Top 25 if we are selected with our application.
• Barton was selected as one of 20 colleges across the nation to participate in the Prison Education Action Research Lab (PEARL), which is a research initiative through the University of Utah. The project is to assist research and provide high-quality educational opportunities for incarcerated individuals.
Garstecki also commented on one of the agreements he approved in the past month. The agreement for Barton to provide training for Case New Holland was renewed for two years. “We really appreciate the partnership with Case New Holland and are glad to see it continue,” he said.
Other agreements and memorandums of understanding approved deal with hazardous material management classes; military on-site training; and medical assistant, Emergency Medical Service, and nursing partnerships at multiple locations.
More on software purchase
During Tuesday’s meeting, the board of trustees approved the purchase of Modern Campus enrollment, course catalog and course management software. The five-year implementation and subscription cost is $248,911. The purchase will be made with federal Student Success funds provided through the Kansas Board of Regents.
The College utilizes a variety of methods to register students, develop and approve curriculum, design course schedules, and provide students with information through a college catalog, employment information, and reminders. Much of this work is manual entry, which results in developing spreadsheets, utilizing paper enrollment forms, and coordinating course offerings.
Vice President Elaine Simmons and Dean Angie Maddy presented the software proposal. A team spent a year researching products that are easy to navigate for students to enroll in courses. They can look at multiple enrollment and scheduling options, and view both credit and non-credit course options. This will also reduce manual entry of data by Barton employees.
Modern Campus was chosen as the software vendor that best meets Barton’s needs. It is used by over 2,000 colleges and universities across North America. Another feature is that is provides career data associated with each of the college’s programs. When enrolling, students can see the job outlook and salary range in a particular field.
The other vendors considered were CourseLeaf, costing $566,243, and CourseDog, $737,734.
Vice President of Administration Mark Dean also recommended the purchase, which qualified for the Student Success grant.
“This is a one-time fund from KBOR that must be used for student success projects,” he said.
The 2024 Legislature appropriated $17.5 million for community and technical colleges to fund activities that broadly improve student success in FY 2025. These initiatives vary at each college but are focused on training the Kansas workforce and ensuring completion and retention of students. As with the universities, KBOR requests funding in FY 2026 that is reduced by 30% from the prior year.
