By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
BCC aims for OSHA plum
Placeholder Image


Barton Community College administrators are hoping the college can become the official provider of Occupational Safety and Health Administration training in the state of Kansas.
The college has been invited to join a consortium of OSHA Training Institutes, according to William Nash, BCC’s associate dean of environmental technology and military programs. Nash spoke to BCC trustees at their May study session on Thursday. The trustees were in the Seminar Room on the Barton County campus, and Nash joined the meeting via a video link from Fort Riley.
“We’ve been doing OSHA training for years,” Nash said, but, as a “full-fledged OTI, we’ll be advertised on the OSHA website," and have other national exposure. People who need official OTI training, including several Fort Riley employees, will no longer have to travel to Texas, Nash said.
“This would be a tremendous opportunity for the institution,” Nash continued. “We will literally own the state of Kansas as far as OSHA training goes.”
BCC President Dr. Carl Heilman and Vice President Dr. Penny Quinn also spoke enthusiastically about the development. Heilman called it a tremendous opportunity, and Quinn told the trustees, “I can’t find anything negative about us moving forward with this particular initiative.”

New hires
Board study sessions are strictly informational meetings, with no action taken. The board usually acts on items during its monthly business meeting, but special meetings can be scheduled if members need to vote on something right away. Thursday’s study session began with a special meeting, which lasted about seven minutes.
The trustees approved hiring two people to full-time positions. Donna Keil was hired as a nursing instructor, and Carter Kruger was hired as the head women’s basketball coach.
Dr. Heilman said Keil’s position is a new one, to expand Barton’s nursing program.
Kruger was the assistant women’s basketball coach and replaces head coach Darin Spence, who left to become the head women’s basketball coach at Newman University in Wichita. Athletic Director Trevor Rolfs was at Thursday’s meeting and said he hopes Kruger will bring some stability to the program.
Heilman also talked about stability. “This will be the seventh head coach in six years for the women’s basketball program,” he said. “We’ve attracted very good people, but they have found other opportunities, greener pastures."