Barton Community College Cougar fans will see a new scoreboard in the BCC Gymnasium this fall, and none to soon, according to Barton President Dr. Carl Heilman.
“Our current scoreboard should be put in the grave,” Heilman commented at Thursday’s meeting of college trustees.
Dean of Administration Mark Dean reported that the total cost for a four-sided electronic scoreboard, installed, will be $62,234.35. “Because our equipment is Daktronics, this is a single source quote request,” Dean reported.
Private funds were raised to cover $45,000 of the purchase and the donors will be named, at least for now, on panels at the bottom of the scoreboards. The present setup has four scoreboards on 10- by 10-foot panels. The new panels will be 10 by 10 on two sides, and 10 by 17 on two sides.  There’s no electronic animation.
Dean agreed that the current scoreboard needs to go. Installed in 1986, its technology is outdated and college employees have had to search the Internet for salvaged replacement parts.
But fans will have to put up with the old scoreboard a little longer. A purchase over $50,000 could not be made without board approval, which was granted with a unanimous vote on Thursday. The earliest the new board is expected will be mid-November.
In other action Thursday, the board renewed the contract for head track coach Dave Schenek, and approved the following new personnel, all for the Barton County campus: Clinton Craig, Auto Mechanic I (part time); Jacquelyn Maser, counselor; Judith Haynes, customer service representative; Christy Nemec, secretary (Workforce Training Continuing Education – Allied Health), Fiona Kline-Martin, assistant care provider (part time); Jordon Bangert, admissions representative; Melissa Curry, secretary (Workforce Training Education); and Parker Cowles, assistant track & cross country coach.

Essential skills
The board received its monthly monitoring report from staff. This month’s report was on the policy concerning essential skills. The board has directed that students will acquire the skills needed to be successful for the program they are in. The effectiveness of meeting this end is monitored in relation to three statements:
• Students will have the essential skills to succeed in the workplace.
• Students will have the essential skills to lead productive lives.
• Students will be provided remediation as needed.
Dean Elaine Simmons described the “Essential Skills Project,” which began as an accreditation project for the Workforce Training and Continuing Education Department in 2011. “The purpose of the project is to introduce employee skills identified by employers to career technical students through a variety of teaching methods. The skills addressed in the project include: Accountability, communications, critical thinking, customer service, professionalism and self-management.”
These so-called “soft” skills can be as important as technical know-how, but the concept may be new to young college students who have never had a full-time job. “For some students, this is the first time they’ve heard of it,” Simmons said. “Truly, people get fired a lot for not having the essential or soft skills that we look for as employers.”
As for the essential technical skills, Barton relies on a number of advisory boards, made up of volunteering professionals in various fields. “Advisory boards are just so important to us,” she said. College educators could not hope to keep up with the changing technology and training needed without input from the actual employers.
Others contributing to Thursday’s “Ends” report were Charles Perkins, Carol Murphy and Jo Harrington.