By BECKY KISER
Hay Post
North Central Kansas Technical College in Hays is seeing an increase in full-time students, outpacing its sister campus in Beloit.
There are wait lists in the popular electrical, plumbing, heating and air conditioning programs for fall 2024. Welding and nursing programs are also full and have wait lists.
Eric Burks, NCK Tech president, recently presented the college's annual activity report to the Hays City Commission. Also with Burks were Diana Baumann, NCK Tech vice-president of finances and Hays operations, and several faculty members.
"We're running out of space on our Hays campus," Burks told commissioners.
The college has plans to construct a new $13 million building.
It would double the capacity for construction trades and commercial driver's license students.
There are 250 full-time NCK-Tech students in Hays. The school has a gateway partnership program with Fort Hays State University, which allows NCK students to live on the FHSU campus and participate in most student activities. The school's welding program is also at FHSU.
There are 200 full-time students at NCK-Tech in Beloit, which has on-campus housing and food services.
The annual total headcount is an average of more than 1,200.
Most students come from the 18 counties of northwest Kansas, with a $30.7 million annual economic impact.
In January 2023, NCK Tech announced it would seek a new strategic affiliation agreement with Northwest Kansas Technical College in Goodland and Fort Hays State University in Hays.
Approval from the Higher Learning Commission is anticipated this summer, with implementation in August.
The NCK-Tech campus will have an on-site visit by a national accreditation team on March 18 and 19.
"This is really all about better serving students, business and communities," Burks said.
"Instead of competing against one another for students so much, although I've really looked at those two other institutions as being partners, we want to look at how to meet students where they're at," he said.
"Engage business and industry and really try to put that student in the middle of a partnership of the three institutions. Also, bring all the business partners to the table, help them meet their goals and make the students better employees for the businesses."
Burks said the missions of the institutions are congruent.
"Fort Hays State University is not taking us over. It's a partnership. We're all strong. We're doing this voluntarily, not because we have to," he said. "We're doing it because together, we feel like we can be stronger."
NCK Tech will remain separate and independent of FHSU but will become known as "Fort Hays Tech."
The affiliation agreement basically gives some of the authority back to the NCK Tech board so they can continue to manage many of the day-to-day operations.
"It will also tell us when to take things up the chain to share with the president of Fort Hays State. There is some crossover, but we're all still separate for a variety of reasons," Burks said.
Burks said the college consistently has the highest graduation rate in Kansas and has been ranked as high as second in the nation for technical colleges.
"That's not because our programs are easy. It's because we have a lot of people that really help our students get to the finish line," Burks said.
"You can imagine a lot of our students are very interested in carpentry, plumbing, heating and air conditioning. They're not always interested in English composition or college algebra, so we have people in place to help them get through those classes and realize how that's relevant to what they're going to be doing.
"Those jobs are available right here in Hays and all over Kansas," Burks said. "You don't have to move to Chicago or Dallas. They're going to become taxpayers and people of our community."