By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
A new Fort Hays State University initiative is set to make Hays a bit more enticing to students at Hays Academy of Hair Design by giving students the opportunity to take advantage of student services at the university as well as creating access to courses relevant to the beauty industry.
“The goal of this is a community partnership,” said Dennis King, FHSU associate vice president of student affairs. "(It's) something to make the community better.”
Through the partnership, academy students will have access to a variety of FHSU offerings.
"One of the benefits of having this certificate program is that the students are on campus, they get to experience other students," King said. "They also are eligible for a Tiger Card. So it means that now they can go to the sporting events, they can go do tutoring, they can go to our Wellness Center for physical, mental health. There's lots of different options and all of the services that are available on campus they can then get around and get to use as well."
But the program also extends to academy students an educational opportunity.
“What makes this really exciting is we feel like Fort Hays bent over backward to make this a customizable approach for our students,” said Len Melvin, Hays Academy of Hair Design owner. “We offer business training at our school, however, we're just a 1,500 clock hour program. So that's a lot to cram in in a short amount of time.”
Students that participate in the educational component will take four one-credit-hour classes, culminating in a Business Essentials certificate.
“With this customized four series of classes, our students are now able to get what they need to go into the salon with the background of business skills to be successful,” Melvin said. “So yeah, very excited about this.”
The once-a-week classes will run late Monday afternoons and will include courses on management practices, personal finance, accounting basics and taxes and social media marketing for eight weeks each.
“I really want to get this business certificate,” said academy student Brylee Rupp in a press release announcing the program “and I am so thankful this is available now.”
Participants will also have the added benefit of utilizing student housing, giving access to short-term students who otherwise might struggle to find a place to stay in Hays.
“I think one of the big challenges that our students face is his housing,” Melvin said. “The reason for that is our students might be here for 11 months, or if they do the nail program, three and a half or four months. And that's a really difficult living situation in Hays, Kansas, being that it's a college town. So the housing opportunity for our students to fit into a dorm and fit their contract with us is really exciting. And I think another opportunity for our students to get into that college atmosphere feel like they're a college student.”
And as a student-led initiative and a good first semester turnout, King said the idea is good for the students and the community.
“This really started with students, which I think is really a cool thing to talk about,” King said. “One of our leadership classes, who had some friends that were taking classes at the Hays Academy, got together with us and called the administration together really and said, 'We have a gateway partnership with NCK Tech, but we don't have one with the Hays Academy.' "
That conversation three years ago started the ball rolling on the development of the program.
“And so that kind of launched the discussions about what we can do together,” King said. “How we can help the community and help each other? And I think that that's been a great part of this is that we get value added to each other. … And so, I think it's just really neat that it started with students with the idea of improving the community. And I think it's done just that.”
And students like Rupp, along with her grandmother Roxie Patterson, are already finding the program beneficial.
“I’m going to be my own contractor at 19 years old,” Rupp said. “I don’t know how to budget a business, so I really want to gain more education about dealing with all the finances with my business. I am excited about learning all I can.”
Patterson said after 42 years in the industry, she thinks the courses will be of use to the students as they enter the field.
Course instructor Andy Cutright “has been so good at opening these students’ eyes about what to expect with a business and even their personal finances,” Patterson said. “It’s a very good opportunity for these young people to be able to take these cases. I’ve even learned some things already.”
And Rupp already sees the value as well.
“I really want to get this business certificate,” she said, “and I am so thankful this is available now.”
Cover image courtesy Pixabay