Fort Scott Community College President Dr. Jason Kegler held another Community Conversation on March 27, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the college.
These public discourses are to allow the public to have some knowledge of the challenges facing the college.
He referred to a recent FSCC Trustees board meeting where it was announced that the college is in much better shape and no longer at risk of not making payroll through June 30th.
At a recent employee meeting, he used the analogy of “just bobbing with our heads above the water,” Kegler said.
There are still definite challenges, but they can see the surface better than they could in the past, he said.
Nursing
A recent update was given to the Kansas Board of Nursing after FSCC voluntarily ceased admitting new nursing students.
Vickie Laderer, Sonia Gugnani, and Darcus Kottwitz requested to the Kansas Board of Nursing that FSCC begin readmitting students for the fall 2024 semester, and was approved.
“This means one of our long-standing programs is no longer on hiatus,” Kegler said. .He said this represents a huge positive direction from being on ‘life support’ and ‘in trouble’ in December.
Dr. Kegler pointed out that FSCC’s nursing program used to be better than Pitt State University, but FSCC has lost the overall standard of excellence. He said there are still pockets of excellence, but the college needs to get back to having excellence across the board.
An audience member asked if the nursing program would be in a new location. Dr. Kegler said they hope to have them back in the lower level of the Hedges administration building. He said if anyone wants to help paint, there will be some opportunity to help.
Anne Dare asked if students had said they wanted to come to nursing but have been put on hold. Dr. Kegler said he wasn’t aware that had happened. He said they are working on a plan to make sure it is communicated to students that they will be accepting nursing students again.
FSCC Is Here To Stay
Dr. Kegler said he doesn’t want the local community wondering if the college is going to be here in the future. “We are going to be here,” he said.
An audience member asked if current students needed to enroll in another college as a backup. The president said he has no reason to believe a student would need to have a backup enrollment. He pointed out that FSCC has gone through one of the toughest times and has done so without laying people off.
“We have a long way to go before we truly need to be concerned about whether our doors are going to be open for students the following semester,” he said.
Dr. Kegler suggested that if people didn’t get a chance to attend the last board meeting, they should go to the YouTube channel and watch the agricultural presentation that highlighted the programs associated with the agricultural department.
Four-day School Week
The college is switching to a four-day school week because students are asking for it. Several high schools are also going to four-day school weeks, and students from those schools are very interested in the flexibility that type of schedule allows. The college will still be open on Fridays, but the majority of courses will be Monday through Thursday.
An audience member said that the 4-day week was important for students because it allows them to take on more work responsibilities to help pay for college.
Softball Question
An audience member asked if softball would still be running this fall and accepting scholarships. He said it should continue to be fully functional in the fall.
FSCC’s Image
Dr. Kegler asked what the community thinks of when they think of the image of FSCC.
Some of the things that were mentioned:
- Affordability for large families
- A good stepping stone to a 4-year degree.
- FSCC used to represent a lot of community involvement
- The building we are meeting in used to be a lawn, but it is providing a lot of value to the community now.
Audience members mentioned that they would be very interested in taking some adult education classes and suggestions were made to gather survey information to see what people were interested in.
Jerry Witt mentioned that the community doesn’t know the faculty like they used to and there might be opportunities to “sell the faculty” so the community knows more about them.
Rodeo Team Member in Top Third In the Nation
Dr. Kegler said FSCC has a bronc or bull rider in the top third of the nation. “He was recently injured but his time is good enough that he should qualify for the national finals,” he said.
Future Students and Community Involvement
Aggie Day had 1,250 potential students visiting the college, he said.
Dr. Kegler said that in August the school is hosting a move-in day and asked if the community would come in to help greet the students, hand out water, and make people welcome.
He asked what it would take to get the community involved in the college.
Someone asked about a public relations person to let the alumni know what is happening at the college. Dr. Kegler said there were some other priorities first but that it was a good idea.
Dr. Kegler said the college would need help mowing, cleaning the residence halls, and painting and suggested that people interested in helping should contact the college.
He asked alumni why they attended here. Some of the answers:
- Because it was close.
- Dual credit when they were in Fort Scott.
- They were paying for their own college and it was a good investment.
- Their dad made them come because they were going to quit after going to Pitt State.
There was some discussion about how the community could be more informed about what was happening at the college. An audience member suggested that the community could be more active in seeking information about the college. Dr. Kegler said it was a two-way street. The college should try to do a better job of putting information out there, and the community can do a better job of seeking out information about what is happening.
Dr. Kegler said Dick Hedges used to come to work at the college, then run home and put on overalls and go drink coffee with members of the community at the sale barn. Dr. Kegler said he doesn’t drink coffee, but that type of relationship is what the college needs to be building with the community.
He asked if people would like to continue these conversations after the one planned for April. One person suggested continuing and another suggested taking a break.
