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Faculty contracts renewed; six granted tenure
Cottonwood Hall elevator to be modernized
BCC-cougar-sign

Six Barton Community College faculty members received tenure when the BCC Board of Trustees approved contract renewals at the April 28 meeting.

Keith Frank, Mark Freeman, Andrew Hartzell, Christian Rivas, Jennifer Steinert and Tana Yellowwolf were granted tenure with their contract renewals. Fifteen other faculty members are on the tenure track with their contract renewals, and the contracts of 37 previously tenured faculty were renewed.

Six contracts were not renewed. Mark Bogner, Eric Smith and Andra Vegter were non-renewed due to resignations; Tyler Schiffelbein and Cathy Smith had position changes at the college, and Walter Brown, instructor of Military Programs at Fort Riley, is retiring.

Regular personnel changes were also approved during the meeting. Christopher Case had a position change to director of Institutional Effectiveness. Previously an institutional research analyst in that department, he has been serving as the interim director.

The following new hires were approved for the Barton County campus: Jenna Dean, administrative assistant (president’s/grants office); Marissa Porsch, assistant coach for men’s and women’s wrestling; Jenna Harbaugh, director of the Shafer Art Gallery; and Jason Feist, carpenter.

New elevator for Cottonwood Hall

A Dover-brand three-story elevator installed in the Cottonwood Hall building for student housing in 1999 has been out of service for a month and needs to be modernized. Vice President of Administration Mark Dean said. Dover went out of business when it was acquired by ThyssenKrupp in 1999. Unfortunately, many of Dover branded components were exclusive to the brand and are now obsolete.

“The elevator has been out of service since the end of March and is the only elevator serving Cottonwood Hall,” Dean said. Bids were requested to modernize the elevator as needed. Typically, the elevator companies keep the structure of the car and the hydraulic jack. Bids were received from KONE for $100,016 and TK Elevator for $92,137. The low bid was approved.

The approximate lead time for measuring, fabrication of components and shipping is approximately 16 weeks and the modernization of the elevator is estimated to take an additional four weeks.

“They have to build it for this elevator,” Dean said. While they hope the work will be done before the fall semester, he added, “We’re going to be running close to move-in for next year.”

The cost will be paid from student housing funds.

The college also has a Dover elevator at the Kirkman Center that was installed in 1996.

Other business

In other business, the trustees:

  • Met student Kierra Eck, who has been selected for the Farm Bureau Collegiate Fellows Program.
  • Heard a Monitoring Report on END 5 - Regional Workforce Needs. END statements are over-arching goals used to set Barton policies. This END states, “The college will serve as a resource for and be responsive to regional workforce needs.”
  • Learned that Barton has achieved a Military Friendly School - Gold designation. Barton is also a Military Spouse Friendly School. In Kansas, the only other colleges with gold designation are K-State and the University of Kansas. Recognized for exceptional support for veterans, service members and their families, Barton has campuses at Fort Riley and Fort Leavenworth.