Curtis campus ready for fall semester

By NCTA Associate Dean Jennifer McConville, Ed.D.

This week, allow me to share a note of appreciation on behalf of NCTA Dean Larry Gossen and myself to our Curtis community and the dedicated staff at the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture.

Dr. Gossen and I are both exceedingly grateful to have the opportunities we share as NCTA administrators.

Thank you to the good people of Frontier County and the community of Curtis. We appreciate our campus neighbors, area residents, businesses, churches, volunteers and service organizations.

NCTA students and our campus employees are well served by public schools, health providers, city and county government leaders, emergency services, law enforcement and educational services in the region. Thank you for always stepping up to address the college’s needs and serve our students.

Back to school

The NCTA staff is putting the final touches on campus preparations as students will be arriving in mid-August for the fall semester.

Classes begin Monday, August 22 for our new and returning Aggies, and online for high school students in our dual credit classes.

First to arrive in Curtis early next week will be our team of resident assistants. These 11 students live on campus, supervising and coordinating our three residence halls. They have several days of required training to include campus policies, safety, community services, and Red Cross CPR. They are campus employees who work with Stuart Sparvier, our new residence life manager who joined NCTA in July.

Incoming freshmen have New Student Orientation as they move to campus on Saturday, August 20. It’s always an exciting time to welcome new arrivals and their families for move-in day. Part of the welcome to the community is a “get acquainted” scavenger hunt. Watch for them roaming around town finding locations of businesses, recreation, public services (such as the post office and community center).

Our students who bring horses or animals to campus will be moving to private boarding facilities, too, so motorists are apt to see more horse trailers and pickups on the roadways and at service stations.

Campus prep

Throughout the summer months, our facilities, maintenance, grounds and food service employees tend to large and small upgrades, painting, cleaning, installation of replacement flooring, furniture, light fixtures, Aggie dining and kitchen equipment and supplies, and a long list of needs across campus.

As Associate Dean for Finance, Operations and Student Services, I am responsible for most of the non-faculty personnel at the campus.

We are constantly planning for and carrying out events, meals, housing, budgets, purchasing, students, services, health and safety with talented and dedicated personnel. Our fulltime and summer employees have accomplished a huge workload these past 90 days!

My thanks to each individual at NCTA. It takes much behind-the-scenes work for graduation and end-of semester duties, prepare for summer camps and session, and smoothly transition for the new year.

We’ve kept people and programs on campus up and running with multiple camps. I could liken it to trying to do major renovation on our home, while deep cleaning in and out, and at the farm, while having several sets of relatives and guests coming and going throughout the summer. I’m sure you understand how much I appreciate our dedicated employees!

As we head into the this fall semester, there will be multiple opportunities to roll out the welcome mat at your business, church or neighborhood. The community picnic at the student union (The Barn) will be from 5-7 p.m. on Sunday, August 21.  See you there!

Weekend wrap up

An appreciate shout out to our partners with Nebraska Extension for many successful county fairs across the state. Some are concluding this weekend here in Southwest Nebraska (Chase County) and elsewhere in Nebraska.

Here in Frontier County Extension, our thanks to our friends on the first floor of NCTA’s Ag Hall.  Great job, Kathy Burr, extension educator; Mandy Contrerez, extension staff; and Jessica Einspahr, summer intern. Your organization to complete back-to-back fairs at Stockville and Eustis is wonderful!

Enjoy your final weekend of summer before we return to school, everyone.  Spend special time with family and friends and make the most of memories for the Summer of ’22.

NCTA Events:

August 16:  Communicating with Farmers Under Stress, 11:30 a.m.- 1 p.m., Cambridge

August 20-21:  NCTA New Student Orientation, campus move-in

August: 22:  NCTA Fall Semester starts

August 24:  Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory Open House, Whitman

Part of the University of Nebraska system, the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture is a two-year institution with a statewide mission of preparing students for successful careers in agriculture, veterinary technology and related industries. NCTA is known for its affordable tuition, high job-placement rate for its graduates, and for the success of student teams in competitive activities including crops judging, ranch horse events, livestock judging, shotgun sports, stock dog trials, and intercollegiate rodeo. The college is consistently ranked as one of the best two-year schools in the nation.