NCTA Aggie trail to success

NCTA Aggie trail to success

Equine students ride a trail down to Aggieland north of the NCTA campus. (Crawford/NCTA News photo)
Equine students ride a trail down to Aggieland north of the NCTA campus. (Crawford/NCTA News photo)

July 16, 2019

NCTA Dean’s Message

By Dean Ron Rosati, Ph.D.

CURTIS, Neb. – It takes planning to chart a pack trip on a trail in the wilderness or through growth of tree-covered mountains in the West.

And, most often, the journey includes a detailed map for a safe and rewarding experience whether traveling afoot, or riding by mule or horseback.

Likewise, long-term strategies and charting the best academic course for all of our Aggie students is an important priority at the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture.

Our NCTA faculty and staff take pride in each student who studies a trade, learns specific employment skills and successfully develops a lifelong agricultural or veterinary technology career.

We do this by very intentional and strategic planning for academic programs, personnel, facilities, campus environment, and many other components of a quality public educational institution.

Over the course of the past year and a half, NCTA has been engaged in an inclusive process for developing the NCTA Strategic Plan for 2019-2024.

Our plan for designing a successful academic experience for our students contains strategies in many areas:

  • Academic quality
  • Student services
  • Enrollment
  • Budget and finances
  • Infrastructure
  • Public relations/communications
  • College growth initiatives

With the strategic planning committee headed by NCTA agronomy professor Brad Ramsdale, Ph.D., our campus community has recently finalized this document and is in the process of fine-tuning it for publication.

I appreciate the fine work and dedication from Dr. Ramsdale and all of our faculty and staff.

Additionally, this working document received extensive input from external stakeholders, local community members, students, alumni, advisory groups, industry partners, high schools administrators and higher education educators.  We also sought direction and recommendations from our partners and colleagues at the University of Nebraska, the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Nebraska Extension, the Higher Learning Commission and the Nebraska Coordinating Commission on Postsecondary Education.

The document contains many components:  campus goals, state and federal requirements for academic programs and accreditation, financial planning, and assessment of previous and future student learning outcomes.

First, and foremost, NCTA has a statewide mission defined by the University of Nebraska to serve all students and to provide open access to a high-quality, low-cost technical education.

In the past few years, outside evaluators have documented that NCTA is one of the top two-year colleges in Nebraska and in the nation. Third-party reviewers have cited government statistics which show NCTA graduates among the nation’s top earners. Evaluators identified NCTA as a leading program in developing trade skills. And accreditors have documented academic quality in NCTA’s veterinary technology division for almost 45 years.

We are on track to continue the traditions of high-ranking programs while applying an innovative education to student development. Our strategic plan focuses on supporting the people of Nebraska and the future of our agricultural industries and our citizens.

I look forward to sharing the final 2019-2024 NCTA Strategic Plan later this summer. Meanwhile, a final draft and other plans are posted at:  https://ncta.unl.edu/mission-statement.

NCTA Mission:  The Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture is devoted to a statewide mission of preparing students for successful careers in agriculture, veterinary technology, and related industries. The college provides open access to innovative technical education resulting in associate degrees, certificates, and other credentials.

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