Welcome weekend at Curtis

August 20, 2019

NCTA Dean’s Message

By Interim Dean Kelly Bruns, Ph.D.                                                

Enthusiasm is evident as we are set to kick off the new academic year at the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture.  Welcome to Curtis, NCTA Aggies!

Our residence halls will be full by Sunday evening with nearly 150 students living on campus, and everyone prepared for classes to begin on Monday.

Erika Arambula, Residence Life director, tells me her team of residence assistants are ready to greet students and families as they arrive Saturday and Sunday and begin moving into the three dormitories for campus housing.

All 12 RA’s for our fall semester are returning students and represent a cross-section of academic majors in agribusiness, ag production, agronomy, animal science, veterinary technology and more. We rely on them to help create a safe and friendly, family-like atmosphere at NCTA.

Many of our students are from rural areas of Nebraska and surrounding states. However, some students will have traveled from their homes on one of the three coasts in the U.S. and one close to Canada to become part of the student population.

The atmosphere around Curtis resembles a reunion for our returning students, many of whom are now living off-campus, have been employed at farms, ranches and businesses in the region, and are returning with their horses, stock dogs and friends for the new season.

A tradition at our small college the past several years is for members of the NCTA Livestock Judging Team to help with move-in day for freshmen and new transfer students on Saturday.

Our Aggie animal science-livestock judging students arrived Tuesday for their livestock judging orientation under the tutelage of their coach Doug Smith. On Saturday, they will be pitching in to help unload pickups, cars and SUV’s packed with possessions for incoming freshmen.

Community picnic

I particularly look forward to welcoming our newest Aggies and their families at a picnic on Saturday.

Then, returning students will join us on Sunday for their move-in day to campus and a community picnic that evening. As is the norm for hometown hospitality in Curtis, many residents roll out the welcome mat for the annual picnic and to help greet all of the Aggie students, along with our staff and faculty. I say THANK YOU, in advance, for all of the great community support for NCTA!

The Medicine Valley Chamber of Commerce compiles “Welcome Bags”, the Rotary Club of Curtis helps in grilling and serving, and churches in town make desserts. And, one of the local banks is providing root beer floats for the students.

I look forward to meeting more of our Curtis friends on Sunday evening at the 5:30 p.m. picnic.

Aggies at State Fair

The NCTA Stock Dog Team will be competing next Monday and Tuesday in the Nebraska State Fair Cattle Dog Trials in Grand Island. Look for them at the Five Points Bank arena on August 26 and 27.

Veterinary Technology professor and team coach Judy Bowmaster-Cole will have seven students entered in the collegiate division. This is the largest contingent of NCTA students to compete at the State Fair, either with their own animals or dogs owned by the college.

For those of you unable to attend in Grand Island, tune into much of the action with streaming video through Live & On Demand at netnebraska.org.

Congratulations, Nebraska State Fair on your 150^th anniversary! It’s time to celebrate Nebraska agriculture in this great Nebraska tradition. Activities begin Friday, and conclude September 2.

Please join us for ice cream from 1-3 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 1 as Mike Boehm, University of Nebraska vice president and vice chancellor for the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, hosts a social for University friends at the Pinnacle Bank Arena. I hope to see some of you there.

Here’s to a terrific Nebraska State Fair and awesome fall semester at NCTA. Go Aggies!

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

Upcoming events:

Aug. 22 – Water & Crops Field Day, West Central Research & Extension Center, North Platte

Aug. 24 – NCTA New Student Move-in Day

Aug. 25 – NCTA Sophomore Move-in Day

Aug. 25 - NCTA Community Picnic, 5:30 p.m., Student Union

Aug. 26 – Opening day of Fall Classes

Aug. 26-27 – NCTA Stock Dog Team at Nebraska State Fair