A welcoming place – NCTA

Sept. 12, 2019

NCTA Dean’s Message

By Interim Dean Kelly Bruns, Ph.D.

I want to thank all of the students, staff and faculty who have made my transition to Curtis, as the interim Dean a very smooth and enjoyable experience.

Everywhere I go at the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture, enthusiastic students who are eager about the school year greet me. Staff are dedicated to their positions in providing important services to Aggie students. Faculty are focused and have accepted the challenge to make our students even better. NCTA is truly a one-of-a-kind institution which prides itself in its students and their success.

For the next few weeks I would like to introduce you to some of our new faculty and instructors who are helping us accomplish our goals. Our faculty are dedicated to their students. We have on-going discussions on how we can continually improve our academic instruction and the campus facilities to provide a top education for all students.

This year we reached out to two doctoral students from the Department of Animal Science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  They have taught classes and wanted to experience teaching additional courses so have joined our NCTA animal science program and our fine hands-on learning opportunities in the classroom and in outdoor learning laboratories.  They have hit the ground running developing their course work and engaging students at a high level.

Tasha King is a Ph.D. student who plans to graduate in the summer of 2020.  Tasha is from Bronson, Iowa, which is the heart of Northwest Iowa where she grew up on a diversified farming operation.  She attended Northwest Missouri State University for her Bachelor of Science degree and then came to the Department of Animal Science at UNL. She completed her Masters of Science program by studying the use of cornstalk residue in backgrounding calf diets.

Tasha is currently writing her Ph.D. dissertation, which researched the energetic efficiency of commercial beef cows that vary in their milk production. She definitely has “hands on” experience since she had to do a lot of work milking cows the past two years. Tasha is teaching our Introduction to Animal Biology and Animal Nutrition classes this semester.

Our second doctoral student is Joslyn Beard, who grew up near Las Cruces, New Mexico, and received a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science and a Master’s of Science from New Mexico State University. There, she studied the influences of management of fetal development in beef cattle.

Joslyn is currently studying with Dr. Travis Mulliniks, beef cattle nutritionist at the University of Nebraska West Central Research and Extension Center based at North Platte. Joslyn’s research has been conducted at the University’s Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory near Whitman where she is studying the metabolic flexibility and adaptability in two-year-old beef cows in range conditions.

We are very fortunate at NCTA to have such high quality graduate students on our team. They are filling in with some of our positions which are vacant as we conduct faculty searches to complete the Animal Science division. I hope you have the opportunity to meet Tasha and Joslyn and see their excitement to help our NCTA students.

This week we were at Husker Harvest Days in Grand Island for the three-day expo.  I enjoyed seeing many friends and alumni at the University of Nebraska exhibit.

Until next week, 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:

Sept. 12-14 – Aggie Rodeo to MPCC, North Platte, Buffalo Bill Arena

Sept. 13 – Aggie Livestock Judging Team at Amarillo

Sept. 14 – Aggie Sporting Clay Fundraiser, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Curtis Gun Club

Sept. 15 – Stock Dog practice, 5 p.m., LTC Arena

Sept. 16 – Frontier County 4-H Council, 7 p.m., NCTA Ed Center

Sept. 17 – Preventing Sexual Assault presentation, 4-5 p.m., Ed Center