Program Enhancements
The Foundation does so much more than just offer scholarships - we look at the need of the different instructional departments and financially assist in making improvements to the student's learning experience while at Barton. Below are just a few examples of the variety of gifts that the Foundation has been able to give to the College.
A link to the forms necessary for Barton Community College employees to apply for grants or funding requests is provided in the right side bar. There is also the fundraising approval form, which is required prior to college fundraising endeavors conducted outside of the Barton Community College Foundation.
Foundation Matching Grants
F oundations Boost Barton’s Nursing Faculty With Matching Grants
Story by: Linda Jerke
A year and a half after helping secure matching grant funds to bolster Barton Community College’s nursing faculty, representatives of Central Kansas Medical Center and Clara Barton Hospital Foundations and the Barton Community College Foundation toured the College’s new nursing facility and met the new faculty member whose position was made possible by the grant.
Andrea Thurber, Barton’s new Nursing Remediation and Healthcare Programs Coordinator, joined the college’s nursing faculty in March and is making strides in her new role as tutor for the nursing students and as coordinator of adult healthcare and continuing nursing education. She tutors nursing students in math and other nursing-related subjects, and soon she will be overseeing the college’s growing patient simulator lab program.
The hospital representatives discussed the growing need for medical personnel and the importance of Barton’s role in supplying qualified nurses to the medical community. With increasing needs for more patient services, including ancillary services, both CKMC and Clara Barton Hospital representatives said they realize their provision of matching funds to boost Barton’s nursing faculty is an investment for the medical community. The hospitals will reap the benefits through a larger pool of qualified nurses in the area.
Thurber worked as a registered nurse at Northwest Medical Center-Benton County in Bentonville, Ark., for three-and-a-half years before coming to work at Barton. She earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Southwestern College in Winfield and she plans to earn a master’s degree in nursing. She originates from Oxford, Kan., a small community located west of Winfield.
In her years as a hospital nurse, she would care for six or seven patients at a time and she liked her nursing experience, Thurber said, but when she started helping with training new nurses at the hospital, she realized what she wanted to do with her career. “I like to teach new skills and how to do things effectively and efficiently,” she said. “When this job came to my attention, I thought it would be the perfect way to see into the nursing college atmosphere.”
She came to Barton and found out the job was just what she had in mind. By the same token, Barton’s Nursing Education Director Linda Gobin found the right person for her department’s new nurse educator position.
Making such a good fit possible, the grant provides for the new position salary and supplements the salaries of each of the remaining six nursing instructors for Barton’s program, Gobin explained. The funding is being distributed in yearly amounts over a period of nine years, which started in 2007, she said.
For the new position, finding someone familiar with the college’s new simulator technology was not an issue, since on-the-job training is provided, Gobin said. Thurber is receiving training on patient simulators now, and this fall she will be helping with the simulation labs as part of her training.
Funds from the matching grant also have provided some of the nursing supplies for student use in simulation and practice. In touring Barton’s new nursing facility completed last year, foundation members were able to see how the computerized patient simulators are used in two labs.
The OB-Pediatric lab has an adult and baby simulator, an area that replicates a birthing room for simulation, and one pediatric computer module. The assessment lab has adult simulators for checking patients’ vital signs and sounds. Both labs are equipped just as they would be in a real hospital setting with rooms enclosed by retractable curtains.
With her simulation training, Thurber will have the ability to use computer input to signal the simulation of various symptoms for her students to assess and to test her students on their assessments. Another part of her job is coordinating the college’s healthcare training and continuing nursing education courses, which provide the education needed to maintain high-quality patient services given by nurses, nurse aides and other healthcare professionals in local and area hospitals.
Library Renovation Project
"Changing Lives - Changing Communities"
As most of our constituents, donors and community citizens know, the College has taken on the huge task of renovating the library on campus. The Foundation board is the catalyst for the fund raising efforts on behalf of the College supporters. In the past we have conducted several private fund raising efforts, personal conversations and solicited support for this necessary endeavor. Our motto, "Changing Lives - Changing Communities" reflects our pledge to provide area students with the most relevant and innovative opportunities to assist them in achieving their educational goals. To help in that effort we know the importance of "showing appreciation" to our wonderful donors. We have received many wonderful gifts and utilized naming opportunities. To recognize the monetary gifts we have a "Tree of Knowledge", which is a beautiful sculpture with inscriptions of donors who have been so kind to support the importance of education.
The Dove Family graciously purchased this sculpture from an excellent Artist, Sanford Werfel. The inscription on the book that lies beside the Tree of Knowledge says it all........the philanthropist understands it so well and feels it in their hearts...."The gift of knowledge is a legacy from present to future generations". Our genuine goal is to restore the library and its resources to the state-of-art level that is required to meet the diversified educational requirements of today's students. The library is the academic heart of the college and is the most critical element for the future of the college.
The fundraising efforts are still very prominent and important. We continue to receive donations, still have naming opportunities, and would love to fill our tree with leaves from individuals or businesses that share in our belief of making our communities better by educating our citizens of tomorrow.
Please come to the library to see our donor wall, it speaks so well for our faculty, staff, and community society. Please take a moment to read our brochure, which gives additional information about this renovation project.
Name Recognition Opportunities:
Gold Leaves - $500 - $999
Bronze Leaves - $1,000-$2,999
Crown Acorns - $3,000 - $5,999
Golden Acorns - $6,000 - $8,999
Donor Stones - $9,000 - $15,999
Contributor Stones - $16,000-$22,999
Benefactor Stones - $23,000-$29,999
We also have special room recognition plaques to compliment the tree sculpture.
Faculty Mini-Grants
Sporting Clay Shoot Proceeds Fund Faculty Mini-Grants
Each academic year when a college instructor starts their class preparations and looks at their own department budget, they start a wish list of what they could do if they just had a piece of equipment or the opportunity to use a new innovative technique for a better teaching and learning experience. The Foundation allows the instructor to apply for a mini-grant to purchase that special item which can make a difference in their teaching efforts.
In the 2009-10 academic year, several faculty mini grants totaling over $6,600 were fully or partially funded for that purpose from the proceeds of the Foundation Sporting Clay Shoot event.
They include:
Karole Erikson, Music Department – Grand Piano Damp Chaser
Glenna Gaunt, Music Department – Holiday Music & Resonator Bell Set
Shanna Legleiter, Business Administration Department- Webcast Training Seminars
Joe Harrington, Math Department - Math Bowl Buzzer Boards
Kristin Hathcock, Math Department - Calculators
Steve Lueth, Music Department – Microphone & Computer Software
Vern Fryberger, Theatre Department – Ellipsoidal Lights
Kenneth Hopkinson, Forensics/Speech – Forensics Equipment
Jane Youngers, Nursing Department – Infant/Children Resuscitation Equipment
Carol Crockett, Medical Assistant Program - Scale
John Simmons, Science Department – Aquarium
Athletic Training Facility Receives New Equipment
Dr. L.T. Fleske and Dr. Randall Hildebrand Donate To Barton
When you think about what you love and enjoy doing and then you think about sharing a gift, it makes you realize you can help Barton students in many different ways. Dr. L.T. Fleske and Dr. Randall Hildebrand of the Central Kansas Orthopedic Group have always been generous to the Foundation by purchasing equipment for the athletic training facility. As orthopedic surgeons they constantly see athletic injuries, so it has become very important to them both to assist the College by supplying us with up-to-date equipment for injury management and training purposes. The latest donation is equipment that most of us don't even understand the purpose or what it is to be used for, but Ken Henderson, Barton's head athletic trainer, is thrilled to receive the Dynatron 950plus and a shuttle mini press. One is a six-channel combination ultrasound and electrical muscle stimulation unit and one is used for hamstring injuries and post-surgery rehabilitation.
This gift is a good reminder to all of our potential or current donors that you can choose how you want to benefit the College and the students we serve. If you have a special interest, you can donate your funds to a specific department or activity. The Foundation will acknowledge an acceptable gift-in-kind and pass it on to Barton
Community College.
If you see Dr. Fleske or Dr. Hildebrand, please show your appreciation for their continued gifts to the College, but also make a conscious effort to think of how you might assist some special
department, discipline, or activity and make a difference in the choice of your personal or professional interest.
Hybrid Vehicle Donated to Auto Tech Department
Al Yost Donates 2009 Hybird Toyota Camry; Lois Alban Ryan Provides Matching Grant Funds
Automotive instructor Darcy Wedel developed a hybrid car training course during the summer of 2008 and worked with Darnell Holopirek, Director of Institutional Advancement, to find a possible donor to purchase a hybrid car. Al Yost, a Great Bend resident turned out to be a perfect match for this project. "He really loves cars," Wedel said. "We spoke about our desire to offer hybrid and alternative-fuel vehicle training - Al liked what we had going on." Al donated a 2009 Toyota Camry hybrid car as well as funds to purchase additional parts. This allows students to work on different areas of the car without taking the car apart completely. Al's donation made it possible for Barton to be the first college in Kansas to offer a Hybrid and Alternative Fuel Course.
Because we received the gift of the hybrid car, Barton was eligible to apply and receive an Innovative Technology grant from the Kansas Board of Regents in the amount of $37,500. We were able to use matching funds from the car and a generous cash donation from Lois Alban Ryan, a former Great Bend resident, now of Mission, Texas. Ms. Ryan's gift to the college toward the construction of a new automotive classroom met the funding match requirements.
Grant funds were used to purchase a chassis dynamometer, which simulates a road test in the shop. The technology will take the entire class on a road test, having all our analyzers and test equipment connected to the vehicle at the same time. This will be particularly useful, being able to demonstrate the various modes of operation to a large group. The machine will also be used in other courses as well; in addition to simulating an actual road test, the machine can measure engine horsepower and torque at the wheels.
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