News

March 13, 2014
Story and Photo by Joe Vinduska

Barton Community College will officially show off its newly remodeled Fine Arts Auditorium and foyer area by hosting an open house event from 5-7 p.m. Thursday, March 27.

The event will feature live performances from Barton students and comments from Barton administrators.  There will also be a ribbon cutting ceremony hosted by the Great Bend Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development.  Attendees will have the opportunity to tour all areas of the remodeled facility including the stage and backstage areas.

March 11, 2014
Story and Photos by Joe Vinduska

Area residents will have a chance to get up close and personal with some of the finest artwork in the state 
at the Shafer Art Gallery’s “Smoky Hills Public Television Signature Auction Preview Exhibit,” opening reception Sunday, from 1-3 p.m. at Barton Community College.

March 7, 2014
Story by Joe Vinduska

Barton Community College has announced its list of graduates who earned associate degrees and those who earned certificates for career training during the fall semester of the 2013 academic year.

Abilene 
Casity Dozler, A.S. 

Alton 
Anthony Johnston, A.A.S.

March 5, 2014
Story by Joe Vinduska
Submitted Photo

The Barton Community College Foundation kicked off its Annual Academic Enrichment Fund Campaign titled “Slide Rules to Smartphones” on March 1.  Longtime supporter and former employee of the college Paul Maneth will serve as the chairman for the month-long fundraising drive.

March 4, 2014
Story and Photo by Joe Vinduska

Barton Community College and Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina have started a partnership by signing a transfer agreement Tuesday on the Barton County campus.  

The agreement is designed to make transferring to KWU seamless for Barton students.  The agreement guarantees students who graduate from Barton with an associate of arts or science degree and a 2.0 GPA or higher admission to KWU as a junior.

February 11, 2014

Story and photo by Brandon Steinert

Amanda Moran-Jones is a beloved local celebrity. She can hardly go to the grocery store without getting hugged or inspiring shouts of excitement, "It's Miss Amanda!"

Of course, her fan base is primarily Barton County area children as the Children's Librarian at the Great Bend Public Library.

February 25, 2014

Story and photos by Joe Vinduska

February 3, 2014

Story and photos by Joe Vinduska

Life for Debbie Tomlinson was not easy growing up.  Her mother died of lung cancer when she was young and she moved to Kansas from California with her abusive, alcoholic father.  She was beaten often and at the age of 15 she was kicked out of her house.  She bounced around from home to home and eventually wound up married and pregnant at the age of 17.  The lack of her home life stability coupled with her pregnancy caused her to drop out of high school, a decision she immediately regretted.

February 18, 2014
Story and photo by Brandon Steinert

The primary goals driving most educational pursuits are to discover to a rewarding vocation and earn a respectable living wage.

A traditional bachelor’s degree requires four-years, or more, of commitment. Barton Community College has a smorgasbord of offerings in the medical field that will help students reach those goals in two years or less.

Barton Community College served 8,394 students in the fall semester of 2013, which is an increase of 272 students from the previous fall semester.

The most widely accepted metric to measure enrollment is Full Time Equivalency (FTE). This is calculated by taking the total credit hours provided and dividing by 15 credit hours per semester, which is the average course load for a full time student. This standard allows Barton to see how it’s doing relative to other colleges and past semesters.

Barton saw an increase of about 4.2 percent in FTE from fall 2012 to fall 2013.