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This year, Dr. Bill
and Robin Niederee, Great Bend, are honorary co-chairs for the
campaign. Both former Barton students, the Niederees returned
to Great Bend 16 years ago when Bill came back to practice veterinary
medicine in this area. The two met while attending Barton and
married before moving to Manhattan where Bill got his degree
and was accepted to veterinary school at Kansas State University.
Bill considered his Barton experience a transition time before
entering a major university. “I started one year at Fort
Hays State and came back to Great Bend still not knowing what
I wanted to do. I was encouraged not to quit school at that
time and take some courses at Barton, which I did,” he
said. “Taking general education classes at Barton required
less expense than living in Manhattan and paying tuition at
K-State at a time when I wasn’t sure yet what I wanted
to do,” he said.
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Robin was equally certain Barton was the right
place for her first college experience.
“I came from a small community and was in a class of 28 students
so Barton was a good step for me to start college,” she said.
Originally from Burdett, Robin also attended KSU and later finished
her degree in elementary education at St. Mary’s of the Plains
College in Dodge City while living in Scott City where Bill had his
first job as a veterinarian. Robin taught fifth grade at Jefferson
School before taking a leave of absence a year ago. Through co-chairing
the AEF Campaign, she hopes to encourage other students to attend
Barton.
“It’s been fun coming back here and helping
promote the good things about Great Bend and our surrounding area,
including the college,” Bill said.
He sees several ways the college has had an impact
on his business, including an increase in population, “hopefully
the pet-owning population in my case, but it helps other businesses
as well,” he said.
“The students need to eat and buy clothes and other items
to survive in a college environment, and then additionally, I frequently
look to the college as a source of employees that I can hire on
a part-time basis, and that’s been very helpful. I plan on
that every year and I know other businesses hire Barton students
as well,” Bill said.
“It’s a good thing also for just the general population
to have an institution with probably more learning for your dollar,
strategically located and closer to home in some cases,” he
added.
A senior at Great Bend High School, the Niederees’ daughter
Katie is earning college credits by taking some of Barton’s
College Advantage courses in addition to a summer course at Barton
in English Composition. She will have 24 credits for a head start
to her college career after high school graduation. “It’s
been a really good opportunity for her to take those courses. Economically,
tuition-wise, we spread 24 hours out over two years,” Robin
said.
Seeing the benefits of attending Barton, Robin and Bill feel it’s
important to support the college, and donating to scholarships is
one of the best ways to show support. “For the most part,
you’re keeping that money in the area. Your dollar is allowing
students a chance to pursue a degree rather than stop after one
year, or stop when the finances run out,” Bill said.
“It may be that extra amount that helps them buy books, pay
for tuition, or it may even let them live here on campus, so I think
that scholarship money is filling students’ needs.”
“I feel very good about donating money for a cause like that
and maybe those students would feel a little bit of a connection
to want to come back to the community and even donate where they
had received money previously.”
The AEF Campaign is one of the BCCC Foundation’s two big fund-raisers
for academic scholarships. The Big Benefit Auction is the other
event, which will take place in August this year.
Coleen Cape, Barton’s Coordinator of Alumni, who also helps
carry out the fund-raising events, explained that each year the
Foundation’s investment board makes a decision how much money
from its investments will go toward academic scholarships based
on information provided by Barton’s Dean of Business Services
Ron Vratil.
“The board decides how much of the returns on its scholarship
endowments can be used to fund scholarships that year, and then
we match the funding with the students who meet the criteria of
the donors who have funded the endowments. When all of the money
is awarded, there are still many students who have not been funded
through that venue, so we need additional funds to meet those students’
academic needs. That’s where the money from the AEF and the
auction comes in,” she explained.
Even though this fund drive is conducted by mail, anyone who would
like to meet face to face with someone from the BCCC Foundation
is welcome to contact the Foundation Office, Holopirek said. Anyone
not contacted by the AEF Campaign mailing is encouraged to contact
the Foundation Office, 620-786-1136 or 620-792-9306, if they would
like to donate to the academic scholarship fund.
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