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Minutes for HB2290 - Committee on Ways and Means
Short Title
Authorizing the affiliation of northwest Kansas technical college and north central Kansas technical college with Fort Hays state university.
Minutes Content for Wed, Mar 15, 2023
Chairperson Billinger opened the hearing on HB 2290. David Wiese, Office of the Revisor of Statutes, provided an overview of the bill. (Attachment 1)
President Tisa Mason, Fort Hays State University; President Eric Burks, North Central Kansas Technical College; and President Ben Schears, Northwest Kansas Technical College testified in support of the bill that is the next step in the Strategic Affiliation Initiative. The schools have a strong common mission to support rural students, businesses, industries and communities. Rural Kansas is experiencing demographic and economic pressures and we need to shape programs that address expected population declines that would ultimately lead to a declining economy. This voluntary affiliation would benefit students by providing more programs at more locations and for lower tuition. This also benefits employers as they can shape how programs develop and will provide increased access to prospective employees and a reliable employee pipeline. Communities benefit by having stronger educational institutions and opportunities to partner on economic development, as well as keeping more graduates local. The next steps are academic pilot programs in agriculture, construction management and nursing and administrative pilot programs in areas such as admissions and marketing and procurement. We need to change the direction of what we are doing to reduce the population decline by forging stronger connections. The conferees responded to questions from Committee members. (Attachment 2)
Sheree Utash, Kansas Technical Colleges, spoke as a proponent of the bill. She is also the Vice President of Workforce Development for Wichita State University and has been through an affiliation resulting in partnerships and benefits that have been rich and good for the community. This has built laddering of educational opportunities and the ability to create efficiencies. It is worth noting that the fiscal note shows that it would have a negligible fiscal effect on the State General Fund. (Attachment 3)
Dr. Blake Flanders, President and CEO of the Kansas Board of Regents, testified as a proponent of the bill. The 1999 Legislature created the Higher Education Coordination Act that established a framework for coordinating across the entire system. Students now benefit from 116 coursed that are guaranteed to transfer through our system. This affiliation will bolster the longstanding partnership that already exists. This is a piece of a broader conversation to better serve the workforce. Dr. Flanders responded to questions from Committee members. (Attachment 4)
Written only testimony in support of the bill was submitted by:
Mark Hess, Hess Services, Inc., Hays, Kansas (Attachment 5)
Eric Stafford, Kansas Chamber (Attachment 6)
Mason Ruder, Mayor, City of Hays, Kansas (Attachment 7)
Sarah Wasinger, Hays Area Chamber of Commerce (Attachment 8)
There being no further conferees, Chairperson Billinger closed the hearing on HB 2290.
