WNCC 2010 Self-Study Report - Western Nebraska Community ...

Allied Health Services, and Adult Education. Particularly, as will be seen later in the report,
developing recruitment and retention initiatives are vital to the College’s health.
Although WNCC gets a good share of the high school graduates to matriculate to the College
(21%), when overall high-school enrollment decreases, so does the total number of students going
to college anywhere. WNCC has developed an aggressive plan to expand higher education
opportunities to students still in high school by creating the opportunity for dual-credit offerings at
all of the 21 service-area high schools, some taught by WNCC faculty members through the ITV
system, some by College faculty members at other locations (such as at Scottsbluff High School
and at the Alliance Campus), and some through contracting with the high schools to use approved
high-school teachers. In all cases, the same qualification standards are kept in place, but using the
high school teachers greatly enhances the availability of classes.
Nebraska’s provision that any person delivering instruction to high school students must possess a
valid Nebraska teaching license for secondary education hampers some of these efforts, although
movement is presently underway through the Chief Instructional Officers (CIOs) and the Chief
Executive Officers (CEOs) in the state to change this ruling from the Nebraska Department of
Education. Support is in place within the Nebraska Unicameral to create new guidelines as well.
Eight WNCC instructors already hold licensure, some from previous employment, and a few others
have either renewed or obtained licensure (an effort generally paid for by the College), but the
primary source of dual-credit instruction remains presently with high school adjunct instructors.
Despite the College’s relative geographic isolation, Western Nebraska Community College,
through the mergers mentioned previously, has become a multi-purpose, multiple-site, full-service
institution for terminal career education (vocational degrees, diplomas, and certificates) and the
first two years of college preparation. Chadron State College (CSC), the nearest four-year
institution, lies 100 miles north of Scottsbluff in Chadron, Nebraska, 180 miles from Sidney and 55
miles from Alliance. As may be expected, CSC has satellite offices in Scottsbluff, and it has
offered both on-site and ITV system courses at both Sidney and Alliance. Presently, the ITV
system is being phased out at the two WNCC branch campuses, those students now being served
exclusively through online course offerings from CSC.
Since CSC is a state college (formerly known as a normal school), the emphasis there rests on
teacher education, although it has broadened its range of offerings considerably. Consequently, a
high percentage of WNCC students who choose to pursue careers in public school education can
obtain the bulk of their education through CSC at Scottsbluff (formerly through ITV, and now via
online offerings). Advanced nursing degrees can also be obtained at Scottsbluff through the
University of Nebraska Medical Center campus located at the Panhandle Extension Service.
The nearest other Nebraska community college is headquartered in North Platte, Nebraska, 170
miles from Scottsbluff, 140 miles from Sidney, and 160 miles from Alliance. Universities and
community colleges in the states of Wyoming and Colorado are closer than most other Nebraska
institutions. The University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyoming, located 150 miles to the southwest
of Scottsbluff, is an important transfer partner to WNCC. A smaller percentage of WNCC students
transfer to the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, about 135 miles south. Summit
Christian College, a small private institution, operates in Scottsbluff, and the University of Nebraska
(UNL) has an agricultural research station in Scottsbluff, along with agricultural outreach programs.
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