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

1. Throughout the service area from 2006-2008, the Business and Individual Training division
offered 2,013 classes, with 38,105 training slots, totaling 845,726 hours of instruction.
2. WNCC currently employs a number of Community Coordinators throughout the Panhandle.
Their role is to help coordinate credit and non-credit courses in their communities. Through
Advisory Boards established within these communities, the Community Coordinators
obtain ideas about courses community members would like to see set up. Classes meet at
the local high school or other facilities within the community.
3. Since 2003, WNCC has established three Corporate Academies, strategic partnerships
designed to promote customized training and education opportunities for the corporate
partners’ employees. WNCC has Corporate Academies with Cabela’s in Sidney, Regional
West Medical Center in Scottsbluff, and the Panhandle Partnership for Health and Human
Services, a consortium of 67 Nebraska Panhandle health and human service agencies.
4. WNCC established a Corporate Associate of Occupational Studies (AOS) degree for
incumbent employees of the corporate academy partners. This option is similar to the
standard AOS degree, one designed for vocational courses and training. The degree, not
intended for academic transfer, requires fewer general education courses and allows
greater flexibility in coursework so that a student can specialize in specific applied
technology areas. Up to 12 hours of on-the-job training can be allowed for credit (following
a conversion formula of 60 contact hours to 1 hour of credit), and several skills awards,
certificates, and even diplomas are available to be counted into the degree’s total credit
hour requirement.
Security and Safety Planning
In light of tragic events at several institutions of higher education, WNCC has taken a proactive role
to ensure the future safety of students, staff, faculty, and visitors. During 2008, the institution hired
an external consultant to assist in identifying security and safety issues and to prepare faculty and
staff for dealing with emergency and hazardous situations.
In an effort to add to the information obtained from the consultant and from various sources of
national media and from conferences, WNCC held numerous work sessions to discuss safety and
security issues that faculty, staff, and students had suggested could affect WNCC in the future.
From these sessions, the administrative team created plans to prepare the institution for potential
hazards. WNCC now has an All Hazards Response Guide as a quick reference for what to do in
case of an emergency on campus (RR 45).
During 2008, the President’s Cabinet went through FEMA training resulting in Incident Command
certification. On April 9, 2008, the College, along with 11 local and state emergency agencies,
conducted an on-campus active shooter drill that simulated a classroom hostage-taking situation.
This drill, the first of its kind in the state of Nebraska, provided WNCC, as well as local and state
emergency agencies, with vital information to prepare the College for potential incidents. An
important outcome from this drill was a problem detected with the automatic emergency telephone
notification system that failed to contact certain individuals as it was designed to do. This issue
has since been resolved.
Western Nebraska Community College Page 73