The Garden City Telegram
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Variety of funding sources keep college viable
Published 9/12/2009 in GCCC Anniversary
By MONICA SPRINGER
Grants, monetary gifts and the Endowment Association help keep Garden City Community College open for business and help fund student scholarships.
GCCC receives grants that allow equipment to be purchased for classes and allows the college to establish new programs. And the Endowment Association helps instructors purchase additional classroom equipment, as well as providing students with scholarship money.
GCCC has a variety of different funding sources, and local tax dollars aren't the only way the college completes construction projects and establishes new programs.
About 48 percent of GCCC's revenue comes from local property taxes, according to last year's audit. Other primary sources of revenue are federal grants and contracts at 18 percent and state appropriations at 13 percent. Student tuition and fees make up 5 percent of GCCC's revenue.
The last construction project for GCCC was the Erdene Corley Simulation Lab, which was built as an addition to the Penka Building of Practical Arts and Sciences. The addition was finished in August.
The simulation lab was built using a gift left by the Erdene Corley estate, along with grant money from a Title V grant. The simulation lab will house nine nursing simulators, which can resemble the medical programs that people might have.
The college will conduct a dedication ceremony for the Erdene Corley Simulation Lab at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, as part of GCCC's 90th anniversary celebration. The ceremony will be followed by walk-through tours.
The Title V grant, which totals $224,270 for GCCC this year, is used to expand opportunities for Hispanic students in rural Kansas through allied health programs, said Dee Wigner, dean of administrative services.
GCCC will receive the Title V grant for two more years, Wigner said. Starting in October, GCCC will use the grant money to provide academic support in Spanish, purchase equipment for programs and provide instructors for programs.
The grant also allowed GCCC to remodel the Warren Fouse Science and Math Building, establish the respiratory therapy program and increase enrollment in the nursing program. Wigner said GCCC also is working to establish a physical therapy assistant program with the grant.
Other buildings on campus have been built through the years without taxing Garden City and Finney County residents.
The Beth Tedrow Student Center, along with student housing built in 2006, are funded through student fees. When the buildings were built, the college took out a loan to fund the construction. That loan is paid for out of the residential life budget.
When students may for meal plans and dorm fees, that money goes back to pay for the construction, Wigner said.
There are other buildings on the GCCC campus that were funded by private donations.
Williams Stadium, home of the Broncbuster baseball team, was built when Garry and Janet Williams donated funds. An indoor practice field also was built with the funds donated.
More support comes from the GCCC Endowment Association. Melinda Harrington, executive director of the association, said it provides scholarships for students and also mini-grants to the college.
In the 2008-09 school year, the endowment association gave academic and technical scholarships totaling $403,195 to 756 students, Harrington said.
Mini-grants given at GCCC include textbooks, DVD training videos and software that faculty and staff aren't able to obtain through college funding.
For example, the nursing department purchased instructional DVDs and videos, and the math and science department purchased a GPS system, Harrington said.
The Endowment Association is governed by a 35-member volunteer board. Each April, the Endowment Association has its annual scholarship auction at the Finney County Exhibition Building, aimed at raising funds for the college's endowment.
The association will have a booth at the 90th anniversary celebration, along with other GCCC organizations and clubs.
"We're celebrating this milestone with GCCC," Harrington said. "It's a very important occasion."
On the Web:
Listen to a podcast of Steve Quakenbush, information services director with Garden City Community College, discussing the history of the college and Sunday's 90th anniversary celebration at GCTelegram.com/podcasts.
Garden City Community College: www.gcccks.edu
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