Tech college continues growth

By DIANE GASPER-O'BRIEN

Hays Daily News

From its start more than 30 years ago with one program and nary a single building, the Hays satellite of North Central Kansas Technical College in Beloit has grown into a campus with five buildings and five programs.

Coincidentally, the most recent program addition for the Hays school, which began with the practical nursing program at St. Anthony Hospital in 1974, also is health-related.

Earlier this year, NCKTC in Hays began a pharmacy technician program, the first of its kind in the state that will grant an associate degree. Classes are being held year-round two nights a week, and students that began with the first class are scheduled to graduate in the spring of 2007.

Associate degrees were first granted in 1996 in nursing, following a bill that was signed by the Kansas Legislature to convert vo-tech schools in the state into technical colleges.

Now, all five programs offer both diploma and associate degrees. The associate degree programs give credits that can be transferred to an accredited college or university.

George Spiegel, in his first year as the dean of the Hays campus, was instrumental in starting the pharmacy technician program that got off the ground in January. And he even will teach a human biology class in the program this summer.

The response for the pharmacy technician program has been so positive that Spiegel would like to start another session in January 2006, and he thinks it would be beneficial to the surrounding area to add other programs in the coming years.

“It all hinges on state funds, of course,” Spiegel said, admitting that the school has come a long way in 31 years but still has room to grow. “We're hoping to grow some more. ... If you want to keep (graduates) here in the state, we need to support higher education.”

The NCKTC campus is located on a 21-acre tract of land in northeast Hays that was donated to the school in 1973 by the Leo and Albina Dreiling Charitable Trust.

The first building, constructed on the property in 1980, housed both the post-secondary and secondary auto mechanics technology programs until three years ago.

Another building went up a few years later for a carpentry program that lasted only a few years. The nursing program moved to that building in 1985, finally finding its own home after nearly 10 years at the hospital.

While several programs have come and gone over the years, the one constant has remained the nursing program. What began as a 10-month licensed practical nursing program has grown to a two-year associate degree program from which graduates are eligible to take the national examination for registered nurses.

An administration building, which also houses the business and computer programs, was built in 1992. Two more buildings were donated to the school in 1999, and they were completed in 2002.

That allowed the post-secondary auto mechanics program to move to its own building, with the secondary classes still being held in the original building. The other new building houses the residential electricity program, which began in downtown Hays in 1998, as well as the pharmacy technician classes.

Programs at the Hays campus of NCKTC include automotive technology, business and computer technology/business management, nursing, pharmacy technician and residential electricity. High school students from participating districts also may attend programs in automotive technology.

Reporter Diane Gasper-O'Brien can be reached at (785) 628-1081, ext. 126, or by e-mail at

dobrien@dailynews.net.