October 25, 2016
Story by Brandon Steinert
Photo by Micah Oelze
The Barton Community College Board of Trustees gathered Tuesday evening for its regular meeting and discussed one of its eight overarching goals, known as ENDs, one of which is “Barton Experience.”
This END states, “Students will be positive about their Barton experience. In exit surveys and other feedback report mechanisms, students will speak positively of their experiences at Barton. Students will cite individual, personal, caring attention from faculty and staff as a significant factor in how they perceive their experience at Barton.”
Barton student-athlete Keanna Craig shared her personal Barton experience with the Board. A native of Flint, Mich., Craig said she grew up in a rough neighborhood and in abusive environments, where a walk to the store was dangerous. When she came to Barton for a campus tour, she signed up the next day.
“I’d rather be here than be at home,” she said, fighting tears. “Barton changed my life, and really saved my life. No telling where I’d be today if I were still home. Thank you so much for bringing me here. I really love this place. I feel safe.”
When asked what made her decide on Barton, she said it was the people.
“You guys are so nice,” Craig said. “You guys do a good job. You’re united, not divided. It’s nice that you guys are a team. You actually care about the students here. From the staff to the teachers, you guys are really caring and loving. I came from a high school where the teachers didn’t care about us. They would even say they were just there for a paycheck.”
Athletic Director Trevor Rolfs said her story is representative of his philosophy for student athletes, that they develop themselves academically, socially and athletically, in that order.
Highlights from the ENDs report include:
- Post Graduation Survey responses are about 90 percent positive or better for most services.
- Barton Community College Survey of Student Engagement shows Barton students are satisfied with the services they receive.
- BARTonline survey reveals 96 percent of students were satisfied or neutral toward their online experience.
- Financial aid took extra measures to ensure students’ financial aid problems are solved, improving satisfaction from 70 percent in 2015 to 90 percent in 2016.