Message from the President

WE ARE MPCC.

Greetings Alumni of Mid-Plains Community College,

The ending of the 2019-20 year will go down as one of the most memorable periods of our lifetime. On March 30, we made the difficult decision to move for-credit courses to a remote format for the remainder of the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There was no instruction manual on how to navigate this unknown, but we knew that we had to look out for the safety of our students, staff and the communities we serve.

We successfully celebrated our students’ educational accomplishments with face-to-face on-campus commencement ceremonies on July 31. Of the 334 students who graduated with 378 certificates, diplomas and degrees, nearly half returned to campus with their families and friends to walk across the stage. In last year’s newsletter, we said thank you to Garry Lawyer, one of two outgoing Board of Governors. On October 1, 2019, we said good-bye to Garry after his short battle with cancer. He had a love for his family, education and cars. He will be greatly missed. Our first-time, full-time student retention from the fall of 2018 to the fall of 2019 matched a five-year high of 67 percent for third best among our 15 peer institutions. That was an increase of five percent over last year. We celebrated three bittersweet faculty retirements at the end of 2019-20. Sally Thalken, physical education instructor and division chair for math and science, Kathleen McCune, business instructor, and Kent Beel, diesel technology instructor and division chair for the applied sciences, had a combined 94 years of full-time and part-time service to the college. Their dedication and commitment to MPCC was second to none.

The community campuses in Broken Bow, Imperial, Ogallala and Valentine continued to shine in student enrollment. Full-time equivalent (FTE) in students for 2019-20 was 160 compared to the record 2018-19 year of 161. Graduates from those community campus areas totaled 42. Mid-Plains Community College student-athletes representing McCook Community College, North Platte Community College and the rodeo team continued to shine in the classroom and on the field of competition. The MCC men’s golf team was named the top academic team in the nation with a combined 3.67 GPA while also cracking the Top 20 in the national JUCO rankings at No. 19 - just prior to the season being cancelled. The MCC baseball team and the MPCC men’s and women’s rodeo teams were at or near the top of the standing in their respective regions when seasons were cancelled. At MCC, 24 student-athletes were named to NJCAA All-Academic teams. At NPCC, 22 student-athletes were named to the NJCAA AllAcademic teams.

Thank you all for your continued support of MidPlains Community College before, during and after the pandemic. We take pride in serving our communities. Our vision is to be First Choice for our Region for education, partnerships, employers, and employees. Please reach out to us. We always want your input on how we can better serve you as we desire to continue to improve in all areas to sustain and grow Southwest and West-central Nebraska.

RYAN PURDY, MPCC President

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Dear Alumni and Friends,

Fostering connections has never been more important to all of us at MidPlains Community College. The way we connect now, in a global pandemic, has taken on a whole new meaning. Email, social media, and word of mouth have always been a great way to invite alumni and friends to events where you could visit with fellow friends of MPCC, shake hands and converse with campus employees and students, and learn about what’s happening on campus. But over these past several months, these media outlets have become our primary means of connecting with you. I hope that a picture you saw on one of the MPCC Facebook pages prompted a memory of a time which caused you to think about an instructor that influenced your path, a group of friends you spent time with while on campus, or an athletic event that brought you to your feet cheering with excitement. I hope you smile with pride as you remember the impact MPCC had – and continues to have – on your life as you know it today. The College is deeply appreciative of the support alumni and friends of MPCC have provided, through contributions to the McCook and North Platte Community College Foundations, so future generations of MPCC students can realize the benefits of postsecondary education. And no matter how we have to do it, we’ll continue to foster your connection to our campus and our fellow alumni and friends.

Hope to see you soon!

BONNIE KRUSE, Area Director of Institutional Advancement and Executive Director, NPCC Foundation

Connect with us!

@mpccedu

CREDITS

Editor

Jo Ann Lundgreen

Designer

Stephen Barkley

Story Contributors

Brent Cobb Heather Johnson

Photo Contributors

Brent Cobb Heather Johnson