Kirkwood talks ag at fall leadership meeting

WILLIAMSBURG — Kirkwood Community College highlighted its agricultural programs during its fall Leadership Council meeting Oct. 1 at its Iowa County center in Williamsburg.

Jasmine Almoayyed, Government and Community Relations, said Kirkwood’s enrollment is up 5%. The community college, based in Cedar Rapids, had its largest graduating class in the spring.

Kirkwood conducts a skills survey every four year in an attempt to understand what area employers need from future employees, said Almoayyed. The last survey was taken as the country was coming out a pandemic when employers were seeing artificial wage inflation, she said.

Almoayyed speculated that results of the most recent survey would be available at the end of this month or early next.

Mike Jacobsen, associate director for Iowa and Benton Counties, said 150 students are taking classes through the Iowa County center, and numbers for the nursing program “have really exploded,” requiring Kirkwood Iowa County to offer two sections again this year, one in Williamsburg and one in Marengo.

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Jacobsen said that 34% of students in Iowa County are taking at least one course at Kirkwood Iowa County. That’s higher than the national average, he said.

In Belle Plaine Community School District, 30% of all high school students participate in concurrent enrollment through Kirkwood Iowa County, In English Valleys, 30%; HLV, 27%,; Iowa Valley, 42%; and Williamsburg, 41%.

Taking classes through Kirkwood rather than at traditional four-year colleges has saved Belle Plaine students about $69,500 in tuition, according to data provided by Kirkwood.

English Valleys students have saved about $42,000, HLV, students about $37,100; Iowa Valley students, about $83,200; and Williamsburg students, about $321,000.

In the past three years, more than 200 students have taken part in the job shadowing program, and 24 have taken on internships, said Jacobsen.

Kirkwood also offers non-credit courses, such as moped and babysitting courses, said Jacobsen. It’s expanding its Kid Camp which allows students to explore areas of study they many want to pursue as they get older.

The college has conducted an AED course and a basic lifesaving course.

Pistons to Pathways, a program for high school juniors or seniors patterned after a program at a Southern Wisconsin college, gave Belle Plaine and Blairstown students a chance to learn how to change oil and do diagnostics on vehicles, said Jacobsen.

Kirkwood is appreciative of all the businesses they work with, Jacobsen said. It’s a great way to keep Iowa students in Iowa.

Following the money

Casey Dunning, chief financial officer, explained how to read a property tax bill correctly to understand how much money taxpayers are sending to Kirkwood.

The college’s levy is nearly $44 million, but that tax is spread over parts of 18 counties in the Kirkwood service area, said Dunning. Only 3.7% of that, or $1.66 million, comes from Iowa County.

The levy rate is $1.43 per $1,000 of valuation.

Linn and Johnson Counties pay 77% of the Kirkwood levy, said Dunning.

The money from the levy pays for plant operations, equipment maintenance and replacement. It keeps Kirkwood on the cutting edge of technology, said Dunning.

Ag sciences

Brad Kinsinger, dean of ag sciences, said the ag sciences department offers students many options. Agricultural business and agricultural science degrees share many classes, but one is focused more heavily on business and the other on science.

Kirkwood offers agribusiness certificates in entrepreneurship, industry management and farm management.

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Ag science certificates are offered in beef science, crop production, custom applicator, precision agriculture and swine science.

Kirkwood can take only 44 diesel technologies students a year, said Kinsinger, because shop space and tools are limited.

The veterinary technician program is limited to 24 by the crediting body, Kinsinger said. Only eight students are allowed per teacher.

The vet tech program is heavy in small animal essential skills, said Kinsinger, but it also prepares students who want to take care of large animals. The program also provides study of rats and mice because some vet techs enter research programs.

The vet tech program is the only Kirkwood program that has an entrance exam, said Kinsinger. Students will have to pass state and national boards before they can be vet techs.

From 2023-2025 school years, Iowa County students earned 24 awards — 13 AAS degrees, 2 diplomas and 9 certificates.

Thirty agricultural students completed 1,069 credit hours, mostly on the main campus in Cedar Rapids, but also online with a handful of courses in other locations.

Kirkwood students are also exposed to global agriculture, said Kinsinger. Students will travel to Brazil again this year for 12 days, at a cost of $3,500 per student. A scholarship may provide $1,000 toward the trip.

Students who don’t go out of the country can still get the international experience when international students visit Kirkwood, Kinsinger said.

Kirkwood partners with high school ag programs, FFA programs, Iowa State University, businesses, industries and communities. The college is always looking for businesses that will offer internships to its students, set up at career fairs and take part in advisory boards.

Kirkwood also wants to know what needs the community has. Kirkwood has put together classes for farmers who want to learn artificial insemination but don’t need a degree and for farmers who need to improve their welding skills just for farm projects but don’t need to earn a certificate.

Diesel students need final projects, said Kinsinger. Some have machinery of their own they can work on, but others can work on machinery for local farmers, costing farmers a fraction of what they’d pay for professional service, said Kinsinger.

“If there are needs like that in the community, let us know how we can serve you,” Kinsinger said.

Kirkwood will host its next Leadership Council meeting in the spring.