Four candidates are vying for three open seats on the Allen Community College Board of Trustees. Spencer Ambler and Ken McGuffin are not seeking re-election.
Incumbent Mary Kay Heard is running for a second four-year term. Also on the ballot are Gena Clounch, Vicki Curry and Lonnie Larson.
Clounch and Larson will be featured in Saturdays Iola Register.
Vicki Curry goes into next Tuesdays election for the ACC Board of Trustees having seen all three sides of the college. She went there as a student, worked as its Director of Financial Aid for 27 years, and is a parent whose children attended school there.
Curry retired from the college three years ago, and said she likes the direction the school is headed.
They have done a lot of good things in the last three to four years. They moved a lot of offices, which was positive, because there was a lot of overcrowding. The student union has been a great aspect to add to the college. I have thought for years it would be great to have a joint effort with the community to build a community center, Curry said.
Curry believes having worked at the college, she has a good understanding of what works and what doesnt work. She also believes she now has the time to dedicate to the position.
Curry wants more community involvement with the college.
I would like to see things that would be more applicable to all the age groups, not just high school or college students. I would like it to be more of a community college, in addition to what it is doing. Offer some night classes, or weekend classes, that people can take for fun, or enrichment, Curry said. They used to offer those. I remember I took several of them. I took woodworking and a class where they taught us to stain glass. I really enjoyed them, some things I found I wasnt really good at, but they were fun.
Curry also thinks having a community center at the college will embed the college further into the community.
Curry said she would be a good choice because she can offer some new ideas, while getting some new blood into the mix.
She said during her time working at the college, nothing gave her more pleasure than when a student came in with their parents thinking college was too expensive for them and seeing them walk away knowing they could do it.
ACC is the largest school of the six colleges in southeast Kansas and has the lowest tuition costs of all the schools.
Curry witnessed a lot of changes at the college during her time there, which included online courses and getting the Burlingame campus. Now 32% of the schools students take online courses.
Curry said one aspect that will make her beneficial to the board is she is accessible.
