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Western Iowa Tech highlights cross-department equipment process, grants and expansion plans as budget wins approval
Summary
Western Iowa Tech described a cross-departmental process for prioritizing equipment spending, a $250,000 grant to support an aviation mechanics program, plans to double its electrician program capacity, and secured board approval of its budget.
Western Iowa Tech emphasized collaborative equipment funding, industry partnerships and program expansion while its board approved the college budget.
CFO Troy Jasmine described a cross-departmental team that aggregates equipment requests, looks across college funding sources and prioritizes spending so faculty need not identify funding sources. "We look at all available funding here at the college...and then we have a team that will work on that," Jasmine said, and the approach has drawn praise during accreditation reviews.
The college highlighted a $250,000 grant from local partners — including the chamber, Morningside University and the Missouri River Regional Development group — to secure equipment for an aviation mechanics program the college plans to launch pending FAA site certification. College leaders said federal and FAA certification timelines may delay a fall start. Western Iowa Tech also plans to expand its electrician program over the summer to double capacity.
The presentation noted the college’s workforce and adult-education activity: about 7,000 credit and nearly 15,000 noncredit students, with concurrent enrollment representing a substantial share. The board approved the college budget by voice vote; the motion was moved and seconded and recorded as carried (counts not specified in the transcript).
Why this matters: the college’s equipment-prioritization process and external grants are intended to align limited resources to labor-market needs, enable new CTE offerings such as aviation maintenance, and increase capacity in high-demand trades.
Details and background: Jasmine said the college’s cross-department team excludes the CFO and president, and includes faculty and advisory-committee input to determine relevant equipment. He described the dentists-and-career-academy partnership opening this fall and cited community partnerships in construction and housing projects used for student hands-on learning. Enrollment growth last fall was about 8 percent; the college also runs a corporate-college training goal of impacting 700 new individuals annually.
