If the nation ever needs to send a small force of college presidents on a top-secret reconnaissance mission to an undisclosed location,or puts out an emergency call for retail shoe experts, the U.S. government already has a man in Ford County.
Right now, Richard Burke, Ph.D., is busy running Dodge City Community College, and he's got his hands full. But President Burke could be ready to do either of the above jobs at the drop of a hat.
And if he brought his family with him, the Burkes could also provide psychological services, medical care, business and marketing consultants, gourmet meals prepared by a trained chef, and a captain in the Airborne Rangers to do just about everything else.
Those are the combined skills of a family with roots in a little five-chair shoe department, a farm just south of Dodge City, and a one-room Kansas schoolhouse.
Burke thinks those roots, and the fact that they represent a shared experience binding the school to the region it serves, are what will get Dodge City Community College through these lean economic times. He knows that his little college doesn't have the clout of the state's big public universities, but he's counting on other factors to see DCCC through.
"We're lean and fast. We're the tiger," Burke said. "The universities are like the elephants — big and slow. The tiger makes quick, bold moves and moves on before the elephant has even woken up."
Ready for budget cuts
That's why the huge cuts to the state's 19 community colleges didn't take Burke by surprise. Although everyone in post-secondary education was braced for the cuts made during the last legislative session, additional hits coming during this first week of the new fiscal year have shaken more than a few institutions.
But Burke was ready. He'd been checking in with the Kansas Board of Regents for about six months when he saw the handwriting in the wall.
"I couldn't understand why some of the universities persisted in remaining optimistic," Burke said. "I don't know what they were hoping or waiting for, but I just came back to Dodge and told Vada (Hermon, director of business services) that it looked like we'd better freeze our budget."
And except for the recruiting budget, that's what the college did. The school's board of trustees and administration were determined not to levy higher property taxes, and the college has stood its ground in that arena. But the trustees didn't fill vacant staff positions or renew some faculty contracts — decisions termed crucial by Burke.
The Kansas Legislature had already cut funding to the state's community colleges by nearly 10 percent for fiscal year 2010 when the schools were unexpectedly hit with another cut, bringing the total reduction to 12 percent. Usually, community colleges get two payments a year from the state, but in June DCCC had to send over 4.2 of its fiscal year 2009 budget, or $115,000, back to the state Department of Revenue.
On top of that, the college lost the annual $50,000 the state had provided to help compensate DCCC for the loss of revenue created by one of the Kansas tax incentives for new businesses.
When the Legislature canceled machinery and equipment taxes for 10 years, it also voted to help community colleges fill the funding gap created by that loss of revenue. Now, that funding has also disappeared, eliminated during the last legislative session.
"We in western Kansas still have the pioneer spirit, and that's why this college will not only survive — this college will succeed," Burke said as he sat behind his desk on the DCCC campus Monday. "We survived the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression, and we'll certainly make it through this. We know what it means to tighten our belts."
Photos of Burke's family were displayed on walls and shelves throughout his office: his wife, Georgia, a clinical psychologist; their daughter April, a nurse practitioner specializing in cardiology; their son Ryan, a captain in the Airborne Rangers; and youngest child Tyler, who is completing his training in culinary arts at the Phoenix Art Institute.
Framed on one wall were Burke's military medals, awarded during his two tours of duty in Vietnam, where he held the rank of captain, and served as the operations officer for the First Air Cavalry Division along the Cambodian border. Later, Burke served as senior aide de camp to three-star general Arthur S. Collins. A newspaper article about Burke's son, Capt. Ryan Burke, an Airborne Ranger, and his tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq, was displayed on the opposite wall.
"Dr. Burke kind of runs the college as if it was a Special Operation," joked Veda Hermon, Burke's right-hand advisor on all the school's financial matters.
"You may be right about that," Burke told her. "I was trained to get in there and get the job done, and that's still the way I do things. Maybe that explains why some people on campus keep saluting me. I was really wondering what was up with that."
The colleagues shared a brief chuckle before Burke returned to the serious matter at hand.
"We have to be able to adapt fast, and that's one of our strong points," he said. "We're not slow and cumbersome. We're fast and flexible."
Burke and Hermon described the ways in which DCCC has economized by re-allocating the responsibilities of newly vacant jobs to other college employees.
"Our people have really stepped up to the plate," said Burke. "Yes, now they have more responsibilities, but they are also saving jobs and educating students. That's the kind of work ethic we have in western Kansas. Everybody is ready to do more than one thing."
Hermon added: "Yes, like the way Dr. Burke can tell every woman on campus what brand and style of shoe she's wearing. He's really handy that way."
"I'm also good at clothing," Burke said modestly. "You never know which of your skills will be needed, but I'm ready."
So are the rest of the Conquistadors.
Reach Claire O'Brien at (620) 408-9931 or e-mail her at claire.obrien@dodgeglobe.com.
