Sasha Hull
Lantern Staff
Butler Community College is the third largest two-year college in Kansas, educating over 13,000 students per year. Butler students study at a whopping total of eight campuses across the south-central Kansas region. While this does help encompass a wider range of students in the area, it is also a hindrance in many aspects.
The two main Butler campuses, El Dorado and Andover, are the largest and most well-known. Butler also extends classrooms to McConnell Air Force Base, Rose Hill, Flint Hills and Boston Rec Center in East Wichita. Furthermore, Butler has a robust online program with over 150 courses and seven degrees. Butler also offers a Wichita Service Center across from McConnell AFB that does not offer classes but assists with advising, enrollment, testing, degree checks and passes to access the classrooms on base.
The hindrances behind having a plethora of campus locations have affected me personally since beginning studies at Butler. After changing my major to mass communications, I was faced with the harsh reality of how restraining these multiple campus locations can be.
The Butler of Andover campus, currently spread amongst three separate locations in Andover, is a favorable location for Wichita native students as it is close to home. Many students, like myself, are not in the position to move into a new city for school. However, certain majors and their required courses are only offered at specific campuses.
In the fall of 2018, I drove 40 minutes from Wichita to El Dorado three times a week, and once a week to Andover. Now in the spring of 2019, I drive four times a week to El Dorado from Wichita and also take two courses online.
While this issue is not glaring, pressing or an issue for every student, it does affect many students that commute to school and those that do live on campus. For my major specifically, I am bound to the El Dorado campus, forfeiting the luxury of the multiple locations that are in Wichita and the surrounding areas.
As previously mentioned, this small annoyance is not severe, but does lead to some interesting questions in regards to Butler and how they are effectively managing their money when spreading it across the various locations. Could Butler be prospering and benefitting a larger number of students if it were to put more money solely into its two main locations? Would Butler succeed with a major Wichita campus location? These questions may never be answered, but it sheds light on a negative aspect of Butler’s extensive collection of campus locations.
