Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture General Information

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This is a Course Catalog for the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture (NCTA). This catalog will serve as a reference during your time at NCTA. We hope the information contained will provide answers to your questions about NCTA.

Vision

The Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture will foster a student-centered learning environment with a national reputation for producing graduates who are in high demand by agriculture and related industries.

Mission

The Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture is devoted to a statewide mission of preparing students for successful careers in agriculture, veterinary technology and related industries. The college provides open access to innovative technical education resulting in associate degrees, certificates and other credentials.

Key Characteristics

  • Nationally recognized education at the associate degree level
  • Competitive academic and experiential teams
  • Practical, career-applied, experiential education activities
  • Tuition is low cost and equal for all
  • Programs relevant to successful job attainment with competitive wages
  • Interaction and support from agricultural industries and employers
  • Dedicated faculty and staff
  • Low student-to-faculty ratio
  • Accessible technology, land and animal resources for hands-on learning
  • Close working relationship with the Nebraska Extension, UNL Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources (IANR) and the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (CASNR)

Facilities

The Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture occupies a 72-acre campus which adjoins the town of Curtis on the northeast. The facilities include Agriculture Hall (which houses the Associate Dean’s and Dean’s Offices, Business Office, Agribusiness Management Systems Division, General Education Division, a computer laboratory, and classrooms). The Livestock Teaching Center, completed in 2000, includes livestock classrooms, lab facilities and an arena with a 700-person seating capacity; the Education Center houses the Welcome Center, an auditorium, state of the art laboratories, a computer lab, Agronomy Office, along with Student Services Office including ADA/504 Counselor, Admissions, Recruitment, and Residence Life. Other buildings on campus include three permanent residence halls; a cafeteria; a deli, the Student Union/Activities Center; the Fitness Center, the Learning Resource Center; a Horticulture Systems complex (including two greenhouses, and a classroom building), an Agriculture Equipment complex (which includes two large equipment labs, a small engine lab, a welding lab, irrigation lab, and buildings for classroom, painting, storage and maintenance use); and a Veterinary Technology Teaching and Laboratory Complex. A total of 200,000 square feet of instructional classroom and laboratory space is utilized in the educational majors.


The college also operates a 600 acre farm located directly north of campus which serves as a field laboratory. Around 240 acres is dedicated to crop land and the remainder as pasture/rangeland. The farm includes grain storage facilities,  a completely diversified dry land and irrigated farming operation with three center-pivot irrigation systems including one that uses state-of-the-art technology. In addition to the 360 acres of pasture land, the college also operates the 2100 acres Leu Memorial Ranch located 20 miles west of Curtis in Hayes county. The pasture and rangeland is used for all phases of beef cattle production for both spring and fall calving cows as well as yearlings and range management training.

Accreditation

The Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture has been granted accreditation with the Higher Learning Commission. The American Veterinary Medical Association accredits the Veterinary Technology program. In addition, the College is approved to offer courses and majors for veterans benefits and training under the War Orphans Act.

The Higher Learning Commission
30 North LaSalle St., Suite 2400
Chicago, IL 60602-2504
800-621-7440

Location

The Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture is located in the community of Curtis with a population of approximately 800 people on the gentle rolling plains of southwest Nebraska, in the northwest part of Frontier County. Curtis is located 8 miles east of Highway 83 between the cities of North Platte and McCook. The trade area population is approximately 3,500. The Curtis area is primarily agricultural, devoted to the production of corn, wheat, milo, and livestock.

Computing at NCTA

Information Systems at the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture provides easy access for the large variety of campus users. Currently, the campus has three main computer labs and a smaller computer lab in each of the three dorms, comprised of PC systems of various speeds. All systems are capable of multimedia and are running Windows.

Most faculty on campus use laptop computers extensively in the classroom teaching environment. Most classrooms are equipped with multimedia data projectors that are implemented in virtually every class. Most faculty use Canvas to distribute notes, lectures and assignments. All faculty and staff can be issued an e-mail address.

Networking on campus consists of a 100/1000 Mbps Ethernet network. Most locations on campus have access to a “wireless” connection. The wireless network is available to all faculty, staff and students on campus with the proper equipment and online registration. The network has a high-speed link off campus providing firewalled access to the Internet and Internet2.

The Computer Usage Policy for NCTA and the University of Nebraska is available upon asking Information Systems personnel.


If students need help with IT items such as:
• Setting up wi-fi
• Instructions on setting up TV’s and gaming systems
• Software questions
• Other IT needs
Send an email and ITS will respond and set up a time to meet you.

Catalog

The catalog should not be considered a contract between the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture and any prospective student. The Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture reserves the right (without notice) to make changes in graduation requirements, costs, curriculum, course structure and content, the calendar of operations, and college personnel during the life of the catalog.

This college catalog will be in effect beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. Students should keep this catalog for referral throughout their academic career.

In accordance with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, NCTA may disclose public/directory information from the education records of a student who is in attendance at NCTA. Also, the student has the right to refuse to permit NCTA to disclose directory information. If a student wishes to have all public/directory information excluded as public information, the student must notify, in writing, the Registrar’s Office no later than September 3.

The Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture does not discriminate in its academic, admissions or employment policies and abides by all federal and state regulations. NCTA is an affirmative action/equal opportunity institution. NCTA is in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.