BVU, Sioux Central Strengthen Ties Through Strategic Partnership
Grant funding for BVU classes enhances benefits package for 120 Sioux Central employees and their families, a next step in relationship between school district and BVU.
Buena Vista University and the Sioux Central Community School District have entered into a Strategic Partnership that will benefit both organizations as they work to build up the people and the communities they serve.
Under the agreement, employees of the Sioux Central Schools, as well as their spouses and dependents, may receive grant funding to lower the overall cost of education while enrolled in classes at BVU’s Storm Lake campus. Partner grant funding also lowers the cost per credit hour for students enrolled in BVU’s convenient online/hybrid undergraduate programs or the organizational leadership graduate program courses.
BVU professors and staff are also available for training programs, workshops, and more should administrators and teachers with Sioux Central seek those services and expertise.
“Being in a position to enhance our employee benefits package with an educational resource in Buena Vista University certainly represents a win-win situation,” says Sioux Central Superintendent of Schools Kevin Wood, a 2004 BVU graduate. “Having Buena Vista University offer grant funding to lower the cost per credit hour is a welcome development for prospective students and their families as they work to advance their education, improving their career arc while boosting the district and their communities in the process.”
Wood noted that a current Sioux Central employee has already begun participating in the Strategic Partnership and has received a grant from BVU under the agreement.
“Having a great University dedicated to the growth and quality of life in Northwest Iowa located just 21 miles from our campus is a strength we should celebrate and strengthen. This Strategic Partnership will help enhance our ties.”
Kevin Wood
“The way this grant has been able to help me is unbelievable,” says Matt Saunders, a Sioux Central paraprofessional who is enrolled in BVU classes. “This grant will help me achieve my goal of being an elementary teacher with a reading endorsement, and through this Strategic Partnership, I now have the opportunity to work and coach while going to school.”
“We’re extremely pleased to be a partner with a great district like Sioux Central in our Strategic Partnerships initiative,” says Katie Smith, BVU Director of Strategic Partnerships. “With the ink barely dry on this partnership, it is exciting to see Sioux Central staff members already furthering their education at BVU and receiving a savings in the process. It is our vision that, through education, we can create stronger cities, towns, organizations, and people across Iowa, the Midwest, and beyond.”
The Sioux Central Community School District, which employs 120, serves 670 students K-12 in the following Northwest Iowa communities: Albert City, Linn Grove, Gillett Grove, Peterson, Rembrandt, Sioux Rapids, Truesdale, and Webb.
The district, which has served as a host for BVU student-teachers on an annual or near-annual basis for decades, counts an estimated 22 BVU alumni among its workforce. BVU’s new Institute for Agriculture hosted the Sioux Central FFA Chapter during FFA Week in February, while BVU’s new Agricultural Experiment Station served as host site for the Northwest Iowa District FFA Soils Judging Contest in the fall. Sioux Central and BVU have worked in concert for years in programming such as track and field, and more.
“It is a natural relationship that benefits both BVU and Sioux Central,” Wood concludes. “Having a great University dedicated to the growth and quality of life in Northwest Iowa located just 21 miles from our campus is a strength we should celebrate and strengthen. This Strategic Partnership will help enhance our ties.”
“We’re excited to see Sioux Central employees and their families enhance their educational experience, and their careers, through BVU’s programs made even more affordable through this partnership,” Smith says.
For more information about BVU’s Strategic Partnerships and partner opportunities, please visit the BVU website at bvu.edu/strategic-partnerships or contact Katie Smith at SmithK@bvu.edu.