Missouri Western State University has signed an agreement with Hillyard Technical Center in St. Joseph and North Central Missouri College in Trenton to offer a new Bachelor of Science in Technology concentration in the field of allied health. The agreement allows students who have earned a radiological technology certificate at Hillyard to seamlessly continue on to earn an associate’s degree from North Central Missouri College and a bachelor’s degree from Missouri Western.
“The Bachelor of Science in Technology program at Missouri Western is very career-oriented, allowing students to concentrate on fields of study that will be useful in their chosen profession,” said Dr. Jeanne Daffron, provost and vice president for academic affairs. “We’re pleased that this cooperative agreement with Hillyard Technical Center and North Central Missouri College allows us to offer a seamless path to a bachelor’s degree in the field of allied health.”
Under the agreement, a student will earn 30 credit hours toward the Missouri Western bachelor’s degree by completing the Radiologic Technology Certificate of Completion at Hillyard, and 35 hours by completing the Associate of Applied Science in Radiology Technology at NCMC. To earn the Bachelor of Science in Technology (Allied Health), the student completes 60 credits at Missouri Western, including 30 in upper division classes (300 level or higher). Requirements include 21 credits in general education courses, nine credits in allied health pre-requisite courses, and 30 credits selected from allied health core courses.
In addition to health and general education courses, the degree program includes elective courses in business, communication, economics, mediation, management, marketing and psychology. The program is flexible, so that students can combine courses to form a second emphasis area that more exactly fits their career goals.
“Our Bachelor of Science in Technology Program is a great way for students to tailor a degree to meet their own needs, and we’re excited to partner with Hillyard and NCMC to offer this new concentration,” said Dr. Gordon Mapley, dean of the Western Institute. “
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The University of Missouri Board of Curators has ratified changes to how sexual misconduct and discrimination allegations will be handled on the university system’s campuses.
The Columbia Daily Tribune reports the curators voted Thursday to approve changes first issued as executive orders last month by President Tim Wolfe.
The changes include a tentative 60-day period for investigating sexual misconduct allegations and creating a way to deal with students or organizations that are accused of discrimination.
Sexual assault, stalking and dating violence are prohibited under Title IX, the federal anti-discrimination laws.
Wolfe said more than 100 people on the system’s four campuses have received training on handling sexual misconduct allegations. He says other mandated reporters will be trained in the future.
Janis DeBoer, executive director of the Kansas Area Agencies on Aging Association.
By Andy Marso KHI News Service
TOPEKA — A series of 11 agencies that serve older Kansans are under scrutiny after one in Johnson County published an article in its monthly newsletter critical of a health care compact the Legislature passed last session.
Janis DeBoer, executive director of the Kansas Area Agencies on Aging Association, said she received a call from a member of the Kansas Legislative Research Department who was researching the aging agencies at a legislator’s request.
DeBoer said the researcher asked her how many people the agencies serve.
“They asked if we generated an annual report with that information,” DeBoer said. “I said, ‘No, we do not, and probably the best source of that information is the KDADS (Kansas Department on Aging and Disability Services) repositories.’”
DeBoer said that was the only question in her brief conversation with the legislative research employee.
The legislative research department is a state agency of nonpartisan experts who provide information to legislators. It is the department’s policy not to reveal the legislator who requested specific information or details of the request.
DeBoer said that in the three years she has been executive director, researchers may have called “a couple” times, but she could not recall what the previous information requests were about.
“Not very frequently do we get phone calls from the legislative research department,” DeBoer said. “Every once in a while.”
The latest request for information came within a week of a tense meeting between Johnson County legislators and members of the Johnson County Commission on Aging, a group of senior volunteers who advise that county’s Area Agency on Aging.
The legislators took umbrage with the commission’s intent to publish in a county newsletter, The Best Times, an article critical of a health care compact they approved last session. The compact, which includes nine states, proposes that member states be allowed to opt out of federal health care laws and receive money for programs like Medicaid and Medicare in block grants.
Supporters of the legislation in Kansas saw it as a repudiation of President Barack Obama, but a majority of the Johnson County Commission on Aging members saw it as a threat to Medicare.
During the Sept. 15 meeting, several legislators expressed concern about proximity of the article’s publication to the November election, with Sen. Jeff Melcher, a Republican from Leawood, calling it “partisan” and an “October surprise.”
At one point House Speaker Ray Merrick, a Republican from Stilwell, turned to Dan Goodman, the director of the Johnson County Area Agency on Aging, and told Goodman, “This is going to set you guys back.”
Sen. Jim Denning, a Republican from Overland Park, told the commission members they “really need to think about this” because publishing the article would anger most of the Johnson County legislative delegation.
The next day Johnson County Commissioner Jason Osterhaus emailed a county official saying he needed help fulfilling an information request from Denning’s wife, Marearl, who had asked about the budget for the agency on aging, the budget for the The Best Times, the breakdown of local versus federal funding for the Best Times and who at the county oversees the publication.
Denning, in an email Wednesday, said he was not involved in his wife’s request, adding that if he wanted that information he would have found it online or asked the county manager directly.
“Marearl is an activist and does her own thing,” Denning said.
Rep. Stephanie Clayton, a Republican from Overland Park who is the legislative appointee to the Johnson County Commission on Aging, said she encourages citizens and legislators alike to seek information about public agencies. But the pending requests surrounding the aging agencies is worth monitoring, she said, because of the “disrespectful and menacing” tone some of her colleagues took in the Sept. 15 meeting.
Johnson County commissioners ultimately granted a page in The Best Times to legislators so they could rebut the commission’s stance on the health care compact.
Clayton, who voted against the compact, said the commission on aging was within its rights to publish the initial article and the legislators who disagreed with them on the issue overreacted.
“I see no reason for the reaction it generated from my colleagues in the Legislature,” Clayton said. “I don’t know why they’re so upset, but they clearly are.”
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors announced two more recalls, pushing its total for the year to more than 70, affecting almost 30 million vehicles in North America.
The biggest of Friday’s recalls covers just over 290,000 Cadillac SRX and Saab 9-4X SUVs in the U.S. The company says some rear suspension nuts may not have been tightened properly. That could cause the toe link adjuster to separate from the suspension, possibly causing a crash.
The recall affects SRXs from the 2011 through 2015 model years and Saabs from the 2011 and 2012 model years. GM says the problem has caused three crashes and two injuries.
The other recall covers over 89,000 Chevrolet Spark mini-cars from 2013 through 2015. Rust can cause a hood latch to stick, and the hood can open unexpectedly.
Livingston County Sheriff Steve Cox says a detainee at the Daviess Dekalb County Regional Jail requested being placed on a Kosher diet for religious purposes. Cox says the detainee could not provide any documentation to confirm such religious dietary needs with a rabbi. But he says the request was granted anyway.
Then, on September 28, the jail staff noted video surveillance showing the detainee “eating food other than what is permitted on a Kosher diet” from the trays of other detainees.
The special diet is no longer being offered to the detainee.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A state audit says the Kansas Department of Revenue’s $34 million overhaul of the state’s computer operations was not managed properly by the revenue department or the 3M company.
The audit released Thursday to a joint Legislative committee says the project produced a motor vehicle network plagued by technical problems. Auditors also said implementation of a new driver’s license system may be four years too late.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the auditors said state revenue department staff did not properly oversee the project, and 3M Company did not deliver services it had promised.
Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan told the committee that the effort to convert state vehicle and license connections with 105 counties was more complex than expected. He also noted the project started under the previous Democrat administration.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — More than $450,000 will go to farmers markets and organizations across Missouri to help grow and promote local produce.
The Missouri Department of Agriculture on Thursday announced 14 groups will receive block grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s specialty crop funds.
The money will help educate residents about crops that are grown in the state, including wild leeks and the pawpaw fruit.
Planned initiatives include money for Kansas City community gardens, beekeeper classes and farmers markets.
Both the University of Missouri and Missouri State University are set to use the money to research local grapes and other berries for use in wines.
Other recipients of the grants include the Columbia Farmers Market, EarthDance Organic Farm School and the Missouri Vegetable Growers Association.
MCFALL- A Missouri woman injured in an accident just after 5 p.m. on Wednesday in Daviess County has died.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2011 Jeep Cherokee driven by Melinda S. Daniel, 44, McFall was westbound on Route T one mile east of McFall.
The vehicle traveled off the south side of the road, went down an embankment, through a barbed wire fence into a ditch and rolled.
Daniel was transported to Cameron Regional Medical Center and transferred to Heartland Regional Medical Center. She was pronounced dead on Thursday afternoon.
The MSHP reported she was not wearing a seat belt.
EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) — Emporia police say they don’t suspect foul play in the death of a man who was found in a men’s restroom at the police department.
The Emporia Gazette reports a man identified as 58-year-old Mario Padron was found around 9 a.m. Thursday after officers were notified of an unresponsive person in the restroom.
Police say Padron was not a city employee and was in the building for personal reasons.
The police department issued a news release on the death Thursday and has notified Padron’s family. An investigation is underway but police say the death is not considered suspicious.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill has contributed an additional $50,000 to the Missouri Democratic Party as election day nears for state legislative candidates.
McCaskill’s contribution reported Thursday by the Missouri Ethics Commission brings her yearly total to $340,000 for the state party.
McCaskill is not up for re-election this year. Her donations are intended to help the Democrats gain ground in the Missouri Legislature, where Republicans hold a two-thirds majority in both chambers. Those elections are Nov. 4.
Other top Democrats also are aiding the legislative campaigns. Attorney General Chris Koster has given $200,000 to the state party as part of a four-year pledge to contribute $400,000.
State Treasurer Clint Zweifel gave the Democratic Party $10,000 in July.
Missouri Western State University has signed an agreement with Hillyard Technical Center in St. Joseph and North Central Missouri College in Trenton to offer a new Bachelor of Science in Technology concentration in the field of allied health. The agreement allows students who have earned a radiological technology certificate at Hillyard to seamlessly continue on to earn an associate’s degree from North Central Missouri College and a bachelor’s degree from Missouri Western.
