Helena College of Technology dean hopes to improve ties with schools, industry

Ask Steve Hoyle where he sees the Helena College of Technology in the next few years, and his eyes light up and a smile spreads
across his face.

By LAURA TODE, IR Staff Writer

He’s the new dean at HCT and even though he’s been at the school for only three weeks, Hoyle said he can’t wait to
see where the small college is headed.
For now though, he’s just beginning to settle in and familiarize himself with the faculty and staff and their programs as well as the
school’s budget.

“I’ve got a lot of looking and learning to do,” Hoyle said. “When you come in new, you’ve got to take some time to determine what
the needs and the expectations are.”
So far, he said he has been impressed with the welcome he’s received from HCT and the Helena community.

Hoyle is from North Platte, Neb., where he served as the vice president of Mid Plains Community College before accepting the
Helena position.
While he intends to take his time learning the culture of HCT, he said there are some important issues he hopes to start working on
soon, like increasing partnerships with business and industry, and improving the relationships between HCT and the Helena School
District and with Carroll College.

He said HCT needs to provide programs that seamlessly mesh with programs at four-year colleges, providing even more
opportunities for students interested in continuing their education.

Part of that effort, he said, will be to provide more variety in general education classes — those basics that every college requires
no matter what degrees they offer.
“HCT needs to become more transfer oriented, but not at the expense of being a technical college,” Hoyle added.

“We are a technical college,” he continued. “We don’t want to eliminate any technology programs or diminish the technology
programs.”
Another project Hoyle said he is immersed in is HCT’s expansion project. During the last legislative session, the college was
awarded funds for project planning, and administrators are hopeful the Legislature will come through on the funds for a building
project.

“We’re just out of space and that’s just to do the minimum. And the minimum is no longer acceptable, but it’s not just us that’s
saying it’s unacceptable — it’s business and industry,” Hoyle said.

HCT programs and faculty are spread across two campus locations and even rent space from the Helena School District at Ray Bjork
School. Crowding has caused some faculty offices to be located in a house behind the Billings Avenue campus.

Higher education has received less and less funding over the past decade, but despite the ever-tightening purse strings, Hoyle said
he is optimistic about the future of two-year technical colleges — and creative solutions can be found to solve funding issues.
“The money is no longer in the public sector,” he said. “We can no longer go to the Legislature on bended knee for funding, it’s no
longer there. The money is in the private sector, and we need to connect with the private sector.”

Hoyle cited several examples of industry partnerships with technical colleges, and said he plans to work on similar unique
relationships to supplement the programming at HCT.
One of the areas where Hoyle said he believes there are ground-floor opportunities is in the field of health care.

“What the RNs were doing 30 years ago, the LPNs are doing now, and what the LPNs were doing is now being done by nurses
aides,” he said.

HCT already has a licensed practical nurses (LPN) program, but Hoyle said he wants to expand the program so students can tap into
even more opportunities in the health care field. Part of that would be to provide a two-year track for students interested in
transferring to another college for their registered nursing degree.

“We can’t keep doing things like we were doing things 10-15-20 years ago,” Hoyle added.

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