STORY BY KACIE TIMMONS
Photo: Olivia Engler, Drew Bowman, Kory Ridnour, KelsiJo Crouch, Shay Northrup, Joel White, Andrew Doan, Cordell Cyr.
High Plains Farm Credit has partnered with Fort Hays State University to offer eight students the opportunity to serve on a student advisory board for High Plains.
The student advisory board is made up of three Finance majors: Olivia Engler, Drew Bowman, and Andrew Doan, and five Agriculture Business majors: Kory Ridnour, KelsiJo Crouch, Shay Northrup, Joel White, and Cordell Cyr. These students will have the chance to gain hands-on experience and valuable knowledge about the farm credit system.
“I wanted to learn more about agriculture because as a future banker, the majority of the loans I will be working with will be agriculture loans,” said Andrew Doan, the chair of the student board. “I don’t come from a farm background, so I need to learn and understand the problems farmers will be facing, and what I can do to help them.”
Doan is working towards his MBA in Finance and has already secured a job with a bank in southwest Kansas, after he graduates in May 2021.
Dr. Alan Deines, the Director of the Robbins Banking Institute at Fort Hays and an instructor of Finance, is the primary advisor for the High Plains Student Board. Mr. Jeremy Ryan, a Fort Hays Agriculture Business instructor, serves as the second advisor for the group.
Students were selected through the hiring process, as they had to apply and be accepted for this position. They meet with High Plains employees once a month in Hays, and are fed dinner and given a stipend for their time.
During the meetings, students are invited to give advice and share their opinions with the lenders at High Plains on how they can improve their business and better serve their customers.
“High Plains is interested in the student’s viewpoint because these students represent their future customers,” Deines said. “As a student board member, these students will see how business is conducted, what issues they might be confronted with, and it prepares them to be future leaders.”
“Some of these students may be future employees and some may be future borrowers, but they get the chance to network with High Plains early,” Ryan said. “They will get to see financial statements and confidential information, just like actual board members.”
KelsiJo Crouch, the co-chair of the student board, knows that education outside of school is just as important as education within a classroom setting.
“These extra experiences are huge because they show you how to apply what you learn in the classroom to real-world opportunities,” Crouch said.
Crouch will graduate in May with her Bachelors’s in Agriculture Business and will intern at High Plains Farm Credit next summer. She plans to start on her MBA in Finance next fall at Fort Hays.
Students are also able to explore a career in the farm credit system, and High Plains can connect with local students and recruit new graduates to join their team.
“The students give advice to High Plains Farm Credit on how they can work with the University to make a better networking connection,” Ryan said. “This will establish an outlet for High Plains to utilize our students and Fort Hays to utilize their possible career opportunities.”
“Small towns in western Kansas have a need for talent. There are good jobs out here, and High Plains Farm Credit wants to see students come back and fill those positions,” Deines said.
This is the first year this opportunity has been offered to students, but High Plains and FHSU hopes to make it a yearly tradition.
“People don’t appreciate what a huge honor it is to serve on a board like this,” Deines said. “These students are quality people, very conscientious, and they have an opportunity to be strong leaders in their community.”