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The Daily Independent
August 13, 2003
A lesson in cooperation
OUS to offer broadcasting course at ACTC
ASHLAND Students will be able to learn the basics of broadcasting at Ashland
Community and Technical College this fall, courtesy of Ohio University Southern.
In the course, Introduction to Video Production, students will learn how to
use the tools of the broadcast trade to make video programs, said Don Moore,
director of electronic media at OUS.
Classroom work will be in Ashland and studio work will take place in Ironton,
said Moore, who will teach the course.
By the end of the 11-week course, students will be capable of producing programs
to use on local cable access Channel 2, he said. The idea is to give students
a taste of broadcasting disciplines, said ACTC spokesman John McGlone.
"The class gives them the chance to try it out before going full time,"
he said.
ACTC is still looking for money, either in its budget or through grants, to
buy broadcast-quality cameras and other equipment, McGlone said.
"We haven't found the money yet, but it's still early in the fiscal cycle,"
he said.
ACTC isn't going to develop its own broadcast program, McGlone said.
"We definitely don't want to compete with OUS. They have one of the top
electronic media programs in the nation."
The for-credit course isn't just for ACTC students, McGlone said.
"We're bringing this across the river for anyone in the community that
might be interested in video production," he said.
Students who complete the course will get OUS credit, which will be transferable
to ACTC, McGlone said. With the new reciprocal agreement, out-of-state students
can take the course at in-state rates.
Moore is in charge of OUS' two-year program, and manages the Ironton campus'
$1.7 million electronic media center, which includes radio and television studios
and production facilities.
Moore, a graduate of Ashland Community College and the University of Kentucky,
said he looks forward to working on this side of the river.
"I see it as an opportunity to go back to where I originally came from,"
he said.
The class starts Sept. 12 and enrollment is still open. People interested in
enrolling may call either OUS or ACTC.
Daily News
August 5, 2003
Colleges seeking increase in funds
Presidents warn committee that admissions policies may have to
be more restrictive
University presidents from across the state defended tuition increases for
the fall semester and pleaded with lawmakers to increase state funding for higher
education at committee meetings in Frankfort on Monday.
University of Kentucky President Lee Todd, representing the state’s eight
public campuses, also warned lawmakers that continued reductions will prompt
the schools to limit enrollment or eliminate programs.
“Tuition increases were really the only way for us to continue progress
toward the mandated goals” in the 1997 higher education reform law, Todd
said.
According to the Council on Postsecondary Education, annual tuition and fees
at Kentucky’s eight public universities will increase between 3.6 percent
(at Western Kentucky University) and 16.4 percent (at Northern Kentucky University)
this fall, compared to last year. UK’s yearly tuition and fees will be
the highest, at $4,547. Tuition and fees in the Kentucky Community and Technical
College System will increase 23.4 percent this fall to $1,896.
Those tuition hikes are mainly due to cuts in state funding over the past three
years, said Robbin Taylor, director of governmental relations for Western Kentucky
University. Taylor attended Monday’s meeting.
However, despite those cuts, graduation, retention and enrollment rates are
up at postsecondary institutions across the state, Taylor said.
“I guess if there was a message from the universities yesterday, it was
this: We are doing everything the higher education reform act asked us to do,
and doing it with less funding from the state,” she said. “But if
we don’t get more funding in the future, we’re going to have to make
some hard choices.”
Jack Thomas, president of Bowling Green Technical College, said he met with
all faculty members at the college yesterday to discuss financial aid packages
available to students.
“We want to let the students know that every faculty member will work
with them any way we can,” Thomas said. “We’re also working to
bring in more private sources of funding for financial aid to the students.”
A national survey of technical colleges that Bowling Green Tech participated
in earlier this year indicated that 48 percent of community college students
who drop out of school do so because of financial strain, he said.
“We know that this is an issue for our students,” Thomas said. “And
we do everything we can to work with them, but there’s a limit to what
we can do.”
Todd told legislators at the committee meeting that the state’s universities
may have to look at more selective admissions policies if state funding isn’t
increased.
Western prides itself on its open admissions policies, but can’t continue
to enroll more students without revenue from some source, Taylor said.
“In order to educate students, we’ve got to be able to pay for them,”
she said.
Thomas agreed.
“If they continue to cut, what they are going to be cutting into is access,
so that people won’t be able to get into higher education programs,”
he said. “That goes counter to the intent of the higher education act.”
Most members of the committee seemed inclined to agree with the colleges’
position, but what the General Assembly will do when it convenes in January
is anybody’s guess, Taylor said.
“I think a lot of the committee members were very disgusted that the legislature
did not institute some tax increases last year to pay for things like higher
education,” she said. “I guess we’ll see in a few months what
they do this time.”
In the past, supporters of increased funding have called either for higher
taxes or expanded legalized gambling in the state.
“I hope the legislature takes its responsibility seriously this time and
doesn’t pass a user tax on students and pat itself on the back and say
we didn’t raise taxes,” said Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, D-Louisville,
co-chairwoman of the subcommittee.
Sen. Jack Westwood, R-Crescent Springs, the other co-chairman, said the presidents
made a compelling case for the tuition increases and he was willing to further
study their argument for more state dollars.
However, Westwood said there is little support among Senate Republicans to
increase taxes or legalize additional gambling. He said making government more
efficient could be a better solution.
Westwood said he’d like to explore the idea of funding all education programs,
from pre-school through college, under one spending plan instead of separating
early childhood programs, K-12 education and colleges in the budget.
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