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Community College Times
October 28, 2003
Kentucky system kicks off major fund-raising campaign
Seeking to better serve employers and communities and to change the lives of
students, the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) on Oct.
20 officially kicked off a multimillion-dollar private fund-raising campaign.
The campaign, called "Fulfilling the Promise," aims to expand access
to postsecondary education and workforce training across the state by funding
strategically targeted initiatives that address the community and economic development
needs of Kentucky.
The major-gifts campaign, which is expected to last approximately five years,
will be conducted along 17 tracks - one at the System level, and one in each
KCTCS district.
When it is finished, the "Fulfilling the Promise Campaign" is expected
to rank as the largest private fund-raising effort ever undertaken by a system
of two-year colleges in the nation. The largest such campaign to date - totaling
$43 million - was conducted by the Kentucky community college system in the
mid-1990s.
The General Assembly merged the community colleges with Kentucky's technical
institutions in 1997 to form KCTCS.
KCTCS President Michael B. McCall and KCTCS Foundation Chairman Thomas O. Zawacki
announced the campaign during an event hosted at the System Office in Lexington
and telecast via interactive TV to the statewide system of community and technical
colleges.
"For the motto 'Education Pays' to be true for every citizen, business
and industry must thrive in the globally competitive, information-based economy
of the 21st century. As a state-assisted institution, KCTCS must supplement
its public funds with support from the private sector to fully meet the demands
of students and our business, industry and community partners," McCall
said.
During the Fulfilling the Promise Campaign, KCTCS and its colleges will solicit
major gifts from individuals, companies, foundations and other sources to invest
in specific projects such as scholarship endowments, program support, state-of-the-art
equipment and technology, faculty-staff development, and new facilities. The
fund-raising goal will be announced at a later date.
During the campaign kickoff, McCall announced the first two major gifts received
by the System-level campaign: $500,000 from Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky,
to launch the KCTCS Center of Excellence in Automotive Manufacturing; and $320,000
from the Kentucky Colonels to establish a scholarship program that will benefit
single, working parents who need assistance to afford a college education.
Herald-Leader
November 3, 2003
Financial-aid gap is growing
More students being helped; more turned down too
More Kentuckians are getting financial help to go to college, but at the same
time, even more are being denied aid.
That very mixed message is found in a report to be released to lawmakers today.
A scholarship program based on merit appears to be helping more students go
to college.
But then there's the bad news: About 61,000 students who applied for basic
financial aid from the state were turned down last year.
The conclusion: Burgeoning enrollment and rising tuitions are making it harder
for Kentucky students to get the financial help they need. Since 1997, college
enrollment has gone up 23 percent, and college costs have risen more than 21
percent.
And it's only going to get worse, leaving lawmakers in a cash-strapped state
with some very tough decisions.
"Only 50 percent of our kids go to college compared to 70 percent nationwide,"
said Joe McCormick, director of the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority.
"We are sucking canal water when it comes to kids going to college, but
the increasing cost of education means we have to put some serious money on
the table if we intend to move off that attendance rate."
The findings on the Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship, established
in 1998 to help the highest-scoring students go to college, and findings on
need-based aid are documented in a report by the Legislative Research Commission,
to be released to the Interim Education Committee today.
KEES, as the merit program is known, was created with money from the Kentucky
Lottery to give students scholarships of as much as $2,500 a year, based on
grades and ACT scores.
The report also looks at the state's financial aid for needy students. The
lottery money is divided equally for each program; by 2005, that split will
be 45 percent for KEES and 55 percent for need-based aid.
Among other findings in the report:
• Last year, more than $58 million in KEES money was given to more than
56,000 students. Also last year, about $51 million in need-based aid went to
about 45,000 students going to public and private universities.
• Although the bulk of KEES money goes to students from low- and middle-income
families, wealthier students with better grades and ACT scores get larger average
awards.
In 2001-2002, students whose family income was $15,000 to $19,999 received
an average award of $780. Those from families with income between $105,000 and
$109,999 got an average of $1,216, or 56 percent more.
• Researchers say that although there is not widespread evidence of grade
inflation, schools use a wide variation of scales to determine grades. For example,
among 182 schools, there were 61 different scales for setting A, B, C, D and
F. Because KEES awards are based on letter grades, not numeric grades, students
with the same numeric scores can receive very different amounts of money.
• In surveys, teachers and counselors said KEES awards had encouraged
more students to go to college. Most respondents said they thought "very
few" teachers had felt pressured to adjust grading standards so students
could qualify for larger KEES awards.
More need than money
During the upcoming legislative session, lawmakers will have to decide whether
to make changes to KEES, such as basing awards on numeric grades instead of
letters, or lowering awards because of decreased funds.
However, the biggest decision for them will be how to continue paying not just
for KEES, but for the rest of Kentucky's financial-aid programs.
The cost of providing KEES scholarships alone is expected to exceed lottery
revenues by $3.3 million in 2005-2006, while the unmet need for income-based
financial aid is about $70 million.
Because need-based grants are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis,
students who wait too long to turn in their forms may find there's no money
left.
"They should find the money other places, like a tobacco tax," said
Paul Housholder, a University of Kentucky senior. He benefited from KEES money,
but will leave college with some loans. "I think the consensus is that
you should go to college, but it's hard to pay for and you get in a lot of debt,"-Housholder
said.
According to the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority, graduates
of four-year public universities owe an average of $13,500 in student loans.
State's combination unusual
Higher-education advocates are unwilling to say that one form of aid is more
important than the other. But for a budget-strapped state, it will be hard to
fully finance both merit and need-based aid.
"Kentucky has a really good balance between the two. There are a number
of students with need who also receive merit money," said Gary Cox, president
of the Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities.
Students can stack KEES money on top of other aid, which gives them "maximum
flexibility," Cox said. "It does encourage them to work hard, but
continues to help students with financial need."
That combination of merit and need-based aid is unique among the 23 states
with merit scholarships, said McCormick of the Higher Education Assistance Authority.
"We have to make a convincing case to the legislature to appropriate General
Fund revenue to both kinds of scholarships," he said. "Poor kids don't
have a lobbyist, and poor kids need financial aid to go to college."
The KEES statute allows the Council on Postsecondary Education to adjust KEES
awards according to the amount of money available.
State Sen. Vernie McGaha, R-Russell Springs, thinks students and their parents
need to understand that current awards could be changed, so it won't be such
a shock if lawmakers do have to reduce them. Right now, high school students
can look at the amount of money given per letter grade, and calculate how much
KEES money they will receive.
"They need to be told up front that the target is a moving one,"
he said. "Need-based money has been very, very important, and we need to
sustain that."
But Sen. Tim Shaughnessy, a Louisville Democrat, said he will oppose any attempts
to lower KEES.
"We need more money for KEES and need-based aid, and the reality is we
need a new revenue source because I'm not in favor of cutting back."
Shaughnessy said if expanded gambling becomes a reality, the lottery proceeds
should be augmented by revenue from such gambling.
But with a new governor looking at a huge budget shortfall, financial aid across
Kentucky could face big problems.
Cutting back on either fund would come as a rude shock to students, said Shelly
Park, director of financial aid for Eastern Kentucky University.
Last year, EKU received $2.8 million in KEES money for 4,800 students. The
school's students are very dependent on need-based aid as well. Park knows several
students who didn't receive any need-based aid, leaving them even more dependent
on KEES.
"There would be a lot of disappointed students and disappointed parents
if they lowered the amounts," Park said.
The Messenger
October 30, 2003
Tech center tops chamber's wish list
"It's our turn!"
Those words are not just a slogan on a sticker to a group of local leaders
in business, education, government and transportation.
Hoping to capitalize on the west Kentucky attention and fervor shown in the
campaign for governor, a 10-point most-wanted list of Hopkins County projects
has been formulated to get the attention of state officials come budget time.
The list, approved by the Madisonville-Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce board
of directors, has been forwarded to local legislators and both gubernatorial
candidates. A similar document was approved about two years ago prior to a session
of the General Assembly, with budget constraints precluding funding of a single
project, according to chamber Director Lisa Miller.
"We got several complimentary statements in Frankfort about the priorities
we identified then," she said. "It seemed only right to draft a plan
before the session coming up Jan. 5."
Topping the wish inventory is the construction of an advanced technology/energy
center at the north campus of Madisonville Community College, followed by funding
for the U.S. 41A widening project near Industrial Drive and location of a Murray
State University building in Madisonville.
"It is Hopkins County's turn," Miller said. "We have seen these
types of projects in other communities really bolster their economy and improve
lives there. It's more than past time Hopkins County received attention."
The funding wish list was created through a meeting involving representatives
of MCC, the Kentucky Department of Highways, Hopkins County Schools, economic
development officials, and elected officials of cities and county government.
Other projects on the list are extending the widening of Kentucky 70/85 to
Madisonville Municipal Airport at Anton; increased funding for public schools
in the state and work force programs such as "School to Work"; a Madisonville
Municipal Utilities waterline project on Bean Cemetery Road; addition of sidewalks
on South Main Street in Madisonville from Mooreland Avenue to Buckner Ridge
Lane; the location of the west Kentucky Office of the Governor in Madisonville;
and development of the Dawson Springs Tradewater Complex.
Placing the replacement of the Energy & Advance Technology Center at MCC
on the list - the current building was built in 1963 - seems to have been a
smart move.
Both gubernatorial candidates, Democrat Attorney General Ben Chandler and Republican
U.S. Rep. Ernie Fletcher, addressed the proposal this week.
In a phone interview from Louisville Monday, Chandler said his administration
would be "absolutely committed" to seeing such a facility constructed.
"Education and job skills are critical to assuring our trained in the
latest technology," he said. "With the job situation the way it is
in west Kentucky - and all over the state - it's up to us to meet the needs
of the state."
Fletcher's comments on the center came Tuesday at a chamber Hot Topic Luncheon
speaking appearance. He said a replacement energy/technology center would fit
right alongside his goal of promoting clean coal technology, coal bed methane
energy initiatives and drawing more auto manufacturing to Kentucky.
"Without technology centers equipped with the best training resources,
the people of Kentucky are going to be left behind," Fletcher said. "By
having the education resources close at hand, industry responds favorably and
people get into well-paying, skilled jobs."
The U.S. 41A project - already an unfunded component of the Transportation
Cabinet's Six-Year Road Plan - and the Kentucky 70/85 project are both supported
strongly by state Rep. Eddie Ballard and Sen. Jerry Rhoads, both of Madisonville.
The legislators issued a statement of support for the desire to extend the
widening of Kentucky 70/85 to the airport over a month ago, highlighting ongoing
work at the facility with runway and safety area improvements. The state lawmakers
stressed the economic importance of the improvements and how a new highway to
the airport would enhance the community's appeal to outside interests.
The widening of U.S. 41A is planned to go to the entrance of the Madisonville
Industrial Park at Industrial Drive, just past General Electric.
MSU President Dr. F. King Alexander, speaking to the Madisonville Rotary Club
Wednesday, said he fully-supported locating a university building here. He acknowledged
much rides on available state revenue.
"I think this certainly could be a viable project for us to do,"
Alexander said. "We can't do it alone. We need Madisonville to do it and
we'll be right there beside you."
The Murray State president said Madisonville ranked second among off-campus
site enrollment last year, trailing Paducah's site. Local enrollment for MSU
classes is expected to match Hopkinsville's total this year. Christian County
has a free-standing MSU academic center and a donated building in Henderson
now serves the university's needs there.
The Messenger
October 30, 2003
MSU chief supports efforts at MCC campus
The people of Hopkins County will have a lot of influence when it comes to
the chances of Murray State University opening a Madisonville campus, university
President Dr. King Alexander said Wednesday.
"We certainly know it's on your agenda, and we appreciate very much that
it's third on the agenda here," Alexander told the Madisonville Rotary
Club, referring to the Top 10 priority list for the General Assembly developed
by local leaders. "It is certainly in our plans."
The project depends on new state revenues, he said.
Madisonville is one of MSU's four satellite sites - and the only site without
its own building. The other three locations are Paducah, Henderson and Hopkinsville.
"The chances have a lot to do with you," Alexander said. "The
people of Hopkinsville lobbied hard ... and worked hard to get that building."
In Henderson, the university uses a former public school building in the downtown
area.
The local program operates out of an office suite in the John Gray Building
on Madisonville Community College's north campus. It currently uses classrooms
at MCC and in the public schools.
Alexander praised MSU's collaboration with MCC through its 2+2 programs. These
allow students to earn an associate's degree at MCC, then continue taking classes
locally towards a bachelor's degree in education and other fields from Murray
State.
This relationship "serves as a model for the rest of the state,"
he said.
"Last year, the number of students here unexpectedly doubled," he
said. "The need is so great. The demand is so great."
During Alexander's visit, he also stopped by Hanson Elementary School to observe
teachers who graduated from the 2+2 program, met with MCC officials and instructors,
and attended a meeting on starting a local MSU alumni chapter.
During the talk to Rotary, Alexander said there is debate across Kentucky and
around the world about economic opportunity, and emphasized this is directly
tied to education.
"You don't hear a lot of discussion about this," he said. "That's
because the baby boomer generation is aging rather rapidly."
Political discussions, instead, have focused on issues such as Medicare and
prescription drug coverage for senior citizens, he said.
"We must invest in our children," Alexander said. "As Kentucky
has aged even more rapidly than other states, the premium we put on our boys
and girls is even more important."
More than $100,000 has been invested in each child by the time they reach high
school graduation, he said. That makes it even more crucial to encourage them
to stay in this area after college.
"You need to keep these heavy investments you have made so the social
and economic investments you have made don't go to other places," he said.
"We want them here. We need them here.
"This is indeed a challenge we must all first recognize and must tackle
by ensuring our educational opportunities are expanding, not contracting,"
he said. "That our teachers are good, that our schools are good. ... That
is our obligation. The foundation of all economic growth is that education does
pay."
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