College building awaits funding

Area farmers get technical

Western expanding campus in Owensboro

Jefferson Community and Technical colleges' enrollment climbs for fourth straight year

JCC, JTC enrollment is a record 13,850

Program gets money for adult education goals

College building awaits funding
$500K is needed to open structure

The fate of the first building on the new campus of Gateway Community and Technical College is up to the state legislature, according to college officials.

The $4.5 million structure in southern Boone County is scheduled to be completed next summer, but may not open, or may only partially open, unless the legislature approves $500,000 in annual operating funds, says Gateway President Edward Hughes.

"There is a glimmer of hope, and we're cautiously optimistic," said Hughes.

"After the (Nov. 2) election, we're hearing more positive comments from our (Northern Kentucky) legislative delegation that they're going to Frankfort to get a state budget passed and get enough money to open that building."

State Rep. Jon Draud, R-Crestview Hills, said that's the hope of legislators. But he's making no promises about the legislative session that begins early next year.

"Certainly, from the Northern Kentucky delegation, it will be a very high priority to make sure we get the new Gateway building open," said Draud.

Funding remains a concern.

"My prediction is, 'Surely, we can find the money to open the building,' but you never know."

Rick Jordan, chairman of Gateway's board of directors, is confident that local legislators can persuade lawmakers from the rest of the state to get behind the Gateway project.

"I believe that if our legislators go as a group to Frankfort to push for this, we can get it," he said. "Over the past three or four years I've seen our legislative caucus work close together.

"I think Gateway is such a high priority in our community that legislators will put it at the same priority. It certainly would be an embarrassment to Northern Kentucky if that brand new building sits there empty."

While the legislature approved the money to construct the building four years ago, it has yet to approve money to operate it.

Hughes said officials of Gateway's parent organization, the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS), have told him that they have earmarked between $100,000 and $200,000 for the building's operation if the state legislature sends enough money to KCTCS.

Jordan is hoping legislators will push for the full $500,000.

Draud said the first step is for legislators to pass a state budget, which they haven't done the past two budget sessions. The state has been without a budget all this year.

"We've got to get a budget first and if we do, I think there will be funds put in the budget to help open the Gateway building," he said. "Certainly it would be a great injustice if there were not.

"We're the most under-funded area of the state. Hopefully, reasonable people will understand that and Gateway will receive fair treatment from the General Assembly."

Hughes said while he's hoping for the best from legislators, he's grown weary over the lack of progress in recent years.

Area farmers get technical

COALTON Fifteen area farmers can take more than just computer classes here next month.

They can take the computers themselves, thanks to an Ashland Community and Technical College partnership with the Commodity Growers Cooperative Association.

"A grant we have received will pay for the class and also for the computers, which they get to learn on and then take home," said John McGlone, ACTC spokesman who'll teach the "computers for farmers" class.

The college is actively seeking participants now, on a first-come first-served basis. About a half-dozen have signed up already, McGlone said.

Funding will allow 15 farmers to attend four three-hour night classes in January and another 15 to attend four February classes.

The course is designed for beginning computer users, and covers everything from the basics to e-mail, Internet, word processing and spreadsheet software, McGlone said.

"Computers are a tool just like a tractor or a mowing machine or anything else you use on the farm," he said. "They can really help make a farmer more efficient."

Farmers can use computers to check Web pages, such as the detailed ag weather pages the University of Kentucky produces or commodity and livestock price pages, McGlone said.

Farmers could access the Kentucky Department of Agriculture online to create their own marketing page on the Internet.

Also, computers are invaluable when it comes to finances and budgets, even for the small farmer, said McGlone, who farms cattle himself.

"As an example, I have a simple spreadsheet that lists every purchase and sale and mileage for each trip," he said. "At the end of the year, I total all the columns and everything I need for my taxes is done."

That's a lesson, McGlone added, he plans to share with students next month.

Classes, which are free, will be taught at ACTC's Technology Drive Campus at the EastPark Industrial Park just off the Industrial Parkway.

To sign up, call (606) 326-2406 or (606) 326-2072.

The just over $13,000 grant has created a great opportunity for farmers, not only to improve their computer skills but receive a computer as part of the bargain, said Bill Meyers, director of workforce development at the EastPark campus.

The college has applied, and has high hopes for more farmers computer classes next year, Meyers added.

"We think they're plenty of farmers who would enjoy coming," he said.

Lyndall Harned, Boyd County's agricultural extension agent, agreed, saying he's heard farmers talk a lot about computerized record-keeping, for one.

"As soon as I saw the (class) announcement come across my e-mail, I fired up a letter and sent it out to our farmers," he said.

Western expanding campus in Owensboro

Students attending Western's extended campus in Owensboro will soon share a learning environment with a local community college.

The extended campus is in the process of moving operations to the Owensboro Community and Technical College campus.

Several Western students have already begun taking classes in the community college's buildings.

The programming will not change for the extended campus because of the relocation.

"It's definitely a win-win situation for students," said Marilyn Brookman, executive director of the Owensboro Extended Campus.

Students can get a two-year degree from the OCTC and then transfer into the university's system.

"It will be so much easier for students to come to Western and work on a baccalaureate degree," she said.

The merging of the two campuses was a state vision, she said.

Brookman said administrators hope the collaboration will result in economic development for that region of the state.

President Gary Ransdell said the partnership developed from long-standing communication between community leaders and educators in Owensboro.

The extended campus had been operating in an Owensboro high school and the Longfellow building in Owensboro before moving to the community college.

The Longfellow building was old and unsuitable for computer and other technological equipment, Ransdell said.

The university spent $150,000 during the summer to build two mobile units for extended campus students on the OCTC campus, he said.

A $400,000 state grant allocated by the Council on Post-secondary Education is being used to renovate space at a library building at the OCTC.

The university's lease at the Longfellow building would end in January, allowing all the programs to move to the OCTC, Ransdell said.

The extended campus has 690 students and 4,875 students are enrolled at the OCTC, Brookman said.

The community college operates in three locations, and extended campus students in Owensboro take classes at each one, said Bernie Hale, OCTC public relations director.

"We're running out of space," she said.

The university is waiting to move into a wing of the new Advanced Technology Center being built at the main location of the community college.

The $24 million facility would be 90,000 square feet, Hale said. Only the design of the building is finished.

The state's failure to pass a budget delayed funding needed to begin construction, she said.

"We're ready to roll as soon as the funding comes through," she said.

The new center will primarily serve community college students working on manufacturing degrees.

Administrators decided to move operations early regardless of whether or not the center was built.

"We really didn't think it was serving the community best to wait," Hale said.

Jefferson Community and Technical colleges' enrollment climbs for fourth straight year

The colleges have reported enrollment jointly since forming the Jefferson Community and Technical College District under the Kentucky Community and Technical College System in 2000. By July 2005, the colleges expect to be fully consolidated as one institution. Jefferson is the largest KCTCS college and district.

Courier-Journal
December 3, 2004

JCC, JTC enrollment is a record 13,850

Enrollment at Jefferson Community College and Jefferson Technical College grew for the fourth consecutive year to its highest point ever, college officials reported yesterday.

A final student count last month showed there were 13,850 students, an 11 percent rise from 2001.

Increases over last year included first-time freshmen and full- and part-time students.

Officials attribute that partly to rising tuition at Kentucky's universities and colleges.

At $92 a credit hour, community colleges offer the lowest tuition in the state.

Also, enrollment at the two-year-old Shelby County campus, which reported 467 students, was greater than expected, officials said.

Bowling Green Daily News
November 28, 2004

Program gets money for adult education goals

Warren County’s adult education program has earned $23,648 in performance incentive funding from the Kentucky Adult Education and the Council on Postsecondary Education.

Housed at Bowling Green Technical College, the local program received the money for meeting 2004 enrollment and performance goals.

“We are very proud of what we have accomplished with regard to the partnership of our dedicated teachers and staff and the hard work and dedication of the students,” said Omar Rogers, director of the Bowling Green Technical College’s adult education program. “In addition to the GED preparation, family literacy and English as a second language programs we provide at the college, we have many remote locations where our services are offered.”

The adult education program also offers its students the chance to build academic or work force skills. Warren County’s program enrolled 2,237 students this year.

Statewide, a record high 120,051 Kentuckians enrolled in adult education.