KCTCS president named 'Kentuckian of the Year'

Congressman Ben Chandler visits KCTCS

Class offers diners a chance to polish up on etiquette

Taking Aim at Diploma Mills, Education Department Creates Online List of Accredited Colleges

The Woodford Sun
January 27, 2005

KCTCS president named 'Kentuckian of the Year'

Dr. Michael B. McCall, president of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS), was named Kentucky Monthly's "Kentuckian of the Year" in the magazine's January edition.

Kentucky Monthly editor Michael Embry wrote that as the founding president of KCTCS, McCall "has taken the system to new and greater heights." He noted that KCTCS has grown and thrived under McCall's leadership.

McCall told the cover story's reporter, Mike Longinow, that he was honored by his selection "for this most prestigious recognition.

"The success of KCTCS is because of the talents and contributions of many other Kentuckians. Because of their support these last six years have been the most rewarding of my professional career."

Last November, KCTCS celebrated another milestone in its formation by hosting a dedication ceremony at its new headquarters in the renovated building formerly occupied by Texas Instruments at 300 North Main Street in Versailles.

McCall told The Sun in November that KCTCS has made "tremendous strides" toward its vision of becoming the nation's best community and technical college system.

"We feel that we are very close, if not there right now," he said. "We've far exceeded the expectations of Kentuckians, members of the General Assembly; business and industry have applauded us."

Past winners of Kentucky Monthly's "Kentuckian of the Year" were Missy Jenkins (2000), a survivor in the 1997 shootings at Paducah's Heath high School, Drs. Laman grey and Robert Dowling (2001), pioneers of the AbioCor artificial heart, and Kentucky's Military (2003) for answering the call to duty in the ongoing war against terror.

The Woodford Sun
January 27, 2005

Congressman Ben Chandler visits KCTCS

Congressman Ben Chandler made his first visit to the System Office of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) in Versailles, Ky., on January 13.

"I can't tell you how proud I am to have the headquarters of Kentucky's largest provider of postsecondary education right here in my hometown of Versailles," said Congressman Chandler. "Nothing is more important to the success of this region than making sure we provide top-quality educational opportunities for all Kentucky residents. My grandfather helped build Kentucky's first community college many years ago and I am honored to continue in that tradition of promoting educational excellence throughout the Bluegrass."

A native of Versailles, Chandler was a strong supporter of the efforts that located the new permanent home of KCTCS. During his visit, Chandler met with KCTCS President Michael B. McCall and toured the newly renovated facility.

"With Congressman Chandler's support, we were able to fulfill our goal of establishing a permanent home here in Versailles," said McCall. "We are thrilled to be able to show him the results of his support."

The Daily Independent
January 31, 2005

Class offers diners a chance to polish up on etiquette

An Ashland Community and Technical College-hosted course will provide an opportunity for area professionals to polish their dining etiquette in both business and social arenas.

The dining savvy course will be offered in conjunction with ACTC's Lifelong Learning classes throughout the spring. The class is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 7, from 6 to 9 p.m., and will be at ACTC's College Drive Campus.

"Things are changing so much out there in the business world and it's important that people are able to learn about dining etiquette," said ACTC Director of Lifelong Learning Becky Gehringer. "We will give people locally an opportunity to see what is expected globally in terms of manners."

Some of the areas discussed during the three-hour course will include how to eat various foods, toasting, tipping, a person's duties as a host and as a guest and proper posture, according to Gehringer.

The etiquette course will be taught by Ashland resident Mary Crowley, a graduate of the Protocol School of Washington and a certified etiquette consultant.

"The Protocol School is one of the top leaders in the nation in business etiquette, and it helped that she is from this area," Gehringer said. "The business climate isn't what it was 20 years ago and Mary will provide participants of the class with a few power tools they can take into the business world with them."

Crowley said she has taught dining etiquette courses to children in the past and they have all been very successful.

"We already have some college students signed up for the class and I would expect some people to be signing up at the last minute," said Gehringer. "We would ideally like to have 10 or 12 people attending the class."

If the class is successful and well attended, the course could be offered twice a year in the future, Crowley said.

The cost of the class if $25, which also includes a meal.

The Chronicle of Higher Education
February 2, 2005

Taking Aim at Diploma Mills, Education Department Creates Online List of Accredited Colleges

The Department of Education unveiled a Web site on Tuesday that federal officials hope will be a reliable tool for helping students avoid online diploma mills. The site provides a searchable list of institutions accredited by federally approved organizations.

Members of Congress asked the department to create the list last year, after they found out that some federal employees were trying to pass off certifications from suspected diploma mills as legitimate degrees. The lawmakers say the list is a "first step" in a more aggressive fight against fraudulent institutions -- a fight that they say could include legislation to outlaw the way some diploma mills operate.

The list is made up of about 6,900 institutions that take part in the federal student-aid programs, which require participating colleges to be accredited by an agency recognized by the Education Department. Just because an institution is not on the list, though, does not mean that it is a diploma mill.

Sally Stroup, the Education Department's chief policy maker for higher education, said at a news conference on Tuesday that some legitimate institutions, such as foreign universities and some religious colleges, do not participate in the federal financial-aid program. If a college is not listed, she said, students should investigate the institution further before sending a tuition check.

The Web site allows users to search by a variety of criteria, including college name, accrediting agency, state, and type of institution. The list was compiled using the information institutions provide when reporting data required for participation in the federal aid programs. "We had it at our fingertips, but we weren't using it the way we should," Ms. Stroup said of the data.

Eventually the list will be updated, Ms. Stroup said, to include institutions that were accredited but for one reason or another lost accreditation. That way, if someone graduated from an institution while it was accredited, the person would still be able to put that information on a résumé without drawing suspicion.

Ms. Stroup said she did not know how long it would take to add such historical data. It may be difficult to compile the information, she said, as some institutions gain and lose accreditation numerous times.

Members of Congress attended the news conference to pledge further action against diploma mills. Rep. Michael N. Castle, a Delaware Republican, said Congress would be looking to change federal laws to close "loopholes" that allow diploma mills to exist, although he did not provide specifics. Speaking at the news conference with Ms. Stroup, he said it would not be easy to draw hard and fast lines because the differences between legitimate and fraudulent institutions are in some cases minute.

"It's not quite as black and white as we would like it," said Mr. Castle, who is chairman of an education-reform subcommittee of the House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce. "There's no easy fix to this."

Rep. Howard P. (Buck) McKeon, a California Republican and chairman of the education committee, said diploma mills prey on uninformed consumers who are looking for the easiest way to get an undergraduate or graduate degree. Some of the diploma mills advertise that students can receive their degrees in two weeks.

"I wonder, if you can get a degree in two weeks and you work hard for four years, who really is the smart one?" joked Mr. McKeon. "It's tempting, you know. I don't have a Ph.D."

Also on Tuesday, the Office of Personnel Management and the Federal Trade Commission issued guidelines clarifying federal policy on unaccredited degrees and offering tips on spotting suspicious institutions. The trade commission's report, "Avoid Fake-Degree Burns by Researching Academic Credentials," is available on its Web site.

And Ms. Stroup recommended that people visit the Web site of the Oregon Student Assistance Commission Office of Degree Authorization, which has compiled a list of about 200 suspected diploma mills. Oregon outlaws the use of degrees from institutions that are not accredited or recognized by the state as legitimate.

But officials at some institutions that are listed on Oregon's Web site say they are unfairly characterized as possible diploma mills. One institution, Kennedy-Western University, even filed a lawsuit against the State of Oregon on First Amendment grounds (The Chronicle, August 10, 2004). The lawsuit was settled in December. No money was exchanged, but Kennedy-Western students are no longer barred from including their degrees on their résumés in Oregon. And Kennedy-Western has agreed to inform students that the institution's degrees are not recognized in that state.

Mr. Castle said at the news conference that many distance-education institutions are perfectly legitimate, but that it is not always obvious which ones are and which ones are not. Part of the problem is that the growth of the Internet has made it easier for fraudulent organizations to set up shop online and easier to avoid accountability. "All of this has been a heck of a lot simpler with the use of the Internet," Mr. Castle said.

But he added: "The tracking of them and the prosecution of them is a heck of a lot harder."