SCC is one of the 20 'Best Places to Work in Kentucky'

ACTC to celebrate technical education week

A dream come true

Hospital trustee

Job training, education fall under Bush's knife

Supporters of student aid applaud Bush plan for Pell Grants but worry about fate of other programs

Colleges' spending on technology will decline again this year, a survey suggests

SCC is one of the 20 'Best Places to Work in Kentucky'

Somerset Community College has been selected as one of the 20 "Best Places to Work in Kentucky” in the large company category. The annual rankings of the top 20 large companies and top 20 small companies will be made on March 23, 2005.

“This is very exciting news,” said Dr. Jo Marshall, President of Somerset Community College. “I’m very happy we were chosen, especially when I saw the names of the other top companies.”

SCC was one of only two colleges selected, and the only public college, among the 40 medium and large company finalists. The other college was Berea College, a private institution. Some of the finalists are very large companies with already established reputations as good places to work. Among the finalists are: United Parcel Service (UPS), Yum Brands, Inc. (owners of Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell and other restaurant chains), and Humana.

“I’m very proud that Somerset Community College is being recognized as one of the best places in Kentucky to work. It’s great to be finalist and to be competing with all these excellent and well-known Kentucky companies,” Marshall said.

The Kentucky Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) state council, in conjunction with the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, announced the winners in the first “Best Places to Work in Kentucky” competition sponsored by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield. The program is a multi-year initiative to motivate companies in the Commonwealth to focus, measure, and move their workplace environments towards excellence.

Winners have been selected in two categories: medium-sized companies of 25 up to 199 employees, and large-sized companies of 200 employees or greater. The selection process, conducted by Best Companies Group, is based on an assessment of the company’s employee policies and procedures and the results of an internal employee survey. The survey feedback that all participating companies receive will enable them to develop plans and implement steps necessary to create a great workplace and continue to improve the performance of their business. The actual rankings will be announced at a gala awards luncheon on March 23, 2005 at the Marriott Griffin Gate Resort in Lexington and published statewide in a special supplement of Business First magazine.

The Kentucky SHRM organization consists of 13 local chapters throughout the state, with a membership of approximately 2,800 human resources and business professionals across all industries. Among the prestigious state and local entities endorsing the Kentucky project are: the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Executives, Kentucky Community and Technical College System, Kentucky Workforce Investment Board, Kentucky World Trade Center, Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, and Commerce Lexington. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is the presenting sponsor of the competition.

Numerous studies show a strong correlation between profitability and creating a good place to work. The Best Places to Work in Kentucky initiative is based on the famous Fortune magazine list announcing the “100 Best Companies to Work for in America.” In this issue, thousands of companies are assessed annually to compete for this honor. In addition to the positive effect the award has on their employee relations and recruitment, the driving force for companies to join in this program is the remarkable effect that workplace improvements can have on their bottom line.

According to SHRM, Kentucky has over 17,000 companies that employ 25 or more associates. While it is no secret that Kentucky is a great place to live, people need to affiliate with great places to demonstrate their talent. The organization said that the goal of Best Places to Work in Kentucky is to raise the bar among the state’s employers and create excellence and employee satisfaction in the workplace that will attract talented people for years to come. SHRM believes this initiative is integral for Kentucky to compete in both national and global arenas.

Further details about the Best Places to Work in Kentucky initiative can be found online at www.bestplacestoworkky.com <http://www.bestplacestoworkky.com>. Other top 20 large companies selections are: Alliance of Community Hospices and Palliative Care Services, Inc.(Louisville); Ambrake Manufacturing, LTD (Elizabethtown); Atmos Energy (Owensboro); Baptist East Hospital (Louisville); Berea College (Berea); Brown-Forman Corporation (Louisville); Central Baptist Hospital (Lexington); Fifth Third Bank (Florence), First Residential Mortgage Network, Inc.(Louisville); Fischer Homes, Inc. (Crestview Hills); Gallatin Steel Company (Ghent); James N. Gray Company (Louisville); Kentucky Lottery Corporation (Louisville), KORT (Louisville); Stites and Harbison PLLC (Louisville); and Valvoline Instant Oil Change (Lexington).

Somerset Community College is a comprehensive two-year institution of higher education. SCC has campuses in Somerset and London and centers in McCreary, Clinton, and Russell Counties. The website is www.somcc.kctcs.edu. Call for admission and registration information toll free at 1-877-629-9722.

KCTCS serves the Commonwealth through 16 community and technical college districts that form a seamless system of 62 campuses open or under construction. KCTCS colleges change lives by providing accessible and affordable education and training through academic and technical associate degrees; diploma and certificate programs in occupational fields; pre-baccalaureate education; adult, continuing and developmental education; customized training for business and industry; and distance learning. For more information, visit www.kctcs.edu <http://www.kctcs.edu>.

ACTC to celebrate technical education week

All of them depend on people who have technical educations.

"Every time you start your car or flip on a light switch, people in career and technical education provided the service," said Vanover, who is division chairman of manufacturing, transportation and industrial technology at Ashland Community and Technical College.

So naturally he's excited about Career and Technical Education Week, which is next week.

ACTC is commemorating the week with, among other things, a flurry of campus tours for area students.

It's important to present the contributions of technical careers to the community because qualified graduates in most areas are in short supply, Vanover said.

Most of the technical programs at ACTC are perennially at full enrollment, yet employers in the region are begging for more, he said. "We can't get enough people graduated to fill the need."

Employers tend to come to ACTC looking for workers before they advertise jobs, and most graduates of technical programs are placed before they get their diplomas, he said.

Also celebrating the week will be student members of SkillsUSA, formerly known as the Vocational Industrial Clubs of America.

SkillsUSA is a national organization of technical students which promotes teamwork and leadership and sponsors competitions where students can show their workmanship.

ACTC's chapter will hold its competition the following week, he said.

School tours of all three ACTC campuses will be from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday. In addition to organized groups, the campuses will accommodate drop-ins as well, said ACTC spokesman John McGlone.

The tours will provide information on any of the educational programs at ACTC, he said.

Tours are valuable for community exposure, said dean of student affairs Willie McCullough. "We like to make the school visible. It's helpful when they can actually come in and see the class and see other students at work," she said.

"We want to create a community awareness of the technical programs that we have here and this is a good way to do it."

MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2652.

Arts Across Kentucky
Spring 2005

A dream come true
The Kentucky School of Craft is dedicated

In southeastern Kentucky, autumn’s brightly colored leaves give way each year and expose us to the rugged and quietly beautiful mountainsides beneath. It is nature’s way of bringing our foundations into focus again. In August 2004, the warm mountain sun ushered in a new day in Hindman, Kentucky and seven years of a community’s careful planning gave way to the opening of a new educational center for the arts in Kentucky- a school that is destined to become a foundation for design, business and contemporary craft education.

The long-awaited start of classes at the Kentucky School of Craft has bound together a group of students from across Kentucky and has kindled a fire for more programming outside the traditional workshop setting. Credit classes in the first two studio programs, Wood and Jewelry/Metals, have produced a desire among many regional artisans to begin course work in one of these two disciplines. Interestingly, and true to national trends, the student population at the Kentucky School of Craft is ripe with second-career students- those who have completed college degrees and are pursuing a life’s passion. Student profiles range from practicing attorneys, to retiring art teachers, to traditional college-age students. However, it is clear in every instance that dedication to learning skillful technique and developing a keen sense of design is paramount in the mind of each student.

Program scheduling at the Kentucky School of Craft has and will continue to cater to the needs of the student body. A learning-centered approach to education where the institution places learning and the learner first is paramount to the school’s success. Eight-week classes which meet from 6:00 p.m.-9:30 p.m. on Friday and 9:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m. on Saturday have been some of the most popular, since it allows career professionals to begin the degree programming at a time that fits their schedule. This and more common day and evening class schedule offers an advantage to young couples who must juggle time between family, job and education. As all successful craftspeople know, studio life is a constant balancing act and the Kentucky School of Craft is keenly aware of that fact.

Beginning May 31 and ending June 29, the Kentucky School of Craft will offer short, four-week, classes in Wood Turning for Furniture and Jewelry Casting and Finishing Processes. Each class will meet from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday. This intense study in each media will give the students a unique opportunity to be totally immersed in the discipline.

This summer, a yearly program for high school students will begin its inaugural season. The North Star Program is designed to provide talented high school students an intensive studio experience the arts. Students will spend two weeks working along side a Master Craftsman in one of two media areas, Jewelry/Metalsmithing or Wood/Furniture Design. Instruction will focus on excellence in design and classic technique. In addition to studio work students will be exposed to marketing strategies and sound business practices. The aim is to build an understanding of how a designer craftsperson works and of career opportunities as a studio designer/craftsman. The North Star is the only star in the night sky that is constant and unwavering. Travelers have long used it as a guide in mapping their journeys. We hope to provide a positive point of reference to young artists as they start their own journeys through life.

For more information on the Kentucky School of Craft and its programming, please contact The Kentucky School of Craft, 63 Education Lane, P.O. Box 1497, Hindman, KY 41822, 1-800-246-7521, ext. 73410 or e-mail tim.glotzbach@kctcs.edu

Hospital trustee

Timothy R. Burcham, vice president of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, has been appointed to the Board of Trustees for Bluegrass Community Hospital in Versailles. Burcham, a Lexington resident, also serves as executive director of the KCTCS Foundation Inc., which is the non-profit fund-raising arm of KCTCS, and serves on the boards of Vision Versailles 2000+ and the Woodford County Chamber of Commerce.

The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle
February 8, 2005

Job training, education fall under Bush's knife
Proposed federal budget has officials worried about local programs

WASHINGTON - Kansas workers in need of help may receive less of it under President Bush's 2006 budget, as job training programs for veterans, young workers and workers laid off because of outsourcing are being targeted for a 5.3 percent cut.

The president's $2.5 trillion spending plan, released Monday, includes a proposal to consolidate nine training programs currently funded at nearly $8 billion and drop spending to roughly $7.5 billion.

The proposed cuts, which still have to be approved by Congress, come as Sedgwick County is trying to increase job training programs to replace an aging work force.

"That could be very debilitating for this area," said Tim Norton, a county commissioner.

"Work force development is going to be critical over the next 5, 10, maybe 20 years."

In one of the most austere presidential budgets in years, Bush is giving nine of the 15 Cabinet-level departments less money in 2006 than they are getting this year.

Forty-eight education programs would be eliminated, including one that teaches students to make good choices regarding drugs and violence, and another that teaches vocational education in high schools.

In all, more than 150 programs governmentwide would be eliminated or cut deeply, including Amtrak subsidies, oil and gas research, and grants to communities hiring police officers.

Bush would slow the growth of benefit programs by $137 billion over the next decade. Chief among the targets would be Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for the poor and disabled, but farm subsidies, student loans and veterans' medical services also are facing cuts.

"It's a budget that focuses on results," Bush said after meeting with his Cabinet. "The taxpayers of America don't want us spending our money into something that's not achieving results."

Bush's blueprint, despite the cuts, still leaves next year's deficit at an estimated $390 billion, omitting any new money next year for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush is expected to propose an $81 billion war package for the rest of 2005 in a few days. Congress has already approved $25 billion for the year.

Ultimately, presidential budgets are simply guidelines. Whether the cuts actually happen will depend on Congress.

Last year, Bush recommended that 65 programs be eliminated for a savings of $4.9 billion; Congress eliminated four, for a total savings of less than $300 million.

The job training cuts, like other program cuts, are intended to substitute efficiency for money, said Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, whose department administers most federal jobs programs.

Chao said that combining job-training budgets would give state officials more flexibility to spend money effectively while cutting bureaucratic costs.

"Governors will know best what is happening within their states, and they will be best positioned to judge how necessary are those resources," Chao said.

The reorganization would immediately combine four programs for youths and displaced adult workers currently run under the Workforce Investment Act. It would also make five other programs part of a "menu" that state officials could either combine with the other four programs or keep separate. Chao predicted that many states would simply combine all nine.

Steve Jack, who manages work force training at the Kansas Department of Commerce, said it's difficult to tell at this point what level ofcuts Kansasmight experience because federal formulas for distributing funds to different parts of the state won't be determined until March.

Much of the state's training needs will depend on the economy itself.

"If we have fewer plant closings, we can shift money to adult education" and meet needs with greater flexibility, he said. "If the need gets worse, then state and local economies are going to feel a strain on resources.

"There's only so much you can do with the hand you're dealt."

Nearly 14,000 people in the Wichita metropolitan area are unemployed. Late last month alone, about 500 people from Sedgwick and five surrounding counties were enrolled in job training at Wichita Area Technical College, local community colleges and other schools.

While Bush is proposing cuts to job training programs, he wants to more than double community college job training programs to $250 million. But $124 million of that would come from cuts to other training programs for unemployed workers.

Camille Kluge, president of Wichita Area Technical College, said the cuts would be harmful to students looking for financial aid for shorter programs the technical college offers, such as a six-week training program to help a student find a job.

Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas said the budget reflects the "challenges" the government faces to reduce debt.

"The president has some suggestions in his budget on how to address the deficit while appropriately focusing on defense, homeland security and economic growth," Roberts said, adding that "Congress ultimately must decide how to spend taxpayer dollars."

The Chronicle of Higher Education
February 9, 2005

Supporters of student aid applaud Bush plan for Pell Grants but worry about fate of other programs

Two Republican members of Congress welcomed on Tuesday the increase in Pell Grant awards that President Bush proposed in his budget for the 2006 fiscal year but also called for additional spending on the student-aid program.

In his budget proposal, released on Monday, the president asked Congress to raise the maximum Pell Grant by $500 over the next five years, to $4,550, which would mark the first increase in three years. Over all, the budget seeks $18-billion to finance Pell Grants, a 45-percent jump over the current fiscal year. That amount includes $4.3-billion to close the program's budget shortfall (The Chronicle, February 8).

"The only thing that got a massive increase in the entire budget ... was Pell Grants," Rep. Ric Keller, a Florida Republican, said on Tuesday. "It is the No. 1 winner in the entire budget of the United States. So there is reason for optimism today."

Mr. Keller, speaking at a meeting of the Student Aid Alliance, also pledged to support a $200 increase in the maximum Pell Grant authorized under the Higher Education Act, to $6,000. That figure is largely symbolic, however, because the actual maximum award is typically set at a lower level in Congressional appropriations bills.

The maximum authorized award has been $5,800 since 1998, the last time Congress renewed, or reauthorized, the Higher Education Act, the law that governs most federal student-aid programs. The law is up for renewal this year, but the reauthorization bill that was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives last week does not call for raising the maximum Pell Grant ceiling (The Chronicle, February 3).

Sen. Susan M. Collins, who was also at the meeting of the Student Aid Alliance, a coalition of college and student groups, said that she would continue work on a bill to increase the Pell Grant by $450 this year and to set the authorized level at $9,000.

"I know that is a very ambitious goal, but it is one that we should set," said Senator Collins, a Maine Republican. Pell Grants, she said, would be her highest priority in this session of Congress.

College lobbyists said they were pleased that the president had singled out Pell Grants in the 2006 budget, but they expressed concern that the proposed increases would come at the cost of several other aid programs, including the Perkins Loan program.

Under Mr. Bush's plan, support also would be eliminated for the Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnerships program, which matches every dollar a state spends on need-based aid; Upward Bound and Talent Search, which are both TRIO programs for disadvantaged students; and Gear Up, which mainly helps middle-school students prepare for college. Meanwhile, the president proposed slashing financial support for vocational education.

"This really is an effort to take money from the left pocket and put in the right," said David L. Warren, head of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. "I think our task ahead is to say, 'Mr. President, thank you for recognizing the centrality of the Pell Grant. It cannot be at the expense of these other programs.'"

The Chronicle of Higher Education
February 9, 2005

Colleges' spending on technology will decline again this year, a survey suggests

In the latest confirmation that campus information-technology budgets are tight, a new report estimates that IT spending by American colleges will slump by 4 percent in the current academic year, compared with 2003-4 -- the second consecutive year of declines in spending.

Information-technology spending by all U.S. higher-education institutions is estimated at $5.15-billion this year, down from a total of $5.36-billion last year, according to the report. The projected decline probably is a result of austere budgets at colleges, but also may reflect improvements in the capabilities of computer hardware that have enabled colleges to scale back some expenditures, the report said.

The figures come from an annual survey conducted by Market Data Retrieval, a Connecticut-based market-research company owned by Dun & Bradstreet. The survey drew responses from officials at 1,427 accredited two- and four-year colleges and universities.

The report estimates that colleges will spend a total of $2.4-billion on hardware, $1.3-billion on software, $1.2-billion on outside services such as service contracts, and $242-million on technology training.

Although academe's total spending on information technology is declining, spending by private institutions is expected to rise, by 28 percent. The overall decline in spending reflects the fact that information-technology budgets at public institutions have dropped 13 percent from last year to this, says the report.

Institutions with enrollments over 25,000 reported an average budget of $6.1-million, while institutions with enrollments under 2,500 averaged $465,000. The report also concluded that private institutions spend an average of $553 per student on information technology, compared with spending of $203 per student by public institutions.

In other findings, the report said that Dell is the computer vendor for 59 percent of the colleges that designate a single preferred vendor. Gateway, in second place, had 15 percent of the market. Apple placed fifth, with 2 percent.

Also, 64 percent of the institutions said that they offer distance-education programs, down from 67 percent last year. The report said the slight decline is consistent with the findings of a study by Robert Zemsky, an education professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and William F. Massy, professor emeritus of education and business administration at Stanford University. Their report, released in June, is titled "Thwarted Innovation: What Happened to E-Learning and Why" (The Chronicle, July 2, 2004).

And 79 percent of the colleges surveyed for the Market Data Retrieval study reported having wireless networks, up from 70 percent last year and 45 percent in 2002.

That finding is consistent with the results of a report on campus networking that was issued Tuesday by the Educause information-technology consortium. "We have reached the point where more classroom seats are connected wirelessly than with wires," the Educause report says. (A summary of the report's findings is available free online; it can be viewed using Adobe Reader, also available free.)

Richard N. Katz, vice president of Educause, said in an e-mail message that Market Data Retrieval's findings "are somewhat more gloomy" than the findings of a recent Educause study on campus IT budgets. But he said that the two reports are consistent in finding widespread cuts in college IT budgets and in showing that the cuts are more common among public institutions than private institutions. The 2004 Campus Computing Survey, released in October by the Campus Computing Project, found that 24 percent of institutions made cuts in academic-computing budgets in 2004. That compares with 41 percent of colleges in 2003 and 33 percent in 2002 (The Chronicle, October 29, 2004).

The Market Data Retrieval survey, which was sent to 5,400 institutions in October, had a response rate of 26 percent.

Copies of the report, "The College Technology Review, 2004-2005 Academic Year," cost $49 each and can be ordered by sending an e-mail message to Market Data Retrieval at mdrinfo@dnb.com, or by calling (800) 333-8802.