The Herald-Dispatch
March 9, 2005
Ky. budget marks $39M for projects in Boyd Co.
State legislators’ plans have yet to be signed by Gov. Fletcher
CATLETTSBURG, Ky. -- Boyd County is in line for about $39 million in state
funds after July 1 for a new, $19 million judicial building in Catlettsburg,
$18 million for a new Ashland Community and Technical College building at East
Park and $1.8 million for sewer improvements.
The money is part of the state budget passed Tuesday by the Kentucky General
Assembly. The budget still has to be signed by Gov. Ernie Fletcher.
"It will mean a lot to the kids around here," Kevin Heaberlin, a
student at Ashland Community and Technical College’s campus at East Park,
said of the proposed new college building. "I think it will be fantastic.
It will bring more jobs to the area and better training."
Heaberlin, a Grayson, Ky., resident, is taking a welding class at the technical
college that opened last year. Ashland Community and Technical College is in
the process of moving its technical college campus from the Ashland area to
East Park.
The $19 million for a new Hall of Justice for Boyd Circuit and Boyd District
Courts and Circuit Clerk Nancy Kay Arthur’s office along with other, court-related
offices, wasn’t even in the budget last week.
State Sen. Rocky Adkins, D-Sandy Hook, the House majority leader, said the
money for court-related offices was added during a conference committee session
over the weekend. Adkins said he also was able to restore the full $18 million
for Ashland Community and Technical College during that conference committee.
The Kentucky House had set aside $18 million for the college while the Kentucky
Senate version called for $14.4 million.
Adkins said Gov. Fletcher also plans to visit Elliott County on Thursday for
an announcement that could lead to 300 new jobs and a $14 million annual payroll
for the new state prison in Elliott County.
"There is a tremendous benefit to our area having Rocky Adkins as floor
leader," said State Rep. John Vincent, R-Ashland.
The area’s delegation of state representatives and state senators stuck
together to bring home about $39 million to Boyd County and East Park, Vincent
said. "Gov. Fletcher was very supportive of this, too," he said. "Having
the governor’s help was a tremendous asset to getting this done."
Boyd County will be getting a 60,000-square-foot court building. The existing
courthouse won’t be replaced and the current courthouse annex building
also could be used for other county offices, said Circuit Judge C. David Hagerman.
"We’re very excited about this," said Bill Scott, Boyd County
judge-executive. "I’m so glad. We’ve worked so long and so hard
for this. It was our turn. This will be more convenient for the public. We’ll
have to get more parking. We’ll want this building in close proximity to
the (existing) courthouse."
Hagerman, Scott and Arthur, among others, will serve on a committee to select
a site for the judicial building. "We don’t want it very far from
the jail," he said. "We’ve needed this for a long time. We outgrew
the judicial annex 10 years ago. We’ll have all the courts in one building
along with the clerk’s office. This building will be a showplace."
Circuit Judge Marc Rosen said the new court building "is long overdue."
It will have video-conferencing so court proceedings can be done without having
to take prisoners out of the jail to the courtroom, he said. "It’s
great for security and it will save on transporting prisoners."
Greg Adkins, Ashland Community and Technical College president, said he was
ecstatic the college would be getting the full $18,030,000 for the college.
"It’s a wonderful opportunity to have a completed campus in East Park
devoted to economic development."
The second college building at East Park, an industrial park located off Interstate
64 in Boyd, Carter and Greenup counties, should help the area attract more business,
Vincent said by telephone from Frankfort. "We’ll be able to train
employees on site," he said. "I believe it’s a good enticement
for East Park."
It’s too soon to tell if the college can move all of its technical programs
from its Roberts Drive location just outside Ashland to East Park, Adkins said.
"This is a major step forward," he said. Construction on the new building
could begin next year. It will take two years to build, he said.
To help pay for some of the new construction, the state sales tax on a pack
of cigarettes in Kentucky could raise from 3 cents per pack to 30 cents per
pack on June 1.
But Rick Brislin, owner of First Stop, 1125 Winchester Ave., said that 27-cent
per pack increase could lead to a 30 percent drop in sales at his business.
Brislin, who testified before House and Senate committees earlier to voice
opposition to tobacco and alcohol tax increases, said any tax increases will
be paid by the consumers. He recommended the legislature look at gambling as
a way to increase revenues. He said Kentucky residents spent a lot of money
gambling in Indiana and West Virginia.
About 80 percent of the customers in his carryout just off the Ben Williamson
Memorial Bridge are from Ohio, Brislin said. The only thing that could help
him is if legislatures in Ohio and West Virginia approve similar increases on
tobacco in those states, he said. Those states could increase taxes to about
$1 per pack, making the drive to Kentucky worth the cost, he said.
Madisonville Messenger
March 9, 2005
Tech center funding just what we need
The roller coaster ride for funding a new tech center at Madisonville Community
college has taken is enough to make anyone dizzy.
Funding for what is expected to be a $15 million facility was in versions of
the budget that never moved in regular session. But the funding amount was not
sufficient. When lawmakers returned to Frankfort this year, having failed to
pass a budget in 2004, it appeared funds for the local center were headed down
the drain.
Then, like a shot out of the blue, with the budget in conference committee,
we were back in for $14 million, accompanied by assurances from local lawmakers
of a slam dunk. With approval by both houses of the legislature, all that could
stand between turning that first spade of dirt would be a line-item veto by
Gov. Ernie Fletcher. We have been told such a veto is not in the governor’s
plans. Still, we won’t begin counting baby chickens until they emerge from
the Frankfort hatchery.
For the sake of celebration, though, let’s assume that things are now
“go” on the much needed center. We should celebrate just getting this
far, and set off fireworks in appreciation for the hard work of a lot of people
in making a solid case for the tech center.
While it would seem obvious such a facility would be a win/win for the college,
the people of our region and for economic development, funding is never a given,
especially in these times and in this state.
State Sen. Jerry Rhoads and state Rep. Eddie Ballard are the most logical recipients
of praise for this effort. They have both worked long and hard on this project
in the highly charged political arena of the General Assembly.
Rhoads, whose wife also happens to be Dr. Judith Rhoads, president of Madisonville
Community College, has kept the project alive in the Senate and pushed for additional
funding after it arrived from the House at $12 million. When the Senate became
anxious over debt service on bond issues, the measure became part of a $500
million cut, reducing it to an unworkable $9.6 million.
But the money (and more) is back in, and apparently the peaks and valleys of
this proposal have leveled out. Ballard, who has fought equally hard for the
funding, gives credit for the conference committee upgrade to House Speaker
Jody Richards. Ballard told The Messenger that “Jody Richards really delivered
for us on that tech center. He deserves credit on this project. Without his
commitment to Hopkins County that he has made for a long time, we don’t
get that.”
A plus to the plan is a provision for the application of $2 million in restricted
funds toward the project. That would push the available funding up to $16 million.
It’s just what the MCC president wanted to hear. Once Dr. Rhoads found
out about the $14 million, she was on the telephone to Brown Badgett who had
pledged $1.2 million toward the Fulfilling the Promise campaign. For his generosity,
the Energy and Advanced Technology Center will be named in his honor.
Badgett, whose name is synonymous with regional coal mining, knows better than
most the potential for resources in this area. Not all those resources are buried
in the ground. To extract those resources in this high-tech age, facilities
such as the tech center are imperative. The days of pick and shovel mining are
distant, unpleasant memories. Not only are there safer, more efficient ways
of extracting our region’s biggest mineral resource, but there remain untapped
applications for “black gold” in meeting future energy needs.
Technology is not a “trend.” It is how the world works, literally,
and we could have no better choice than to advance with it. That choice is made
much easier with the best possible facilities, such as the one planned at MCC.
There are a number of names that could be dropped in lobbying for this funding,
including a highly supportive Chamber of Commerce, which pushed for the center,
along with Economic Development officials.
Attracting and retaining business is just half the job. Training and otherwise
preparing the work force for the challenges ahead require the very best facilities
and technology available.
Many solid business decisions are made on the principle that one has to invest
money to make money. What is being done here is investment of millions to prepare
this region and its people for the challenges that lie ahead in an increasingly
more technical workplace.
One of the blessings we enjoy in this region is, for the most part, a work
force willing to get the job done. The local work ethic has been recognized
again and again as being one of the best in the nation. That, however, will
get us nowhere unless we are equipped to do the job at a level comparable to
or exceeding other parts of the country.
That’s why we need the tech center.
That’s why our lawmakers and so many others fought so hard to fund it.
And that’s why our future looks a little brighter in western Kentucky.
The Winchester Sun
March 9, 2005
LCC's big day: Effort to build new campus gets $65,000 boost
Tuesday was one big day for Lexington Community College and the future of Winchester's
new campus.
At a Ladies Night Out fund-raiser, which raised $15,000 itself toward construction
of a new Winchester campus, Juanita Shearer Walden announced a $50,000 donation
on behalf of the family of O.F. and Lelia Shearer. That was on top of the $3.4
million LCC received in the finally approved state budget.
"You know, it can't get any better," said Jim Kerley, president and
CEO of the Bluegrass Community Technical College District. "Honestly, I
remember the first place ... (In) July of 1998, I remember Phil Kerrick (former
director of economic development for the Winchester-Clark County Industrial
Development Authority) ... mentioned to me about doing more in Winchester.
"It has come a long way. We had maybe two or three classes then. Now we
had maybe 60 classes this fall. It has really, really come a long way."
LCC is raising funds to build a new 25,000 square-foot building on a 20-acre
parcel of donated land at the Winchester Industrial Park. The college now is
housed at College Park Library, which has been overcrowded due to an ever-increasing
student enrollment each semester.
The cost of the new campus is estimated at $5.5 million, which includes the
price of the land. Tuesday night's donation brings private pledges toward the
project to $917,500.
After the donation, Walden said her family has always been interested in a
good education.
"The family is interested in other people's education," she said.
"... I think we're going to do it (build the campus), don't you? It's wonderful
for the community."
Kerley said the college had scaled back plans for the new building, including
eliminating an early childhood center for parents who are attending classes.
The strong response from the community has put that idea back on the table.
"We sort of cut back on that because there was cost to that, quite a bit
of cost," Kerley said. "But now, we're just going to go ahead and
raise the money and put that in there. ... We have a lot of single mothers that
are going to community college. We don't want them to be deterred from taking
classes."
JoEllen Reed, community liaison for LCC-Winchester, told the crowd of 250 women
packing Emmanuel Episcopal Church's gym that their support has been vital to
the success of the college.
"Hopefully, all of you all will be walking in for opening day of a brand
new campus here," Reed said. "Right now, we anticipate 400 students
this fall with 4,000 square feet. So you can imagine how tight we are. But when
the doors open, we hope to welcome you to a 25,000 square-foot facility with
state of the art chemistry labs, biology labs, learning resource centers, classrooms
and just a great place."
Reed said even though the college is hoping to break ground this fall, there
already are plans for future growth.
"In fact, we've already been told to start looking at phase two, because
we anticipate up to 5,000 students on this campus within five years," she
said. "We're real excited about what's going on. ... Whatever it takes
to get this thing done, we're going to work on it together."
Floyd County Times
March 2, 2005
Dr. George D. Edwards speaks to Rotary
Dr. George D. Edwards, President of Big Sandy Community and Technical College
(BSCTC) spoke to the Paintsville Rotary Club on Tuesday, February 15, 2005,
about the impact of post secondary education on the Big Sandy Region and the
challenges facing students enrolling in college today. He talked about the rising
costs of getting an education and the necessity for additional funding to insure
top quality faculty and programs be made available for future enrollment.
Dr. Edwards told the group that BSCTC enrollment has steadily increased over
the past three years with more than 4600 students enrolling in the Fall 2004
semester. New construction and renovation of existing structures have been necessary
to meet the needs of the rising numbers of students seeking degrees, diplomas
and certificates on the four BSCTC campuses. More faculty and increased class
scheduling has been required to meet instructional and laboratory needs.
The College is in the middle of the “Fulfilling the Promise” fundraising
campaign. The campaign addresses four major giving priorities: the Student Success
Endowment Fund, an initiative to expand the College’s scholarship endowment
program; the Faculty Enhancement Endowment Fund, an initiative to retain and
attract qualified faculty; the New Opportunities Fund, an initiative to provide
unrestricted funds directed to special projects and initiatives for which budgeted
funds are not available; and the Facility Improvement Fund, an initiative to
provide funds for upgrades and repairs not covered by the budget plan. Naming
opportunities are also available for buildings, classrooms, conference rooms,
etc. Judy Bocook, BSCTC Manager of Advancement, said, “It’s a wonderful
way to create a memorial to someone while making a lasting contribution to education
in the Big Sandy Region.”
“Funding is critical to the success of education in Kentucky,” Dr.
Edwards said. “We need legislative and community support to help us reach
our goal being the best choice for our students’ first two years of college
education. We need additional dollars to help us change lives in eastern Kentucky.”
"Big Sandy Community and Technical College stands ready to help the region
by providing affordable, quality education for our citizens. Also, we are able
to respond to business and industry when they have training needs. We are glad
to be a part of the Big Sandy community," Edwards concluded.
Paducah Sun
March 9, 2005
Paducah commuters study options as gas prices soar
Murray resident Carrie Cox may have to consider buying a smaller car for her
commute to Paducah. Carbondale, Ill., resident Marilyn Haywood is thinking about
driving slower for better gas mileage. Paris, Tenn., student Traci Lemonds may
give up her weekly lunch with friends.
As gas prices rose sharply this week, out-of-towners who travel to Paducah
daily ponder their options for saving money at the pump.
"There is no more money in the budget, no place where the extra could
come from," said Lemonds, who travels 40 miles from Paris to Murray four
times a week for a sonography internship and makes a 140-mile circuit from Paris
to Murray to Paducah once a week to attend classes at West Kentucky Community
and Technical College.
"There aren't any little extras for me to cut back on," said Lemonds,
who spends more than $50 a week on gas. "Maybe once a week I go out to
lunch with my girlfriends. That's my only luxury."
"This definitely limits what I'm able to do," she said. "I have
to get to school. School and clinicals are my number one priority, everything
else is last. If that means I have to give up other things, I guess I will.
But this is getting ridiculous."
As the stock market closed Tuesday, crude oil prices rose 70 cents for the
day to $54.59 a barrel. Crude prices probably will remain ‘‘near the
high to mid-$40’’ a barrel range well into 2006, the Energy Department’s
Energy Information Administration reported.
Some analysts have suggested crude could surpass $60 a barrel in the coming
weeks and stay high for some time because of growing global demand and the limited
ability of producers to easily expand production.
The report said motorists are likely to see increasing pump prices in 2005,
with regular gasoline expected to average about $2.10 a gallon nationwide during
the heavy driving season from April through September. That’s one-fifth
higher than last year. Prices are likely to average about $2.15 a gallon by
spring and early summer, despite adequate fuel inventories.
Around Paducah, regular unleaded gas hovered just under $2 per gallon on Tuesday
afternoon. T&M Food Mart on Bridge Street offered a per-gallon price of
$1.92. Five-Star Food Mart near Lourdes hospital showed a price of $1.97. The
Pilot station on Cairo Road listed $1.95 per gallon. Premium gas sold for up
to $2.19 at some stores.
With a fleet of 75 vehicles to maintain, Paducah Area Transit System General
Manager Gary Kitchen estimated the increase will cost the agency up to $700
per week. PATS bought 1,581 gallons of gasoline and 2,697 gallons of diesel
fuel last week, Kitchen said, "so take a 10-cent increase and multiply
by those numbers and you've got $269.70 and $157.10. That's hurting us quite
a bit."
The inflated fuel bill has to be taken from another area of the PATS budget,
such as payroll or parts, Kitchen said. The agency cannot cut routes. PATS maintenance
crews check each vehicle's tire pressure daily, along with frequent tune-ups
and replacements for engine filters and injectors, Kitchen said, "anything
that will help us get an extra mile per gallon."
Haywood's 74-mile commute from Carbondale to her office at West Kentucky Community
and Technical College costs about $80 per week in gas. Haywood is director of
the college's legal office technology program.
"I have to get here," she said. "I have to work. There's not
much I can do about it."
Haywood said gas prices won't affect her personal errands because she walks
or bikes to most of her neighborhood stores. She has already traded her sport
utility vehicle for her husband's more fuel-efficient sedan. She said she may
have to look into buying an even more efficient car or adjusting her driving
style.
"If you drive slower, that's supposed to use less gas," she said,
noting that any heavy items will be removed from her trunk. "You have to
look at the little things you can do to get better mileage."
Cox never really paid attention to gas prices before last year's increases.
"I certainly pay a lot of attention now," said Cox, who drives 50
miles from her Murray home to the Museum of the American Quilter's Society three
or four times a week. Cox is the museum's curator of education.
Cox spends about $25 a week on gas. While she loves the idea of driving a new
SUV, she said her family is considering replacing her 1997 sedan with something
more fuel-efficient. The family may also reconsider travel plans for spring
and summer vacations.
"I think we get into denial," Cox said. "The prices go back
down and we forget about it and think everything's OK again. This definitely
has my ears perked up. I'm just going to have to monitor how the prices change."
Madisonville Messenger
March 9, 2005
Tarter named to arts group
Retha Tarter sees her new position on the Kentucky Arts Council as a way to
represent rural areas of the state.
“I think it’s important for them to know what we are doing in the
rural areas,” she said. “For instance, with our School Days performances
and our Summer Arts Academy, with our community theater, with the artists that
we have just in Hopkins County, we are so blessed with artists.”
Tarter, ticket services and volunteer coordinator at Glema Mahr Center for
the Arts at Madisonville Community College was appointed by Gov. Ernie Fletcher
to a four-year term on the council.
“I had seen where other people got appointments from the governor, and
I thought, ‘Oh, that would be so cool,’” she said. A friend told
Tarter the arts council opening was listed on a Web site. She applied, and asked
others to provide recommendations.
She is one of four new members on the 16-person board. Most members are from
larger cities, and only two live west of Louisville – Tarter and a representative
from Cadiz.
Tarter is recovering from throat surgery, but still hopes to attend her first
council meeting at the end of the week.
“I look forward to this opportunity to represent Madisonville Community
College, the Glema Mahr Center for the Arts and this region in the promotion
of arts throughout Kentucky,” Tarter said.
“I want to help get some of that grant money to this area, too,”
she said. “We have teachers in the schools working with children in the
arts, and we want to encourage that.”
The Kentucky Arts Council provides arts-focused grants, programs and services
throughout the state. It provides funding for organizational support; artist
residencies in schools and communities, such as a recent program at Jesse Stuart
Elementary; touring subsidies; professional development for artists, administrators
and teachers; arts apprenticeships; and projects that increase participation
in the arts.
It is a state agency in the Commerce Cabinet, funded by state budget allocations
as determined by the General Assembly and National Endowment for the Arts.
Tarter became a Glema Center volunteer in 1992 and joined the staff four years
later. She coordinates the center’s more than 200 volunteers in a program
that “is esteemed as a national model,” according to a press release
from Fletcher’s office.
She and Glema Center Executive Director Brad Downall recently led the panel
discussion, “Volunteerism: Backbone of Rural Arts” for presenters
from around the country at the Performing Arts Exchange Conference in Pittsburgh.
This is the first time Tarter has sought appointment to the state council.
“I prayed about the appointment and said, ‘Lord, if this is where
you would have me spend some of the time you’ve granted me, let it be.
If not, I’ll spend my time somewhere else,’” she said. “This
is just something where I saw the door open and I walked through the door.
Arts activities help draw tourists, retirees, physicians and employees to Hopkins
County, she said.
“It’s good for the economy, too,” Tarter said. “When we
have performances here at the center and it goes out on the Web, people call
us from other states. … They may have never heard of Madisonville, but
they want to come here to see their favorite artist. Then, they want to know
about hotels.
“That helps our economy more than most people realize,” she said.
For example, a man called from Missouri to get tickets to the April 29 Manhattan
Transfer concert after checking on the Internet to see where the group would
be performing.
“He was just blown away that a town our size was getting Manhattan Transfer
in here and he could get front row seats for $35,” Tarter said.
“As you can tell, I get excited about the arts,” she said. “I
love it. It’s here for people of all ages – small children up to,
I believe, those in their 80s or 90s.”
The Chronicle of Higher Education
March 10, 2005
Education Committees in Both Houses of Congress Vote to Renew Perkins Vocational-Education
Act
Key education committees in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives approved
legislation on Wednesday that would continue federal support for career and
technical education at the nation's high schools and colleges.
The bills -- S 250 and HR 366 -- would renew, or reauthorize, the Carl D. Perkins
Vocational and Technical Education Act, which provided states with $1.33-billion
this year, 40 percent of which was distributed to community colleges. The law
was last reauthorized in 1998.
Both bills have the backing of community-college lobbyists, although college
officials oppose language in the House bill that would lump federal support
for the Tech-Prep program into large block grants for states. The lobbyists
fear that such a combination could dilute the Tech-Prep program, which gives
students a technical education spread over two years of high school and two
years of community college.
During discussion of the bill by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce,
Rep. John F. Tierney, a Democrat from Massachusetts, offered an amendment that
would have kept the Tech-Prep program's finances separate. That proposal was
defeated, 20-to-18, on a party-line vote.
The House bill would also reduce the percentage of Perkins funds that state
agencies could spend on administrative costs, from 5 percent to 2 percent. In
some states, community-college systems would be affected because they are in
charge of distributing Perkins funds.
Republicans argued that the change would allow more money to go toward preparing
students for jobs. "If they want to have a bureaucracy at the state level,
they can have it, and they can pay for it," said the committee's chairman,
Rep. John A. Boehner, a Republican from Ohio.
But Democrats, including Rep. Lynn Woolsey of California, said that the cuts
would make it difficult for state agencies to provide technical support to local
programs and to meet new oversight requirements. She offered an amendment to
reverse the cut, but it was defeated, 18 to 15.
The committee also rejected an amendment by Rep. Susan A. Davis, a Democrat
from California, that would have expressed the "sense of the Congress"
that money for the Perkins vocational- and technical-education programs should
not be eliminated, as the president proposed to do in his budget request for
the 2006 fiscal year. "I think we need to go on record that the Perkins
Act must not only be reauthorized, but it must be fully funded," Ms. Davis
said.
But Mr. Boehner rejected that argument, saying that the bill itself was a "clear
statement of the intentions of the Congress."
"I have confidence in members of the Appropriations Committee that this
program will continue to be funded," he added.
In the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, the debate
was less contentious, and the bill passed by voice vote with no amendments.
Community-college advocates said they were relieved that this year's version
did not contain provisions that could have opened up the Perkins program to
four-year institutions. Language in last year's legislation could have broadened
the definition of vocational education to include colleges awarding bachelor
degrees.
Community-college lobbyists were also pleased with provisions in both bills
that would establish separate performance standards for high schools and postsecondary
institutions. They say the current list of "successful outcomes" for
all institutions in the program omits many of the less tangible benefits that
community-college students receive, like new skills.
"Our goal was to have indicators that really reflect the diverse reasons
students attend college," said Jim A. Hermes, senior legislative associate
for the American Association of Community Colleges. "The current indicators
are geared towards the secondary side and graduation."
Both bills are expected to move quickly to the floor.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
March 10, 2005
Commission on College Accountability Calls for a Broader Approach, Using More
Data on Students
Educators, public officials, and business and civic leaders must abandon a
"gotcha mentality" and develop a fresh approach to college accountability,
according to a report scheduled for release today by the National Commission
on Accountability in Higher Education. A new approach, the commission says,
should be based on shared goals and priorities, rigorous measurement of progress,
and continuing discussion.
Current accountability systems too often are cumbersome, inefficient, and focused
on minimum standards rather than on a broader vision, says the report, "Accountability
for Better Results: A National Imperative for Higher Education."
"The problem has been that we've been playing dodgeball," said Paul
E. Lingenfelter, executive director of State Higher Education Executive Officers,
the nonprofit association that organized the commission. "We need to stop
trying to deflect blame and realize we all have different roles to play."
The report's most controversial recommendation calls for a national "unit
record" system, in which colleges would be required to provide the government
with specific information about each student's academic achievements, financial
aid, and more. Some higher-education groups have criticized that idea, which
is being studied by officials at the U.S. Department of Education, as posing
a risk to student privacy. But the commission's report calls the current system,
in which the government relies on data supplied in summary form, outmoded and
inaccurate. A new database, it says, should have fail-safe privacy safeguards
and criminal penalties for violations.
Among other things, the report recommends:
That state policy makers, such as governors, legislators, and members of higher-education
boards, should establish clear goals for higher education based on state needs
and priorities. The goals, the commission suggests, should focus on improving
college-going and retention rates, educating students for the state's work force,
and encouraging economic development. Statewide data systems should be created
to inform policy and budget decisions that will close achievement gaps and ensure
that resources are allocated fairly.
That the federal government should sustain, and even increase, financial support
for research and student financial aid.
That college leaders should set institutional goals that are in line with public
priorities and should monitor their progress toward those goals. Colleges should
establish explicit expectations for academic programs and demanding standards
for institutionally-supported research.
The report also says that faculty members, students, and business and community
leaders should be partners in the debate about how to best meet the nation's
educational needs, providing advice and feedback to higher-education and political
leaders.
The report is a "clear recognition that there are several actors in this
debate," said Thomas D. Layzell, a commissioner who is the president of
the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, as well as the president of
the State Higher Education Executive Officers group. "It's a two-way street."
Commission members, who spent 10 months drafting recommendations, plan to distribute
the report widely in Congress, in state capitals, and on college campuses.
The full text of the report is expected to be posted soon on the organization's
Web site.
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