KCTCS and the University of Kentucky Lexington Community College (LCC) are collaborating on a $4 million project to enhance the skill levels of employees who work in information technology jobs across the Commonwealth.
KCTCS President Michael B. McCall and UK President Lee T. Todd Jr. announced October 18 that their institutions have been awarded a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to improve professional development of instructors who teach information technology curricula in high schools and two-year colleges.
KCTCS will match the three-year grant with $1.5 million of its own resources. LCC will contribute $500,000.
McCall and Todd announced the NSF grant at a news conference at the KCTCS System Office in Lexington. The grant and matching resources will assist in the establishment of the Kentucky Information Technology Center (KITC), which will enable two-year colleges in the Commonwealth to prepare skilled information technology workers to fill high-paying jobs with existing and new companies. Information technology is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world.
“The creation of the Kentucky Information Technology Center will focus on faculty development with students being the ultimate beneficiary of this project,” McCall noted. “Providing KCTCS and LCC faculty with the knowledge and skills needed to teach in the information technology area is essential to maintaining an updated curriculum.”
“It bodes well for Kentucky that cooperative agreements such as this one are so easy to facilitate and uphold today in the Commonwealth,” Todd said.
McCall said that KCTCS and LCC are creating the technology center to:
“This is precisely the kind of collaboration that we envisioned when we changed higher education for the better four years ago,” said Gov. Paul E. Patton, who proposed the 1997 Postsecondary Education Improvement Act that created KCTCS. “This project will have a far-reaching impact on the state’s economic development as well as moving Kentucky ahead in meeting national goals for workforce training and economic development.”
McCall and Todd said the KITC will comprise:
A team of faculty and staff from KCTCS and LCC submitted the grant application. The team leader was Darrell Abney of Maysville Community College.
The NSF funding was leveraged with a grant from the Microsoft Working Connections program. “Microsoft is proud to have helped seed the statewide partnership and would like to congratulate the schools on being recognized by NSF for a grant to develop a Regional IT Training Center,” according to Microsoft.
The Kentucky Occupational Outlook to 2006 says that employment in computer-related positions “will grow the fastest of all occupational groups in Kentucky.”
“Information technology has impacted community colleges more than any other issue in the past 30 years,” said Jim Kerley, LCC president. “This grant will help us reinvent the way we teach and the way our students learn. It is absolutely critical that we all work in collaboration for the betterment of Kentucky’s citizenry.”
Four finalists are scheduled to be interviewed for the position of founding president of a comprehensive college that KCTCS is establishing in Northern Kentucky.
KCTCS has embarked on a long-range plan to enhance services to Northern Kentucky by developing a comprehensive community and technical college. Northern Kentucky Technical College (NKTC) will be part of the comprehensive college, and the first president of the new college will serve as chief executive officer of the KCTCS Northern Kentucky District.
These candidates are scheduled to meet with faculty, staff and students at NKTC:
· G. Edward Hughes, president of Hazard Community College, visited NKTC on Friday, Oct. 19.
· Robert Carlson, executive director of the University of New Mexico campus at Gallup, is scheduled to visit Monday, Oct. 22.
· Vicky R. Smith, vice president for academic services at Monroe Community College in Rochester, NY, will visit on Tuesday, Oct. 23.
· Guy Altieri, executive vice president for instruction at Washtenaw Community College, Ann Arbor, Michigan, will visit on a date to be announced.
Each candidate will conduct open meetings with students from 3:30 to 4 p.m., and with faculty and staff from 4 to 5 p.m. on the day of the campus visit. Those meetings will take place at the NKTC Edgewood Campus. The candidates also will meet with KCTCS President Michael B. McCall and his cabinet. Dr. McCall will make the final appointment after receiving input from faculty, staff and community leaders.
Planning for the President’s Leadership Team meeting continued at the October 16 meeting of the President’s Cabinet. Assignments to the TAGS and other RSVP teams were determined, and it was decided to discuss the creation of a scholarship ad hoc team with the PLT. Fall enrollment updates will continue to be a focus of the Cabinet and the PLT.
KCTCS System Office Webmaster James Howard presented new and improved web page plans to the Cabinet. Also, the agenda for the November 3 meeting of the Board of Regents EEA (Efficiency, Effectiveness and Accountability) Committee was reviewed.
Vice President Tim Burcham, CFRE, provided an update on plans for the 2001 President’s Gala, which will be held at the Lexington Marriott on the evening of November 3. Burcham reported that the response to invitations has been impressive, and that the event will have capacity participation again this year.
The 2001 Kentucky Employees Charitable Campaign (KECC) is in its final weeks. The KECC provides us the opportunity to donate to various charities through payroll deduction, and last year’s effort raised more than $1.2 million.
The theme for this year’s campaign is “Protecting our Most Precious Resources,” and KCTCS’ goal is $105,000.
KCTCS employees may contribute by completing a KECC pledge form and presenting it to the local KECC coordinator.
KCTCS Chancellor Dr. Keith Bird was a presenter at the second annual conference of the Kentucky German Business Council held recently at the University of Kentucky. Others on the program included UK president Lee Todd, Economic Development Cabinet Secretary Gene Strong, New Economy Commissioner Bill Brundage, and Gerd Doepner, president and CEO of the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest.
Dr. Bird’s topic was “Raising the Bar, the Future is Now: International Collaboration and Workforce Training.” His presentation included the KY WINS program and skills standards initiative as well as KCTCS' progress in Germany, Nepal, the United Kingdom and Denmark.
Three Ashland CC faculty members were presenters at the National Academic Advising Association Conference October 14 in Ottawa, Canada. Their session was entitled “Building a Master Advising Program in a Comprehensive Community College: From Task Force to Implementation.” The presenters, all master advisors at the college, were Dan Bailey, Professor and Counselor; Jane Layman, Student Success Coordinator; and Barbara Nicholls, Professor of English/Reading. Layman and Nicholls also gave a presentation on “GE 101: A Course for Student Success and Retention.”
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The regional premier of Jekyll and Hyde – The Musical will be presented at the Ashland CC J. B. Sowards Theatre October 26-28.
Dan Hildenbrant, Associate Professor of Communications at Owensboro Community College, made a special media presentation at the Oral History Association's National Convention in St. Louis on Oct 19. Dan showed a 30-minute documentary he produced while directing a National Endowment for the Humanities grant project on Guam last May.
Hildenbrant wrote the NEH grant and acted as project director . . . training local scholars in conducting history interviews.
Technicians in the Computer Operations Department of Southeast Community College have all been certified as MCSE (Microsoft Engineers). Ralph White is head of the department. Other members of the team include Merrill Galloway, computer systems manager; Valerie Saylor, senior network administrator; Mary Hunley, network administrator, Middlesboro Campus; Robert Goan, network administrator, Middlesboro Campus; and Robert McCown, network administrator, Whitesburg Campus.
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The Pine Mountain Community Development Corporation (PMCDC), a component of the Southeast Community College Office of Community and Business Development, recently received a $130,000 award issued by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. PMCDC is a community development corporation supported by several southeast Kentucky banks.
About $100,000 of the award will be placed as an equity investment in the PMCDC loan fund, expanding the entity’s existing operation. The remainder of the award will be used for equipment, training and consulting services said Paul Pratt, dean and head of the Office of Community and Business Development.
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John Moore, director of the Southeast Small Business Development Center, was recently recognized as the 2001 recipient of the Phoenix Award presented by the Kentucky Small Business Development Center (KSBDC). The award recognizes directors who have worked to revitalize their centers and have helped strengthen the KSBDC network.
The Southeast Center is operated by Southeast Community College.
Jefferson Community College opened its Women’s Center for Growth and Leadership on October 11. The center provides programs and workshops to help students empower themselves outside the classroom. Planned activities for Jefferson CC students range from sexual harassment prevention to leadership development and financial planning. The center also provides space for the WOW (Women Offering Wisdom) Resource Center. WOW is a youth-oriented program that focuses on healthy life choices for girls.
Henderson Community College is receiving a $10,000 grant through the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program. The program provides campus-based childcare services for low-income parents attending college.
The grant will pay 25 percent of childcare costs for 10 eligible students, with the other 75 percent funded by private sources. The total amount available to each participating student is $900.
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JoAnn Phelps, Henderson CC staff associate, teaches a line dance class every week at the local senior citizen center. The group, County Kickers, performs at nursing homes in the area.
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Ronald L. McMurtry (see photo), director of the electrical technology program at West Kentucky Technical College, has earned a doctorate in administrative education from Kennedy Western University in California. McMurtry, who has worked at the college since 1990, earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at Murray State University. ----- Barry Meadow, Kentucky State Police public affairs officer, will present a science seminar on meth labs in western Kentucky at Paducah Community College on October 22. The seminar is being held in conjunction with the annual drug awareness week. |
 Ronald L. McMurtry |
The social science division at Hazard Community College is conducting a “Surviving Parenting in the 21st Century Workshop” at the college on November 3. Tips on parenting offered at the workshop will cover all age groups, from toddlers to teens.
Hopkinsville Community College recently signed an agreement with VUE, the electronic testing service of NCS Pearson, Inc., to provide Information Technology (IT) certification exams using the VUE testing system. VUE’s advanced Internet-based system administers exams for leading IT certification programs such as Microsoft and Cisco. The agreement was announced by Dr. Bonnie Rogers, Hopkinsville CC president.
Savanna Garrity, director of Madisonville Technical College’s medical office technology program, will be training all future unit secretaries for the Regional Medical Center (RMC) in Madisonville. RMC is one of the largest employers in Hopkins County. Garrity will conduct four training sessions and another will be taught by Tim Hood, Madisonville Community College associate professor of communications. Beth West, MCC associate professor of communications; Judy Moore, MCC professor of business technology; and Felicia Johnson, MCC professor of business technology; will provide communications skills, professional image and telephone etiquette training.
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