Fulfilling the Promise - KCTCS: Kentucky Community and Technical College System

THE CHALLENGES - HCC'S SERVICE AREA

The low educational attainment of Kentucky citizens statewide compared to the nation as a whole is well documented. The educational attainment of the five Kentucky counties served by Hopkinsville Community College paints an even more disturbing picture of the progress that must be achieved.

Addressing the Local Needs of a Diverse Service Area
Hopkinsville Community College serves students in a large, primarily rural geographic service area that includes Caldwell, Christian, Logan, Todd, and Trigg counties in Kentucky and Montgomery, Robertson, and Stewart counties in Tennessee. A reciprocity agreement allows students in the three Tennessee counties to attend HCC at in-state tuition rates. HCC's total service area covers a population of nearly 300,000.

HCC's Service Area

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, Christian County has the most diverse population in the state of Kentucky with a minority population of 30.1%. Oak Grove and Pembroke are among the ten most diverse cities in the state of Kentucky. Hopkinsville represents the 15th most diverse city in Kentucky. Whether coming directly out of high school or from the current workforce, students of all ages and backgrounds are helped by HCC to achieve their dreams of a successful career, a higher paying job, and a more fulfilling life. For some, HCC is an accessible, affordable steppingstone to a bachelor's degree. For others, HCC is their best hope of getting the education and training they need to meet their employer's expectations or to get their very first jobs.

J. MICHAEL FOSTER, Christian County Attorney
(First HCC Graduating Class, 1967)

"The location of a community college in this area is simply, in my estimation, the foundation for everything that is good. It gives you opportunity for not only education, but it gives you a great leverage for economic development and industrial recruitment. Most of all, it gives people hope and opportunity to improve their lives."

The Fulfilling the Promise Campaign for Hopkinsville Community College addresses state and local challenges, emphasizes projects that support HCC's core mission, and speaks to strategic priorities: student access, academic transfer, and globally competitive business.

STUDENT ACCESS
Entering student surveys show that 48% of HCC students are the first in their immediate families to go to college. Entering student surveys also indicate that 30% of local students would not have attended college without access to HCC. Each year, HCC provides accessible and affordable instruction to approximately 3,000 creditseeking students. During commencement ceremonies held each May, HCC awards twoyear associate degrees, certificates, and diplomas to hundreds of individuals from fives counties in Kentucky and three counties in Tennessee.

BONNIE LYNCH, Teacher
Mahaffee Middle School, Fort Campbell School System
(Member, HCC Board of Directors)

"HCC is a way for many of our citizens to become educated, to establish a better way of life for themselves, and to set the standards a little higher for their children."

DEBBIE OLP, HCC Class of 2002

"I'm just really thankful that the town that I live in has a community college for me to attend. I don't really believe I would have made the decision to return to college as a nontraditional student had I had to go to a major university/fouryear college that's an hour or two away. I would have never taken that first step."

ACADEMIC TRANSFER
HCC provides an entry point for students to earn credits to transfer to fouryear universities.

J. KEITH SHARP, AIA, President
JKS Architects & Engineers (HCC Student 19721973)

"HCC gave me an opportunity to catch up with some real shortfalls I had and to learn good study habits with respect to what college study habits should be. It is almost priceless, what my year and a half experience (three semesters) with HCC did for me, in being able to have good credits that I could transfer to a fouryear university."

GLOBALLY COMPETITIVE BUSINESS
Annually, HCC provides employment and skills upgrade training to thousands of employees of local and area businesses and industries.

GARY R. DAKE, Plant Manager
ThyssenKrupp Hopkinsville, LLC (Member, HCC Foundation, Inc.)

"The advantage of having a skilled, quality workforce is that it minimizes the training that we have to do. It is absolutely necessary that technology maintain pace with a changing world, so that we can maintain pace in our own industries."

BILL NICHOL, President & CEO Kentucky Derby Hosiery, Inc. (HCC Student 1969-1971)

"We have worked with the college in the technology sector for a number of years, with training in business applications that we choose to use in our business. The college has been very responsive in the context of not just having a standard issue program, but being sensitive to the specific needs of our company."