September 2008 Edition
FEATURED STORIES
 |
New handbook, Web site aim to increase transfers
Students at Kentucky’s 16 community and technical colleges have two new tools to assist them in furthering their education at a four-year institution. A transfer handbook and Web site have been created to provide streamlined and relevant information about the transfer process. The handbook was made possible through a partnership between the Council on Postsecondary Education and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System and is part of the KnowHow2GOKy outreach initiative kicked off by the Council in May. The handbook outlines three steps to transfer and offers helpful planning tools for transfer students including checklists of steps to follow and questions to ask, explanation of transfer policies, lists of transfer contacts for each public and independent institution and an index of transfer scholarships at public institutions. The corresponding online component at KnowHow2GOky.org offers additional resources for exploring careers, searching schools and finding financial aid.
 |
Kentucky college students launch test space balloon
Kentucky Space conducted its first launch test July 14 which sent up a space balloon carrying payloads built by student engineers from Western Kentucky University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, Murray State University, Morehead State University and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. The hugely successful launch, featured in a July 25 Discovery Channel blog, sent payloads consisting of a navigation unit, a magnetometer, two cameras and communications equipment up to a height of nearly 20 miles using high-altitude helium balloons. In addition to testing systems for use in student-designed satellites to be launched starting next year, the system also tested possible emergency monitoring and communications systems that might be used in the case of a natural disaster or other emergency. The balloon also carried tiny capsules made by local grade school students. The capsules were made to give the students a chance to participate in the mission and encourage them to participate in future student missions. As part of a NASA-funded program called the Kentucky Space Grant Consortium, Kentucky Space hopes to have four to six balloon launches a year and is looking at deep-space missions four or five years into the future.
 |
Dr. Ellen W. Bonaguro, WKU, President Kentucky Academic Advising Association |
New association for academic advisors to increase student success
Academic advisors from Kentucky’s public and independent colleges and universities have formed the Kentucky Academic Advising Association, which aims to improve student success and boost student transfers. The organization, which is a state chapter of the National Academic Advising Association, plans to hold an annual conference to provide professional development opportunities for academic advisors at two- and four-year institutions. Recently elected officers represent five different institutions, including Western Kentucky University, Eastern Kentucky University, Kentucky State University, University of Kentucky and Bluegrass Community and Technical College. Institutional staff or graduate students may become KACADA members by contacting membership chair Bret Ripley or by completing a membership application available on the new KACADA Web site. Membership fees are $20 for institutional staff and $10 for graduate students.
 |
From top: Paul Patton, Pam Miller, Glenn Denton, and Christopher Crumrine. |
Governor Beshear appoints new CPE members
Governor Steve Beshear appointed four new members to the Council on Postsecondary Education this summer. Christopher Crumrine, a student at the University of Kentucky Martin School of Public Policy and Administration, replaced Ryan Quarles as the Council’s student representative and will serve through June 2009. Former Kentucky Governor Paul Patton, the key architect of the Kentucky Postsecondary Education Improvement Act of 1997, replaced Walter Baker and will serve through December 2013. Pam Miller, former mayor of Lexington-Fayette County, replaced Virginia Fox and will serve through December 2012. Glenn D. Denton, a partner with the Paducah law firm of Denton & Keuler, replaced Alois Moore and will serve through December 2010.
 |
Conference to examine postsecondary education's role in societal change
The 2008 Governor’s Conference on Postsecondary Education Trusteeship, which will be held Sept. 29 at the Lexington Downtown Hotel & Conference Center (formerly the Radisson Plaza Hotel), will focus on postsecondary education’s role in solving societal and economic problems in the Commonwealth and beyond. This annual conference, co-sponsored by Kentucky’s colleges and universities and the Council on Postsecondary Education, brings together presidents, trustees, state policy and political leaders, and others engaged in education to discuss issues of common interest and concern. The theme of this year’s conference is 21st Century Problems, 21st Century Solutions: Engaging Postsecondary Education in Kentucky’s Social and Economic Transformation. Conference highlights include an opening discussion about the critical connection between economic development and postsecondary education led by Pearse Lyons, president of Alltech, Inc., and a plenary session focused on meeting Kentucky’s growing need for postsecondary education in an era of diminished resources. The plenary session will be led by Jane Wellman, executive director of the Delta Project on Postsecondary Education Costs, Productivity, and Accountability.
CAMPUS NEWS
- U.S.News & World Report: EKU among Leading Southern Master's Universities
- WKU moves up in U.S. News ranking of America's Best Colleges
- Murray State University receives top rankings for 18th consecutive year from U.S.News 2009 edition of America’s Best Colleges — only Kentucky public to be ranked for that length of time in guide
- Ky. Foundation for Women awards $3,000 to EKU Environmental Research Institute
- E.ON U.S. employees enroll in college through partnership with KCTCS
- KSU best in the southeast again
- Morehead State University's Regional Entrepreneur Conference slated for Aug. 19
- Murray State University takes stewardship effort to Hartford community
- Mercy Health Partners impressed by NKU/Interalliance IT Careers Campers
- UK Chandler Hospital among nation's best
- UofL's Brown Cancer Center to get $10.1 million for cancer research
- WKU's dual credit program a great opportunity for high school students
RESEARCH TOPICS IN EDUCATION
- "Modeling Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs): Campus Practices that Work for Latino Students," Excelencia in Education, June 2008
- "State Higher Education Finance, FY 2007, State Higher Education Executive Officers, July 2008"
- "Second to None in Attainment, Discovery, and Innovation: The National Agenda for Higher Education, A White Paper for Presidential Candidates from the State Higher Education Executive Officers," Change magazine, Sept/Oct 2008
- "Given Half a Chance: The Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males," Schott Foundation for Public Education, July 2008
- "Reach Higher, America: Overcoming Crisis in the U.S. Workforce," Final Report of the National Commission on Adult Literacy, June 2008
RECENT NEWS RELEASES
UPCOMING EVENTS
- Statewide Transfer Committee Meeting
- September 25, 2008, 1:00 p.m.
- CPE Offices, Meeting Room A
- CPE Meeting
- September 28, 2008, 3:00 p.m.
- Lexington Downtown Hotel and Conference Center
- 2008 Governor's Conference on Postsecondary Education Trusteeship
- September 29, 2008
- Lexington Downtown Hotel & Conference Center
*To receive News From Frankfort e-mail updates, contact Kimberly Millerd at Kimberly.Millerd@ky.gov*
To Opt-Out, please email Kimberly.Millerd@ky.gov