Monday, February 07, 2000
Plan joins NKU, technical schools
Project to bolster skills, work ethic
BY ANDREA TORTORA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Two top Kentucky college officials say the Tristate must look at higher education and vocational education in a more “holistic” way.
That means joint projects and discussions with universities and technical schools on both sides of the Ohio River to meet the demands of the labor market.
Michael McCall, president of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, said education must serve a broad range of needs.
“Occupational education is not just learning to use your hands,” Dr. McCall said. “It's using your mind, too. Companies want students who are civic-minded.”
Dr. McCall and James Votruba, president of Northern Kentucky University, said their institutions will work together to bolster basic skills, such as literacy, and a solid work ethic that many employers tell them workers lack.
They spoke with The Cin cinnati Enquirer's editorial board Friday.
Key to increased worker training will be expanded community-technical college offerings in Northern Kentucky. Several studies support the idea. Gov. Paul Patton included $10 million in his budget for the first phase of the project, as well as $7.2 million to increase state funding for NKU's general fund.
The push now is to get the budget passed.
“I believe that the stakes are enormous in this,” Dr. Votruba said. “This budget session will determine how the state feels on higher education.”
The additional funding is critical to NKU, where student tuition covers 55 percent of the college's costs. Tuition at other state colleges, such as Western Kentucky University, does not have to stretch as far, on average only 35 percent.
“If this budget doesn't pass, we will continue to privatize NKU, putting more of the burden on students,” Dr. Votruba said.
An expanded community-technical college would be “distributed” throughout the region, with campuses near the airport, in downtown Covington and at the three existing locations of Northern Kentucky Technical College.
That growth will let NKU focus on bachelor's and master's programs, taking away the need for the school to offer remedial classes. “We can eliminate classes (that combine) very well prepared students with those who are there because there is no place else to go,” Dr. Votruba said.
The next step in the process: a study of what education programs are needed, what's already offered and what needs to be expanded, Dr. McCall said.
“We will work separately but together,” he said. “We'll look at joint programs, but if it's not feasible, we'll call it necessary duplication.”
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