Frankfort Ky. - Calling it the most important task in his tenure as governor, Governor Paul Patton today unveiled his bold and sweeping plan to restructure Kentucky's system of postsecondary education. The governor presented his plan in a speech broadcast live statewide over Kentucky Educational Television.
"I'm not asking the legislature of Kentucky to merely pass a bill." the governor said, "I'm asking the people of Kentucky to make a commitment, a long term commitment to excellence in postsecondary education now and in the future."
Under the governor's plan, there would be a restructuring of the governing system for postsecondary education. A new Council on Postsecondary Education would be established whose members would be chosen by the governor and confirmed by the legislature. The governor also proposes the formation of a Strategic Committee on Postsecondary Education or SCOPE, made up of the governor, legislative leadership and council leaders. It would be an advisory group that would play a key role in the development of a strategic agenda for postsecondary education in the state.
The second recommendation the governor is making is the establishment of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) to serve as the governing board for the community colleges and Kentucky Tech. "Let there be no question regarding my total commitment to the strongest possible community and technical college system for the commonwealth. This system is the life blood of economic development for the state. What I propose is an independent, strengthened, viable, and accessible community and technical college system.", the governor said.
The third element of the governor's plan is to create a strategic budget process for postsecondary education. A part of that will be geared toward making the University of Kentucky a nationally recognized comprehensive research institution and help the University of Louisville achieve national prominence in selected fields appropriate for a metropolitan research university. "We must have that kind of concentration of intellectual capital stewing in a great cauldron of research, generating the new ideas of the future, the entrepreneurship of a dynamic economy, and the innovation that leads to prosperity."
Governor Patton calls his plan a fundamental systemic change for postsecondary education in Kentucky. "My plan will provide the adult population of the state with easy access to a system where they can receive technical education and skills to survive in the new and rapidly changing modern economy. It will provide a typical community college student with a much easier path to an associate degree without an increase in tuition. Businesses will be provided with a better workforce more easily adaptable to the changing needs of our economy. And my plan will help ensure that gifted young people have centers of research and excellence nearby so that we no longer export our best and brightest."
After his speech, Governor Patton took questions from a studio audience made up of members of the media. Following the broadcast, the governor boarded a helicopter and flew to Ashland to begin a series of visits to community college campuses across the state where he will be holding forums with students to discuss his proposed plan..
Governor Patton expects to call a special session of the General Assembly May 5th to consider his plan for postsecondary education reform.