For Immediate Release
September 27, 1998
Contact: Melissa Forsythe or Mark Pfeiffer (502) 564-2611

Governor Challenges Postsecondary Education Leaders to Work as a Team

Lexington, Ky. - "We’ve made great progress in the past year but we’ve only just begun," Governor Paul Patton said as he addressed the opening session of the Governor’s Conference on Postsecondary Education Trusteeship in Lexington on Sunday.

"With support from the General Assembly and the governing boards and the administrations of the colleges and universities," the governor said, "we’ve made an excellent start toward reforming Kentucky’s postsecondary education. But what we have done is not enough. Now our colleges and universities, both independent and state-supported, have to take the lead in changing behavior throughout Kentucky: behavior within government, behavior of a population that generally undervalues advanced education, and perhaps most important, their own behavior."

The audience of college and university presidents, regents and trustees, educators, and legislators listened as Governor Patton praised them for the work they had accomplished since the passage of House Bill 1, the Postsecondary Education Reform Act. The governor said, "I’m particularly encouraged by the progress made by the Kentucky Community and Technical College System to ensure continued accreditation of both the community and technical colleges. I’m also pleased that the research endowment challenge program is off the ground at the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville."

The governor cautioned that now is not the time to rest and become self-satisfied. Citing statistics that show Kentucky still far behind the nation in the number of college graduates, Governor Patton challenged the group to "Become advocates for advanced education in Kentucky, not just advocates for a particular institution or cause. Behave as if your institution is part of a team, because it is. We have to work together or Kentucky will remain a low-tech state in a high-tech world."

Governor Patton concluded his remarks urging support for early childhood development and for his "Education Pays" campaign. "I believe that colleges and universities have critical roles to play in improving the conditions of our children. As I have said, better educated parents rear healthier and better-educated children. If we can increase the number of Kentuckians who participate in education beyond high school, we can improve the lot of children in the generations to come."

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