Capitol Building from Rear Entrance

News Update From the Council on Postsecondary Education
COUNCIL NEWS:

Senate A & R Committee hears from national expert on postsecondary education funding policies

Dennis Jones, president of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, testified before the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee Feb. 12 about higher education funding policies and strategies to more directly tie appropriations to performance outcomes. Jones emphasized the need to align financial aid policies with state appropriations and develop a funding model that focused not only on capacity building, but resource utilization. Jones will speak to the House A&R committee on the same topic later this spring.

STEM Task Force chair, Lee Todd, testifies in support of Senate Bills 1 & 2

UK President and STEM Task Force Chair Lee Todd testified before the Senate Education Committee Feb. 15 on behalf of Senate Bills 1 & 2. The companion bills encourage more rigorous instruction in math and science and provide incentives to draw more math and science teachers into the classroom. The bills were reported favorably out of committee, and were passed by the full Senate Feb. 19. The bills now head to the House for consideration by the House Education Committee. To view Senate Bill 1 and Senate Bill 2 , visit the LRC Web site.

Fletcher outlines priorities in State of the Commonwealth Address

The Governor outlined his legislative and budgetary priorities Feb. 6 in his annual State of the Commonwealth speech. Fletcher endorsed the legislature's intent to restore all vetoed projects, and added a number of postsecondary initiatives to his list of proposals, including an additional $25 million in need-based student aid. Five million of that amount would be dedicated to a new program targeting lower-income working adults with some college. The Governor also indicated interest in creating a broad-based early commitment financial aid program to be introduced in the 2008 session. It would target low-income students in middle and high school who meet certain academic criteria. The Governor proposed the bulk of the budget surplus be devoted to the state's two retirement programs and increasing the rainy day fund.

Data Portal ranks as top search result for postsecondary education data in Google

The new Data Portal on the Council Web site is gaining visibility since its launch in Oct. 2006 and is now ranked as the number four result in a Google search for ‘postsecondary education data.’ Even more notably, the Data Portal is preceded in the search results only by the federal IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) Web site, making it the top state Web site in the search results. The Data Portal features more than 150 tables, graphs, maps and postsecondary education reports in 17 categories. National resources for each category and technical definitions for data terms used throughout the site are also available. For more information, visit the CPE Data Portal.

Student and faculty artwork on display at Council offices

Artwork from students and faculty at Kentucky postsecondary institutions is now on display at the Council offices. Twenty-two pieces of art on loan to the Council from Kentucky State University, Murray State University, University of Louisville, Western Kentucky University, Thomas More College and Georgetown College illustrate the unique talents of Kentucky students and faculty throughout the hallways. All public and independent institutions are encouraged to bring artistic contributions from students and faculty for display for one year. For more information about how your institution can participate, contact Phyllis Bailey

OCTC faculty wins USA Today Entrepreneurship Award

Michael Boyd, an associate professor and program coordinator of the business administration program for the Owensboro Community and Technical College, received the 2007 USA Today Entrepreneurship Faculty of the Year Award by the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship recently at the Fourth Annual NACCE Conference. Boyd was honored for his work in designing an accelerated, learner-driven entrepreneurial team leadership certificate (TLC). The program engages students in dynamic team situations while reinforcing management, leadership and problem solving skills relevant to their field of study. The TLC program was one of three collaborative programs funded in 2004 by the Council’s Collaborative Academic Programs grant. To view the complete news release, visit the USA Today Web site.

KYAE and KET provide new learning opportunity

Kentucky Adult Education and Kentucky Educational Television have partnered to provide more study options for Kentuckians working on their GED. The partnership allows a student to be enrolled at a KYAE adult education center and receive KET’s GED Connection study materials, allowing them to study for their GED test at the adult education center or at home. To participate, students pay a $40 fee to KET and receive a set of KET GED Connection workbooks (a $20 value) and a voucher for their $40 GED testing fee. For more information, visit the KYAE Web site.

CURRENT RESEARCH TOPICS IN EDUCATION:

Advanced Placement Report to the Nation

This second annual Advanced Placement Report by the College Board shows that all 50 states and the District of Columbia have achieved an increase in the percentage of high school students earning a grade of 3 or higher in college-level AP courses since 2000.

The American College President: 2007 Edition

This study by the American Council on Education shows that America’s college presidents are older and holding the job longer than at any time during the past 20 years. The data suggests a coming changing of the guard in campus leadership, but the authors say the implications for racial and gender diversity at the presidential level remain unclear.

Survey of State Tuition, Fees, and Financial Assistance Policies for Public Colleges and Univerisities

This SHEOO survey is not an inventory of tuition, fee, and financial aid levels per se, but rather addresses the philosophy and rationale behind decision-making in the states and the various influences on individual programs and policies.

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