Thursday, December 09, 1999
Study: New college needed
School to address literacy, training
BY ANDREA TORTORA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS — Northern Kentucky needs a new community college with a focus on literacy and vocational skills, says a study released Wednesday.
Its recommendations are what the region's education, business and community leaders expected: develop more ways to improve worker train ing, as well as improve graduate degree offerings.
The big decisions now are where to put the facility and how the region's other colleges will participate in the project.
“This project will be a model for the future of two-year postsecondary education in Kentucky,” said Michael McCall, president of the Kentucky Community and Techni cal College System. “This is indeed an exciting opportunity before us.”
The study, completed by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems in Boulder, Colo., found that access to education is lacking for:
• Students who are not well prepared for college.
• Those seeking state-of-the-art vocational/technical programs.
• Employers who need courses tailored to their needs.
To better serve those populations, the study recommends an eight-year development plan with the initial academic focus on literacy and vocational training.
Northern Kentucky University would remain a strong partner, providing general academic courses and associate degree programs.
NKU President James Votruba said he supports the study's ideas.
“I think that the study will be very helpful in our planning for an expanded community college presence,” Dr. Votruba said.
The study suggests filling the community college needs in several locations:
• Basic skills courses would be offered in Covington, continuing the accomplishments of the Urban Learning Center.
• Basic skills, general courses and majors that need no equipment other than computers would be offered in the southern part of the region.
• Employer-oriented short courses would be offered near the airport.
Covington City Commissioner J.T. Spence, who supports placing a community college in Covington, said vocational courses should be kept close to urban populations.
“It's common to the field now that you need to put educational opportunities close to the population that will use them,” Mr. Spence said.
“Covington has access to a lot of mass transportation.”
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