Kentucky's Council on Postsecondary Education is holding a series of nine public
forums through October. The purpose is to invite public comment on whether Kentucky's
1997 House Bill 1 set the right strategic goals for higher education, whether
those are still the right goals to aim for and whether higher education officials
are still asking the right questions.
The 1997 Postsecondary Education Improvement Act set six strategic goals:
• A seamless, integrated system of postsecondary education planned and funded to enhance economic development and quality of life.
• A major comprehensive research institution (University of Kentucky) ranked nationally in the top 20 public universities.
• A premier, nationally recognized metropolitan research university (University of Louisville).
• Regional universities, with at least one nationally recognized program of distinction, working cooperatively with other postsecondary institutions.
• A comprehensive community and technical college system.
• An efficient, responsive and coordinated system of autonomous institutions that delivers educational services in quantities and quality comparable to the national average.
The legislation posed five strategic questions:
• Are more Kentuckians ready for college?
• Are more students enrolling?
• Are students advancing through the system?
• Are we preparing Kentuckians for life and work?
• Are Kentucky's communities and economy benefiting?
The nine public forums will be held from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on the following dates and sites:
• Sept. 29: Covington, Holmes High School, 2500 Madison Ave., for the Northern Kentucky and Buffalo Trace Area Development Districts (counties of Boone, Campbell, Kenton, Carroll, Gallatin, Grant Owen, Pendleton, Bracken, Fleming, Lewis, Mason and Robertson).
• Oct. 4: Louisville, DuPont Manual High School, 120 W. Lee St., for the KIPDA Area Development District.
• Oct. 12: Prestonsburg, Prestonsburg High School, 825 Blackcat Boulevard, Big Sandy ADD.
• Oct. 13: Manchester, Clay County High School, 415 Clay County High Road, Cumberland Valley and Kentucky River ADDs.
• Oct. 14: Lexington, Henry Clay High School, 2100 Fontaine Road, Bluegrass ADD.
• Oct 19: Ashland, Paul Blazer High School, 1500 Blazer Boulevard, FIVCO and Gateway ADDs.
• Oct. 25: Paducah, Lone Oak High School, 225 John E. Robinson Avenue, Purchase ADD.
• Oct. 26: Madisonville, Madisonville North Hopkins High School, 4515 Hanson road, Pennyrile and Green River ADDs.
• Oct. 27: Glasgow, Barren County High School, 507 Trojan Trail, Barren River, Lake Cumberland and Lincoln Trail ADDs.
For more information, call (502) 573-1555 or go online at www.cpe.state.ky.us or www.gohigherky.org.
SUNDAY FORUM
The region's looming health crisis
• Meet the panel
• Healthbites
• What you can do now
• Fight back with small actions
• Take the pledge
EDITORIALS
We can battle this crisis together
You can help boost Ky. college grad rates
Ky. test scores don't tell whole story
Letters to the editor
