KCTCS regents review policy options for SJR 179 action plan
Published on Sep 23, 2024
Quarles: ‘Once-in-a-generation opportunity to reset, realign, reengineer and reenergize’
The Kentucky Community and Technical College System’s work to improve and advance the existing system in response to SJR 179 is well under way and on schedule.
Passed earlier this year during the session and with input from KCTCS, the resolution provides the opportunity to recommend a roadmap to legislators on how to reset the system to better serve students, employers, the workforce and citizens in the future.
“I believe this resolution is an opportunity to transform KCTCS, while celebrating all that we have become over the past 25 years,” said KCTCS President Ryan Quarles. “It is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for us to reset, realign, reengineer and reenergize KCTCS.”
At a meeting last week in Henderson, the board of regents spent 2 1/2 hours discussing the draft policy options researched and developed by five faculty and staff work teams. The options cover 11 topics and span the key areas of governance and structure, academic programming, student pathways, affordability and administrative areas.
Quarles estimates that the more than 40 faculty and staff across the system serving on the teams, in addition to other staff, have spent more than 5,000 hours developing the policy options that cover nearly all facets of the system and its 16 colleges.
Their research has included consultation with the current accrediting body and other agencies, research and benchmarking higher education case studies, analysis of internal and external data, evaluation of postsecondary governance models, the Huron study findings, feedback from internal and external stakeholders, among other data specific to each area of study.
About a month ago, the realignment, innovation and advocacy committee, the group that approves the options of the work teams, made an early recommendation to preserve college-level accreditation and to focus on increasing shared services and seamless integration across the system.
This recommendation followed months of study, intensive review and input from other states that have made changes to strengthen their systems. The reason for the early recommendation was that other topics under consideration were dependent upon the type of accreditation.
“We know we have improvements to make, and we are facing these challenges head-on,” said Quarles. “It is important as we move forward that our recommendations best serve our students while causing as minimal disruption as possible across the system.”
In addition to the level of disruption, other decision criteria included anticipated associated costs, anticipated associated savings, the time required for completion and implementation, and opportunity costs.
A board of regents meeting will be held later this fall to continue the discussion. The regents will vote on the final recommendations for legislative consideration at their Dec. 5-6 meeting.
The plan is due to the Legislative Research Commission Dec. 10, and a presentation is also scheduled that day to the Interim Joint Committee on Education.
All policy recommendations for the SJR 179 action plan will support the system’s mission as the state’s open access and lowest-cost provider of higher education and workforce development.
In action items, the board approved the following:
- Internal audit plan for Fiscal Year 2024-25.
- OPEB Trust Administrative Committee decisions.
- Personnel actions.
- Revisions to the board of regents’ bylaws.
- A scope increase for the Big Sandy Community and Technical College Pikeville chiller replacement.
- The naming of the Robert and Mary Tincher Campus Community Center at Southcentral Kentucky Community and Technical College.
- Candidates for credentials.
The regents also heard a wide range of updates: a Henderson Community College presentation, chair’s report, president’s report, state examination, audit committee, OPEB Trust Report, compression, forensic audit, fire commission, financial report, workforce and economic development annual report, philanthropy, certificate and program approvals, credential suspensions, online learning assessment, enrollment, strategic plan, and tracking graduate employment.
For more information on SJR 179, visit A Roadmap for Our Future: SJR 179.
