CPE President Bob King, at left, awarded plaques to Ken Winters, Dan Kelly, Carl Rollins and Harry Moberly, Jr., not pictured. CPE Senior VP Aaron Thompson, at right, accepted for Moberly.

Pictured above (clockwise): Ken Winters, Carl Rollins, Dan Kelly and Harry Moberly, Jr.

The Council on Postsecondary Education recently honored four Kentucky legislators for their “leadership, vision and forethought” that led to the passage of Senate Bill 1 (2009).

SB 1 is a significant piece of legislation that resulted in several education initiatives to improve college readiness and degree completion in Kentucky.

Sen. Ken Winters (R-Murray) and Rep. Carl Rollins (D-Midway), along with former legislators Sen. Dan Kelly (R-Springfield) and Rep. Harry Moberly, Jr. (D-Richmond) were recognized at the Council’s national forum on the new common core standards held recently in Louisville. Dr. Aaron Thompson, Council senior vice president, academic affairs, accepted the award for Moberly who was unable to attend.

In making the presentation, Council President Bob King told the approximately 380 national and state educators in attendance that the legislators have “changed the lives of Kentucky’s children and brightened the future of the Commonwealth.”

Kentucky is widely considered a national model for its successful implementation of the Common Core Standards. SB 1 required a collaborative approach between school districts, universities and teacher preparation programs to ensure student college and career readiness.

Winters chairs the Senate Education Committee and sits on budget review subcommittees on education, primary and secondary education, and postsecondary education. He also serves on the Education Assessment and Accountability Review Subcommittee. Winters will retire at the end of his current term.

Rollins chairs the House Education Committee and sits on budget review subcommittees on postsecondary education, primary and secondary education.

Kelly, now serving as a circuit judge for the 11^th Circuit Court in Kentucky, held legislative office from 1991-2009, acting as Senate Majority Floor Leader for nine years. He also served on the Budget Appropriations and Revenue Committee.

Moberly, who retired from the General Assembly in 2010, is the former chair of the Appropriations and Revenue Committee. He also served on the House Education Committee and on budget review subcommittees on postsecondary education and primary and secondary education, as well as the Education Assessment and Accountability Review Subcommittee.

New CEO Membership

• Kim Barber, Georgetown
• JoAnne Bland, Louisville
• Jerome Bowles, Southgate
• Juan Castro, Lexington
• Dennis Jackson, Paducah, CPE member
• John Johnson, Louisville, executive director, Kentucky Commission on Human Rights
• Arthur Lucas, Lexington
• Kirby O’Donoghue, Murray, CPE member
• Lisa Osborne, Carrolton, CPE member
• Willis Polk, Versailles
• Rep. Carl Rollins, Midway
• Wendell Thomas, Smithfield
• Joseph Weis, Louisville, CEO Chair and CPE member
• David Welch, Ashland

The final member will be appointed at the Council’s April meeting. Appointments include both two and four-year terms.

Campus Diversity Plans

• Eastern Kentucky University Diversity Plan
• Kentucky Community and Technical College Diversity Plan
• Kentucky State University Diversity Plan
• Morehead State University Diversity Plan
• Murray State University Diversity Plan
• Northern Kentucky University Diversity Plan
• University of Kentucky Diversity Plan
• University of Louisville Diversity Plan
• Western Kentucky University Diversity Plan

Council on Postsecondary Education Chair Pam Miller appointed 14 people to serve on the new Committee on Equal Opportunities (CEO) at the February Council meeting. The CEO provides oversight of the Council’s Statewide Diversity Policy, which recognizes diversity as a vital component of the state’s educational and economic development.

The CEO has a fundamental interest in assisting Kentucky’s public postsecondary institutions with developing a diverse student body and workforce, as well as closing achievement gaps particularly for lower-income, underprepared and underrepresented minority students.

Dr. Aaron Thompson, CPE’s senior vice president for academic affairs, said, “Research shows that diversity increases critical and creative thought. We know that people learn more from people that are different from them than they do from those who are similar to them.  Diversity of people, diversity of thought and diversity of programs should be the protocol of our campuses.”

The CEO members include four CPE members, a legislator, the executive director of the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights and diverse individuals from across Kentucky. Dr. Rana Johnson is the Council’s Chief Diversity Officer and staff liaison to the CEO.

The CEO acknowledges:

• Diversity as a vital component in the state’s educational and economic development.
• The importance of promoting awareness and inclusion.
• Community engagement, civic responsibility, and service to advance diverse/underserved populations.
• The importance of nurturing, training, and producing students with the ability to interact effectively with individuals from different cultures (cross cultural competence).
• The importance of preparing a diverse workforce— culturally competent, and highly educated to compete in a global society—to attract businesses to the commonwealth.

In November, the new 2011-15 diversity plans developed by Kentucky’s public universities and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System received final approval by the Council. Implementation of these plans is now well under way. The plans were based on the framework provided by the Statewide Diversity Policy, adopted September 2010.

Each campus plan addresses four critical areas–student body diversity, achievement gaps (student success), workforce diversity, and campus climate.

The CEO will work collaboratively with the public postsecondary institutions to ensure that over a reasonable period of time, and within established constitutional parameters, the student body reflects the diversity of the communities that each institution serves.

Data and gap analysis will be conducted regularly to measure institutional performance towards achieving the objectives of the diversity policy, as well as the institutional diversity plans.

The Council on Postsecondary Education elected Pam Miller of Lexington as chair and Dan Flanagan of Campbellsville as vice chair. Both will serve one-year terms.

Gov. Steve Beshear appointed Miller to the Council in June 2008. She has served as vice chair for two years.

“I am honored to chair the Council at this critical time in our history when the universities and K-12 public schools are collaborating so closely and successfully to improve student success in Kentucky,” said Miller.

Miller is the former mayor of Lexington-Fayette County, serving from 1993 to 2003, and previously was a longtime member of the Urban County Council from 1974 to 1977 and 1980 to 1993. Miller is a former chair of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence. In addition to teaching history and French in Connecticut, she worked for the Congressional Quarterly in Washington, D.C. She received her bachelor’s degree in history from Smith College in Northampton, Mass.

Flanagan, who was first appointed to the CPE in 2005, is now in his second term having been re-appointed by Beshear. He resumes the post of vice chair, which he held previously for three one-year terms.

“These are tough budget times, but I am confident that Kentucky will continue making gains in educational attainment and in the quality of our workforce by focusing on our priorities and achieving greater efficiencies,” said Flanagan.

Flanagan operates a large farming business and is a retired pastor. He has held several positions in state government, including deputy commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture and various positions at Campbellsville University.

He holds degrees from the University of Louisville’s Kent School of Social Work, the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Campbellsville University.

The Council is a statewide coordinating agency whose board is comprised of 15 members, including 13 citizens, one faculty member, and one student appointed by the Governor. The Commissioner of Education is an ex-officio member.

University of Kentucky Provost Kumble Subbaswamy, at right, accepted the 2011 Expanding Research Capacity award on behalf of CPE and the state’s universities from Dan Berglund, President & CEO, State Science and Technology Institute.

Kentucky Adult Education is now offering free GED testing to eligible Kentuckians on a first-come, first-served basis through June 30 or until federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA) incentive funds are expended.

A series of public service radio ads will promote the free testing so that more Kentuckians can learn of the opportunity.

The GED tests provide adults who did not finish high school with the opportunity to certify their attainment of high school-level academic knowledge and skills.  Free GED classes are available through local adult education programs in all 120 Kentucky counties.

Free testing in 2011 led to a 10 percent increase in the number of Kentuckians earning a GED.  A total of 10,294 GEDs were earned in Kentucky in 2010-11.

Kentuckians interested in taking advantage of free classes and the time-limited free GED testing should contact the adult education center in their county to discuss how to get started.  To find the local adult education center, call (800) 928-7323 or visit http://knowhow2goky.org.

We are pleased to offer free testing because it will help many Kentuckians re-energize their education and careers. For many Kentuckians, earning a GED is a necessary first step toward college and career with a family-sustaining wage.”

– CPE President Bob King

The summit, targeted toward higher education faculty and staff, will showcase high impact student success practices as part of the state’s focus to increase completion rates and close achievement gaps.

The agenda includes presentations by these nationally known speakers:

• George Kuh, adjunct professor at the University of Illinois and Chancellor’s Professor of Higher Education Emeritus at Indiana University Bloomington.
• Joe Cuseo, professor emeritus, psychology, and educational consultant.
• Tom DeWit, co-director of Acceleration in Context.
• Larry Abele, director, Institute for Academic Leadership, and provost emeritus, Florida State University.

A draft agenda as well as speaker bios can be accessed from the Council’s website. For more information on the conference, contact Wesley.Holbrook@ky.gov.

Nearly 380 attendees from 22 states representing K-12, higher education, policymakers and education advocates had the opportunity to hear information from five plenary sessions and participate in 34 break-out sessions.

The videos highlight implementation successes, challenges and next steps by state and national speakers.

• Fireside chat
• What would statewide collaboration look like in a perfect world?
• What does it mean to be college and career ready?
• Structures for statewide communication and collaboration
• Gov. Steve Beshear’s remarks
• Reflections from CRP state representatives: constituent reactions to the Common Assessment Consortia (PARCC and Smarter Balanced) proposals for assessments of college readiness
• Gap analysis: what needs to be done to implement the CSS?
• The Kentucky road map for CCSS implementation

For a list of session descriptions and speakers, view the webcast agenda.

Presentation materials are available on the Council’s website.