By McKenna Horsley
Kentucky Lantern
The Kentucky Community and Technical College System Board of Regents approved 11 recommendations for changes to the system in response to a directive earlier this year from the state legislature.
The recommendations include changes to KCTCS’ governance, making the system the sole provider of dual credit courses in Kentucky and evaluating areas for possible mergers and consolidations.
Senate Joint Resolution 179, passed by the General Assembly earlier this year, directed KCTCS to review and report findings on ways to improve the functionally of the two-year college system. The legislature set a Dec. 10 deadline for the report. The 11 recommendations will be presented to lawmakers on the Interim Joint Committee on Education next week.
KCTCS President Ryan Quarles described the meeting to discuss the recommendations as an opportunity for the college system to “redefine ourselves.”
The 11 recommendations are:
• Strengthen academic training and program offerings.
• Establish a comprehensive KCTCS workforce plan that may include financial and academic supports, career counseling and experiential learning elements.
• Evaluate KCTCS’ geographical footprint, including the need for merger and consolidations.
• Preserve college-level accreditation and focus on shared services and integration across KCTCS.
• Reform KCTCS governance, including the makeup of the Board of Regents.
• Recommend a 100% outcomes-based funding model for KCTCS if the legislature will set KCTCS’ state appropriations at or above the average rate of comparable states.
• Expand credential eligibility and funding for the Work Ready Scholarship.
• Make no changes to the KCTCS personnel system.
• KCTCS should be the sole provider of dual credit in Kentucky. Dual credit allows high school students to take college-level courses and earn college credit.
• Address transferability of associate degrees to four-year institutions.
• Repeal outdated language and statutes in state law.
Quarles became president of KCTCS in January amid concerns raised by several reviews, audits and studies. KCTCS released findings from a forensic audit in November, which found no fraud or criminal behavior but a need to improve internal policies and procedures.
Findings from a Huron Consulting Group study and audits were part of the foundation for the General Assembly’s resolution calling on KCTCS to examine itself. That legislation was carried by Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester.
While presenting the recommendations to the board, Quarles, a former Kentucky agriculture commissioner and Republican state representative, recalled his own legislative experience. He emphasized that the 11 points were merely recommendations.
“It is rare to have a piece of legislation where you agree with 100% of what’s in it,” Quarles said. “So, I’m asking you to do something that can transform this organization.”
Before the board voted on the recommendations, board Secretary Brianna Sanders Whitten made a motion to vote separately on the recommended changes to KCTCS’ governance, but the motion failed.
The full recommendation includes changing the terms of appointed board members to four years instead of six with the chance to be reappointed.
All board members present Thursday ultimately voted in favor of the 11 recommendations.
KCTCS has more than 100,000 students across 16 colleges in Kentucky.
The system is currently facing a whistleblower lawsuit from a former chief of staff, Hannah Rivera, who alleges she faced retaliation for making “numerous good faith reports of waste, mismanagement, and violations of the laws of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.” In her complaint, Rivera said she wrote the legislation that became SJR 179. A motion hour will be held in the case next week — after the legislature’s education committee meeting.
The board went behind closed doors during Thursday’s meeting for a 45-minute executive session to discuss proposed or pending litigation.