Eastern Kentucky University: Economic Engine

Education

Written by John Zorabedian

Sunday, 01 June 2008

Eastern Kentucky University: Economic Engine - American Executive - RedCoat Publishing

Dr. Doug Whitlock describes this public university's plan to transform Southeast Kentucky.

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Good education is the foundation of the economy, and the seminal mission of Eastern Kentucky University (EKU), located 25 miles from Lexington in the heart of Bluegrass country, was to train teachers for the state’s public schools. Dr. Doug Whitlock, newly inaugurated as the 11th president of the university, is moving the public institution in a new direction, with a plan to make EKU the region’s economic engine.

The 22 counties EKU serves are some of the least educated and most economically depressed in the country, and EKU provides the best opportunity for an affordable education that can lead to job creation and higher earnings for the regional population. “One thing we have not done as well as we should have over the years is meet the needs of our 22-county service region,” said Whitlock, who came out of retirement this year to replace the outgoing president. “The task I have ahead of me is to preserve the mission and integrity of the university but with a new focus—most of it is wrapped up in regional service and public engagement.”

Dr. Doug Whitlock, President

Whitlock said the university’s plan to engage its service area involves more than providing better educational attainment for the population. It also means creating new businesses, growing the number of graduates with skills in the fields of nursing and criminal justice, and providing strategic assistance in tackling the region’s economic and social ills, including pervasive drug abuse. This process, to be effective, will have to be largely stakeholder driven. “We are not presenting ourselves as having the answers to the problems of others. We want to work with them to identify the solutions,” he said.

Teacher education remains an important part of what EKU does, Whitlock said, but, through its college of arts and sciences, college of justice and safety, health sciences college, and college of business, EKU is providing key job training and education. “Our ability to build an institution of 15,700 students right beside the University of Kentucky has been dependent on our ability to fill niches and meet society’s needs that were not being met.”

Coal country
Nestled in the Appalachian region between the South, the Northeast, and the plains of the upper Midwest, Kentucky is sometimes a forgotten place. The region has lived and died on the basis of the coal economy, but new coal production in recent years has not produced a stable supply of jobs. In this environment, the rural counties of Eastern Kentucky need job training for a global and technology-driven economy.

The state’s economic policy objective is to double the number of people in Kentucky with a degree. College graduates could nearly double their earnings, from a regional average of $23,000 per year to more than $45,000, Whitlock said. “We’ve got to work with communities and the counties in this area to help them develop through entrepreneurship, through our small business center, to support economic development to generate jobs for these folks we want to educate,” he said. “Otherwise, the sucking sound you hear will be the educated folks leaving.”

Through a developing partnership with Morehead State University, EKU plans to help transform the regional economy. That’s a tall order for a public institution, but Whitlock said the programs EKU offers are uniquely positioned to help train workers and students for a new economy. “We are organized in a very effective fashion to deal with the issues within regional stewardship,” he said. “We have a lot of resources and expertise, but there is a significant amount of dot connecting to do.”

In the fall, EKU will launch its first doctoral program in its history for developing teacher-leaders to help improve Kentucky’s struggling rural public schools. Many of the region’s school children graduate without basic language and math skills, and EKU offers remedial courses to help disadvantaged students. But intervention at the elementary and secondary schools of the region is far more effective than remedial offerings in college.

To reach out across the region, EKU has satellite campuses in several locations around its main campus in Richmond, in Madison County. A new facility in Manchester recently opened, and another facility is under development in Lancaster, 13 miles from Richmond. Satellite campuses, in addition to remote course offerings through the Internet and by two-way television, help give many more rural people access to EKU’s educational offerings. “Being place-bound is a particular problem for people in our service area,” Whitlock said.

The university also plans to initiate a program to place education liaisons in each of the counties of its service area. In a pilot program in Madison County and two other counties, these education agents help broker services for the local populations. Those services include healthcare, which is limited in rural areas of the state by a shortage of trained nurses. The nursing school at EKU, in coordination with regional healthcare providers, will need to graduate more nurses who will stay local to serve the area. EKU’s masters program in occupational therapy is one of the top 25 in the country, according to US News & World Report rankings.

Public funding
Kentucky’s state budget crisis has meant repeated cuts to fund its university system over the years, and funding for EKU’s general budget is increasingly covered by student tuitions. This has meant hikes in the cost of an education and more dependence on needs-based and merit scholarships to help students and their families pay for a degree.

“That has caused public institutions to begin to look more like the private sector in terms of funding mix and in our practices on student financial assistance,” Whitlock said. “Tuition discounting is part of the normal life of a private institution and is a significant factor for public schools now, too.”

Stepping into his role as president this year, Whitlock, who has worked for EKU in many capacities in the past 38 years, said he brings a leadership style conducive to bringing along stakeholders in a non-hierarchical institution. “A college or university is a complex organization,” Whitlock said. “While we do have a hierarchy, we don’t have the same degree of top-down management as you find in a number of places. Basically, I try to be a normative leader and convince people the things that we need to do are the right things to do.”

The credit crunch that has impacted the broader economy has also made it harder for students to get approved for loans, and some students might not be able to afford school in the current economic climate. But Whitlock expects EKU’s enrollment to continue to grow, as more students seek better career opportunities and better-paying jobs. In an economic downturn, enrollment at public universities tends to go up, as people out of the job market seek more education for their next career.

“We’ll know this fall to what extent any of those things play out this time around,” Whitlock said. “We’ll have an increase in our enrollment this year, but we won’t know the exact size until they show up for class.”

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