Kentucky's future
Todd telling hard truths about state, UK
(Lexington Herald-Leader - September 27, 2005)
A legislature looking for direction, or a governor looking to salvage a legacy, could do no better than recommitting to give this state a Top 20 public university.
As University of Kentucky President Lee Todd reminds us, "Top 20 universities go hand-in-hand with more educated and healthier populations. Average household incomes are higher in states with Top 20 universities. Unemployment rates are lower and fewer public dollars are spent on health care. These states also have healthier children and fewer people living in poverty."
Todd is gearing up to ask lawmakers and taxpayers to make good on the promises of the 1997 higher education reform act. By the time the General Assembly convenes in January, Todd plans to have put a 15-year price tag on reaching the goals.
And in a message last week that went campus-wide, he talked about it in a refreshingly blunt and straightforward way.
"The recent period of lean budgets makes it hard to have confidence in our chances," he says. "But if we do not put a specific statement of cost in front of the governor and the members of the General Assembly, we cannot blame them for not giving us the resources we need."
Todd wants to give Kentucky a better-educated population the old-fashioned way: by educating more students at UK.
Todd envisions a substantial enrollment increase, but only if it can be preceded by substantial increases in the number of faculty to teach and advise and better faculty pay.
"Tight budgets in Frankfort made it impossible to increase our faculty to keep pace with our student growth," he said. "Our student/faculty ratio has suffered, and we are putting at risk the quality of the education our students receive.''
Todd was just as honest about the demographic challenges: "The under-18 population in Kentucky is flattening. And we do not have enough jobs right now for the educated work force we produce ...
"We are 47th in work force education, 42nd in high-tech jobs, 33rd in the number of the fastest growing companies, 45th in the number of scientists and engineers."
While Kentucky's elected leaders have been too chicken to raise taxes to pay for future prosperity, other states have been investing heavily in higher education, research and technology: $1 billion in Indiana, $3.1 billion in North Carolina, $250 million in South Carolina and $3 billion in California.
Ohioans will vote next month on investing $500 million over the next seven years in research, development and competitive commercialization projects. Wisconsin's governor is seeking a major investment in research.
Kentucky and UK made some important gains in the 1990s but are in danger of losing them without stronger state support.
"The time has come for Kentucky to risk and reach, unencumbered by the hollow safety of the predictable, the accepted and the secure," says Todd.
It's an overdue and important message. Let's hope the right people are listening