SCC again is listed among ‘fastest-growing’

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SCC is again listed as one of the “fast-growing” community colleges in the nation, according to Community College Week. File Photo

December 5, 2008

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By CHRIS HARRIS, CJ Staff Writer The Commonwealth Journal Fri Dec 05, 2008, 03:42 AM EST

Higher education is one of the areas squeezed tightest by Kentucky’s budget crisis. Higher tuition, declining numbers of undergraduates, and cuts to programs have put academics on shaky ground in the Bluegrass.

Somerset Community College, however, seems to be rising above the fray.

For the second time in the last three years, the area’s own institute of advanced learning, has been recognized as one of the nation’s fastest growing schools of its kind by the publication Community College Week.

The monthly newspaper which reports on two-year colleges, ranked SCC as one of the top 50 community colleges in the 5,000 to 9,999 student category, placing 18th on the list.

That’s up 12 spots from its last appearance on in these rankings. In 2006, Community College Week recognized SCC as tied for the 30th place on the list.

At that time, the periodical noted that SCC had an increase of 4.4 in student enrollment between the Fall 2004 and Fall 2005 semesters, increasing from 5,819 students to 6,075.

This year the newspaper compared Fall 2006 enrollment with Fall 2007 enrollment, which increased 12.6 percent from 6,317 students to 7,110 students.

There are 248 community colleges with enrollments between 5,000 and 9,999 in the United States.

Unfortunately, higher enrollment lists don’t necessary mean success. The title of the Community College Week story was “Squeezed: As Enrollment Surges, Funding Shrinks; Sagging Economy Puts Pressure on Community Colleges.”

SCC is feeling that crunch as well — a looming four percent cut in state funding means that the school will have to find ways to cut an additional $387,000 from an already tight budget.

“Traditionally, community college enrollment increases during an economic downturn,” said Dr. Jo Marshall, President and CEO of SCC. “While our state funding was cut six percent as of July 1, 2008, we did experience a smaller increase in enrollment in the Fall 2008 semester. It is difficult to accommodate more students when we had to eliminate 13 jobs. We were fortunate at that time because nearly all of the people holding those jobs decided to retire, so we didn’t have to lay anybody off.”

In addition to the cuts in state funding, SCC and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System were limited to a 5.3 percent tuition increase by the Council on Post-Secondary Education. KCTCS had asked for a 13 percent tuition increase, while granting the state’s four-year colleges their full tuition requests.

Tuition at SCC and all KCTCS colleges is $121 per credit hour. A traditional 3-credit-hour class will cost $390. In comparison, the University of Kentucky charges $307 per credit-hour for incoming freshmen, so traditional 3-credit-hour course will cost $921. One-credit-hour at Eastern Kentucky University is $253.34 making a three-credit-hour course $760.02.

Budget cuts at SCC have meant canceling classes with low enrollments, limiting the number of part-time professors, and increasing the class sizes and number of classes taught by full-time faculty.

“This really has put SCC between the rock and the hard place,” Marshall explained. “We have more people wanting to go to SCC, but we have fewer professors to teach those classes. The biggest percentage of our operating budget is for personnel, so that’s almost the only place we can cut expenses. It boils down to fewer classes, larger numbers of students in each class, and bigger workloads for our full-time faculty.”

Despite the fact that tuition for KCTCS schools is less than half that of Kentucky’s regional universities, such as EKU, and two and a half times less than UK’s tuition, a survey done by the National Council of State Directors of Community Colleges indicates that funding for community colleges in the United States declined 5.2 percent between 2007 and 2008, while regional universities experienced only a 3.7 percent decrease and flagship universities only suffered a 1.8 percent decline in funding.

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Pulaski carries Girdler to win

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election, it was impossible to miss the colorful signs dotting nearly every Pulaski roadway. The names in the race for the 15th State Senatorial District seat popped out: A.C. Donahue. Chris Girdler. Mark Polston.

Once citizens hit the ballots, however, the results mirrored the dimensions of the signs themselves: Chris Girdler stood the tallest.

Girdler, deputy district director for Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, ran away with the votes inside Pulaski County’s borders, earning 3,926 votes for 62.05 percent of the total number cast.

That number more than doubled the next highest vote-getter, businessman Mark Polston, who raked in 1,624 votes for 25.67 percent.

However, Polston — who owns Classic Carpet, a home-flooring business located just off the southern 914 bypass — can claim a moral victory ... three of them, in fact. In all three counties in the district other than Pulaski — those being Adair, Casey, and Russell Counties — Polston actually edged out Girdler.

In Adair, Polston beat Girdler 629 to 394. In Casey County, it was 538 to 417, and in Russell, it was 1,862 to 1,038.

Polston said he just “couldn’t pull it out with the numbers” and that “the machine worked for” Girdler in Pulaski County.

“I think that was their strategy — I think they had a Pulaski County strategy all along,” said Polston. “They played the political game well.”

Polston said the difference between his and Girdler’s campaigns was that “mine was a very, very grass roots campaign,” he said. “I did not have a political machine behind me. I understand how this process works, and in this instance, he prevailed.”

As for why Girdler didn’t take three of four counties, the winning candidate — since there are no Democrats in the race, winning the Republican primary was effectively a final victory for Girdler — said he didn’t have an answer for that.

However, “I believe things happen for a reason and I hope the long and strenuous campaign will only heighten my desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,” said Girdler.

“Regionalism is a goal of mine, and I look forward to helping all four counties,” he added, noting that he campaigned heavily in each of them.

Sen. Vernie McGaha, the long-time state senator whose seat the candidates were vying for, actually supported Polston after Liberty’s Todd Hoskins dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Donahue, a local attorney, got 556 votes in Pulaski County, 8.79 percent of the vote. He only received 145 votes in Russell County, 74 in Adair County, and 75 in Casey County, where hometown candidate Hoskins almost matched him with 71 votes despite no longer being officially in the race.

Polston said he’s “still digesting” what happened, and though “the process has been a very good experience for me,” he wouldn’t commit to running again in the future. “I wouldn’t shut the door to anything, but I’m not opening any doors either.”

Still, “I think I got a lot of people involved in the process that had not been involved before and would not have been otherwise,” he said. “A lot of people got out and worked really hard, got motivated to talk to friends and neighbors. I think a lot of people became involved through this campaign that are going to be involved for a long time.”

Girdler stressed his “positive message” and said that Rogers is a “mentor and good friend” that he would turn to for advice in dealing with a frequently combative legislative body in Frankfort, one for which Girdler hopes to help change the culture.

Girdler said that he was “confident and optimistic” during the day Tuesday because he’d “worked extremely hard.” Nevertheless, the realization that he’d won gave him “chill bumps,” he said.

“I’m absolutely honored,” said Girdler. “The position of state senator is more than an honor, more than an office. It’s a charge to keep, and I will give it my all.

“I pledge to be the people’s state senator,” he added. “I look forward to working with everyone to move this region forward.”

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