Leaders of Kentucky’s public and private universities and colleges gathered Tuesday for the 2018 Postsecondary Education Symposium.
In his midday address, Governor Matt Bevin urged the participants to think outside the traditional higher education framework.
Bevin spent the first portion of his speech touching on subjects like engineering and manufacturing excellence, workforce training and creating wise and useful citizenry as spelled out by George Washington.
Later, he asked some pointed questions about a number of higher ed issues. “Why do we have two different medical schools, an hour apart, competing with each other. Fighting with each other over everything from dollars and funding and students and faculty, why….why?” asked Bevin.
Bevin said a $5 million state appropriation in pediatric cancer research is reaping collaboration between the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville.
He also asked why there are 16 regional community and technical colleges with 16 different presidents.
The keynote address came from Arizona State University President Michael Crow. He responded to a question about college graduates lacking communication skills in the workplace. “There may be some employers who say your kids don’t know how to communicate or whatever. I’d become skeptical of those people when they say things like that. What are you talking about? What are you doing to enhance the educational outcomes of your employees?” asked Crow.
Bevin committed to holding another symposium a year from now.
© 2018 WEKU
