May 29, 2007
Bowling
Green, Ky. - Al Rider sees a gift of 20 acres to Western Kentucky University as “a gift to the future of the Lincoln Trail area.”
Rider, president and CEO of the North Central Education Foundation, said the foundation is giving the land adjacent to the Elizabethtown Community and Technical College (ECTC) campus to help WKU increase bachelor and graduate degree programs. The additional programs will provide the necessary educational opportunities to enhance economic development in the eight-county Lincoln Trail Area Development District.
The land is tentatively appraised at $1.3 million, Rider said, but the value of what will develop there cannot be calculated.
Education will be the key to developing a workforce that can meet the needs of employers. Two major developments—the relocation of the U.S. Army Human Resources Command and an infantry division to Ft. Knox and a 1500-acre industrial park near Glendale—will have a significant impact on the economic future of the area, Rider said.
“This region is facing one of the most dramatic opportunities for economic development our Commonwealth has ever experienced,” WKU President Gary Ransdell said. “As a result of the Base Realignment and Closure process, WKU will gear up to meet the educational needs of the military and provide the necessary educational support to make these opportunities successful. These opportunities will enhance the quality of life for the current residents of this area, and those civilians coming here through the military.”
Dr. Ransdell said House Bill 1 in 1997 created the Central Region Postsecondary Education Center “which married WKU and ECTC to meet the postsecondary needs of this area. Hardin County is at the heart of WKU’s primary service area. We value our partnership with ECTC and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System and take our responsibility in this region very seriously. We will work with the elected officials in the region and state, our federal delegation and our educational partners to make these programs a success.”
Dr. Ransdell said the impact of the North Central Education Foundation on the educational landscape of the region is significant. The foundation, created in 1960, purchased 227 acres and helped establish Elizabethtown Community College and Elizabethtown Technical College in the mid-1960s. The foundation also donated land for the Central Region Postsecondary Education Center, which houses programs for the combined ECTC and WKU.
“The leadership of North Central has played a pivotal role in bringing educational opportunities to this region,” Dr. Ransdell said. “With this gift, they are taking this vision to a new level that will enhance the quality of life here for many generations to come.”
WKU currently shares space with ECTC in Phase I of the Central Region Postsecondary Education Center. Phase II, which is in planning, will provide additional space, but will not be enough to meet the growing needs of the region, Dr. Ransdell said. “To meet current needs, and certainly to address the growing higher education demands, it is imperative that additional facility space be developed soon,” he said.
Initial discussions have included additional programs in teacher education, health sciences, human services and business and human resources. In addition to the jobs being created for local residents, more than 6,000 people are expected to move into the area by 2010 as a part of the changes at Ft. Knox.
“The projected growth in this region will put tremendous pressure on the school systems and increasing the demand of additional teachers and school administrators,” Dr. Ransdell said. The growth will also place pressure on other areas such as health services, he said.
In addition, up to half of the 3,500 jobs in the Army’s Human Resources Command may be filled from the local workforce, which will need the appropriate educational credentials that WKU can provide.
“The Human Resources Command informs us that they will need active college involvement for training and for providing degree options for a significant number of employees,” Dr. Ransdell said. “It is also expected that family members of these employees will likely seek postsecondary opportunities in the area around Ft. Knox in the next decade.”
WKU has been providing classes in Ft. Knox since 1973 and Elizabethtown since 1974. Undergraduate degree options through a WKU-ECTC partnership have grown from two to 12 in the past six years and WKU provides 10 graduate degree options through the Center.
“This gift jumpstarts the educational and economic future of the entire Lincoln Trail area,” Rider said. “The additional programs that WKU can bring through a facility on this land are an essential component to the success of that future.”
More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.
-WKU-
"A leading American university with international reach"
Office of Media Relations
Western Kentucky University
1906 College Heights Blvd., Bowling Green, Ky. 42101-3576
Phone: (270)745-4295 - Fax: (270)7455387 - E-Mail: western@wku.edu