Taskforce on Enrollment Management Formed

Recession, depression, and bad economic times. They all mean one thing to the people in eastern Kentucky, hunger! Hunger for food for their childrens bellies, hunger for jobs to pay the rent and basic necessities of life, hunger for the privilege to live the life of a working man. Big Sandy Community and Technical College (BSCTC) has always prided its self on being there to provide the necessary training to enable each generation since 1938 with the tools to reinvent themselves when life called upon them to do so and start a new career or fine tune an old one.

Recently however there has been some changes in enrollment at the technical campuses of BSCTC. Dr. George D. Edwards, president of BSCTC, aware that the College plays a critical role in the community as it continually prepares people for the changing job market, appointed a new task force to study the changes and take action.

Dr. George D. Edwards said, When we examine what we have been able to accomplish over the past several years, we can readily see that we have accomplished much. This examination process also reveals some things that need special attention. One such area of concern is the perception that our technical program enrollment has significantly declined at the Mayo and Hager Hill Campuses. It is clearly a very complex issue and likely has occurred for many reasons. To address this critical issue, I am appointing a task force on Enrollment Management to be led by Bobby McCool. The charge to the task force will be to develop a plan and associated strategies and action steps to increase enrollment for the College, with special emphasis on technical programs.

Bobby McCool is Vice President of Institutional Services for BSCTC. Prior to that he was Director of the former Mayo Technical College, a member of the KCTCS Board of Directors and a Mayo welding teacher. He knows the technical field as well as the administrative side of the College. He has been an educator for many years and has a heart for the students.

McCool said, I know how important it is that we fill our classrooms with students. But it is also important that we teach them skills that they can take into the job market. At BSCTC we strive to do that every day. The student is my number one commitment. This taskforce will work hard to find the answers to the questions we are pursuing. BSCTC will still meet the needs of the workforce and the students of eastern Kentucky.