By: Jeff Noble

Editor

In his second year as President of Morehead State University, Dr. Wayne Andrews says he’s seen some marvelous work being done at the school’s regional campuses, such as Morehead State University in Jackson. “It’s been a wonderful transition. We have communities trying to improve and we want to be part of that process,” said Dr. Andrews after he and some twenty five others on the MSU-Jackson Advisory Board had a luncheon meeting Tuesday. “It’s marvelous here in Jackson. In the last five years, we’ve seen tremendous increases in the number of courses and students. Most of all, the quality of community support has been tremendous.”

The midday get-together at the Feed Store not only gave educators, businesspeople and community leaders a chance to break bread with Dr. Andrews, it also gave them a forum to hear about what gains MSU-Jackson has made over the last year, and thank those who helped make the school’s presence felt in the community. An example was organizations working in partnership with the school, such as the Jackson Kiwanis Club. “We’ve been giving out scholarships to deserving Breathitt Countians for years,” said former Kiwanis Club President Roger Friley, “and as the years go on, we will increase the funding. That’s my goal in life, to be of help to others. And that’s Kiwanians working together with MSU-Jackson, and Dr. (Will) Kayatin,” Friley said of the school’s Director, who is also a Kiwanis Club member. Kayatin also received praise from Dr. Patrick O’Neill, a local attorney and MSU grad who headed up the advisory board meeting. “We need to recognize some of our changes here at the Jackson Campus. Dr. Will Kayatin has interacted well with the people of this region, and they in kind have reacted favorably to him and the school.”

The growth in students and classes came from two fronts. Earlier, Barbara Spencer gave proof that enrollment was up at MSU-Jackson. “This fall, we have 340 duplicated students, and 150 unduplicated students on campus. The duplicated students means that’s how many students there were taking classes, and that’s up a bit,” added Spencer, who’s Regional Campus Assistant. Her news was backed up by Dr. Mac McWright, their Visiting Assistant Professor. “Our rooms here are overcrowded and that’s a good thing. It lets us know we’re doing our job educating students. And, we’re getting traditional students now. People who are of the average college age. We’ll have to hire more staff in the future.”

Also present at the meeting was Ron Dailey, Director of the University Center of the Mountains, who praised Morehead State’s “decades of exceptional service to the mountains.” “MSU has always been good for reaching out to those who are landlocked by distances, like here in our region. Now, with the energy of good people in charge, all this is even greater,” he said of Morehead, which is one of several schools that makes up the educational consortium that is UCM.

Still, the need to reach higher and to reach to more people highlighted the conversation, as S. J. Brennan of Breathitt County Adult Education pointed out to the panel. “If we want to put more people into the pipeline by the year 2020, we need to entice those folks who have a high school diploma or G.E.D. diploma. We’ll have to hold their hands, and guide them into getting a college degree. I know people held my hand for me once so I could reach that goal. We have to teach them how to dream.”

As the hour-and-a-half session was winding down, Dr. Andrews continued to remind those in attendance that service above self was of paramount importance to those with Morehead State, and to those supporting the college’s regional campus in Jackson. “We have a long tradition of going back thirty years in Jackson. If we want the citizens of the Commonwealth of Kentucky to grow and prosper, and that includes us here in the mountains, we have to find ways to improve education, keep kids in school, and tell their parents to encourage their kids to get a post-high school education. We’ll do everything we can to stimulate the goals of education. Let’s continue to work together.”

After Dr. Andrews received a long round of applause for making that statement, he was joined by Dr. Dan Connell, the Assistant Provost of MSU, who also joked, “Thank you all for all of your contributions, and especially you, Dr. Kayatin, for feeding us well.” Kayatin ended the event graciously, by telling all those who came by, “We thank you in the community in which my family and I live, for your support. Thank you for making us grow.”