Addressing workforce shortages, Asbury revival, more: Your KY college news for February
Welcome to the February edition of a new monthly story bringing you a round-up of higher education news in Kentucky.
This year, the Herald-Leader will publish a story each month with news about colleges and universities from around the Commonwealth.
The focus will be on Lexington-area schools, but the goal is to highlight news from schools around the state, too. We’ll highlight several different aspects of higher education news involving faculty, campus, healthcare, awards, research and other bits of news that may otherwise fly under the radar.
Have something that should be considered for next month’s round-up? Contact higher education reporter Monica Kast at mkast@herald-leader.com.
Schools addressing workforce shortages
Bluegrass Community and Technical College, along with UK HealthCare and University of Kentucky Area Health Education Center, was awarded a $4.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to collaborate on addressing the nursing shortage.
The grant specifically focuses on improving diversity in health care, with a goal of reducing equity gaps and addressing the shortage of health care professionals, according to a news release.
“The (Department of Labor) grant funding allows us to come alongside and elevate students who may not see themselves successfully transitioning into a professional health care career,” said Connie Lamb, director of nursing at BCTC. “Our goal is to inspire students by providing resources and support early in their educational journey.”
Eastern Kentucky University is now offering an alternative option for teacher certification, through Option 9. It’s an expedited certification program that allows a student to complete a bachelor’s degree and initial teacher certification in three years, while working in a non-teaching position in a school district.
Students will complete courses online while working in a school to get their field experience and student teaching for their degree, EKU said. EKU is the first public university in the state to offer the Option 9 route to address the teacher shortage, the university said.
“EKU is committed to serving and supporting partner school districts in a variety of ways, including by offering the expedited, streamlined and tailored Option 9 route to teacher certification for eligible candidates,” said Dr. Nicola Mason, chair of EKU’s Department of Teaching, Learning, and Educational Leadership.
Campus news at UK
The University of Kentucky has been named one of America’s top large employers by Forbes.
UK ranked sixth out of 500 companies, and second in the education category. The ranking is based on a survey given to employees working for companies with more than 1,000 employees. The survey asked employees to rate their willingness to recommend their own employers to family and friends, and also evaluate other employers in their industry that stood out for positive and negative reasons, UK said in a news release.
“We are so gratified to receive this national recognition,” said Gina Dugas, acting vice president and chief human resources officer. “Taking care of our people is one of our strategic plan principles, and this honor confirms how it helps us attract and retain the very best faculty and staff. We want to be the employer of choice for dedicated individuals to help serve our students, patients and all who rely on us.”
UK has added naloxone kits in buildings across campus, designed to provide quick access to the drug that can reverse the effects of opioid overdose.
UK now has 60 boxes in academic and residential buildings around campus, the university said. A bystander who witnesses an overdose can access the Narcan, which is a safe medicine that rapidly reverses an overdose and is easy to administer.
Kits contain two doses of nasal spray, along with instructions for recognizing and responding to an overdose. It also contains a barrier device and instructions for CPR and other information materials.
The idea for the kits came from UK’s HEALing Communities Study and Drug Free Lex, as concerns about opioid use on college campuses grow.
Hazing bill
Most of the education bills of the legislative session so far has been focused on K-12 education, but one bill that passed out of the Senate last week deals with hazing.
Intentionally or wantonly engaging in hazing if it results in death or serious physical injury to a minor or a student would be a Class D felony, punishable for up to five years in prison, under Senate Bill 9. It would also be a Class A misdemeanor to recklessly engaging in hazing, punishable by up to a year in jail.
Named “Lofton’s Law” after the University of Kentucky student Thomas “Lofton” Hazelwood who died of alcohol toxicity in 2021, the bill has the support of the Hazelwood family.
The bill will now go before the Kentucky House of Representatives committees for passage.
Revival at Asbury
It’s hard to talk about higher education happenings from February without talking about Asbury University. The school in Wilmore made national and international headlines as tens of thousands of people flocked to Asbury to participate in a revival.
The Herald-Leader wrote about the revival several times throughout the month, first with this column from Paul Prather when the revival began. It started after one of the school’s regularly scheduled chapel services on February 8 continued long after the normal ending time.
Worship, prayer and services continued around the clock for several days, with attendees able to come and go from services as they wished. The services kept growing, as people from around the state and country visited Wilmore to attend. Similar revivals also happened around the country.
At one of the final on-campus services last week, one student said the revival had “redirected our priorities” at Asbury.
“It’s given us a better focus on loving others, even when we’re stressed and have all these other things going on,” senior Abby Fletcher said. “I think for people at Asbury, sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the things we have to do ... We forget that we serve out of an abundance of God’s love for us, and that we love other people because of his love for us. It has helped us really focus on God.”
Last week, a case of measles was confirmed in a Jessamine County resident who attended the Asbury revival on Feb. 18.
A revival not associated with the university was hosted over the weekend at Rupp Arena.