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KCTCS Board of Regents adopts new budget, reappoints Gail Henson as chair for one-year term


The Kentucky Community and Technical College System Board of Regents adopted the 2020-21 KCTCS Annual Budget of $922,900,000 during their quarterly board meeting.

The budget is designed to address the increases in fixed costs and to provide safeguards against possible decreases in revenue and increases in expenses due to any future impact of COVID-19.

As a part of the FY 2020-21 KCTCS Annual Budget, the board approved a $5 per credit hour tuition increase bringing the new rate to $179 per credit hour for in-state students. The approved out-of-state tuition rates include a $10 per credit hour rate increase for a total of $358 per credit hour for out-of-state students from counties contiguous to Kentucky. All other out-of-state students will pay $18 more per credit hour for a total of $627 per credit hour.

Gail Henson

“KCTCS tuition remains the lowest of any Kentucky public postsecondary education institution, in fact we are at least half the price of most,” said KCTCS Board of Regents Chair Gail Henson. “Increasing tuition is never an easy decision but this increase is needed to offset the negative impact COVID-19 has had on our colleges and to help lessen the impact of any possible reduction in state appropriation in FY 2020-21.”

The board also reappointed Henson as chair for a one-year term beginning July 1. Henson lives in Louisville and is retired from Bellarmine University. She served as a professor and past chair of the Department of Communication, which she founded in 1987. She also directed the Brown Scholars and Senior Interdisciplinary Program.

Henson has extensive leadership, public service and community service experience for which she has received several awards, including the Louisville Bell Award, the Bellarmine Miles Award and the Metroversity Award for Service Related to Adult Learning. She is a past at-large member of the Kentucky Board of Education, chair of the Kentucky P-16 State Council and was an elected member of the Jefferson County Public Schools Board of Education.

Other appointments include Lisa V. Desmarais, a retired technology, finance and operations professional who most recently was the Director of Technology Services for Kenton County, as vice chair. Wynetta J. Fletcher, Clinical Director of Advanced Practice at St. Claire HealthCare, was elected as secretary.

During the meeting, the board also received an update on the system’s plans for fall 2020 classes and on-campus operations. The details care outlined in the #HealthyAtKCTCS Welcome Back Plan. Beginning Aug. 17 (barring any additional required pandemic response), fall term classes will be offered in a variety of formats.

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There will be fully online classes as well as face-to-face classes and some options that are a mixture of both. Colleges will be following strict Healthy at Work requirements.

In other business, the board:

-Ratified 34 certificate programs.
-Approved an Associate in Applied Science in Medical Technology for Elizabethtown Community and Technical College.
-Approved an Associate in Applied Science in Fermentation Science for Madisonville Community College.
-Approved 18,058 academic credential requests between Jan. 10, 2020 – April 10, 2020 (associate degrees, diplomas and certificates). These credentials include:
-11,948 candidates for certificates;
-961 candidates for diplomas; and
-5,149 candidates for associate degrees.

The next meeting of the KCTCS Board of Regents is scheduled for Sept. 18 at the KCTCS System Office in Versailles.

From Kentucky Community and Technical College System


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