Kentucky Community and Technical College System President Ryan Quarles visited West Kentucky Community and Technical College Wednesday as part of his Focus on the Future statewide tour.
Dr. Quarles talked with several students in the Student Government Association, and WKCTC President Anton Reece welcomed him as the featured luncheon speaker in the college's Emerging Technology Center, where he engaged with community leaders, faculty, staff, and board members.
"If there is one thing you remember about this today, is that of our 16 colleges, plus the Kentucky Fire Commission, KCTCS is the largest higher education entity in Kentucky, period," he said to the luncheon audience.
After a tour of the campus, Dr. Quarles concluded his visit with an open dialogue forum with WKCTC faculty and staff where he discussed three aspects that he said can't be compromised for student success: accessibility, affordability, and workforce development.
"We need to make sure we are the institution for anybody and everybody who wants to further themselves," he said. "We have to make sure our price points don't price us out of the marketone of our main reasons we can attract students is our affordability aspect. We are going to maintain that. But it's tough, especially during inflationary times, and the cost of everything," said Dr. Quarles.
"About 56 percent of healthy, able-bodied Kentuckians, aged 18-65, are in the workforce right now. That's low. We have been charged by our policymakers to get more Kentuckians into the workforce or to get Kentuckians in the workforce to upskill themselves and provide economic opportunity for them and their families," he said.
On Thursday, Dr. Quarles shared his thoughts and vision as the keynote speaker to over 400 business leaders at the Paducah Area Chamber Power in Partnership breakfast.
