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E.ON U.S. officials pose with E.ON Named Scholars at the AIKCU banquet. L-R: David Freibert, Director, External Affairs, E.ON U.S.; Cliff Feltham, Statewide Media Relations Manager, E.ON U.S.; E.ON Named Scholars; Ed Staton, Director, Transmission, E.ON U.S.; Jan Rose Coleman, Manager, Business Offices, E.ON U.S.

E.ON U.S. took center stage as the featured funding partner during AIKCU’s recent recognition banquet. The annual event brings together students, presidents, staff, friends, and supporters to honor AIKCU’s corporate and foundation partners.

E.ON subsidiary Kentucky Utilities was one of the founders of the Kentucky Independent College Foundation in 1952, one of two organizations that combined in the 1990s to form AIKCU. Since then E.ON U.S. has given nearly $1.4 million dollars to AIKCU in support of independent higher education.

“We’re extremely grateful for the continued support that E.ON U.S. has provided our students for more than half a century, through a number of corporate changes,” said AIKCU President Gary S. Cox. “The scholarships that E.ON and our other corporate partners fund truly is an investment in Kentucky’s future.”

E.ON has contributed $50,000 this year in support of the AIKCU Named Scholars program to fund student scholarships at member institutions located in areas served by E.ON and its subsidiaries. The Named Scholars program allows corporations and foundations to support multiple students attending AIKCU member institutions through a single gift to the association.

“Not only has E.ON been committed to turning on lights across our state, but they’ve been committed to turning on minds across the state,” said Evan Kuhl, a Bellarmine University freshman and E.ON Named Scholar.

E.ON US Chairman, CEO and President Vic Staffieri, who recently chaired the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce’s Task Force on Postsecondary Education, addressed the assembled crowd via recorded remarks.

“In today’s knowledge-based economy, a postsecondary education is of vital importance – not just to you, the individuals who benefit directly from higher wages – but to the economic well-being of the entire Commonwealth,” said Staffieri. “Nearly two-thirds of all high-growth, high-wage jobs created in the next decade will require a college degree – a degree only one-third of Americans and one-fifth of Kentuckians have.”

“This crucial connection between education attainment and economic development is why I volunteered my time over the past year as chair of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce’s Task Force on postsecondary education,” Staffieri continued. “It’s also why E.ON U.S. is proud to support the AIKCU Named Scholars Program – because helping you achieve your dreams will pay dividends for Kentucky businesses and for all of Kentucky.”

Kentucky Chamber of Commerce President David Adkisson praised E.ON for their commitment to postsecondary education in Kentucky and lauded Staffieri’s efforts as head of the Chamber’s task force.

“Just about the time you hear and are convinced that business leaders in the country are only interested in their quarterly returns and what Wall Street thinks and about what the stockholders are going to do at the next meeting, occasionally you see a glimpse of hope in someone like Vic,” said Adkisson. “He took this on as a civic chore…because he believes in the power of higher education and wanted to do something to contribute.”

Other AIKCU Named Scholars partners recognized during the event include Ashland, Inc., the Gheens Foundation, the Keeneland Foundation, Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, and UPS. For more on AIKCU and all of its funding and business partners download the 2007 AIKCU Annual Report.

Dr. Denzil Edge, the president and founder of AIKCU business partner Learning House, Inc., is being honored by two AIKCU campuses for his contributions to the distance learning field.

The first honor comes from Edge’s alma mater, Brescia University. Brescia is a coeducational, private, Catholic university located in Owensboro, Kentucky. Edge attended the university as a member of the 1967 graduating class and received a Bachelor of Science in History and a minor in special education.

As part of the university’s esteemed alumni, Edge will be receiving the Distinguished Alumni Award on the evening of April 19. Presented by the Alumni Association, this award will be granted to Edge at the end of the Alumni Weekend festivities, which will conclude with the awards banquet.

Brescia established the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2000 as part of the university’s 50th anniversary. The award aims to honor valued alumni who have attained professional excellence while demonstrating a strong commitment to their communities, families and alma mater. The Alumni Association bases its selection upon the breadth and scope of a candidate’s life work and the magnitude of his or her impact nationally and internationally. Most importantly, award recipients are chosen due to their exemplary commitment to the “Brescia Difference: Respect for the Sacred; Devotion to Learning; Commitment to Growth in Virtue; Promotion of Servant Leadership.”

Edge is one of three recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Award. His fellow recipients include James E. Voyles, Ph.D., J.D. of the 1965 class and Tara Henderson Parker of the 1974 class.

Edge will also be recognized at this year’s Principle-Centered Leadership Program held at University of the Cumberlands. The Principle-Centered Leadership Program is the third annual program in the Lecture Series presented by the Forcht Group of Kentucky Center for Excellence in Leadership at the university. The center, developed in 2006, was designed to provide programs and activities that enhance the development of leadership, character and good citizenship.

Edge is one of four principle-centered leaders selected to be honored at the program. Honorees were chosen by their embodiment of the program’s elected ideals and involvement at the local, regional and national level.

Edge is an internationally known educator with extensive experience in distance education and distance learning technologies. He has been extremely active in the field of higher education in Kentucky, Florida, Alaska, Scotland, Germany and Australia as a teacher and academic contributor. At the age of 28, he was hired by the University of Louisville to develop teacher-training programs. In this position, he developed the Learning Improvement Center, which included the first built-in television system for use by teachers and students. Edge has taught more than 40 distance learning courses using a variety of distance learning technologies, and he has built more than 50 online campuses.

Edge is currently the president and founder of The Learning House, Inc., a comprehensive online education solutions partner that helps colleges and universities offer and manage their online degree programs.

Read Edge’s complete success story.

This article originally appeared in The Learning House, Inc. Newsletter.

Siemens presents check to Lindsey Wilson for career academy planning, originally uploaded by aikcu.

COLUMBIA, Ky. – Area high school students may soon have a chance to prepare for high demand careers in the energy field.

Siemens Building Technologies, Inc., in partnership with AIKCU, has awarded Lindsey Wilson College a $10,000 planning grant to develop a career academy focused on the rapidly growing field of energy and facilities management. Lindsey Wilson will partner with the Adair and Russell county School Districts to plan the career academy during this school year. Lindsey Wilson’s proposal was chosen from responses to a request for proposals offered to Kentucky’s twenty private colleges and universities.

“Siemens is delighted to partner in this one of a kind program in a rural area where demands for new energy technologies are just as important as in urban areas,” said Dr. Marc McCulloch, Director of Siemens’ K-12 Education Division. McCulloch met with local education officials throughout the proposal’s review process.

The Energy and Facilities Management Career Academy establishes a clear pathway for high school students interested in energy-related careers. Beginning in the sophomore year, the career academy will combine hands-on instruction with academics to prepare students for postsecondary studies in facilities management, engineering, and other areas related to energy use and efficiency.

The planning grant allows Lindsey Wilson administrators and faculty to work with leaders from Adair and Russell county high schools and local businesses to develop a career academy concept. Funding resources to implement the career academy are currently being identified. Pending the development of a successful career academy concept and adequate funding, the career academy will be implemented at the sophomore level at the participating high schools in an upcoming year.

“The energy field and the career academy model both have a lot of potential to benefit people across Kentucky, and we’re very pleased to partner with Siemens to provide this opportunity,” said AIKCU President Gary S. Cox. “We’re confident that Lindsey Wilson and these high schools will develop an outstanding program that can be replicated in other communities around the state.”

Energy/facilities management technology is a rapidly evolving profession with high growth potential for future careers. As organizations look to curb energy consumption and make buildings and workplaces more energy and cost efficient, the role of the energy/facilities manager will only grow.

“Last summer’s special energy legislation shows that that energy and stewardship of our resources have joined education as statewide priorities for Kentucky,” said AIKCU’s Cox. “We see this effort at Lindsey Wilson as another example of independent higher education’s commitment to meeting the needs of the Commonwealth.”

Career academies are an integrated approach to career and technical education with academic education, designed to simultaneously prepare students for career and postsecondary options.

“Career academies are organized as small learning communities in which students traditionally stay with a core group of teachers over the years they are in high school,” said Lindsey Wilson Vice President for Academic Affairs Bettie Starr. “Career academies help students connect what they learn in school with their career aspirations and goals.”

In addition to the two area high schools, Lindsey Wilson will also work with Green Mechanical Construction of Glasgow, Ky., and Wind Energy Corp. of Elizabethtown, Ky.

Green Mechanical Construction is one of Kentucky’s leading mechanical contractors in plumbing, heating, ventilating and air conditioning; and Wind Energy is a high-tech company that develops low-cost, high-yield wind turbines.

“Creative uses and creative sources of energy are two of our nation’s leading challenges, and these two companies are both on the cutting edge of their respective fields,” Starr said.

One of the major benefits of establishing a career academy is that it brings area high schools, businesses and local higher education together, Starr said.

“By working together, high schools, colleges and industry can better prepare students to compete and thrive in the new economy,” Starr said.

AIKCU is proud to announce an exciting new partnership with Cook Systems International to help develop Kentucky’s Information Technology workforce. Cook Systems International has partnered with AIKCU to strategically place AIKCU-affiliated college students in real-world situations through the COLLEGECAREERCORPS® program.

The COLLEGECAREERCORPS® is a program that integrates students into professional technology teams in entry-level positions. The students join a team that includes experienced information technology professionals working on actual I.T. projects on a long-term basis. Cook Systems International has developed technical and certified management professionals using COLLEGECAREERCORPS® project methodologies and procedures to ensure achieving the highest quality project results. Students typically work 20 hours per week and continue with the same client partner for up to two years. Cook Systems International is currently working with approximately 20 colleges and universities nationwide through COLLEGECAREERCORPS® efforts.

Information Technology jobs represent one of the fastest-growing sectors in the U.S. economy, with more than 1 million new jobs projected to be added through 2014. Six of the 30 occupations expected to grow the fastest are I.T.-related, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Students benefit in the COLLEGECAREERCORPS® program by receiving professional training as employees of a professional I.T. services firm working directly on projects for major regional corporations, giving them exposure to key leaders in the business community. This further provides the students the ability to learn to work in a corporate team environment and add practical and real-world work experience to their resume. Students earn money year round and receive possible internship/credit hours while gaining an inside track to jump-starting a career.

As part of its partnership with AIKCU, Cook Systems International will actively identify corporate and government partners that can benefit from the COLLEGECAREERCORPS® program. Because partners contract directly with Cook Systems International, projects don’t have to begin and end during a single semester like a traditional internship. The COLLEGECAREERCORPS® program provides real and critical services to partners and long-term employment opportunities as well as professional level experiences to participating students.

Colleges and universities benefit by using Cook Systems International’s COLLEGECAREERCORPS® for several reasons, including improving student recruiting. Colleges and universities have seen computer science-related degree enrollment drop by as much as 70% nationwide. The COLLEGECAREERCORPS® program gives colleges and universities a better ability to attract more students to the field and increases their students’ chances of landing jobs by offering more intense, hands-on experiences.

“The Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities supports our member institutions and students by providing partnerships to enhance both their quality of education and the contribution they make to their community and our state,” said Gary Cox, AIKCU President. “This unique partnership with Cook Systems International’s COLLEGECAREERCORPS® to provide students with real IT work experience is a win-win for AIKCU’s member schools and students as well as for the communities and businesses in Kentucky.”

“We at Cook Systems International are excited about introducing our COLLEGECAREERCORPS® model to the Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges & Universities and the entire Commonwealth of Kentucky area,” said Ben Bryant, President of Cook Systems International. “This has been a tremendous success in other regions of the country and we know it will be here as well. In addition to providing I.T. students with real-life project experience, this model serves as a significant I.T. workforce development initiative and globally cost-effective alternative to off-shore outsourcing for the corporate and government partners who support this.”

Corporate and government partners benefit with the COLLEGECAREERCORPS® by receiving Cook Systems International’s unique expertise with the model, leading edge research services from colleges and universities, and the ability to partner with students and faculty to address critical business challenges. Services are delivered at globally competitive rates while developing a future workforce.

Unlike traditional internship models, the student teams support real, operationally budgeted activities. Under the guidance through the COLLEGECAREERCORPS® program, the risk of using students is greatly reduced and ensures the success through Cook Systems International’s delivery accountability. Corporate and government partners further benefit by retaining the best and brightest students in the local area and by finding and managing students with fewer corporate resources.

About Cook Systems International, Inc.
Cook Systems International is a well-established firm headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, providing information technology resources and solutions to customers throughout the United States. With a strong focus on the mid-west and southeast, Cook Systems International currently has active initiatives in Tennessee, Arkansas, Florida, Nebraska, Texas, Colorado, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, and North Carolina with offices in Charlotte, Atlanta, Frankfort, and Colorado Springs.

Cook Systems International offers several types of services including: Program and Project Management, Professional Staffing, Managed Services, Outsourced Software Development and Maintenance Projects, Software Testing, Change Management and Business Process Consulting, and the COLLEGECAREERCORPS®.

Cook Systems International is the number one rated vendor in the Memphis area having a proven track record of providing unsurpassed I.T. consulting services to Fortune 1000 companies, as well as state and local governments. Cook Systems International currently is a major provider of I.T. Professional Services to the Commonwealth of Kentucky as well as to other states and Fortune 1000 companies.

For more information please visit cooksys.com or collegecareercorps.com.

Ed. note:  This article originally appeared in the November 2007 eLearningEdge Newsletter, a publication of AIKCU business partner and eLearning solutions provider Learning House, Inc. 

This fall, student enrollment levels for online degree programs at the University of the Cumberlands will reach their highest numbers yet.  And the students couldn’t be prouder.

Since the inception of the University’s distance learning program in 2003, numbers have risen quickly due to the steady implementation of new courses.  After beginning their online course offerings with the Learning and Behavioral Disorder certification program in 2003, the University began to offer MAT certifications, administration certifications degrees, and business degrees online in 2005.  For the 2006 school year, administrators decided to bolster the online degree program by introducing a brand-new Reading and Writing certification program with a new course entitled “Diagnosis of Reading and Writing Problems.”  Many students have elected to enroll in online courses at the University of the Cumberlands in order to pursue their Rank I, which enables students to receive the credentials necessary to increase their chances of earning higher wages in the workplace.

Dr. Gary Pate, Coordinator of Online Learning, reveals where some of the new numbers are coming from. “We now have many foreign students from around the world, as well as a large quantity of military personnel currently serving in Iraq.” However, Dr. Pate wants students to know that the additional growth does not affect the courses’ quality. “Even though the University has begun several new programs,” he remarks, “we’ve managed to keep the courses at a very manageable level of around 25 students per class. We hope to expand our course offerings while continuing to accommodate our current students.” 

According to Dr. Pate, marketing for the University’s programs is still extremely important.  He states, “We’ve installed posters for our programs at different institutions around the country, but word of mouth has been the most important part of our enrollments.”

In addition to the bevy of new student enrollments and available courses at the University of the Cumberlands, almost 95 percent of the university’s students receive some form of financial aid.  With an average award of nearly $13,000 to each student qualifying for financial aid, an increasing number of prospective students will be able to obtain the degree they desire and move forward to higher earning potentials in exciting occupations.

The University of the Cumberlands is affiliated with the Kentucky Baptist Convention, the Kentucky affiliate of the Southern Baptist Convention.  In addition to online programs in business and administration, it is also accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) to award online degrees including Bachelor’s degrees in General Studies, Science, Arts, and Music, as well as a Master of Education Degree.  Through the advantages of continually evolving coursework, creative marketing, and financial aid, the University of the Cumberlands represents an outstanding choice for any prospective student interested in pursuing his or her education online.

To learn more about University of the Cumberlands’ distance education programs, please visit their website or request more information by clicking here.

AIKCU is pleased to announce that it has partnered with international printing and marketing services company St Ives US Division (http://www.st-ives-usa.com). Along with competitive pricing on St Ives’ extensive print and marketing services - including alumni magazines, development and recruitment publications, variable data printing, and other printing, mailing and marketing needs - this partnership provides AIKCU campuses with training opportunities and evaluation services to help campuses maximize the efficiency and impact of their print communications and marketing efforts.

AIKCU’s office of Business Services develops partnerships with a variety of companies – from office products to insurance to technology to recycling providers – that draw on the collaborative purchasing power of the Association and help campuses maximize operating efficiencies. Participation in the St Ives partnership, like all AIKCU business partnerships, is optional for individual campuses.

The St Ives partnership offers the following benefits for member campuses:

• Competitive pricing on print, variable data marketing, mailing, and web-to-print solutions tailored to campus needs and targeted to provide savings over current solutions.
• The development of additional graduated group-buy discount opportunities based on total AIKCU volume purchases for planned, programmatic projects to be developed (like a collaborative quarterly alumni magazine printing schedule or a collaborative promotional campaign).
• A personal customer service representative who will, on request, evaluate current printing and/or direct mail marketing practices to help campuses develop strategies to both control costs and create efficiencies in the workflow and production of printed materials.
• A secure online portal connecting participating campuses to St Ives’s online project management and proofing solutions.
• Informational/training opportunities for AIKCU membership groups that may include: printing technologies, prepress design and file preparation, variable data marketing, maximizing mailing efficiencies/new postal regulations, and other areas of St Ives expertise.

The development of free training opportunities is one of the key components of the St Ives partnership that adds value for all AIKCU member campuses, regardless of whether or not they choose to do business with St Ives. St Ives has agreed to develop a series of training events focused on a variety of topics related to campus communications and marketing efforts, including: design and prepress, printing, variable data printing, direct mail marketing, and other related areas.

The first training session, open to all AIKCU member staff with responsibilities for or interest in print communications, will be held Thursday, November 1st, at noon at the Kentucky Broadcasters Association building in Frankfort (across the street from the AIKCU office). The training will focus on developing design and prepress techniques to improve workflows and production.