Interview with Cynthia Read, August 29, 2014

Interview Summary

Read was a founding member of the KCTCS Board of Regents and served as its second chair from 2001-2005. Her interview recounted her work with KERA and the Prichard Committee; the relationship between industry and KERA, and later, between KCTCS and industry; discussions prior to higher education reform within the corporate level of a unified community and technical college system in Kentucky; discussions between UPS (for which she worked) and Paul Patton (who independently was working on a similar consolidation plan, later known as HB 1); her lobbying efforts on behalf of UPS for the passage of HB 1; her appointment by Governor Patton to the first KCTCS board; the first & second presidential searches (both of which failed) and the eventual hiring of Michael McCall; her impression of McCall; the fragility of KCTCS as a concept in those early years and perceptions of the system from the public and among other higher education institutions; continued pride among community colleges of its former connection to UK; the first issues faced by the Board of Regents (accreditation, philanthropy, retirement & insurance systems); learning to be a board; the essential support provided by system staff; early public meetings of the board and surprise over audience attendance; relationship between the system and the media; naming the system; McCall?s relationship with the board members and the relationship between the president and the board chair; creation of districts; the establishment of a permanent home for the system in Versailles; her feelings on the proposal to eliminate tenure (although she was no longer on the board when the measure was rescinded; reflections on local autonomy for the community & technical colleges; reflections on McCall personally and professionally; and finally, the financial problems faced by KCTCS and higher education in general during the past decade.

Interview Keyword

accredidation autonomy finances Gov. Paul Patton Higher Education Reform House Bill 1 KCTCS Board of Regents Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) Michael McCall Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence tenure

Interview LC Subject

Education, Higher--Kentucky

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.