NEWS RELEASE – for immediate release

For more information contact Bryan Armstrong, KCTCS (859) 246-3146, ext. 1208

West Kentucky student elected to KCTCS Board of Regents

PADUCAH, Ky. (February 24, 2003) -- A student from West Kentucky Technical College will represent her peers on the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) Board of Regents for the rest of this academic year.

Donna J. Bartlett, a resident of Paducah, recently won a special election to succeed Roxanna Gay, a Laurel Technical College student who resigned from the board.

Bartlett will serve as technical college student regent until the end of June. The 14-member Board of Regents – which also includes community college student regent Ida N. Tompkins of Madisonville – establishes policy for Kentucky’s statewide system of two-year community and technical colleges.

Bartlett, who is originally from Indiana, worked for 10 years as a graphic artist for a school system. She has been involved in numerous volunteer activities in church, school and community.

A non-traditional student, she enrolled at Paducah Community College to take a web design class.  “This sparked my interest in expanding my knowledge, skills and abilities to include multimedia,” Bartlett said.

      She has continued her education at West Kentucky Technical College, where she is a full-time student and carries a 4.0 GPA in her second semester.

      Bartlett was sworn in as student regent on Thursday at the Board of Regents meeting at Hopkinsville Community College. She said of her service as student regent: “I will strive to let students know that their concerns do matter and that education is a very important key in their quality of life.

 “I will strongly encourage students to set goals and pursue them. When the students can understand that knowledge is empowering and that teachers and school administrators want them to succeed and achieve their goals, they are more likely to feel satisfaction and persevere.”

Cynthia L. Read, chair of the KCTCS Board of Regents, said student members of the board keep regents focused on the System’s primary responsibility – to serve the needs of students.

“We are delighted to welcome a person of Ms. Bartlett’s caliber to the board,” Read said. “We value her perspective gained as a KCTCS student and look forward to her service.”

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The community and technical colleges of KCTCS change lives by providing accessible and affordable education and training through academic and technical associate degrees; diploma and certificate programs in occupational fields; pre-baccalaureate education; adult, continuing and developmental education; customized training for business and industry; and distance learning. For more information, visit www.kctcs.edu.

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