Small Eastern Ky. college dreams big

Dori Hjalmarson

Nov. 8, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- PIKEVILLE -- Lagging undergraduate enrollment and a huge stock market-driven hit to the school's endowment have taken a toll on Pikeville College's finances, requiring cost-cutting and a layoff last fall. But officials say a year of turmoil for the private, four-year liberal arts college in Eastern Kentucky has turned around.

A new, high-profile president in former Gov. Paul Patton, a longtime board member, has infused the school with new energy and fund-raising capability, officials say, and the college is hoping to grow undergraduate enrollment and expand its graduate school offerings.

Last month, Patton announced a $4.5 million capital campaign to expand the school of osteopathic medicine, with an aim stay competitive. Since the medical school opened 1997, with a yearly class of 75, nearby liberal arts schools have followed suit with bigger and more modern osteopathic programs. Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine opened in Blacksburg, Va., in 2002, and Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tenn., opened its school in 2007.

"Our medical school has been just a bang-up success," said Finance Director Jim Evans.

Pikeville College is discovering that the medical school attracts transfer students and might help boost undergraduate enrollment, so administrators are looking at adding master's in business administration and master's in education degrees to the curriculum, Patton said.

Community college, four-year college programs and online education are far more accessible in the region than they used to be, so Pikeville College has to play up its assets: a "real college experience," a small liberal arts atmosphere, and a strong sense of affinity among students, Patton said.

Students have started organizing a social fraternity and sorority program, he said, and Patton presented their efforts to the board of trustees, which before has rejected similar efforts.

Britta Gibson, assistant dean for student services, said Greek life will be a "morale booster," even for students whose day-to-day lives weren't all that affected by the upheaval in the college's administration.

The college dealt with the sudden death of its medical school dean in 2007 and the unexpected resignation of President Michael Looney this year.

The national search for the dean's replacement, coupled with the previous year's search for a president, were a significant cost, said Terry Dotson, chairman of the board of trustees. The college also paid salaries to two presidents for six months this year as Looney transitioned into the system a semester before his predecessor retired.

Pikeville College reported an $835,078 deficit to the IRS last year and is about to report another deficit for the fiscal year that ended June 30, said Evans, the finance director.

"While it did not directly affect operations of the college, it will be a non-cash loss," Evans said.

A major pledge the school was counting on didn't come through because the donor "lost his fortune" in the stock market, Dotson said. Board members helped out last year, donating or raising $400,000 to $500,000 to cover shortfalls, Dotson said. Patton said he is working without a salary, in part, because he doesn't need one, and also because the school needs to save.

In the first four months of fiscal year 2010, Evans said, the stock market is helping the endowment grow again and the school is operating on budget.

On Friday, two prospective students took a tour of the college, and both Winchester baseball players said the campus and atmosphere are attractive.

"It's kind of small, and I like that," said Weston Turner, 18, a senior at George Rogers Clark High School who hopes to study nursing and play baseball. More than 25 percent of Pikeville's students are athletes. The college had 705 undergraduates enrolled in fall 2009, according to the school's marketing department.

His dad, John Turner, said the availability of extra-curricular activities is a factor in keeping students successful all four years -- a selling point for parents. The Turners said they were looking at Centre College, Eastern Kentucky University and Berea College -- and maybe University of Kentucky, but the size was a turn-off.

One misconception that private schools face is that tuition is too expensive, said admissions counselor Matthew Crisp, who gave the Turners and friend Tyler Woosley their tour Friday. Pikeville's tuition has risen roughly 36 percent over the past five years. But more than 90 percent of students get financial aid, Crisp said, and the business, psychology, communications and nursing programs are big draws. Crisp transferred to Pikeville, he said, because he liked the smaller size, and he graduated in 2005.

"We get a lot of transfers for the osteopathic school" in the sophomore year, he said.

Transferring juniors and seniors into the undergraduate school is also one of Patton's priorities -- non-traditional enrollment has also fallen off over the past five years, though not as steeply as other enrollment drops.

"We're pretty well stocked in freshmen and sophomores," he said.

Growing enrollment to capacity, about 1,000, will probably come in the junior and senior classes, he said, so Pikeville is in talks with community colleges and other schools about easing the transfer process, and possibly offering some kind of dual-enrollment program.

Patton has been visiting high schools across the state to market the college. He said graduation numbers in Pike, Floyd and Letcher counties are down, "so we have fewer people to serve."

"The college needs to make itself more attractive to a broader range of students across the state and across the country," he said.

To do that, the school needs to sell its athletics programs and its graduate school and boost its diversity and student leadership opportunities.

"We are marketing the fact that we are small," Patton said.

Reach Dori Hjalmarson in the Pikeville bureau at (606) 653-2111.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0115-39573921