A Council on Higher Education task force repealed its original suggestion of merging the governance of community colleges and vocational schools yesterday, and said that it will substitute another study on the issue.
The report also endorsed the proposal from the council to increase higher education funding over a two year period.
The Task Force on Higher Educations' first draft of the proposal suggested a merger of the governance of community colleges and vocational schools.
But yesterday the committee decided to conduct a study of the relationship between Kentucky's community colleges, vocational schools and universities.
"The study needs to collect information and talk with people who are actively involved," said UK President Charles Wethington. "Such a study should get opinions from students, faculty, staff, businesses and industry to determine how Kentucky can be best served in the vocational and technical schools and community colleges."
The study should help determine the fate of the community colleges. Although they currently operate throughout the state by UK, the other seven state universities consider them competition and would like to play a role in their governance.
Representative Freed Curd, the chairman of the House Education Committee, said he expected legislation in the 1996 General Assembly that would address the issue of governing higher education. He said that he thought the committee ducked the issue of control of the community colleges because it was too controversial.
In addition to announcing the study, the task force also emphasized the need for increased funding for the state's higher education establishments.
The report endorsed the council's recommendation of an 8.4 percent increase in higher education funding next year and 9.8 percent the following year.
"(The proposal) has singled out the funding problem on higher education in Kentucky," Wethington said. "It has focused on the need for deferred maintenance moneys."
House Speaker Jody Richards, the chairman of the task force, said the importance of the report is that it recommends more money for all of higher education.
Wethington said he hopes the task force's proposal will help to clarify many issues that the public may not understand about higher education's financial situation.
"One of the purposes (of the report) is that of informing our publics of what is occurring in our schools today," Wethington said. "I think we've got a good story to tell."
The Associated Press also contributed to this article.