In an age best characterized by negativism on all fronts, I found the editorial in the January 8, 1998, issue of the Daily News (Higher education help isn't too soon) to be particularly encouraging. The phrase that got my attention was the rather obvious revelation that "Kentucky has devoted insufficient resources to prepare its young people for living and for careers."

It is often said that national trends often begin on the West Coast and gradually work their way to the heartland. This is one of the reasons why many of us are closely monitoring how California deals with issues such as Affirmative Action the use of marijuana for medical purposes. The legal precedents that are often established in California have an uncanny way of eventually spreading to the rest of the nation.

There are a few trends, however, that we should watch with particular interest. It should be noted, for example, that California now spends more on its penal system than on education. I think most of us would agree that this is one trend that probably needs to be derailed before it reaches our borders.

The time has come to recognize and accept that higher education in Kentucky has been sorely neglected over the last decade and the Governor is to be commended for his efforts to do something about it. Indeed, increased funding for education at all levels should be a top priority among all of our legislators.

But while money is certainly a key ingredient for the development and maintenance of a quality educational system, it is naive to assume that quality is directly proportional to the number of dollars spent. If it were, institutions with the most financial resources would, by definition, have the highest quality. And this is simply not the case.

Additional resources demand a heightened commitment from those involved in education reform. We must all assume greater personal responsibility for keeping the process on-track. Moreover, those who work in higher education share a special obligation to see that current reform initiatives succeed.

At the postsecondary level, there are several things that need to be done in order to guarantee that education in Kentucky continues to receive the priority and resources our youth deserve.

First, our full attention needs to be centered on the educational purpose for our existence. Individual departments must begin to place a greater emphasis on the needs of the institution as opposed to their own special interests. Everyone at the institution should view themselves as members of a multi-departmental team which is always concerned first and foremost with the "big picture."

Similarly, we must put an end to the decades-long tendency toward increasing specialization. The institution must be seen as a whole rather than as the sum of its parts. Territoriality and turf protection are counterproductive to current reform efforts. Only when the academy becomes unified along common parameters will it truly thrive in more than just an artificial sense.

Third, higher education must get back to the business of educating people instead of merely credentialing them. If you think nuclear physics is complicated stuff, try moving a potential policy change through the committee structure of a typical university. Accreditation and standards are only useful as support structures for the educational process. Bureaucracy cannot be allowed to take the place of, or distract from, true learning.

Fourth, higher education must somehow de-emphasize its constant need to conduct comparisons across institutions. Benchmarking has its place, but each college and university is unique (particularly in Kentucky), with its own distinctive set of strengths and weaknesses. A much more productive allocation of time and energy would be to focus on providing quality services and programs at home instead of constantly striving to keep up with counterparts elsewhere.

Fifth, we need to concentrate more on solving problems and less on assessing blame. Education in general seems obsessed with pointing fingers instead of deciding what needs to be done. Assessment of blame is usually an insufficient motivation for change. When reform efforts hit a snag, it is much more constructive to direct our collective energies toward overcoming the obstacle instead of getting needlessly bogged down in its causes.

Accordingly, educators need to learn how to better recognize and accept personal responsibility for their actions. The heart of any dialogue should always be on issues rather than people; concerns instead of personalities. During the past year, for example, the UK/Community College debate often seemed more like a test of egos than a discussion centered on doing what is truly best for Kentucky.

Finally, higher education needs to remember its heritage. Few things are more disheartening than seeing someone who has lost their connection to those in the past who played a significant role in shaping who they are now. As higher education in Kentucky moves into a new era, educators must be careful not to forget what has always been good about it in the past. Our current system is built on the conscientious and dedicated efforts of those who came before -- qualities we need more of, not less.

Again, the relative quality of the education received at a given institution is largely a function of the level of commitment exhibited by the administration, faculty, and staff employed there. Admittedly, financial resources are important. But what is far more important is the priority we collectively place on education in Kentucky (remember California).

As has been noted on other occasions, it is high time that we acknowledge the benefits of higher education--benefits that extend far beyond the students currently enrolled at our various institutions. Higher education benefits society as a whole. Without it, as noted in the editorial which inspired this response, future Kentuckians will be condemned "...to lives of economic need."