MSU Board of Regents Passes Resolution Opposing UPIKE Bill

by Dan Conti, Kentucky Public RadioMorehead State University’s Board of Regents has passed a resolution officially opposing the addition of the University of Pikeville to Kentucky’s public higher education system.Paul Goodpaster is vice chair of the board. He says, even if UPIKE recruited many of its students from Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia, MSU would still be hurt.“A hundred students, equates to about a million dollars in revenue,” Goodpaster said. “So whether it’s a hundred students, two hundred students, three hundred students, that we currently enroll that could end up enrolling at University of Pikeville, it’ll have a grave effect on this university and this region.”The faculty representative on the board says the university’s professors strongly support the action. Ron Morrison says making Pikeville Kentucky’s ninth public university is a bad idea for several reasons.“Economically it just doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “We’ve got a great system of higher education in Kentucky right now. There’s plenty of access to higher education in the southeastern part of the state, in fact all across the state. But the system as a whole isn’t being funded adequately.”The MSU resolution urges defeat of the bill pending in the state legislature that would accept UPIKE into the state system. It says there are limited resources in the state available for postsecondary education, and those resources should be protected.