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Campus and community stakeholders gathered in the David H. Bradford Hall – Carl H. Smith Auditorium Jan. 9 for Kentucky State University’s annual Opening Session. The event officially began the Spring semester for Kentucky State.

Interim President Ronald A. Johnson focused on the theme “Enabling Our Intended Future” in his presentation titled, “Road to the Future.”

“When we think about ‘enabling an intended future,’ enabling and intended come together. The intended part is a mindset that we need in order to fashion the future. Enabling refers to the skills and practices that we engage in that, combined with mindset, get us to the future,” Johnson opened.

“Planning to act involves best practices. We have to become an institution where we do not have to reinvent the wheel, but can see what is working somewhere else and see if it fits where we are to help us be successful,” he said. “If we have the mindset and a focus on enabling, then we can plan, design, execute and create a future that is entirely different from where we are today.”

Johnson asked attendees to, “free your mind, reframe your assumptions and join us as we march into 2023 to make a difference in our lives and the lives of the people we are responsible for.”

Interim Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration/CFO Dr. Daarel Burnette provided a summary of accomplishments from the fall semester which included the streamlining of academic course offerings, collaborating with CPE to develop the House Bill 250 management improvement plan, and modernizing the daily business practices in the accounting and budget offices.

Melissa Young, executive director of special projects and lead writer at the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) talked about CPE’s statewide strategic agenda for public institutions in the Commonwealth. The agenda serves as a blueprint to meet Kentucky's educational attainment goal—to raise the percentage of Kentuckians with a postsecondary degree or certificate to 60% by the year 2030.

The president’s leadership cabinet shared updates in their areas. Updates were also provided on House Bill 250 and the management improvement plan.