ACTC Graduation Ceremony Is May 12

Ashland Community and Technical College will recognize a record number of 554 students at the Graduation Ceremony Saturday, May 12, at 10:00 a.m. in the Paramount Arts Center.

The students to be honored are August 2011 graduates, December 2011 graduates and May 2012 graduation candidates. Many have earned more than one degree, diploma or certificate, and a total of 1609 credentials will be awarded.

Dr. Michael McCall, President of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, will give a short address. The Commencement Speaker will be Dr. Gregory Adkins, ACTC President and CEO.

Dr. Akins will retire at the end of June after heading the college for 11 years. During his leadership, Ashland Community College and Ashland Technical College were consolidated into ACTC, enrollment grew from 3,400 to nearly 5,000 students and the $50 million Technology Drive Campus was funded and constructed.

Other achievements during his tenure include more than 50 new diploma, certificate and degree options, a new Cosmetology building, a new Child Care building under construction, completion of a $5 million fund raising campaign, numerous transfer agreements signed with area colleges and universities, and establishment of the foundation for an early college high school.

The Graduation Ceremony is free and open to the public.

Graduation Student Speaker

The student speaker will be Ronald G. Parker, an Ashland resident who is receiving an Associate in Arts Degree. He will transfer to Northern Kentucky University in the fall to work on a Bachelors Degree in Organizational Leadership, and he plans to continue on for a Masters Degree Human Resources/Public Relations.

If it wasn't for the Student Support Services program at ACTC I do not believe that I would have been successful in obtaining this degree, Parker said. I recommend that anyone considering college should give ACTC a try, because if I can do it at the age of 47, many others can as well.

Graduation Recognition Award

A Special Recognition Award will be presented to the Mansbach Foundation in recognition of exemplary contributions as a friend of Ashland Community and Technical College.

This February, the Mansbach Foundation added $250,000 to the Joseph and Sylvia Mansbach Scholarship Fund originally established in 1995. In 2000, the Foundation was honored by the college and KCTCS for its long-standing support of education.

Mansbach scholarships are awarded to students who have financial need and/or work part time. "We are pleased to invest these funds with ACTC's foundation to benefit local students getting a college education here in Ashland," Gerald Mansbach, Mansbach Foundation President, said in February.

Graduation Service Award

Distinguished Service Award will be presented to Mrs. Patricia Cline in recognition of exemplary service as a friends and supporter of the college.

In December 2011, Patricia C. Cline, widow of the late Allen D. Al Cline of Ashland, established an endowed scholarship fund in his memory. Cline was an ardent supporter of amateur theater and active in ACTC Theatre for several years.

The Allen D. Cline and Patricia C. Cline Scholarship Fund will help full-time students who are active in ACTC Theatre. Allen and I loved the college, and he especially loved the college theatre program, said Mrs. Cline said in December. I know he would be pleased with establishing a scholarship fund in our name.