Development of an extended campus chemical engineering program

Efforts are underway to establish a new University of Kentucky College of Engineering Extended Campus Program at a location far removed from the flagship campus of the University of Kentucky (Lexington, KY). New chemical and mechanical engineering undergraduate degree programs are being established on the campus of Paducah Community College (255 miles from Lexington) in Western Kentucky, to provide a needed supply of new engineering graduates to regional industrial employers. The model proposed for the extended campus program in Paducah is a unique one. It is the only known set of university engineering programs in the U.S. located on a community college campus, yet administered under the direct responsibility of a main university campus dean. In this case, the Paducah engineering programs are under the responsibility of the dean of engineering at the main campus of the University of Kentucky. Other universities have established remote satellite locations, but these new programs in Paducah are completely independent entities apart from the main campus.