Interview transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Clay Wallace, WUKY
This is One-on-One with WUKY. I’m your host, Clay Wallace. Here with me today is Dr. Koffi Akakpo, President of Kentucky State University, who will be chatting about what’s in store for the Thorobreds this year. Thanks for being here today, Dr. Akakpo!
Dr. Koffi Akakpo, President of Kentucky State University
Thank you, it’s a pleasure.
Clay
What can students look forward to this semester?
Dr. Akakpo
This is my third year at KSU as of last July, and it’s been good so far. Every year, we try to get better, and I can tell you this year the staff have done a phenomenal job. My first fall, the move-in was a bit chaotic. Last year was much better, but this year was excellent. The goal is to make sure students come to a very welcoming and supportive environment. Our graduation rate in the past has not been good, but my hope is we get them out after four years.
Clay
How do you evaluate student success and expectations? Do you get to talk and listen directly to students often?
Dr. Akakpo
I’m always out and about. What is very unique with our students is they’re not afraid of talking, and they also want to know more. They’re always in my office, and I walk around and give them high fives and I talk to them. I get feedback from them.
Clay
Now, you've had similar roles in other colleges before, at BCTC. How has that experience enabled you to have that sort of relationship with the students at Kentucky State University?
Dr. Akakpo
One thing I will thank God for is that I love people. I'm a people person and I love my students, so I always like to hear from them. I’ll be going from classroom to classroom and I’ll be spending time with them in the cafeteria. Anywhere I see a group of students, I like to go and engage them because their feedback is very important to me.
Clay
What are some past successes that you're hoping to build on this year? Are there some projects that started that you're hoping to follow through?
Dr. Akakpo
We have come up with several new initiatives to help with student success. I’m proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish so far and am confident that progress is going to continue. The last two years, we have had two of our largest graduating classes, and I’m optimistic that momentum will continue, because we have to change our graduation rate. We have to change our retention rate. We have to do everything we can to make sure our students are successful.
Clay
Is there a program at Kentucky State University that you think stands out, that you want other people to see and notice?
Dr. Akakpo
We have many, many programs! I can start with the aquaculture program. That’s one of the best in our country and one of the best in the world. You look at our research capability, that’s another thing that I’m very proud of. In terms of research dollars brought to the states, KSU is high up there. Our nursing program is another one that we don’t talk about enough. That’s our fastest growing program, and it’s doing well and I’m very proud of it.
Clay
Speaking of the nursing program, in 2026, KSU is going to be asking state legislature for $54 million in the budget for a new health sciences center. How would that enable the university to better serve those nursing students?
Dr. Akakpo
It’s going to allow KSU to grow. Where we are now, we’re struggling for space for the students. I don’t know if you know this, but our nursing program used to be housed in an old infirmary, so small that it can’t even contain fifty people. That’s the building that has been housing our nursing program for years. Now, we’re at the stage where we have five hundred plus students in the program, and that building was not adequate for the students.
This fall, I was left with no choice but to move the nursing students to the Exum gymnasium. It’s time for us to build space for the nursing students. And that building is not just for nursing - it’s for allied health. As part of our land grant mission, we also do training and nutrition. We do research on diabetes and chronic diseases. We do outreach at KSU, just like UK does.
Clay
So, the programs this building would house already exist; they already have students and faculty and people in them. This would expand the university’s capacity?
Dr. Akakpo
It’s going to include all that we already have been working on and new programs as well. Our public health program cannot grow, because we don’t have a space for it, but this building is going to help. And there is demand. Hospital CEOs I speak to say they need more programs, more people to respond to the needs of the industry. We need a space for these programs, which we don’t have currently. And this building will help double the capacity in the next three-to-five years.
Clay
The students who graduate from Kentucky State University’s nursing program, do they get assigned to jobs in their field quickly?
Dr. Akakpo
We don’t just think about getting students through to graduation. We get them on-site to jobs. We work with UK Healthcare; UK Healthcare assists with scholarship and when the students graduate, they go straight to UK and work for UK Healthcare. We work with CHI Saiint Joseph and Norton. They pay the tuition for the student and, upon graduation, they have a job waiting on them.
Clay
So, earlier this year there was a project that Kentucky State University announced which would expand student internet access through new fiber. Could you speak on the progress of that?
Dr. Akakpo
Because of some of the deferments and challenges we have faced in the past, the institution has been in need of some urgent upgrades. Thanks to federal assistance, we were able to install this one. We want our students to have access to internet just like a student on any campus in the commonwealth. This has enabled us to provide the students with the upgrades they need.
Clay
Many of this semester’s freshmen will graduate as the class of 2029. What are your hopes for how Kentucky State University will help them grow?
Dr. Akakpo
We’re making sure things are not done the way they have been done in the past. As I alluded to earlier, we’re taking a very proactive approach. We’re not going to wait for them to come to us. We’re going after them. We’re making sure they are on track to graduate, to make progress. We started that intentionality last fall, but this year we’re taking it to a new level. My hope is in the next three, four, five years, we will never have a 33% graduation rate again on campus. We will be just like our peers, UK, U of L, WKU, NKU, and so forth.
Clay
How, specifically, will you be able to implement that? Does this look like teachers reaching out to their students, faculty that are specifically dedicated to this project?
Dr. Akakpo
We have started many initiatives. Math and English are some subjects that students don’t seem to do well in, so we’re working on a co-requisite approach where we help get everybody up to speed and provide extra support to make sure everybody stays on track to graduate. In addition, our student success department is also reaching out to students. We have tutors, we have embedded tutors in some sessions, which we’re going to increase.
Clay
Is there anything you’d like to add that I haven’t asked you?
Dr. Akakpo
First, thank you for the opportunity. I will thank our elected officials, especially those in the legislature for their support. I will thank my team for everything that they do, every day. I’m seeing the change and I’m very excited.
Clay
Are there any words you’d like to share directly to students?
Dr. Akakpo
We’re here for them. My vision, my goal, my aim is to do everything in our power to make sure they’re successful. They come to us for a better life, and we have to do everything we can to give them that better life. We owe it to them.