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From humble beginnings in the tri-state area of Russell, Kentucky, Dr. Kevin Qualls has seen many changes in education since his youth.
As a child, Qualls had the opportunity to gain the most out of his education simply by being in the right place at the right time. Russell was home to Ashland Inc., which brought a substantial amount of wealth to his hometown. That wealth wasn’t just felt through a substantial economy, it was also felt in the classroom.
Engineers and executives came from all over the country with educations from prestigious universities. Qualls said that the wives of these executives came with great educations as well and they would teach at the Russell Independent Schools.
“So, at Russell Independent Schools, I had teachers that weren’t from Russell,” Qualls said. “I had teachers that came from different places in the country and the world and they were teaching courses and taught us about the world beyond Russell, Kentucky and where it was. So, in some way, I’m from the Russell-Ashland area, but because I was in the preferred school system, I had an opportunity that a lot didn’t have, even to the degree that my speech developed a little differently than other people at other schools.”
From there, Qualls was able to further his education through the community college in his area, Ashland Community College.
“That’s what you did,” Qualls said. “That’s what everybody did. You go to community college for your first two years and then transfer on to UK or someplace like that and that’s what I did. That was the pattern.”
Through that experience, he developed an interest in writing, which followed him to the University of Kentucky. He decided to major in television production and started working at Kentucky Educational Television during his junior year.
“From that point forward, education and television became intertwined,” Qualls said.
He was able to work on programs such as Reading Rainbow with Levar Burton and the KET telecourse project, which would allow for the network to create college level programming that would air. When he finished his undergrad at 21, he took a job at Paducah Community College, now known as West Kentucky Community and Technical College.
Qualls worked in the TV studio during which he said he was so poor as this wasn’t a very lucrative decision. One day as he was watching television, he saw that a TV show was filmed in Hardin, Kentucky. He decided to look into the outdoor program and got the position after he was handed a camera and brought back wildlife footage. He was hired as a videographer. At the age of 23, he found himself producing the No. 1 syndicated outdoor program in the country, "The Great American Outdoors."
Overtime, he found himself burnt out from the job calling it a “young man’s game.” From there, he attended Marshall University to obtain a master’s in broadcast journalism. He was also hired to teach professors video production due to his experience with the current technology he was working with at the time. He then took a job in Florida at what is known as Full Sail University today.
He was able to take part in some of the new technologies that weren’t widely available yet, which he said was a valuable experience. Unfortunately, he sustained an injury that left him deaf in one ear and working on soundstages proved difficult for him. Meanwhile, he would teach at Full Sail and edit video at Disney on the weekends. An offer from Paducah Community College came, but a lesson from his father still haunted him regarding accepting the position.
“Those who can do and those who can’t teach,” Qualls said.
Despite this lesson, Qualls loved teaching and being in the classroom. It was his true passion. But while he was teaching there for several years, he was receiving offers to edit packages for companies that sponsored The Great American Outdoors. From there, he launched his own video production company. He pursued this full time and left teaching again.
While his production company was going strong, the advent of new technologies was becoming more and more evident. Equipment was becoming cheaper, but also, HD television was on its way, and Qualls decided to wind down operations and return to education.
He produced many packages for multiple law firms and he saw that as a potential career opportunity in the long run. He decided to earn a doctorate at the University of South Carolina and to take a job to manage the media facilities for the National Advocacy Center. While he was there, he took the LSAT and began receiving scholarship offers for law school. He decided to follow through with it and eventually wound up being a practicing lawyer.
He worked at a law firm while waiting to see if he passed the bar, and while he was there, he applied to become a professor at Murray State University. Unfortunately, there was a hiring freeze and he didn’t receive an offer. He passed the Virginia Bar and went into law full time.
A year later, the hiring freeze ended and took the job at MSU. He then passed the bar in Kentucky and does work from time to time.
A decade removed from teaching, many changes took place including the advent of the internet and the full implication of HD television. Despite many changes, the fundamentals always stuck with him.
“Microphone placement, lighting, how to use a lenses properly, storytelling, those skills are never going to change and be consistent,” Qualls said.
He also noted the changes he’s seen in students overtime including a major disadvantage, student debt.
“I think that’s something that we as a whole country we better start paying attention to,” Qualls said. “We now have almost have two generations of people that have to delay starting a family because they need to get rid of their student debt.”
He also noted a different sensibility amongst students today as well as the lifestyles. He noted that the private sectors are stepping up as well and offering competitive options. Despite some disadvantages, he noted one major advantage.
“What is now possible with the internet amazes me,” Qualls said.
He also said that’s he finally gearing up to embrace online education. He said he would have to go to the library for endless hours and now you can access everything from your laptop. The accessibility that future generations have is perhaps the greatest asset that they have.
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