‘New and sustained path’ for Kentucky State takes another step forward as bill passes House
A bill that would replace the majority of Kentucky State University’s board of regents passed in the House of Representatives Monday.
Senate Bill 265, which would remake the KSU board in the next several weeks, passed 92-0. The bill, filed by Sen. David Givens, R-Greensburg, would replace all eight Kentucky State Board of Regents members appointed by the governor. The board is made up of eight regents appointed by the governor and three others elected by faculty, staff and students to represent those groups.
KSU is currently facing a multi-million dollar budget shortfall. According to the bill, the board of regents “has a history of failing to function and is no longer functioning according to its statutory mandate.” Replacing the board is the first step forward for the university, Givens said last week.
Under the bill, there will be 16 nominations for new board members submitted to Gov. Andy Beshear by March 26. A House amendment to the bill gives Beshear until April 4 to name the new members, said Rep. James Tipton, R-Taylorsville. Current and former board members are eligible to be named to the new board.
KSU alumnus Rep. Derrick Graham, D-Frankfort, spoke in favor of the bill, saying, “the Commonwealth needs Kentucky State University.”
“While I have some concerns about the bill, I also realize that this is now the only way to move the university forward,” Graham said. “I truly hope the bill and this funding that must go along with it will be the start of a new and sustained path for my alma mater, for which I love.”
Speaking at a Senate Education Committee meeting last week, Givens said KSU is vital to Kentucky higher education, and a new board is a step to moving the university in the right direction.
“This is the first step, a piece of legislation, to realign this board, refocus this board, give the governor a chance to basically reconstitute the board itself as we get ready to move through the legislative session,” Givens said last week.
KSU’s $23 million shortfall
Another piece of legislation related to KSU, the state’s only public historically Black university, has also been introduced this year.
KSU administrators have said they cannot operate beyond the spring semester without $23 million from the state. House Bill 250, which would give KSU $23 million as a forgivable loan, passed in the House last month and is currently in the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee.
Additionally, KSU will need to cut $7 million from its budget for the next fiscal year, administrators have said.
KSU was placed under state oversight last year, with the Council on Postsecondary Education conducting an investigation into the management and finances of the university. Former president M. Christopher Brown II resigned last summer, along with the former CFO Douglas Allen. Since then, concerns have been raised about the financial management at KSU.
At a CPE meeting in November, the new CFO Greg Rush said the university previously had an “overall lack of budgetary control, pretty much top to bottom,” including overspending in the president’s office by $850,000 one year.
KSU is currently conducting a search for a new president, with the goal of naming the hire later this spring. The board of regents makes the final decision on hiring a new president.