August 21, 1998

[Prior to the special meeting of the Board, the Honorable Maria Ransdell, District Court Judge, 22^nd Judicial District, administered the oath of office to Walter Lichtenberg, elected student member for the Technical College Branch, and Anita Williams, elected student member for the UK Community College System.]

The Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) Board of Regents met in a special session on August 21, 1998, at 9:10 a.m. (EDT) at the Boone Faculty Center on the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington. Chair Johnson presided. The press was notified on August 19, 1998.

ROLL CALL The following members were present: Mr. Bean, Dr. Hanel, Mr. Hoseus, Chair Johnson, Mr. Lichtenberg, Ms. Littrell, Mr. Powell, and Ms. Williams. Mr. Banks, Ms. Fiorella, Ms. Lutz, Mr. McCool, Ms. Read, and Mr. Russow did not attend.

SACS ACCREDITATION-Chair Johnson asked Dr. Hockaday, Interim President, to update the Board on the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) related events that have occurred since the June Board meeting.

Dr. Hockaday said that the accreditation issues for the Community College System (CCS) are program approval and the granting of degrees, and he summarized significant developments that have occurred in an effort to resolve the issues.

The Council on Postsecondary Education at its July 1998 meeting approved for the first time five new CCS programs as KCTCS-only programs. This was a major break from practice and a major proactive step for KCTCS as SACS has said that the KCTCS Board of Regents must approve the programs for which the Board is responsible. Thus, KCTCS now offers two sets of programs—the programs approved by the KCTCS Board of Regents and the programs approved by the UK Board of Trustees.

*Original agenda materials, along with meeting handouts, are kept with the minutes in KCTCS offices. Meeting audiotapes also are available.

Dr. Hockaday continued by saying that he, Dr. Newberry, and Chair Johnson met with SACS officials on July 22, 1998; and they urged KCTCS leadership to move in the direction of governing the System completely with no outside Board having governing authority.

On August 5, 1998, UK and KCTCS Board Chairs and Vice Chairs, Dr. Hockaday, Dr. Wethington, Dr. Newberry, and other key officials met. At that meeting, proposed alternatives for resolving the SACS issues were discussed. The consensus was that a memorandum of understanding would be drafted for consideration by the UK Board of Trustees and the KCTCS Board of Regents.

Dr. Hockaday asked Dr, Newberry to explain how the proposed memorandum of understanding between the KCTCS Board and the UK Board addresses the Community College System’s major accreditation issues--program approval and the granting of degrees.

Dr. Newberry reiterated that the concern of SACS is that the UK Board shares authority and awards degrees in concert with the KCTCS Board. A letter from the Executive Director of the Commission on Colleges, SACS, dated June 3, 1998, underscored the need for a proactive resolution of the shared governance issue before the Substantive Change Committee’s site visit/review scheduled for October, 1998.

Dr. Newberry described the August 5 meeting of the UK and KCTCS Board Chairs and Vice Chairs as outstanding with all parties working together to resolve the issues. One idea proposed at that meeting was referred to as the UK Qualitative Endorsement of KCTCS Degrees, but agreement was not reached on this concept. Dr. Wethington then proposed an idea called Planned Phase-Out of UK Degrees and Phase-In of KCTCS-Only Degrees. From that discussion, the proposed agreement shown below evolved:

As of June 30, 1999, all existing UK programs would be converted to KCTCS-only programs.

UKCCS students enrolled by June 30, 1999, in associate degree programs approved by the UK Board of Trustees and who complete the program by June 30, 2004 shall have their degrees conferred by the UK Board of Trustees.

Degrees for all other students enrolled in UKCCS programs shall be awarded by the KCTCS Board of Regents.

Dr. Newberry said that SACS is likely to embrace the proposed memorandum of understanding because it is a proactive step and shows that KCTCS is serious about addressing the shared governance issue. Additionally, the memorandum of understanding commits KCTCS to a cleaner separation of CCS academic governance from the University of Kentucky and reduces the reliance upon UK Board involvement in program approval and the granting of degrees.

In his closing remarks, Dr. Newberry listed the following important dates:

September 4, 1998 CCS mails to SACS documents that address the accreditation issues.

October 18-21, 1998 SACS Substantive Change Committee visits UKCCS.

Following Dr. Newberry’s presentation, Dr. Hockaday pointed out that by statute the official name of the Community College System is the University of Kentucky Community College System, and the name of the System will always be that unless the statute is changed. That being the name of the System, UKCCS will appear on the degree.

During the discussion regarding the proposed memorandum of understanding, Chair Johnson pointed out that the student who enrolls on June 30 and the student who enrolls on July 1 will receive exactly the same quality education, and this is what is important. Dr. Hockaday said that the leadership of the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees, the University President, and the KCTCS leadership are in agreement that they would explain the proposed memorandum of understanding at any site a community college president wants them to appear.

Sheryl Snyder, Legal Counsel for KCTCS, said that the substance of the memorandum of understanding as developed in the August 5 meeting is included in the current draft document and there are only minor details to resolve with the University.

Draft copies of the memorandum of understanding were distributed to Board members for their review. (These were collected and were not made a part of the official file.)

MOTION: Ms. Littrell moved that the Board adopt the memorandum of understanding in principle and authorize Dr. Hockaday and Chair Johnson to continue to work with UK Board representatives and Dr. Wethington to complete the memorandum of understanding in order to include it in the packet of materials sent to SACS on September 4. Dr. Hanel seconded the motion.

VOTE: Based on a roll-call vote, the motion passed unanimously.

ANNOUNCEMENTS- Chair Johnson announced the following dates:

Sept. 13-14 CPE Meeting

Sept. 15 UK Board of Trustees Meeting

Sept. 23 Standard and Poor’s Rating Agency Luncheon

Oct. 18-21 SACS Site Visit

MEETING Technical College in Pineville

ADJOURN- MOTION: Mr. Hoseus moved that the meeting adjourn. Dr. Hanel

MENT seconded the motion.

VOTE: The motion passed unanimously, and the meeting was adjourned at 9:55 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,