Meeting Opened

Martha Johnson, Board Chair, called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m.

Roll Call

The following members of the Board of Regents answered the call of the roll: John R. Banks, Richard A. Bean, Michael Hoseus, Martha Johnson, Cynthia L. Read, Marvin Russow, Donna Davis, Mark Powell, Bobby McCool, Chuck O’Neal, Jack Hanel, and Cindy Fiorella. Absent from the meeting were Lorna D. Littrell and Diana L. Lutz.

Members of KCTCS administration and the general public were also in attendance. Chairman Johnson welcomed everyone to Ashland, expressed appreciation to Richard Kendall for the hospitality extended the Board by the Ashland Regional Technology Center, and asked the members of the audience to introduce themselves. A quorum being present, Ms. Johnson declared the meeting officially open for the conduct of business at 8:40 a.m.

Approval of Minutes

Richard Bean made a motion to approve the minutes of the November 24, 1997, meeting. The motion was seconded by Cindy Fiorella and was approved.

President’s Report

Dr. James Ramsey stated that the Board made two presentations on Monday, January 12, to the Council on Postsecondary Education. The first presentation was the KCTCS Board’s recommendation on capital construction projects as developed by the Finance Committee. The presentation was well received, and received unanimous approval from the Council on Postsecondary Education. The recommendation will now be sent to the Governor to be included in his recommendation to the General Assembly on January 20.

The second report was an update on the transition. The Transition Team met following the Council meeting to deal with personnel issues.

 Committee Reports

Executive Committee

Bylaws amendment regarding non-teaching personnel. Cindy Read asked the Board to approve a change in KCTCS bylaws to improve a section that is inconsistent. The paragraph currently reads that faculty shall not vote on faculty compensation matters, but does not state that staff shall not vote on staff compensation matters.

Ms. Read moved that, in order to address the inconsistency in our bylaws regarding voting on the compensation issue, that we adopt the following addition to the bylaws:

Accordingly, the two members representing non-teaching (staff) personnel shall not vote on non-teaching personnel compensation matters.

The motion was seconded by Cindy Fiorella and was approved.

Finance, Administration, and Technology Committee

1. Procedure for distribution of Workforce Development Trust Fund

Sandy Gubser presented a selection of allocation options for the distribution of the $3 million in the Workforce Development Trust Fund earmarked for equipment in the technical schools and distributed during 1998. A total of 21 options were included. Ms. Gubser asked that the Board approve Option 9. This option utilizes the second distribution formula and totals $2.7 million. Money distributed to the 25 technical schools ranged from $12,536 to Anderson County Tech to $251,365 to West Kentucky Tech.

Mark Powell moved on behalf of the finance committee that the Board adopt Option 9. The motion was seconded by Jack Hanel. Bobby McCool moved to add an amendment to use the same criteria to direct the schools to distribute the money down to the program level. The amendment did not carry. The original motion was approved.

2. Approval Authority for Transaction Documents

General delegation gives the KCTCS president or his/her delegated agent the right to approve agreements and contracts. Agreements and contracts involving only one of the KCTCS branches must be approved by the appropriate Chancellor or delegated agent. Jack Jordan stated that it is necessary to develop policies to determine who has authority to sign documents. The interim policy was created through reformulation of what currently exists in the Community College System.

Mark Powell moved to adopt the Community College System approval authority for transaction documents with the following editorial changes: Chancellor changed to KCTCS President; and "No alcoholic beverages on non-discretionary funds" changed to "see alcohol policy." The motion was seconded by John Banks and passed.

Academic Affairs and Curriculum Committee

1. Approval of UKCCS Academic Programs

Jack Hanel, chair of the committee, reported that five programs were submitted to the committee for approval. Four of the five were approved. The committee asked that the program not approved, Technical Studies Program Proposal, be reexamined by personnel in both UKCCS and Kentucky Tech, and that a new proposal be submitted which addressed the concerns of the committee. The new proposal could be considered by the committee as early as March and submitted to the Council on Postsecondary Education at its May meeting.

Tony Newberry noted that most of the programs require little new money or personnel. They have already been endorsed by the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees. In the future, programs will be reviewed and endorsed by KCTCS before being forwarded to the UK Board of Trustees and the Council on Postsecondary Education. They will bear the University of Kentucky name.

Dr. Hanel moved that the Board approve the following four academic programs as submitted by the Community College System: Associate of Applied Science in Early Childhood Education at Owensboro Community College; Associate of Applied Science in Law Enforcement Technology at Prestonsburg Community College; Associate of Applied Science in Agriculture Technology at Hopkinsville Community College; and Associate of Applied Science in Nursing at Owensboro Community College. The motion was seconded by Marvin Russow and carried.

2. Update on Workforce Collaboration Workgroup

Jack Hanel stated that the co-chairs of the Workforce Collaboration Workgroup presented an update on their activities to the committee.

Dr. Hanel moved that the Board support the work that has been accomplished to date and encourage the group to continue to work together. He suggested that before the Board can approve the report, either in part or as a whole, it needs more guidance in terms of program specifics, priorities, and cost analyses. He asked that the task force report back to the Board in March. The motion was duly seconded and approved.

3. Kentucky Tech change from quarters to semesters

Jack Hanel reported that Ann Cline made a presentation on the Kentucky Tech change from quarters to semesters. The intention is to have everything aligned by July 1 so collaboration between the branches will be smooth.

Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Accountability Committee

1. Collaboration request from Council on Occupational Education

Bobby McCool reported on behalf of Lorna Littrell, committee chair. He called on Wayne Brown from the Council on Occupational Education (COE) to present a proposed partnership between COE and the State of Kentucky to develop new or revised accountability measures to assess the effectiveness of the programs offered.

Mr. McCool moved to accept the proposal from COE with one amendment, to add one community college representative to the taskforce. Cindy Fiorella seconded the motion, and it was approved.

 2. Bylaws for technical schools’ Boards of Directors

Tom Emmet and Jack Moreland asked the board to approve a set of bylaws for the creation of Boards of Directors for each of the technical schools. The bylaws would be modeled after those adopted for the UKCCS Boards of Directors.

Bobby McCool moved to use the same model as used by the Community College System in developing bylaws for the technical school’s Boards of Directors. The motion was seconded by Michael Hoseus.

Cindy Fiorella moved to amend the [bylaws] motion to include a staff representative as an ex-officio, non-voting member of the Board of Directors. The motion to amend was seconded by Marvin Russow and it passed.

After discussion, Richard Bean moved to table the motion as amended until the March meeting to allow time for review by legal counsel, and input from the Council on Postsecondary Education. The motion to table was seconded by John Banks and was approved.

Delegation of Authority over University of Kentucky Community College System to KCTCS Board of Regents

Dr. Ramsey reported that the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) had approved the change in governance of the community colleges at its December meeting, and that the UK Board of Trustees approved authority of KCTCS to govern the colleges pending official notification of approval of accreditation from the SACS. SACS will authorize appointment of a Substantive Change Committee to come to Kentucky on October 19, 20 and 21, 1998 to review details of the governance structure and other issues identified by the Fact Finding Team, and implications of these matters for the ongoing operations of each individual institution.

Beverly Haverstock and Tony Newberry have been working with senior officials at the University to write a memorandum of agreement for the services that the University of Kentucky will provide.

Dr. Ramsey asked the Board of Regents to recognize and accept management and governing responsibility of the University of Kentucky Community College System. He noted there are still serious issues to address. He expressed appreciation to Tony Newberry for heading up the writing of the prospectus and directing the entire process.

John Banks moved to accept delegation of authority of the University of Kentucky Community College System. The motion was seconded by Bobby McCool and approved at 10:18 a.m. EST.

Interim Personnel Polices for New Employees of KCTCS

Tony Newberry reported that, now that the colleges are governed by KCTCS, the need for a personnel policy is essential. The interim personnel policies will enable KCTCS to recruit and retain the most talented faculty and staff available, and meet the needs and challenges that will face Kentucky in the next century. However, he emphasized that all employees who were a part of the University of Kentucky Community College System prior to the transfer of management are covered by the existing personnel policies and benefits.

Al Bunnett, a consultant with the Hay Group, presented an interim personnel policy for those UKCCS employees hired between January 14 and July 1, 1998, or such time as the permanent personnel policies are approved.

Following lengthy discussion on the merits of the proposed interim personnel polices as presented, Marvin Russow made a motion that new Community College System hires will be governed by existing University of Kentucky policies as far as possible, new KCTCS hires will be handled on an individual contract basis, and to adopt the third party appeal and dues deduction provisions of the proposed policies. The motion was seconded by Mark Powell and passed.

Martha Johnson appointed Marvin Russow to chair an ad hoc committee to work with staff on the personnel policy issue. The members of the committee are Cindy Fiorella, Jack Hanel, Chuck O’Neal and Bobby McCool.

Other Business

Marvin Russow noted that there are 14 members on the Board of Regents, with 11 votes. He asked if a person with one-half vote takes that one-half vote with them to committee meetings, or if they take a full vote to a committee meeting. Legal counsel, Beverly Haverstock, noted that the statute provides the votes, and in her opinion, board members always have a full or half-vote, even in committee meetings. A majority of the votes that can be cast is a quorum.

Next Meeting of Board of Regents

The next meeting of the Board of Regents is scheduled for March 18-19, 1998, at Henderson Community College.

It was suggested that the July meeting be moved to July 10-11, 1998, because of conflict with the Council on Postsecondary Education meeting on July 12-13.

Executive Session

Marvin Russow moved that the board go into executive session. Motion was seconded by Richard Bean and passed.

Following executive session, James Ramsey recommended that the board authorize KCTCS to employ Tony Newberry as interim chancellor of the Community College System, Jack Moreland as interim chancellor of the Kentucky Tech, and that they also be authorized to employ Dr. Nelson Grote to work in the office of the president.

A motion was made by Richard Bean and seconded by Mark Powell to accept the recommendation. Motion passed.

 Adjournment

Bryan Armstrong noted that a news conference would be held at 1:00 p.m. via interactive television to announce the transfer of management of the UK Community College System, and the interim appointments. The Board and others are invited to attend the news conference in the LRC Building at Ashland Community College.

Richard Bean made a motion to adjourn. The motion was duly seconded and passed. The meeting adjourned at 12 noon.

Respectfully submitted,

 _______________________

Cynthia Read, Secretary