Board of Regents to have special meeting about budget

The WKU Board of Regents approved the majority of CAPE recommendations presented by Acting Provost Cheryl Stevens. 

Lily Burris

The Board of Regents will have a special meeting at 9 a.m. Friday to consider WKU’s $387.8 million budget for the 2019-20 fiscal year that relies on more than $13.2 million in money left over from the current budget year to balance. 

The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. in Jody Richards Hall.

The 2020 fiscal year budget is $675,000 lower than the current year, which ends June 30, and will not fully implement WKU’s new RAMP budget model, according to the agenda packet released Monday.

The RAMP, Resource Allocation and Management Planning, budget model is to be fully implemented in the 2020-21 budget, according to the agenda.

“Given the complexity of the new model, a compressed timeline for decision-making, and the need for additional training for budget officers in the colleges, there is a phased implementation of the new model,” according to the agenda.

The agenda also includes a list of reduction targets. The total reduction target from the colleges is $3.41 million, and the total reduction target from the auxiliary/support units is $5.23 million. The overall reduction target is $8,64 million.

Of the auxiliary/support units reduction, nearly $1.2 million in cuts coming from support units that operate under the provost. The chief facilities officer has a reduction target of $1.2 million and the university-wide reduction target is $1.3 million.

Other items on the agenda include election and approval of elected and appointed officers and a list of upcoming meeting dates.

An earlier version of this article says that the budget will be $675 million less than the current year. It is $675,000 less than the current year. Also, the RAMP model is to be fully implemented in 2020-21. The Herald regrets these errors.

News reporter Lily Burris can be reached at 270-745-6011 and [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @lily_burris.