The Western Kentucky University Board of Regents released the agenda for the first quarterly meeting of the spring semester happening at 9 a.m. on Friday, March 3.

While the agenda has many of the same items that appeared on the Jan. 20 committee, including the suspension of the Strategic Sports Communications Graduate Certificate and the budget report, the agenda also includes some new items such as the “approval of WKU admission policy, approval of Student Conduct Policy,” the National Collegiate Athletic Association compliance report for the year and numerous new information items.

Whereas only the four or five members on the specific committees voted on “action items” under the committee’s purview in the January meeting, this quarterly meeting all Regents will be able to vote on all actions.

Unlike other Board of Regents meetings that are normally held in the Cornelius A. Martin Regents Room in Jody Richards Hall, this meeting will be held in WKU’s Innovation Campus located on Nashville Road.

“In an effort to highlight the many different aspects of WKU and provide comprehensive exposure to other areas of the university, from time to time the Board of Regents will conduct meetings in alternate locations,” Jace Lux, university spokesperson, said in an email. “We are excited for our Regents to see firsthand the important work taking place at the WKU Innovation Campus.”

Included in the Finance and Budget committee report is the “NCAA Compliance Report for the year ended June 30, 2022” that is a revenue and expense report compiled by Forvis, a public accounting firm.

The total operating revenue, which combined five sports from football to women’s basketball, totaled $35,142,710, with football bringing in $10.1 million and having the most ticket sales among the five categories.

Based on the same five categories of sports, the university’s expenses totaled $35,142,710. However, $14.7 million of that came from “direct institutional support.”

Also included in the Forvis report is the “long-term debt” totaling $10.7 million with an “outstanding athletic debt related to the renovation of Diddle Arena” totaling $10.3 million.

The remainder of the report outlines the “agreed upon procedures” between the university and the NCAA.

Caboni “recommends that the Board of Regents accept the independent accountant’s report on applying agreed-upon procedures as required by the NCAA Constitution.”

Listed under student affairs are two items that were not heard during the January committee meeting. The approval of the WKU admission policy and the student conduct policy were pulled from the previous agenda because “there was more work to be done,” W. Currie Milliken said at the last Board of Regents.

Ethan Logan, vice president of enrollment and student experience, said the admission policy was “already in place” but this is a formalization of the policy in preparation for the “upcoming accreditation period.”

“This admission policy will be reviewed annually in accordance with the institutional scope, mission, and institutional capacity,” the report states.

Logan also said that the Student Conduct Policy was also already in place but that it was slightly revised in accordance with Kentucky House Bill 290 that “extended additional due process to students who might be suspended, expelled, or removed from university housing” for conduct related issues.

“The process of adopting the Code and developing a consistent review and revision procedure as official University Policy & Procedure formalizes this document for administration by the University,” the report states. “Revisions to the current Student Code of Conduct include necessary adoption of KY House Bill 290 protocols for due process and procedure.”

“These were simply the inclusion of appropriate state law which was not already in our Code,” Logan added.

The report states WKU President Timothy Caboni recommended both of these items for approval.

The Executive Committee has no action items listed in the agenda, but it includes four information items including a Title IX update by Andrea Anderson, general counsel for WKU, the “athletic academic progress report” by Director of Athletics Todd Stewart, a legislative update and a “mission statement review” by Caboni and Beth Laves, assistant provost, director for accreditation & academic programs and SACSCOC Liaison. 

Also there is listed an executive closed session “for discussion of proposed or pending litigation against or on behalf of the university,” which is allowed under Kentucky Revised Statutes. 

“These aren’t unusual, we have them anytime we have to have a discussion related to pending litigation,” David Brinkley, staff regent, said during a Staff Senate meeting on Mar. 1. “We have a couple of active suits and sometimes there are pending lawsuits that we will be made aware of, but that is a customary meeting we have a couple of different times a year.”

The next committee meeting is scheduled for April 14, and the next quarterly meeting is set for May 4.

Administration reporter Michael Crimmins can be reached at [email protected].