Eight years ago, Timothy Caboni took charge of Western Kentucky University as its 10th president. Under his leadership, WKU has seen significant successes and limped through tough times.
Caboni’s contract is up for renewal again at the end of the academic year. As regents consider another four-year term for Caboni, it’s appropriate to examine his record.
When Caboni took office in 2017, he inherited a budget mess. Large amounts of construction left WKU with $200 million in debt. State lawmakers decreased the amount of state funding for the university for years while tuition rose. The previous administration had, in effect, kicked the can down the road for years on financial challenges.
Because of this, Caboni had to make hard decisions. The first Voluntary Separation Incentive Program (VSIP) was implemented in spring 2018, encouraging eligible faculty and staff to accept incentives to retire early.
Caboni’s first two years were marked by the abrupt resignation of Provost Terry Ballman following a vote of no confidence from the University Senate. Ballman’s resignation came eight months after she began at WKU and followed the sudden firing of then-Dean of the Potter College of Arts & Letters Larry Snyder. Following her resignation, Caboni kept Ballman on the university payroll as assistant to the president for special initiatives.
Despite a rocky start, Caboni has modernized WKU for today’s students.
The Commons and Garrett Plaza changed how students use the top of the Hill by providing more study space and expanding the offerings of WKU Libraries.
At the bottom of the Hill, Regents and Normal Halls host Living Learning Communities, which ease transition and create community for freshmen by housing them with like-minded students of the same major, concentration or college. This contributed to an increase in first-year retention rates, which hit an all-time high of 78.3% in fall 2024.
Still, eight years in, the university continues to face budget problems — problems that Caboni must own.
WKU overspent its budget by nearly $15 million over the past two fiscal years, much of which is attributed to athletics, which overspent by more than $4.5 million in those two years. Other overspending units include the Division of Strategy, Operations and Finance in 2022-2023 and the Division of Enrollment and Student Experience in 2023-2024.
This overspending resulted in a lopsided overcorrection by the administration. Following the 2022-2023 overspend, all units, including those that did not overspend, were ordered to spend only 90% of their allocated budgets. The 2024-2025 budget had a similar restriction and allowed the implementation of a 10% overhead charge on departments that generate their own revenue. To date, the university has yet to implement, or to even define, the overhead charge.
This financial strain has forced departments to scrape together the money needed to support students, faculty and staff.
Part of what has driven the financial challenges is a decline in enrollment. Recently, the administration has shifted its priorities to “net tuition revenue” over headcount enrollment.
Since peaking during the 2012-2013 academic year, enrollment decreased by 22.83%, including a 19.58% decrease during Caboni’s tenure. WKU was also the only Kentucky public university to see a decrease from fall 2023 to fall 2024.
This isn’t all Caboni’s fault. Data provided by the administration shows over 60% of those admitted to WKU in fall 2024 chose not to attend college anywhere.
Despite this, net tuition revenue increased. Assistant Vice President for Budget, Finance and Analytics Renaldo Domoney told the Herald in February that this revenue increased in fall 2024 and is expected to increase again next year. It’s yet to be seen if this is a long-term solution.
Increasing net tuition revenue will likely become more important. Since Caboni took office, the amount of money gifted to WKU and the number of donors have decreased, though philanthropy officials have said it is normal for donations to fluctuate yearly.
Fundraising is a priority to Caboni. He announced the WKU Opportunity Fund at his 2018 investiture, aiming to raise $50 million to support scholarships. In August 2021, Caboni announced the fund met its initial goal and increased it to $100 million. The fund met its goal in 2024 and has helped establish 267 endowed scholarships, according to the WKU Alumni Association website.
From philanthropy to enrollment and retention to WKU’s budget, Caboni’s record is decidedly mixed. If Caboni’s contract were renewed, changes are necessary. It’s far past time for Caboni to go all-in on WKU.
First and foremost, he must be more present on campus. It’s crucial for students to have a president who engages with them, walks campus and makes them feel seen.
But students rarely see Caboni taking in life on the Hill. When they do, it’s even rarer to see the president without his public relations entourage. His connection with students must go deeper.
Just as students need to see the president, the faculty and staff must, too. They deserve to know that he appreciates their work.
In the past, Caboni has talked down to faculty and staff, telling them they wouldn’t understand the university’s budget. Though some have recently said they have seen improvement, Caboni is also rarely seen with professors and staff outside of formal settings.
Leadership also requires an acceptance of criticism. The inability of Caboni and his administration to accept the input of the WKU community has created an atmosphere where students, faculty and staff don’t feel comfortable sharing their concerns for fear of retribution. While the administration claims to value First Amendment freedoms, their actions point to the oppoosite.
Cultivating an environment where the most important members of the WKU community do not feel comfortable speaking threatens to drive talented individuals away and could make WKU no longer recognizable.
With these changes, Caboni could garner more respect and, in turn, invite everyone to feel they have a stake in WKU’s future.
We encourage the Board of Regents to look deeply into Caboni’s record. Talk to students. Talk to faculty. Talk to staff. Reach out to the community that cares so much about WKU and invite them to share their thoughts.
The university looks much different than it did eight years ago. But does it look better?
If you would like to submit a reaction to this editorial, a Letter to the Editor or other submission, please send it to [email protected] or [email protected].