KBOR Report December 2021

The Board of Regents met on a windy December 15th. Unusually, for a late fall meeting, the CEO of the Board had to prepare the attendees for emergency procedures in case of bad weather. By the end of the meeting, the storm blew through Topeka, but the regents were able to finish the meeting without taking cover in the basement.

The regents were expected to name the chair of the presidential search committee, but Chair Cheryl Henderson-Lee announced at the beginning of the meeting that this agenda item would be removed. No reason was given for the delay. So, we will have to wait until January to know who will chair the presidential search. Hopefully, they will also name the committee at that time as well.

It was a long meeting with lots of good discussion between and among the regents about a wide variety of matters. Here are the highlights for ESU:

1. The proposed housing and food service rate changes were approved by the regents. Cass Coughlin had presented the arguments in favor of rate changes, as well as changes in the dining plans, at the morning Fiscal Affairs meeting. The details of our plan can be found on pages 65-68 of the board agenda (see link below).
2. The board also passed the allocation of funds for FY 2023 from the Educational Building Fund appropriation. Of the $41 million appropriated, ESU will receive $2,476,000 for a variety of projects in campus buildings.
3. Our own Diana Kuhlmann presented on the rates for the 2022-2023 student health insurance benefits and premiums. After some discussion tied to the continuing board investigation into the plans and rates to assure that students are getting economical choices, the board passed the rate plan.
4. Our last ESU-related item was the approval by the board of the sale of the Earl Center which formally held the Jones Institute. This was among a number of non-budgetary items that will now be formally put into a bill for legislative action in the 2022 session.

There were a lot of discussions raised by Regent Winter about duplication of programs on the campuses as well as how we need to start to rethink higher education in the state of Kansas. The item which prompted this discussion was a new Master’s in Aeronautics proposed by Kansas State, which passed but after a lengthy discussion concerning whether we need to rethink how the universities function in the state. CEO Blake Flanders discussed how this might be worth pursuing going forward. Be on the watch for that in future meetings.

The Office of Government Relations at ESU wishes you all a happy and healthy holiday season. Be safe and enjoy the break!

Microsoft Word - Agenda Dec 15-16, 2021 .docx (kansasregents.org)

Board Room Live Stream (kansasregents.org)