\n<\/p>\n
Kentucky State University students and alumni successfully lobbied state lawmakers to soften plans for strict oversight over the institution\u2019s programs and spending and a mandated pivot towards applied learning. <\/p>\n
But the bill the state\u2019s General Assembly passed last week will still exert significant fiscal control over the historically Black land-grant institution while it stabilizes its finances and reconfigures as a polytechnic. Lawmakers argue that ramping up oversight for the cash-strapped institution is better than the alternative they previously considered among themselves\u2014shuttering it altogether.<\/p>\n
Kentucky State supporters are counting the final iteration of the bill as a tentative win. Students and alumni protested the original version as overreach into the HBCU\u2019s business and mission and a potential hit to its liberal arts offerings. But the final draft now on the governor\u2019s desk includes several amendments they pushed for and assuages some of their concerns. <\/p>\n
The bill would give the commonwealth tighter control over the institution over a five-year period of \u201cfinancial exigency\u201d or until the General Assembly declares the university in a stable financial position, whichever comes first. During that time, the university wouldn\u2019t be allowed to spend more than $20,000 without prior approval from the Kentucky Council of Postsecondary Education and must report monthly on its finances. (The original version set the cap at $5,000.)<\/p>\n
The university would also have to conduct a review of its academic programs for \u201clong-term viability, financial stability\u201d and \u201calignment with the university\u2019s mission as a polytechnic institution\u201d\u2014though the final version of the bill also emphasizes the university\u2019s standing as a historically Black land-grant institution that offers \u201cliberal studies\u201d in addition to \u201chighly technical, industry-based applied learning.\u201d<\/p>\n
If the bill becomes law, KSU can offer no more than 10 academic areas of study during its financial exigency period, with some exceptions such as all-online programs and programs in its College of Education. The university would also be tasked with maintaining faculty and staff levels to support an enrollment target of at least 1,000 in-person students. Students who owe the university $1,000 or more for over 60 days would be disenrolled under the final legislation, alongside other enrollment and admissions requirements. However, the final bill softens admissions strictures for certain groups, including veterans and transfer students. It also rolled back a requirement that all Greek life organizations would have to re-register, allowing groups in good standing to continue without rechartering.<\/p>\n
The bill also gives new powers to the university president over the financial exigency period including laying off employees, regardless of whether they have tenure.<\/p>\n
President Koffi C. Akakpo has stood behind the bill through its various iterations. He and other university administrators stressed to students and employees that embracing a \u201cpolytechnic\u201d identity won\u2019t mean losing other aspects of its mission.<\/p>\n
Kentucky State University spokesperson Michael Strysick said the new label \u201cmeans sharpening strengths already visible across Kentucky State in applied learning, STEM+H, research, and other fields tied to public need and student opportunity. That momentum is already evident in the University\u2019s research profile and in growth across several high-demand areas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even so, university officials were gratified by the latest iteration of the bill, which Strysick described as \u201cclearer and stronger on Kentucky State\u2019s identity as Kentucky\u2019s only public HBCU and an 1890 land-grant institution.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe amended version is improved in many ways,\u201d he said, \u201cand we are grateful for the advocacy of our students and alumni on this.\u201d<\/p>\n
In response to concerns about state overreach, he said, \u201cwe see this as a partnership, pure and simple,\u201d and university leaders \u201clook forward to collaborating\u201d with state officials on academic and financial decisions. He referenced two other bills passed by the General Assembly, with an overall funding increase for the university and $50\u00a0million for a new 59,000-square-foot Health Sciences Center at KSU. There\u2019s a \u201creal upside in that partnership,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
KSU has been in dire financial straits before. A state report from March 2023 described its finances as \u201cchaotic\u201d and lacking in \u201ceffective safeguards and responsible management.\u201d The report also called out former leaders and staff members for rampant overspending and poor recordkeeping.<\/p>\n
Akakpo, who took over that summer, has previously described the bill as marking a new phase for the institution and a \u201chistoric moment in our ongoing evolution.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a statement after the bill passed, he promised to \u201ccontinue to advocate for Kentucky State University in a manner that honors who we are, protects what matters most, and positions this institution for long-term strength and sustainability.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, not everyone is convinced. Students and alumni celebrated the passing of the more collaborative version of the bill, but the final legislation hasn\u2019t rid them of all misgivings.<\/p>\n
Michael N. Weaver Jr., a 2020 KSU graduate, initially raised concerns about the bill in an op-ed last week. He\u2019s now relieved \u201cthe school lives to see another day\u201d under a more palatable version of the legislation, but he wants to ensure the \u201cstate is being a supporter of the institution\u201d and investing in its growth, not exercising \u201cfull control\u201d over it. Weaver doesn\u2019t have a problem with the university embracing a polytechnic approach so long as the state is funding that transformation and other aspects of its mission aren\u2019t compromised as a result.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not against evolution as long as it doesn\u2019t erase identity,\u201d said Weaver, who also served as Student Government Association president and student regent. \u201cNow it\u2019s on the university leadership to ensure the identity of the campus is still the same but continuing to grow, evolve and develop.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also welcomes accountability and oversight for the institution but described lawmakers as heavy-handed in their scrutiny of the HBCU, noting that the institution has been historically underfunded. (Biden administration officials found the commonwealth of Kentucky underfunded the university by $172\u00a0million over three decades.)<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are other schools within the commonwealth who also struggle financially,\u201d he said. He\u2019d prefer lawmakers push \u201cto get Kentucky State the money that it\u2019s owed\u201d before assessing how it does with its finances.<\/p>\n
Barry Johnson, president of the Kentucky State University National Alumni Association, said association members pushed hard for the newest version of the bill because they wanted to make sure the institution\u2019s mission as an HBCU with liberal arts offerings was enshrined in the law\u2014not just implied\u2014in addition to its new polytechnic focus.<\/p>\n
He too supports the STEM- and workforce-oriented direction of the university, but \u201cit was almost, to some degree, a protection from what could happen in the future,\u201d he said. He and other alumni also worried the original version of the bill could become a \u201cblueprint\u201d for lawmakers in other states that want to change the character of an HBCU or another university. He believes the new version makes clear that\u2019s not what\u2019s happening.<\/p>\n
He remains concerned, however, about the lack of clarity on which liberal arts programs will remain in person versus online if the university has to limit itself to 10 areas of study on campus, he said. He\u2019s taking a \u201cwait and see\u201d approach.<\/p>\n
(Strysick stressed that the university already reviews programs annually and that the existing process would \u201chelp inform how programs are grouped within broader academic areas, potentially in a more interdisciplinary way,\u201d in collaboration with the Council on Postsecondary Education.)<\/p>\n
Over all, though, in light of the amendments, Johnson is hopeful about the future of the university, provided the funding to support the institution\u2019s polytechnic transformation also gets the governor\u2019s go-ahead. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs long as all that comes to comes to fruition, I see it being phenomenal\u201d for the institution, he said, \u201cbecause you\u2019ve got, in some ways, the best of both worlds.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kentucky State University students and alumni successfully lobbied state lawmakers to soften plans for strict oversight over the institution\u2019s programs and spending and a mandated pivot towards applied learning. But the bill the state\u2019s General Assembly passed last week will still exert significant fiscal control over the historically Black land-grant institution while it stabilizes its<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48036,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[142,97,4451,199,17365,781],"class_list":{"0":"post-48035","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education","8":"tag-bill","9":"tag-control","10":"tag-kentucky","11":"tag-state","12":"tag-tightens","13":"tag-university"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/48036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}