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shall be subject to confirmation by the Senate. The members of the board shall select a chairperson annually.
On March 25, 2022, the Governor signed Senate Bill (SB) 265 into law, which removed all eight gubernatorial appointees of the KSU Board but did not affect the three faculty, staff, and student regents. SB 265 required the Governor to select eight appointments to the KSU Board from 16 nominations submitted by the Governor’s Postsecondary Education Nominating Committee by April 4, 2022. Those serving on the KSU Board before March 25, 2022, were considered by the Committee for nomination, and pursuant to KRS 164.321, appointees were subject to Senate confirmation. The Governor appointed eight members to the KSU Board on March 31, 2022, with only one member being reappointed. On April 14, 2022, the Senate confirmed all eight appointments to the KSU Board.
KRS 164.350 identifies the government of the University is vested in its Board and requires the Board to “adopt bylaws, rules, and regulations for the governance of its members, officers, agents, and employees.” KSU Board bylaws are commonly referred to as the Gold Book. Consistent with Article VII of the bylaws, KSU annually elects a chairperson and vice-chairperson at the Board’s first meeting. In addition, the Board appoints a Secretary and Treasurer. During the examination period, the Board appointed the former President to serve as the Board Secretary and the former EVP for Finance to serve as its Treasurer.
The bylaws outline the Board’s basic internal operating rules. Specific to financial accountability and leadership, the bylaws include:
Section 8.4 which states, “the Treasurer shall be responsible for the management of the financial affairs of the Board and the University in accordance with accepted budgetary procedures and state law. He/she shall receive and disburse money under the control of the Board, and perform all acts that pertain to his office under the direction of the Board. He/she shall present at each regular meeting of the Board a statement of the financial status of the University.”
Section 9.4(d) of the Gold Book provides that the Executive and Audit Committee (which is composed of the officers of the Board of Regents, the standing committee chairpersons, and the past Board chairperson), “shall also:
Monitor the effectiveness of management's system of internal control to prevent and detect fraud;
Ensure open communications among management, internal auditors, external auditors, and the Board;
Recommend to the Board the External Auditors/firm;
Discuss the annual audit report and other external audit issues with auditors and appropriate staff;