The Board reconvened in Open Session at 12:32 p.m. Chairperson Bearden announced that, in closed session, the Board gave direction to counsel regarding litigation matters discussed during the session. The directives and the discussion related thereto was attorney-client privileged.
No other action was taken by the Board in closed session.
The Board recessed for lunch at 12:35 p.m. The Board reconvened at 1:22 p.m.
After returning from a lunch recess, the President was joined by Dr. Mary Pat Wohlford to discuss the Strategic Plan. Dr. Thompson and Dr. Wohlford reviewed a revised draft of the KSU Strategic Plan with the Board. The theme of the Strategic Plan is “Racing Toward KSU’s Future.”
Dr. Wohlford discussed the basis for the plan. She stated that she and Dr. Thompson developed a plan that would be a living document, allowing for year-to-year adjustments, depending on the needs of the University. She stressed that the plan was designed to be agile. The plan also provides for accountability among senior leadership.
Dr. Thompson also explained the strategic enrollment management plan. He reviewed data showing current enrollment statistics and data on past cohorts and graduation rates. He stated that KSU must improve its graduation rates and that at the current time, based on students remaining in the upcoming cohorts, the KSU graduation rates will continue to be low.
However, by implementing the right methodologies, President Thompson stated that, if all students in the 2014 cohort were retained and graduate within six years, the graduation rate for that cohort could be as high as 43.33%. It could be as high as 59.2% for the 2015 cohort, if all students in that cohort are retained and graduate within 6 years.
There are 5 principal goals in the Strategic Plan:
Action Item: Regent McFayden made a motion to accept the Strategic Plan and the Enrollment Management Plan, which was seconded by Regent Barfield. The motion passed on a vote of 6-0.
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