Greg Rush, Vice President for Business Affairs, spoke to the performance funding model set up by the legislature. He stated that under the legislature's proposed funding model, 5% of the funding for all universities would be cut and that money would be placed into a pool to be distributed to universities that earn it back based on criteria set up by the legislature. KSU was exempted from this process for the first biennium.

Regent Farris stated that many legislators spoke on behalf of KSU to exempt the University from performance funding.

Dr. Thompson stated that performance funding has already become a reality in Tennessee and the results have been mixed.

Some of the factors that may influence KSU's future funding: graduation rates, retention rates, progression rates, sector-specific measures, i.e., STEM + H (Health) degrees.

Greg Rush stated that work groups have already started to discuss the model for performance funding. KSU does have a competitive advantage in the area of Educational Opportunities (how does the university provide educational opportunities to students that are Pell Grant-eligible).

The challenge for KSU is that wholesale targets are easier for larger universities to meet. KSU has to determine how it can and must make changes to be competitive in performance measures in comparison to other state schools.

Rick Smith, Interim Vice President for External Relations and Development, talked about how his department could help KSU achieve its goals of becoming the best institution it can be for its size, the institution of choice for students, and the institution of choice as an employer. He discussed that U.S. News and World Report ranked KSU 34th among 72 HBCUs. Other rankings have placed KSU at about the same spot. He has also found that Glassdoor reviews of KSU were mixed. There were mixed reviews on Facebook.

Regent Henry stated that External Relations must develop deeper, consistent relationships with local and regional media. Mr. Smith stated that he is building relationships with media, including trade publications. Regent Henry suggested that KSU constantly feed positive stories to the media.

Regent McFayden stated that KSU must let media outlets know that they must cover more positive stories about KSU.

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