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who seems genuinely concerned with shared governance and collegiality. There is also the issue that more faculty were not allowed to join the search committee.

Vice-President Kumar noted that this petition should have been cleared through Senate. President Sipes stated the petition was not created as a Senate action item; it was prepared by and on behalf of faculty, outside of senate purview. When asked about staff’s role in the petition, Dr. Freeman responded that we don’t want to speak for staff and that they are vulnerable in way faculty may not be. Dr. Freeman went on to add that President Thompson has deep experience with CPE, which could be very valuable for KSU going forward. She noted that President Thompson is likely to be heavily sought after by other institutions.

A senator wondered if we don’t need a nationwide search to confirm the legitimacy of the selected candidate. Regent McFayden was then asked if President Thompson had applied for the position, to which he responded that he hadn’t seen any applications yet.

Conversation ensued on the topic of whether or not President Thompson had been offered a position at another university. Dr. Freeman was not certain, but she did stress he was being sought after. A guest argued that it didn’t matter if he had been offered other positions. The problems we face, such as low enrollment, a poor graduation rate, an unstable budget, and frequent upper administration turnover are such that a delay in searching for a permanent president is hurting us badly. Search committees should not luxuriate. Two other public universities in the state have already closed their searches.

Chair Glass noted that the job description appeared just today on Higher Ed Jobs and was set to close in January.

A guest underscored that the petition was simply asking the Board to give President Thompson an interview. If he is the right candidate, then offer him the job.

Regent McFayden noted that proposals have not been acted upon by the President. President Sipes responded that she believed the President would disagree with this characterization. Regent McFayden went on to say that the costs for out-of-state versus in-state students were considered, and Regent McFayden argued the university should give scholarships to alumni chapters so that better students could be recruited. He also noted that he wasn’t happy with the way the budget has been balanced.

A quorum was lost at 4:53pm.

Respectfully submitted, Joe Moffett, Faculty Senate Secretary

[Approved by Senate, as distributed, on 12/12/2016]