The board approved agreements and contracts for dorms and hotels for spring 2022 and with The Registry for providing an interim CFO. A review of all university policies and procedures is ongoing.
A senator commented that there was a need for a central location for all university policies and procedures, and Regent Walston agreed and noted that the university counsel will bring a plan for this to the March board meeting.
A guest spoke to thank Regent Walston for bringing up the matter of grant indirect cost reimbursement with the board. This guest also asked what is the “structural imbalance” previously discussed. Regent Walston said that it is the difference between revenue and spending.
He also noted that Greg Rush's end date as KSU CFO is December 31, 2021.
No update.
658 students have preregistered for Spring 2022 while 900 remained eligible for preregistration, so 60 percent of continuing students have not registered. 500 have balances. This is ahead of last year's numbers, but still not good enough.
The fall career fair got compliments on its COVID preparations. Some said it was better run than the one at University of Kentucky. Thanks to Nurse Todd. Some students got internships on the spot at the career fair and more are coming in. Recruitment Wednesdays with students and employers is continuing with much interest.
The provost thanked the Senate for help with his transition into KSU. He also congratulated Kim Sipes on her retirement.
In Fall 2021, he reported, we had 2279 students enrolled. 442 of these were dual credit high school students. By the end of the semester, 57 percent of our students had paid off their accounts. 50 percent of those are preregistered. In Spring 2022, we will offer 325 face-to-face classes and 308 online.
Low enrollment classes are a problem for us. In the fall, 211 of our 532 classes had enrollments below 12. We need to determine what it really takes for a class to pay for itself and keep our class sizes above that.
Ongoing projects in academic affairs include implementing the DegreeWorks and CourseLeaf software and developing the academic affairs strategic plan. Committee producing a draft strategic plan includes: Shannon Brogan, Mindy Brooks-Eaves, Phillip Clay, Joy Coles, Timothy