Judge directed the parties to file an agreed order, but no agreed order appears in the Franklin Circuit Court record.

On October 30, 2017, KSU issued a Notice of Administrative Appeal that initiated the action herein. No responsive answer to the charges or the Notice of Administrative Appeal was filed by the Petitioner.

The Notification of Charges alleged four grounds for Dr. Stokes' termination. Findings concerning each charge will be stated in chronological order hereafter. Background to the first charge addressed in the findings will be stated first.

During KSU's fall 2013 and spring 2014 semesters, KSU personnel conducted a pilot program of “accelerated learning” to address problems with incoming freshmen's proficiency in English and math. Under the previous system, entering students who received an ACT score below 18 in either English or math would be assigned to a remedial class (“001” classes) rather than being assigned to mainstream classes (“101” classes). The results of studies for more than a decade had shown a significant number of students assigned to these remedial classes were not obtaining proficiency. 1 HR 38:00, et sequa.

The accelerated learning pilot program explored two overarching changes to freshman English and math to help low-performing freshman improve their proficiency in those subjects.

First, these incoming, low-performing students would no longer be placed in remedial classes. They would be placed in mainstream classes, but they would be given supplemental instruction and support two days per week.