UK Board Chair: Trustees are ‘successful business people’ who know what is at stake for the flagship school

By E. Britt Brockman

There has been a lot of discussion lately on the University of Kentucky campus and in the pages of the Herald-Leader about the arcane process of internal governance.

Why is this issue so important that it takes so much time and energy?

Whether you run a university or a high school, a business or a government agency, the rules and regulations largely determine whether you will be successful.

They help determine whether you can respond to clients’ needs. They establish parameters for basic activities, but also whether those daily activities align with your most important principles and values.

In other words, the internal rules of the road promote or hinder progress.

This is crucial because we believe that much depends on our progress in Britain.

Kentucky generates billions of dollars in economic opportunity, creating a more diverse and vibrant citizenry and economy. But we simply don’t have the number of skilled workers to fill the jobs.

About a quarter of all new jobs in the state require at least a bachelor’s degree. Most of the fastest growing professions require a master’s degree. Yet Kentucky has one of the lowest labor force participation rates in the country.

We are enrolling record numbers of students – nearly 34,000 last fall – and graduating at higher rates than ever before in our history. More than 25 percent of our students are first-generation students. About a quarter of our Kentucky students come from families where the median household income is less than $25,000 per year.

We have done a lot as the University of Kentucky. But we must accelerate our progress.

Growth does not mean, as one columnist opined, that Britain is becoming a ‘corporate degree mill’.

Providing education to more people, especially more Kentuckians, is our mission, not a corporate takeover.

That’s why we tasked British President Eli Capilouto in October to find ways to expand our efforts smart enrollment growth linked to Commonwealth needs. And why we asked him to ensure that our curriculum prepares students not only for their first job, but also for their tenth job or for the jobs they will create. This means a curriculum that focuses on soft and technical skills, rooted in the humanities and deepened through specific career development.

And yes, we have Dr. Capilouto was instructed to work with the campus to look carefully at the rules and structures that determine what we can do. We researched more than twenty universities to see how they work.

We are an outlier. And despite criticism, that fact has never been substantively disputed.

Being one of one is by definition not bad. But you shouldn’t be too shy to ask what it means.

When you combine this with the fact that hundreds of students and staff – and many teachers – say that internal rules and structures leave them feeling deprived, it points to the need for review and reform.

That’s why we initially approved revisions to our governance principles to make them easier to understand. They clearly indicate where the lines of authority go and what they mean.

Significantly, we are expanding opportunities for student and staff participation in decision-making in a way that has never been done before. More authority should be given to university-level faculties, which are closest to those most affected. We have explicitly stated and reaffirmed our commitment to academic freedom and tenure protections. That hasn’t changed and won’t change.

Likewise, despite what some have traded, we will not take away the responsibility or authority of our faculty to determine grades, excused absences, and plagiarism; develop course/program content; or consult with faculty before closing programs or departments.

Yes, we have clearly stated that the Board of Directors sets policy and we direct the President to implement it, while consulting with the community.

That seems to be a point of criticism for some, the idea that the people’s university representatives have neither the skills nor the knowledge to make such decisions.

Board members are successful business people and public policy representatives. They have been deeply involved in the civic life of our state. They understand the seriousness of what we do and its importance to Kentucky.

When I recently met for more than an hour with a senior consultant at the Association of Boards of Directors, I was told that what we are proposing is “not radical. It is best practice.”

The debate on these issues is essential. I respect those who spoke out for and against the changes.

But no one should doubt this Council’s determination to help Britain do even more on behalf of the state we serve. It is our calling.

That’s why we’re here.

We have no intention of stopping.

Britt Brockman is chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of Kentucky.