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AN ACT relating to employment at public postsecondary education institutions and 1
declaring an emergency. 2
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 3
Section 1. KRS 164.360 is amended to read as follows: 4
(1) (a) Each board of regents for the universities shall appoint a president, appoint all 5
faculty members and employees, and fix their compensation and tenure of 6
service, subject to the provisions of subsections (2) to (6)[(5)] of this section. 7
Faculty member and employee appointment and removal decision s may be 8
delegated to the president in accordance with policy adopted by each board of 9
regents. 10
(b) The board of regents for the Kentucky Community and Technical College 11
System shall appoint a president, appoint all faculty members and employees, 12
and fix t heir compensation and tenure of service, subject to the provisions of 13
subsections (2) to (6)[(5)] of this section. Faculty member and employee 14
appointment and removal decisions may be delegated to the president in 15
accordance with policy adopted by the board of regents. 16
(2) A[No] person shall not be employed at an institution where his or her relative 17
serves on the board of regents for that institution. 18
(3) Each board may remove the president of the university or Kentucky Community 19
and Technical College System, and the president may remove any faculty member 20
or employee. 21
(4) A[No] president or faculty member may[shall] be removed [ except] for cause, 22
which shall include incompetency, neglect of or refusal to perform his or her duty, 23
immoral conduct, or failure to meet college or university performance and 24
productivity requirements as determined in accordance with subsection (5) of this 25
section. A president or f aculty member shall not be removed until after thirty (30) 26
days' notice in writing, stating the nature of the charges preferred, and after an 27
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opportunity has been given him or her to make defense before the board by counsel 1
or otherwise and to introduce testimony which shall be heard and determined by the 2
board. Charges against a president shall be preferred by the chairperson of the board 3
upon written information furnished to him or her, and charges against a faculty 4
member shall be preferred in writing by the president unless the offense is 5
committed in his or her presence. 6
(5) President and faculty member performance and productivity shall be evaluated at 7
least once every four (4) years using a process approved by each board. Failure to 8
meet performance a nd productivity requirements may result in removal of a 9
president or faculty member regardless of status. The evaluation process shall be 10
established by each board and provided to all faculty members by January 1, 2026, 11
to become effective July 1, 2026. 12
(6) (a) In addition to removal for cause as provided in subsections (4) and (5) of 13
this section, a faculty member may be removed by the board for bona fide 14
financial reasons, including but not limited to: 15
1. Financial exigency; 16
2. Low enrollment in a particular program or major; or 17
3. Misalignment of revenue and costs in a particular college, department, 18
program, or major. 19
(b) The process by which removal as provided in paragraph (a) of this 20
subsection shall be proposed, evaluated, and decided shall be establ ished by 21
each board and provided to all faculty members, with an effective date no 22
later than October 1, 2026. The process shall require that no faculty 23
member is removed until after thirty (30) days' notice in writing, stating the 24
reason for removal, and after an opportunity has been given to the faculty 25
member to respond before the board by counsel or otherwise and to 26
introduce testimony which shall be heard and determined by the board. 27
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Section 2. KRS 164.230 is amended to read as follows: 1
(1) The board of trustees has full power to suspend or remove any of the officers, 2
teachers, professors, or agents that it is authorized to appoint, but a[no] president, 3
professor, or teacher shall not be removed except for: 4
(a) Incompetency;[, ] 5
(b) Neglect of or refusal to perform his or her duty;[, ] 6
(c) Immoral conduct;[, or ] 7
(d) Failure to meet college or university performance and productivity 8
requirements as determined in accordance with subsection (2) of this section ; 9
or 10
(e) For bona fide financial reasons, including but not limited to: 11
1. Financial exigency; 12
2. Low enrollment in a particular program or major; or 13
3. Misalignment of revenue and costs in a particular college, department, 14
program, or major. 15
(2) A president, profess or, or teacher shall not be removed under subsection (1)(a) to 16
(d) of this section until after thirty (30) days' notice in writing, stating the nature of 17
the charges preferred, and after an opportunity has been given him or her to make 18
defense before the board by counsel or otherwise and to introduce testimony which 19
shall be heard and determined by the board. 20
(3) The process by which removal as provided in subsection (1)(e) of this section 21
shall be proposed, evaluated, and decided shall be established by t he board and 22
provided to all faculty members, with an effective date no later than October 1, 23
2026. The process shall require that no faculty member is removed until after 24
thirty (30) days' notice in writing, stating the reason for removal, and after an 25
opportunity has been given to the faculty member to respond before the board by 26
counsel or otherwise and to introduce testimony which shall be heard and 27
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determined by the board. 1
(4) Officer, teacher, professor, or agent appointment and removal decisions may be 2
delegated to the president in accordance with policy adopted by the board of 3
trustees. 4
(5)[(2)] President, teacher, and professor performance and productivity shall be 5
evaluated at least once every four (4) years using a process approved by the board. 6
Failure to meet performance and productivity requirements may result in removal 7
of a president, teacher, or professor regardless of status. The evaluation process 8
shall be established by the board and provided to all faculty members by January 1, 9
2026, to become effective July 1, 2026. 10
Section 3. KRS 164.830 is amended to read as follows: 11
(1) The board of trustees of the University of Louisville shall constitute a body 12
corporate, with the usual corporate powers, and shall possess all the authorities, 13
immunities, rights, privileges, and franchises usually attaching to the governing 14
bodies of Kentucky public higher educational institutions. A majority of the voting 15
members of the board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. 16
Powers of the board shall include the following: 17
(a) Appointment of a president, all faculty members, and other personnel and 18
determination of the compensation, duties, and official relations of each. No 19
relative of a board of trustee member shall be employed by the university. 20
Faculty member and personnel appointment decisions may be delegated to the 21
president in accordance with policy adopted by the board of trustees; 22
(b) Suspension or removal of the president, officers, faculty, agents, or other 23
personnel that it is authorized to appoint, except that no president, professor, 24
or teacher shall be removed except for: 25
1. Incompetence;[, ] 26
2. Neglect of or refusal to perform his or her duty;[, ] 27
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3. Immoral conduct;[, or ] 1
4. Failure to meet college or university performance and productivity 2
requirements as determined in accordance with paragraph (d)[(c)] of this 3
subsection; or 4
5. Bona fide financial reasons, including but not limited to: 5
1. Financial exigency; 6
2. Low enrollment in a particular program or major; or 7
3. Misalignment of revenue and costs in a particular college, 8
department, program, or major;[.] 9
(c) Any removal shall be made in accordance with procedures established by law 10
for state institutions. Officer, faculty, agent, or other personnel removal 11
decisions may be delegated to the president in accordance with policy adopted 12
by the board of trustees; 13
(d) The process by which removal as provided in paragraph (b)5. of th is 14
subsection shall be proposed, evaluated, and decided shall be established by 15
the board and provided to all faculty members, with an effective date no 16
later than October 1, 2026. The process shall require that no faculty 17
member is removed until after thi rty (30) days' notice in writing, stating the 18
reason for removal, and after an opportunity has been given to the faculty 19
member to respond before the board by counsel or otherwise and to 20
introduce testimony which shall be heard and determined by the board; 21
(e)[(c)] Creation of a process requiring the evaluation of the performance and 22
productivity of the president, professors, and teachers at least once every four 23
(4) years. Failure to meet performance and productivity requirements may 24
result in removal of a president, professor, or teacher regardless of status. The 25
evaluation process shall be established by the board and provided to all 26
faculty members by January 1, 2026, to become effective July 1, 2026; 27
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(f)[(d)] Election of a chairperson, a vice chairperso n to act in the absence or 1
temporary disability of the chairperson, and any other officers as it deems 2
wise, including the annual election of a six (6) member executive committee 3
which shall have the powers that the board delegates to it and shall operate 4
under the rules the board shall establish under its authority to make bylaws, 5
rules, and regulations consistent with this chapter. The committee shall have 6
one (1) member representing the students, faculty, and nonteaching personnel 7
with the group alternat ing each year. The initial appointment to the executive 8
committee after March 21, 2017, shall be a faculty member, to be followed by 9
a student and a nonteaching personnel, respectively; 10
(g)[(e)] Receipt, retention, and administration, on behalf of the univ ersity, 11
subject to the conditions attached, all revenues accruing from endowments, 12
appropriations, allotments, grants or bequests, and all types of property; 13
(h)[(f)] Requirement of reports from the president, officers, faculty, and 14
employees as it deems necessary and proper from time to time; 15
(i)[(g)] Granting degrees to graduates of the university, prescription of 16
conditions upon which postgraduate honors may be obtained, and conferment 17
of honorary degrees; 18
(j)[(h)] The board shall periodically evaluate t he institution's progress in 19
implementing its missions, goals, and objectives to conform to the strategic 20
agenda. Officers and officials shall be held accountable for the status of the 21
institution's progress; and 22
(k)[(i)] The board shall adopt bylaws, rule s, and regulations for the governance 23
of its members, officers, agents, and employees, which shall reference the 24
member removal and replacement provisions of KRS 63.080, and the board 25
shall enforce obedience to those bylaws, rules, and regulations. 26
(2) Board members shall receive no compensation for serving on the board, but shall be 27
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reimbursed for travel expenses for attending meetings and performing other official 1
functions, consistent with the reimbursement policy for state employees. Board 2
members who reside outside the Commonwealth shall not be reimbursed for out -of-3
state travel expenses. 4
(3) The provisions of KRS 164.030, 164.200, and 164.410, shall be applicable to the 5
University of Louisville, except where inconsistent with the purposes of KRS 6
164.810 to 164.870. 7
Section 4. Whereas it is necessary for public postsecondary education 8
institutions to make sound fiscal decisions and be able to take swift action based on those 9
decisions, an emergency is declared to exist , and this Act takes effect upon its passage 10
and approval by the Governor or upon its otherwise becoming a law. 11