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K-State Today

June 20, 2018

Kansas Board of Regents June meeting agenda items

Submitted by Cindy Bontrager

Dear campus community,

The Kansas Board of Regents will meet June 20 and 21 at the Curtis State Office Building in Topeka. The board will consider the following agenda items during the meeting.

Kansas State University requests approval to add a Master of Science in data analytics to address the increasing need for data scientists. The proposed degree will be implemented in fall 2018 and will combine courses from various disciplines that cover data science and applied analytics. No other universities in the Regents system currently offer a graduate, cross-discipline degree in data analytics.

K-State requests approval to amend the capital improvement plan to repair the airport parking apron on the Polytechnic campus. The project will repair and reconstruct the apron area, made up of more than 600 18-inch thick slabs of concrete, to provide a safe, functional area to support Polytechnic flight operations. The total project cost is estimated at $1.8 million and will be funded from Kansas Airport Improvement grants provided by the Kansas Department of Transportation's Division of Aviation. Kansas State Polytechnic also will provide matching funds of 5 percent related to design and 10 percent related to construction.

K-State and the Fraternal Order of Police, Riley County Lodge No. 17 completed a new agreement covering university police officers and security guards. The Fraternal Order of Police represents 24 K-State employees. K-State requests board approval and execution of the new memorandum of agreement.

State universities submitted tuition and fee proposals for first reading in May. The Regents will take final action at the June meeting. The K-State Manhattan and Olathe campuses request a 1.1 percent tuition rate increase while the Polytechnic campus and College of Veterinary Medicine maintain a flat tuition rate increase.

The Regents will act on fiscal year 2020 capital improvement requests and five-year plans.

The Regents will receive information on two board goals, including ways to simplify the undergraduate admission application process and new approaches to gain greater efficiency.

The Board of Regents will direct state universities to review their reward structures to ensure they support faculty members' professional success throughout their career. A report is due to the Regents by December 2018.

The Regents will act on amendments to several policies, including the facilities, credit by exam, student organizations and activities, and auditing courses policy. The Regents will act on new polices related to strategic program alignment and crowdfunding and eliminate the limited retirement health care bridge policy. The current health care bridge policy does not grant any more authority than state universities already possess under state law. Elimination of the policy will give university chief executive officers more flexibility in planning voluntary retirements and other separations from service.

On Thursday, June 21, the Regents will review and discuss fiscal year 2020 and 2021 unified state budget requests. K-State's top request is increased funding for faculty and staff salaries and benefits.

If you have any questions about these agenda items, please contact me at cab@k-state.edu or 785-532-6226. For live updates on all Kansas Board of Regents meetings follow @ksregents on Twitter. Agendas and complete meeting minutes also are available online.

Sincerely,

Cindy Bontrager
Vice president for administration and finance