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K-State Today

December 14, 2016

Kansas Board of Regents December meeting agenda items

Submitted by Cindy Bontrager

Dear Campus Community,

The Kansas Board of Regents will meet Dec. 14 at the Curtis State Office Building in Topeka. The board will consider the following agenda items during the meeting.

The Regents will act on institutional performance agreements for academic years 2017, 2018 and 2019. Kansas Statute 74-3202d established performance-based funding for technical colleges, community colleges, state universities and Washburn University. Each institution's receipt of new state funds is contingent upon meeting goals outlined in its performance agreement. Institutions submit a performance agreement for approval once every three years and performance is evaluated annually.

The Regents will act on proposed amendments to the credit by examination policy. Credit for Prior Learning awards college credit for equivalent knowledge and skills gained outside the traditional classroom. The current policy requires credit awarded for College-Level Examination Program, or CLEP, exams to transfer to all other state universities, but required CLEP scores are inconsistent among universities and prohibit the transfer of these credit hours. The proposed policy changes require state universities to adopt standardized cut scores for awarding credit on CLEP and Advanced Placement exams.

The Regents will vote on the housing and food service rates for the 2017-2018 academic year. Approved rates will go into effect July 1, 2017. K-State's "typical" housing rate for the 2017-2018 academic year will increase by a proposed 2.8 percent, which is an increase of $65. The typical rate is based on a double room in the residence halls. K-State's "typical" dining rate for the 2017-2018 academic year will increase by a proposed 2.1 percent, which is an increase of $80. The typical rate is based on a 14-meal plan for residence hall and Living Community residents.

The Regents will vote on the allocation of Educational Building Funds for fiscal year 2018 rehabilitation and repair projects. Rehabilitation and repair projects cost $750,000 or less and include new buildings, remodeling or alterations, annual maintenance or utility projects. View proposed projects.

Kansas State University's fiscal year 2018 rehabilitation and repair projects list includes a request to complete conversion of the electrical distribution system from 4160V to 12.5kVA. K-State requests the Regents accept the program statement for the electrical distribution system conversion and authorize the issuance of bonds. Currently, 19 campus buildings are still supplied by the 4160V electrical system, which is old, unreliable and has caused recent power outages across campus. The proposed project will move all remaining buildings to the 12.5kVA system during a two-year time frame. The total project cost is estimated at $7.8 million. Legislative bonding authority of $8 million will be requested during the 2017 legislative session. Short-term financing will be secured for up to seven years through the Kansas Development Finance Authority. Debt service will be repaid from a portion of the Education Building Fund annual appropriation and revenue generated from interest deposited in the Deferred Maintenance Support Fund.

Kansas State University requests authorization to amend the fiscal year 2017 capital improvement plan and to accept the program statement to increase the project budget for the Purebred Beef Unit relocation from $5.2 million to $6 million. Relocation of the unit is necessary due to incompatible land use, loss of land due to surrounding recent developments such as NBAF, outdated facilities and program changes in animal care and research. The project is funded from $5.2 million bond proceeds committed from the state of Kansas to the NBAF project and the budget increase of $800,000 will be financed from animal sciences and industry restricted use departmental fund balances. The increased budget will allow for the addition of important program delivery components such as a feed storage and shop building, meeting space at the feed intake facility, backup equipment, a new water main, demolition of existing buildings, additional pasture water supply and fencing around the facilities.

Kansas State University requests authorization to amend the fiscal year 2017 capital improvement plan and accept the program statements for Bill Snyder Family Stadium Phase IV and Phase V. Phase IV includes upgrades to the field level retaining wall and to the asphalt paving surrounding the football field. The wall will be replaced with a contiguous hewn limestone wall and the asphalt paving will be replaced with a permeable field surface. The total project cost is estimated at $1.34 million funded by private gifts and K-State Athletics funds. Phase V includes updates to the East Stadium, such as aesthetic improvements, concourse additions, east club and suite seating updates, fan amenities and a kid zone and family playground. The project will be completed in three phases. The total project cost is estimated at $4,655,000 financed from K-State Athletics funds.

Kansas State University and the University of Kansas request authorization to approve the settlement agreement of the James F. Lindley Trust estate in order to transfer ownership of the universities' remainder interest in real property to the Kansas University Endowment Association and the KSU Charitable Real Estate Foundation as authorized under K.S.A. 74-3254. The universities have been notified that they are qualified beneficiaries of the James F. Lindley Revocable Trust, which specified that each university receive a divided 50 percent remainder interest subject to life estates, in 10 tracts of real property, being more or less 1,352 acres located in Shawnee and Jefferson counties, Kansas. The trust instrument stipulates that the universities' trust distribution be used to create scholarship funds for the benefit of K-State's College of Agriculture and KU's School of Engineering.

The Regents will act on the recommended amendment of one and revocation of nine regulations dealing with state university qualified admissions. The regulations have been approved by the secretary of administration as to form, approved by the attorney general as to legality, reviewed by the Joint Committee on Rules and Regulations with no comment, given 60-days notice and a public hearing resulting in no comments.

The Regents will act on proposed campus concealed carry policies for the implementation of concealed carry on campus beginning July 1, 2017. The Governance Committee has reviewed the policies and recommends Regents approval. If approved, universities will begin notifying individuals of their provisions and provide training as to their application and implementation. View K-State's proposed policy.

The Regents will act on a nonbudgetary legislative proposal to extend the Postsecondary Technical Education Authority, or TEA, expiration until June 30, 2022 from June 30, 2017.

If you have any questions about these agenda items, please contact me at cab@k-state.edu or 785-532-6226. The meeting will be streamed live online. 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