The Eastern Kentucky University Board of Regents, meeting in regular session on Monday, June 19, heard a Strategic Enrollment Growth Plan presented by various campus officials.
The University, currently experiencing record enrollment of approximately 17,000, hopes to surpass 18,500 by 2021, according to the plan. In addition to strategies to reach new students at the undergraduate and graduate levels, the plan looks at ways to retain and graduate students at a higher rate. EKU’s four-year graduation has nearly doubled in the last seven years as the University continues to attract more high-achieving students; its Fall 2016 class was the best prepared academically in the institution’s history.
Also at the June 19 meeting, the Board:
· approved a $358 million budget for 2017-18, an increase over the previous year of less than 1 percent.
· approved a 5 percent increase in tuition for all levels of Model Laboratory School. The school will continue to offer a multi-child discount, and there will be no increase in fees.
· heard from Nick Perlick, vice president for development and alumni relations, who reported that private giving to the University over the past three fiscal years has totaled approximately $22 million, a record three-year total for Eastern. “We’ve created a new normal, a new baseline,” Perlick said.
· heard a report from Director of Athletics Stephen Lochmueller, who noted that EKU student-athletes recorded an average GPA of 3.102 in Fall 2016 and 3.09 in Spring 2017, in both cases the second highest in the University’s history for the respective terms. The student-athletes also totaled almost 1,600 community service hours, he added.
· presented resolutions of appreciation to outgoing Student Regent Collin Potter and Regent Nancy Collins, who had served on the board since 2009. Collins, of Hazard, was recognized for her staunch advocacy of meeting educational needs throughout the University’s primary service region.
· approved policies related to bullying or harmful conduct, incomplete grades, intellectual property, and evaluations of library faculty.
· approved Faculty Emeritus honors for Dr. Kim Naugle.