KRS 164.131: Board of Trustees of University of Kentucky -- Membership -- Terms --
Where this section sits in the code
- KRS Chapter 164
Grounds for removal and replacement of all board members.
(1) (a) The government of the University of Kentucky is vested in a board of trustees
appointed for a term s et by law pursuant to Section 23 of the Constitution of
Kentucky.
(b) 1. All appointed and elected persons shall be required to attend and
complete an orientation and education program prescribed by the
council under KRS 164.020(24), as a condition of thei r service and
eligibility for appointment or election to a second term.
2. Attendance at an orientation and education program required in
subparagraph 1. of this paragraph shall not constitute a meeting for the
purposes of KRS 61.800 to 61.850 if official action is not taken,
regardless of how many board members are in attendance.
(c) The board shall periodically evaluate the institution's progress in
implementing its missions, goals, and objectives to conform to the strategic
agenda. Officers and officials shall be held accountable for the status of the
institution's progress.
(d) Board members may be removed by the Governor under the following
circumstances:
1. For cause, pursuant to KRS 63.080(2); or
2. Pursuant to KRS 63.080(3) or (4).
(e) The board shall consist of sixteen (16) members appointed by the Governor,
two (2) members of the faculty of the University of Kentucky, one (1)
member of the University of Kentucky nonteaching personnel, and one (1)
member of the student body of the Unive rsity of Kentucky. The members
appointed by the Governor shall be subject to confirmation by the Senate. The
voting members of the board shall select a chairperson annually.
(2) (a) The terms of the appointed members shall be for six (6) years and until th eir
successors are appointed and qualified, unless a member is removed by the
Governor pursuant to KRS 63.080(2), (3), or (4), except the initial
appointments shall be as follows:
1. Two (2) members shall serve one (1) year terms;
2. Two (2) members shall serve two (2) year terms, one (1) of whom shall
be a graduate of the university, selected from a list of three (3) names
submitted by the alumni of the university according to rules established
by the board of trustees;
3. Three (3) members shall serve three (3) year terms;
4. Three (3) members shall serve four (4) year terms, one (1) of whom
shall be a graduate of the university, selected as under subparagraph 2.
of this subsection;
5. Three (3) members shall serve five (5) year terms; and
6. Three (3) members shall serve six (6) year terms, one (1) of whom shall
be a graduate of the university, selected as under subparagraph 2. of this
subsection.
(b) 1. Three (3) of the appointments shall be graduates of the university and
may include one (1) graduate of the institution who resides outside the
Commonwealth;
2. Three (3) shall be representative of agricultural interests; and
3. Ten (10) shall be other distinguished citizens representative of the
learned professions and may include one (1) who resides outsid e of
Kentucky.
(c) The Governor shall make the appointments so as to reflect proportional
representation of the two (2) leading political parties of the Commonwealth
based on the state's voter registration and the political affiliation of each
appointee as of December 31 of the year preceding the date of his or her
appointment, and to reflect no less than proportional representation of the
minority racial composition of the Commonwealth based on the total minority
racial population using the most recent cen sus or estimate data from the
United States Census Bureau. If the determination of proportional minority
representation does not result in a whole number of minority members, it shall
be rounded up to the next whole number. A particular political affiliation shall
not be a prerequisite to appointment to the board generally; however, if any
person is appointed to the board that does not represent either of the two (2)
leading political parties of the Commonwealth, the proportional representation
by political affiliation requirement shall be determined and satisfied based on
the total number of members on the board less any members not affiliated
with either of the two (2) leading political parties.
(d) Appointments to fill vacancies shall be made for the unex pired term in the
same manner as provided for the original appointments.
(3) The two (2) University of Kentucky faculty members shall be of the rank of
assistant professor or above. They shall be elected by secret ballot by all University
of Kentucky facul ty members of the rank of assistant professor or above. Faculty
members shall serve for terms of three (3) years and until their successors are
elected and qualified. Faculty members shall be eligible for reelection, but they
shall be ineligible to continu e to serve as members of the board of trustees if they
cease to be members of the faculty of the university. Elections to fill vacancies shall
be for the unexpired term in the same manner as provided for original elections.
(4) The nonteaching personnel me mber shall be any full -time staff member, excluding
the president, vice -presidents, academic deans, and academic department
chairpersons. The staff member shall represent all nonteaching university
employees, including but not limited to building facilitie s and clerical personnel.
The staff member shall be elected by secret ballot by the nonteaching employees.
The staff member shall serve a term of three (3) years and until a successor is
elected and qualified. The staff member shall be eligible for reelect ion, but a staff
member who ceases being an employee of the university shall not be eligible to
continue to serve as a member of the board. Elections to fill vacancies shall be for
the unexpired term and shall be held in the same manner as provided for the
original election.
(5) The student member shall serve a one (1) year term beginning on July 1 after being
elected and sworn in as student body president and ending on the following June
30. If the student member does not maintain the position of student b ody president
or the status of a full -time student at any time during that academic year, a special
election shall be held to select a full -time student member. The elected student
member shall serve for the remainder of the unexpired term.
(6) The number of student and employee trustees of the University of Kentucky elected
to the board shall not exceed four (4).
(7) Unless specifically approved by the board of trustees under the provisions of KRS
164.367, no member of the administrative staff of the unive rsity shall be directly or
indirectly interested in any contract with the university for the sale of property,
materials, supplies, equipment, or services, with exception of compensation to the
two (2) faculty members, and the one (1) nonteaching personnel member.
(8) New appointees of the board shall not serve more than two (2) consecutive terms.
(9) The inability of the board to hold regular meetings, to elect a chairperson annually,
to establish a quorum, to adopt an annual budget, to set tuition rates, to conduct an
annual evaluation of the president of the university, or to carry out its primary
function to periodically evaluate the institution's progress in implementing its
mission, goals, and objectives to conform to the strategic agenda shall be caus e for
the Governor to remove all appointed members of the board and replace the entire
appointed membership pursuant to KRS 63.080(4).
Collected 2026-09-05T20:51:14Z. Source file · JSON