Campus Adopts New Regulations

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 7, 2013) — The University of Kentucky formally approves, issues, and maintains in a consistent format, official university regulations in a central regulations library. University regulations connect the University’s mission to individual conduct, clarify institutional expectations, support compliance with laws and regulation, mitigate institutional risk, and enhance productivity and efficiency in the University operations. University regulations are thoroughly reviewed, maintained, and made available to the University community to promote compliance, and accountability.  State law authorizes the Board of Trustees to establish regulations for the governance of the University. (KRS 164.180 & KRS 164.200)

The Governing Regulations contain University-wide policies established by the Board of Trustees for the governance of the University.  The Governing Regulations may be amended at any meeting of the Board of Trustees provided at least one (1) month has elapsed between proposal of the revision and final passage. The President, the University Senate, the Staff Senate, and the Student Government Association have an opportunity to recommend on all amendments before final action by the Board of Trustees.  The Administrative Regulations provide interpretation and implementation of the University-wide policies set forth by the Board of Trustees. Administrative Regulations, including the Human Resource Policies and Procedures and the Business Procedures, are typically approved by the President, unless Board approval is required for legal or accreditation reasons. For more information on the Regulation process, please see Governing Regulation XIII and Administrative Regulation 1:6.

The Office of the General Counsel is pleased to announce the issuance of the following revisions to the Governing Regulations (GR) and Administrative Regulations (AR):

GR II, Governance of the University (Approved by the Board of Trustees 10/26/2013)

This Governing Regulation is revised to add the Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees as a member of the Board’s Executive Committee.  The Chair of the Board already is a member of the Committee, as is the Secretary (non-voting ex-officio).

AR 1:4, Institutional Effectiveness: The Planning, Assessment, and Budgeting Cycle (Approved by the President 9/9/2013) 

This Administrative Regulation is revised to make a more powerful statement regarding the University’s commitment to Institutional Effectiveness and to maintain compliance with new requirements of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission of Colleges’ (SACSCOC).  It describes the University’s high-level principles and the expectations of educational and administrative units and their leaders.  The revision clarifies the expectations of major educational and major administrative units with regard to the participation of their component units in the Institutional Effectiveness processes of planning and assessment.  Detailed procedures for Reviews of Chief Administrative Officers and the Budgeting process are moved to stand-alone regulations. 

AR 1:5, Substantive Change Policy (Approved by the President 9/9/2013)

This Administrative Regulation is revised to maintain compliance with the SACSCOC’s policies and Federal regulations (34 CFR 602.22) relating to the types of changes at the University that must be reported to SACSCOC prior to their occurrence. The revisions consist of changes to the various definitions of the types of changes that must be reported, as well as to the time-frame for reporting those changes.  It includes a Matrix illustrating those changes, reporting requirements, and University approval levels, which has also been revised. 

AR 3:1, University of Kentucky Retirement Plans. (Approved by the Board of Trustees 9/10/2013) 

This Administrative Regulation is revised to change UK’s retirement plan vesting schedule from five to three years.  The revised vesting schedule takes effect immediately and is retroactive to January 1, 2013. This change significantly reduces the vesting period for employees who were hired on or after January 1, 2010, and who were employed with the university as of January 1, 2013, as well as employees hired after this date.  For more information on the enhancement to the UK retirement plan vesting schedule, please see the Vice President for Finance and Administration’s previous announcement.

AR 3:16, Reviews of Chief Administrative Officers  (Approved by the President 9/9/2013)

This regulation establishes the policies and procedures for reviews of Chief Administrative Officers (CAO) of the University.  The content of this regulation was previously part of AR 1:4, Institutional Effectiveness, and is now moved to a stand-alone regulation.  It has been updated to conform to current University administrative organization.

AR 4:2, Residence Hall Administrative Board and Procedures for the Determination of Issues Arising Out of Contractual Arrangements Relating to Student Housing (Approved by the President 10/8/2013) 

This Administrative Regulations is eliminated.  In recent years housing contract cancellations have moved within the authority of the Dean of Students’ Office, which also handles violations of the Code of Student Conduct.  In addition, the appeal processes provided by the Code of Student Conduct are available to a student who wishes to appeal a housing contract cancellation, therefore the appeal process provided by this AR is no longer necessary and has not been utilized by any students for the past several years.

AR 4:9, International Education Travel  (Approved by the President 10/8/2013) 

This AR is revised at the request of UK HealthCare Risk Management and the UK International Center to change the level of medical malpractice insurance coverage necessary for students, faculty, staff and non-UK individuals who provide patient care in clinical international programs sponsored by the University.  The revision also includes updating the Office of International Affairs to the UK International Center.

AR 6:11, Animals on Campus (Approved by the President 10/8/2013) 

This AR is revised to clarify that faculty and staff requests for disability accommodation are made to the Office of Institutional Equity and Equal Opportunity. 

AR 7:3, Policies and Procedures for Soliciting, Receiving, Recording, and Administering Grants and Contracts for Sponsored Projects (Approved by the President 10/8/2013) 

This regulation is revised to maintain the University’s compliance with federal law related to administering grants and contracts for sponsored projects, to reflect current University Procedures for receiving and recording these grants, and to reflect the current University administrative organization.

AR 7:4, Human Subject Research Protection and Institutional Review Boards (Approved by the President 10/8/2013) 

This regulation is revised to maintain the University’s compliance with federal law related to Human Research and to reflect the current University administrative organization.

AR 11:2, University of Kentucky Press Committee (Approved by the President 10/8/2013) 

This regulation is revised to clarify the relationship between the UK Press Committee and the University Press of Kentucky. The University Press of Kentucky is a statewide nonprofit scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, operated as an agency of the University of Kentucky and serving all state institutions of higher education, plus five private colleges and Kentucky's two major historical societies.

AR 11:3, University Committee on Broadcast Media Rights (Approved by the President 10/8/2013) 

This regulation is revised to reflect the current University administrative organization and to remove references to the University of Kentucky Athletic Association which has been dissolved.  The Committee’s name is changed from “University Committee on Press, Radio, and Television” to “University Committee on Broadcast Media Rights” to more accurately reflect its charge.

Please familiarize yourself with these new and revised regulations. If you are a supervisor, please communicate this information to the faculty and staff within your area. The complete administrative regulation library, including the list of recently revised or new regulations, may be found at http://www.uky.edu/Regs. Questions about these or other regulations should be directed to the Office of Legal Counsel at (859) 257-2936, or Marcy Deaton at mdeaton@uky.edu.