UK’s Athletic Association Board Dissolved

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 15, 2012) – The duties performed by the University of Kentucky Athletic Association (UKAA) Board of Directors will now be handled by a new committee of the UK Board of Trustees, as a result of action taken today at the UKAA board's final meeting.

The UKAA directors voted to disband the organization following the recommendation of a special committee of the Board of Trustees last year.  The special committee, which was appointed by Board of Trustees Chair Britt Brockman in March 2011, conducted a review of benchmark institutions and current best practices.  The committee met last October and recommended that the Board of Trustees create a new Athletics Committee within the structure of the board and include community adviser members.  The special committee further recommended that in order to remain compliant with NCAA rules on institutional control over intercollegiate athletics, the committee membership and its chair should be appointed by UK's president in consultation with the board chair.

At its meeting in December, the full Board of Trustees approved the proposed revision of the university's governing regulations to establish a University Athletics Committee within the board's committee structure.

The University Athletics Committee’s responsibilities will include: providing counsel to the UK president concerning matters or activities of the Athletics Department; reviewing the Athletics Department’s annual budget and audit reports, major expenditures and acquisitions, and construction of facilities if the cost is expected to exceed $400,000; and providing needed information to the BOT.  The committee will be composed of five Board of Trustees members, up to three non-voting community members, and the faculty athletics representative as an ex officio non-voting member.