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MEMORANDUM OF
UNDERSTANDING
This Memorandum of Understanding
is made by and between the University of Kentucky (UK) and the
Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS)
PREAMBLE
KRS 164.580(3)(a), enacted
by the General Assembly as part of the Kentucky Postsecondary
Education Improvement Act of 1997, provides that degrees earned
by University of Kentucky Community College System (UKCCS) students
enrolled in associate degree programs approved by the University
of Kentucky Board of Trustees shall be conferred and awarded by
the Board of Trustees.
The Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges
and Schools (COC/SACS), the accrediting agency for UKCCS, has
issued a Report of the Special Committee of the Commission
on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
on the Substantive Change Prospectus Submitted by the University
of Kentucky Community College System (November 15, 1997) and
a June 3, 1998 letter from James T. Rogers, COC/SACS Executive
Director, questioning whether degrees may be granted by the University
of Kentucky Board of Trustees to students enrolled in UKCCS programs
under the administration of KCTCS consistent with COC/SACS Condition
of Eligibility 3 and Section 4.2.3 of the COC/SACS Criteria for
Accreditation (1966), which collectively provide that the governing
board of an institution of higher education must have among its
responsibilities the granting of degrees.
KRS 164.580(4) provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
"If the regional
accrediting agency for the community colleges. . . determines
that the organizational structure of the Kentucky Community
and Technical College System. . . does not meet the requirements
for accrediting individual community colleges. . . then the
Kentucky Community and Technical College board of regents and
the board of trustees shall initiate corrective actions. . .
within the timetable specified by the accrediting agency to
alleviate the problem."
To address the accreditation concerns
expressed by COC/SACS relating to the provisions of KRS 164.580(3)(a),
KCTCS has determined that all existing and new associate degree
programs in the UKCCS will be offered pursuant to KRS 164.580(3)(c)
and that the KCTCS Board of Regents will confer degrees and award
diplomas for those programs.
In order to fulfill the expectations of students currently enrolled
in UKCCS programs, the Board of Trustees of the University of Kentucky
and the Board of Regents of the Kentucky Community and Technical
College System enter into the following understanding.
UKCCS students who were officially enrolled on or before June 30,
1999 in associate degree programs approved by the Board of Trustees
of the University of Kentucky and who complete the associate degree
program on or before June 30, 1004, shall have their degrees conferred
by the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees. The degrees for
all others students enrolled in the UKCCS programs shall be awarded
by the Board of Regents of the Kentucky Community and Technical
College System, not the Board of Trustees of the University of Kentucky.
WITNESS the execution of this Memorandum of Understanding by the
duly authorized agents of the parties effective this 15th
day of September 1998.
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY
BY:________________________
Edward T. BreathittChair, Board of Trustees
BY:________________________
Charles T. Wethington, Jr.
President
KENTUCKY COMMUNITY AND TECHNICAL COLLEGE SYSTEM
BY:________________________
Martha C. Johnson
Chair, Board of Regents
BY:________________________
Jeff Hockaday
Interim President
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