13 KAR 2:060. Degree program approval; equal opportunity goals.

13 KAR 2:060. Degree program approval; equal opportunity goals.

RELATES TO: KRS 164.001, 164.020

STATUTORY AUTHORITY: KRS 164.020(18)

NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: Responsibility for the development of a system-wide equal opportunity plan is assigned to the Council on Postsecondary Education pursuant to KRS 164.020(18). The statute connects an institution's eligibility for new academic programs to its performance in implementing equal opportunity objectives. The Council on Postsecondary Education approves the offering of academic programs at each state-supported postsecondary education institution pursuant to KRS 164.020(14) but an institution's eligibility for new academic programs is limited by the requirement of KRS 164.020(18) that an institution meet its equal opportunity objectives. The statute does grant the Council on Postsecondary Education authority to grant a temporary waiver if an institution demonstrates progress in meeting equal opportunity objectives. This administrative regulation establishes the criteria used to determine an institution's compliance with equal opportunity objectives, and for the granting of a temporary waiver to a state-supported postsecondary education institution which has not met its objectives.

Section 1. Definitions. (1) "Continuous progress" means that an institution shows an increase in the number of students or employees over the previous year for a category.

(2) "Council" is defined by KRS 164.001(7).

(3) "Goal" or "objective" means a flexible target in enrollment, retention, graduation or employment developed by the Council on Postsecondary Education and the state-supported postsecondary education institutions and included in the Kentucky Plan.

(4) "Kentucky Plan" means the "Kentucky Plan for Equal Opportunities" which is a five (5) year plan developed by the Council on Postsecondary Education.

(5) "State-supported institution" means an institution within the postsecondary education system as defined by KRS 164.001(15).

Section 2. Scope. (1) The Council on Postsecondary Education shall maintain a Kentucky Plan for Equal Opportunities to assist in ensuring equal opportunity of access to higher education for all citizens of Kentucky. The Kentucky Plan establishes flexible objectives for each state-supported postsecondary education institution in broad categories of student enrollment, retention, graduation and employment of African-Americans.

(2) Five (5) categories of African-American, resident students are included in the Kentucky Plan and in Section 3 of this administrative regulation with objectives established and measured for each category:

(a) Undergraduate enrollment;

(b) Retention of first-year undergraduate enrollment;

(d) Award of baccalaureate degrees; and

(e) Graduate enrollment.

(3) Seven (7) categories of African-American employment are included in the Kentucky Plan.

(a) Objectives are established and measured for three (3) of those categories in the Kentucky Plan and in Section 4 of this administrative regulation:

1. Executive, administrative and managerial;

2. Faculty; and

3. Professional nonfaculty.

(b) The four (4) categories of African-American employment included in the Kentucky Plan that are not measured are:

1. Secretarial/clerical;

2. Technical/paraprofessional;

3. Skilled crafts; and

4. Service/maintenance.

(4) The Kentucky Plan includes enhancement provisions for Kentucky State University including the following categories which shall be reported on by the university:

(a) Identification by the university, subject to agreement by the council, of new and continuing academic programs which promote and build on the university's strength as a historically black institution;

(b) Evidence of marketing or showcasing programs which are developed and implemented as part of paragraph (a) of this subsection;

(c) Evidence of funding by the university of programs identified in paragraph (a) of this subsection including identification of private funding; and

(d) Identification of quality assurance assessment activities for programs identified in paragraph (a) of this subsection.

(5) The council may substitute objectives contained in subsection (4) of this section for objectives contained in Sections 3 and 4 of this administrative regulation based on a plan submitted by Kentucky State University, reviewed by the Committee on Equal Opportunities, and approved by the council.

(6) The Council on Postsecondary Education shall evaluate institutional progress in implementing the flexible objectives established in the Kentucky Plan in order to determine:

(a) An institution's automatic eligibility for a new academic program; or

(b) An institution's eligibility for a waiver.

Section 3. Enrollment, Retention and Graduation Objectives. (1)(a) An institution's objective for the enrollment of undergraduate, Kentucky resident African-American students shall be the percentage of African-American high school graduates within the institution's market area.

(b) The market area shall be the geographic area of Kentucky contributing ninety (90) percent of the entering Kentucky resident undergraduate enrollment at an institution as measured by the base year of the Kentucky Plan.

(2)(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection, an institution's objective for retention of first-year undergraduate Kentucky resident African-American students shall be equal to the institution's retention rate for first-year undergraduate Kentucky resident white students as measured by the base year of the Kentucky Plan.

(b) The community colleges shall be exempt from the requirement established in paragraph (a) of this subsection.

(3)(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection, an institution's objective for the retention of total undergraduate Kentucky resident African-American undergraduate students shall be equal to the institution's retention rate for all Kentucky resident white undergraduate students as measured by the base year of the Kentucky Plan.

(b) The community colleges shall be exempt from the requirement established in paragraph (a) of this subsection.

(4)(a) Except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this subsection, an institution's objective for the awarding of baccalaureate degrees to Kentucky resident African-American students shall be equal to the institution's rate for awarding baccalaureate degrees to Kentucky resident white students.

(b) For Kentucky State University, the institution's objective shall be that the rate of award of baccalaureate degrees to Kentucky resident white students be equal to that of Kentucky resident African-American students as measured by the base year of the Kentucky Plan.

(c) The community colleges shall be exempt from the requirements established in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection.

(5)(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection, an institution's objective for the enrollment of Kentucky resident African-American graduate students shall be the same proportion as the institution's percentage of enrollment of Kentucky resident white graduate students expressed as a proportion of total resident white undergraduate degrees awarded.

(b) Kentucky State University and the community colleges shall be exempt from the requirement established in paragraph (a) of this subsection.

Section 4. Employment Objectives. (1) Pursuant to Section 2(3) of this administrative regulation, the Kentucky Plan provides for the measurement and evaluation of each of the three (3) following categories of employment:

(a) Executive, administrative, and managerial;

(b) Faculty; and

(2) Employment objectives for an institution shall be based on an institution's plan developed in compliance with the U.S. Department of Labor or the U.S. Department of Education as appropriate for that institution.

Section 5. Evaluation of Annual Progress. (1) Progress toward achievement of an objective shall be measured annually for the purpose of determining an institution's eligibility to submit a request for a new academic program or for a waiver.

(2) An institution shall have met its annual plan implementation objective for undergraduate enrollment if the following conditions have been fulfilled:

(a) For Kentucky State University:

1. The university maintains the current level of Kentucky resident African-Americans as a percentage of total enrollment; and

2. The university increases the number of entering Kentucky resident freshmen with ACT scores at or above the statewide average.

(b) For all other institutions:

1. Enrollment of African-American students within the system of state-supported higher education is .073 percent or greater excluding African-American students enrolled at Kentucky State University; and

2. An institution's enrollment of Kentucky resident African-American students is greater than the actual enrollment of African-American students in the prior year.

(3) An institution shall have met its annual plan implementation objectives for:

(a) Retention of first-year undergraduate students;

(b) Retention of total undergraduate students;

(d) Enrollment of graduate students; and

(e) In employment of African-Americans by demonstrating continuous progress each year in each category or by meeting the plan objectives in each category. The council may, upon request by an institution, determine that an employment category has too few positions in order to evaluate continuous progress, and may indicate that the institution has met its annual implementation plan objectives for the year.

Section 6. Automatic Eligibility. (1) An institution shall be eligible for the consideration of a new academic program if:

(a) For Kentucky State University, the institution exhibits continuous progress:

1. In five (5) of seven (7) annual plan implementation objectives established in Sections 3 and 4 of this administrative regulation; or

2. As required by Section 2(4) of this administrative regulation, if substituted by the council in accordance with Section 2(5) of this administrative regulation;

(b) For a community college, the institution exhibits continuous progress in three (3) of four (4) annual plan implementation objectives established in Sections 3 and 4 of this administrative regulation; and

(c) For other institutions, an institution exhibits continuous progress in six (6) of the eight (8) annual plan implementation objectives established in Sections 3 and 4 of this administrative regulation.

(2) Automatic eligibility for a new academic program shall be for the calendar year immediately following the certification of eligibility.

(3) Certification of automatic eligibility and for a quantitative or qualitative waiver shall occur prior to the end of each calendar year and shall be reported to the Council on Postsecondary Education and the Committee on Equal Opportunities.

Section 7. Waivers. (1) If an institution is not automatically eligible under Section 6 of this administrative regulation and is eligible for a quantitative or qualitative waiver, the institution may request a one (1) year waiver which shall be either:

(a) Quantitative; or

(b) Qualitative.

(2) A waiver request by an institution shall include a resolution submitted to the Council on Postsecondary Education approved by the institution's governing board and shall include either a quantitative or qualitative assessment, as appropriate, of the institution's efforts to achieve the institution's objectives as set forth in the Kentucky Plan.

(3) An institution shall be eligible to receive a quantitative waiver if:

(a) For Kentucky State University, the institution exhibits continuous progress:

1. In four (4) of seven (7) annual plan implementation objectives established in Sections 3 and 4 of this administrative regulation; or

2. As required by Section 2(4) of this administrative regulation, if substituted by the council in accordance with Section 2(5) of this administrative regulation;

(b) For a community college, an institution exhibits continuous progress in two (2) of four (4) objectives established in Sections 3 and 4 of this administrative regulation;

(c) For an institution other than Kentucky State University or a community college, if an institution exhibits continuous progress in five (5) of eight (8) annual plan implementation objectives established in Sections 3 and 4 of this administrative regulation.

(4) A qualitative waiver may be approved for the institution failing to meet annual objectives if an institution can demonstrate:

(a)1. Outstanding efforts that were attempted which have not yet proven to be successful; or

2. Extraordinary circumstances that precluded success; and

(b) How the institution's revised plans for recruitment and retention of African-American students or employees show promise of future success.

(5) The written request for a qualitative waiver shall include specific and quantifiable aspects of the institution's efforts to meet equal opportunity objectives including:

(a) Commitment of funds to equal opportunity related activities;

(b) Financial aid distribution;

(d) High school visitations and results;

(e) Academic support services;

(f) Number of interviews granted to African-American applicants for a position;

(g) Offers of employment made that are accepted or rejected;

(h) Utilization of funds to stimulate a unit to improve its employment data;

(i) Special actions for a unit within an institution if additional efforts are required; and

(j) An evaluation of long-range data trends for those objectives that fell below expectations.

(6) An institution's written request for a qualitative waiver shall be reviewed by the Council on Postsecondary Education's Committee on Equal Opportunity which shall make a recommendation to the council on whether to grant a qualitative waiver.

(7) The council shall consider an institution's request for a qualitative waiver at a subsequent meeting of the council:

(a) Following submission of the information by the institution in support of its request; and

(b) After a recommendation is forwarded from the Committee on Equal Opportunities.

(8) An institution shall not be eligible for a waiver in consecutive years regardless of the type of waiver.

(9)(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection, an institution that has received a quantitative or qualitative waiver shall submit a new academic program under the waiver provision in the calendar year for which the waiver is granted. An institution's request for a new academic program, advanced under authority of an approved waiver, shall be considered at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the council after an institution has submitted a complete program application.

(b) If the council postpones or delays action on an academic program approval, it may extend the period of consideration of a new academic program.

Section 8. Incorporation by Reference. (1) "The 1997-2002 Kentucky Plan for Equal Opportunities in Postsecondary Education", Council on Postsecondary Education, is incorporated by reference.

(2) It may be inspected, copied, or obtained at the Council on Postsecondary Education, 1024 Capital Center Drive, Suite 320, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (19 Ky.R. 1689; Am. 2024; eff. 3-4-93; 23 Ky.R. 164; 1389; eff. 9-5-96; 24 Ky.R. 916; 1291; 1498; eff. 1-12-98.)