Filled on April 21 by Bowling Green attorney Matthew Baker in the Warren Circuit Court, the suit alleges Wilkins experienced discrimination on the basis of age and gender, retaliation for participation in protected activity, tortious interference with a contractual relationship, breach of contract and fraud. 

The lawsuit includes 13 counts, ranging from breach of contract to “intentional infliction of emotional distress.” 

Six defendants are listed: Western Kentucky University; WKU President Timothy Caboni; Phillip Bale, chair of the WKU Board of Regents; David Brinkley, the elected staff regent and director of Educational Telecommunications at WKU; Susan Howarth, executive vice president for strategy, operations and finance; and Tony Glisson, retired director of human resources.

Readers should note allegations in a lawsuit represent only one side of the story. WKU has not yet filed a response. The full lawsuit can be found below:

Wilkins vs. WKU et al

Gregg Hovious, WKU’s outside counsel from the Louisville law firm Middleton-Reutlinger, said:

“WKU intends to vigorously defend against Ms. Wilkins’ baseless claims against it. While the university acknowledges her long tenure as former general counsel and later Title IX Coordinator, Ms. Wilkins’ unpredictable behavior escalated to a point that she could no longer be trusted to fulfill the duties of her employment agreement or advance the interest of the university. Her increasingly aggressive and unprofessional conduct created an environment that was both intimidating and unproductive. We look forward to filing our formal response to her suit, including a motion to dismiss with additional information supporting the action taken by the university.”

Who is Deborah Wilkins?

Wilkins was originally hired by Thomas Meredith, former president of WKU, as general counsel in 1994. The lawsuit states she was the first female general counsel and first female administrator to be awarded a contract at WKU.

After 21 years as WKU’s sole legal counsel, former WKU President Gary Ransdell approved the creation of an assistant general counsel position. Wilkins recommended Andrea Anderson for the job after a position search. Anderson was appointed general counsel in May 2020, when Caboni removed Wilkins from the position and named Wilkins the interim Title IX coordinator and special assistant to the president.

Wilkins was terminated on Nov. 22, 2021, and the Title IX role was assigned to Anderson. Wilkins’ termination letter, signed by Caboni but delivered to her by Provost Bud Fischer, said Wilkins was being removed “because it is apparent you can no longer well and faithfully serve the University.” Wilkins is still under contract until June 30, 2022.

The lawsuit describes a strained relationship between Wilkins and Caboni, who assumed the presidency of WKU in 2017.

A year into his presidency, according to the lawsuit, Caboni “advised” Wilkins that the general counsel’s office would be relocated from its space adjacent to the president’s office in Craig Administrative Center to a suite in Wetherby Administration Building, nearby. Since she had been at WKU, the suit said, Wilkins’ office had always been in close proximity to the president’s.

That allowed her, according to the suit, to have easy access to the president whenever an issue would arise. While Caboni told her the move to Wetherby was being made to free an office for a new vice president for public affairs, that space remains vacant, according to the lawsuit.

During 2018 and 2020 Caboni “undertook a series of administrative reorganizations,” the suit says. As a result of the reorganization, the membership of the president’s cabinet was “almost completely reconstituted.” The only cabinet members who were at WKU before Caboni became president were Wilkins and Athletics Director Todd Stewart, according to the suit.  

“Each new Provost and Vice President selected by Caboni and appointed to their position was less experienced than Wilkins, younger in age than Wilkins, and was awarded a salary well in excess of the salary being earned by Wilkins,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit states that in 2019 “without any request for the [director of athletics]” Caboni, with the Board of Regents approval, extended his contract and included a salary increase of $70,000. The lawsuit states he was both younger and less experienced than Wilkins.

Wilkins ousted as general counsel

The lawsuit states that Caboni questioned Wilkins about considering retirement, and whether Anderson had been brought on as part of a “succession plan.” Wilkins affirmed that she wanted to see Anderson promoted to the role of general counsel, the lawsuit said, but that “Wilkins denied any intent or desire to retire.”

Additionally, Caboni and Wilkins discussed the possibility of Wilkins’ contract being “bought out,” but she questioned how the university would be able to fund it. Ultimately, Caboni told Wilkins that a national search would be conducted once the general counsel position was vacant. 

Caboni told Wilkins that “Anderson could apply for the vacancy, but would not be promoted to the position,” the suit states.

According to the lawsuit, Anderson was offered a city attorney position in the first week of April 2020. Wilkins advised that Anderson should inform Caboni of the job offer. The lawsuit states that Caboni immediately contacted Wilkins with an offer to buy out her contract of employment. 

Wilkins accepted the buyout, but before any documents were drafted regarding the agreement, Caboni informed Wilkins that the “Board will not approve the buyout offer” and that the offer was “off the table.”

Afterwards, Caboni informed Wilkins that he intended to remove her from her position as general counsel and would instead put her in a newly-created position. The lawsuit states “[…] if she refused to accept the reassignment, Caboni would terminate her employment immediately,” Caboni informed Wilkins that her position would be eliminated on June 30, 2022, when her current contract expired. 

Anderson was ultimately appointed as WKU’s general counsel with five years of experience and “was not yet 38 years of age,” the suit says. Anderson’s salary immediately increased from $83,299 to $178,164 – matching Wilkins’ salary after her 25 years working at WKU. 

The lawsuit says Caboni stated Wilkins’ duties would be added to “a reconfigured position at a lower salary” and that Wilkins had agreed to retire – to which Wilkins responded that she did not agree to retire and would perform the additional duties. 

Wilkins noticed that neither her name nor position were included in the budgeted salary listings for WKU’s 2020-2021 operating budget. 

Twelve days after the Board of Regents approved Anderson’s appointment as general counsel and Wilkins’ transition to Title IX coordinator, according to the suit, Caboni directed his staff to submit a “Request to Modify a Position” through WKU’s Interview Exchange, which tracks employment at the university.

Her employee status was modified from “Full Time Regular Assignment” to “Full Time Limited Assignment (with an End Date)” because her contract of employment at WKU was set to end on June 30, 2022.

The suit states that Caboni’s actions violated WKU policy, procedure and “directly contravened the action taken by the Board of Regents just twelve days earlier” and that Wilkins was given neither notice of the change in status “nor any reason for the action stated.” The suit claims that, under WKU policy and Kentucky Law, the change in status should have been recommended by Caboni for approval from the Board of Regents in a formal meeting, but never was.

Lawsuit: Violations, but “no action was taken”

The suit alleges Wilkins learned that “high level administrators” were engaged in “multiple, separate/distinct instances of serious WKU policy and procedure violations related to Equal Opportunity/ADA/Affirmative Action and Title IX.”

According to the lawsuit, the complaints concerning the violations were separately reported by WKU employees to Wilkins and then-Title IX coordinator Andrea Anderson. Wilkins, in turn, reported these to Caboni and the respective responsible senior division administrator, “yet no action was taken toward any of the administrators who were involved in the policy and procedure violations.”

The suit states that, in January 2019, Wilkins initiated a meeting with “several high-level administrators” who were involved in the alleged violations. During this meeting, according to the suit, one administrator said to Wilkins: “Are you going to run to daddy?”

Wilkins reported concerns regarding her treatment to the director of Equal Opportunity/ADA/Affirmative Action Office and the director of Human Resources the same day and in writing the following day to Caboni. According to the suit, Caboni expressed “support for Wilkins” and “indicated that he would take action.”

One of the administrators involved referred to Wilkins as a “gender specific obscenity in public, in the presence of subordinate employees and members of the community.” A witness reported the comment to Wilkins, and she in turn reported it to Caboni, who assured that the conduct would be “addressed.”

In both cases, the suit states that no action was taken.

Lawsuit: Caboni falsified university policy 

In January 2021, Brinkley reached out to Wilkins regarding a hire he had initiated the month prior and subsequently submitted to Caboni for approval. Brinkley had conducted a search “to fill a vacant position in Public Television and Radio in the fall of 2020” and offered the position to a qualified female “over the age of 40” who, at the time, was employed at WKU in another position.

Brinkley told Wilkins he was informed by Caboni to “withdraw the position offer from the female employee.” According to Brinkley, Caboni informed him the employee could not transfer to another WKU position because she was under a “Plan of Improvement” regarding her performance at her current job, and because of this, “WKU policy doesn’t allow an employee to transfer to another position.”

When Brinkley asked Wilkins if this was true, Wilkins informed him there was no policy to this effect and that the employee in question was not under a Plan of Improvement, “yet Brinkley nevertheless withdrew the offer of the position and the female employee eventually resigned from WKU.”

Lawsuit: Staff discouraged from seeking salary information

Wilkins was elected to the WKU Staff Senate in spring 2021. The suit states that at the time of her election, staff expressed concern about issues including “the lack of wage/salary adjustments.”

According to the suit, Brinkley was “aware of the discussions concerning staff salaries, work conditions, and expenditures related to the service contracts.” It also makes mention of the fact that Brinkley reports directly to Caboni.

The suit states that Wilkins recommended the Senate request further details regarding the stated issues, but Brinkley, “supported by the Chair and two Senate officers, openly discouraged any efforts to obtain information from administration on these issues.” The suit states that the Chair and the officers “are supervised” in their WKU jobs by Brinkley.

Following this, effective July 1, 2021, Brinkley received a salary increase from $95,000 to $120,600. Additionally, the Senate chair and two officers were also approved for “substantial, double-digit salary adjustments effective the same date.”

The suit states that Wilkins, once these increases became known, proposed a budget resolution that would modify the allocation of the 1.5% “across the board” salary increase that went into effect January 2022 by “taking into consideration staff who had already been awarded increases in excess of 1.5%.”

According to the suit, Wilkins received “threatening, critical and accusatory” messages from persons identifying themselves as Staff Senate members. Wilkins then resigned from her Senate position.

Lawsuit: Wilkins “wrongfully terminated”

The lawsuit alleges that, two days before WKU closed for Thanksgiving break in November 2021, Caboni “wrongfully terminated” Wilkins’ employment.

In the week before Thanksgiving, the provost’s office staff contacted her to inform her that she would need to meet with Provost Bud Fischer on Monday, Nov. 22, 2021. She left her office in Downing Student Union for the meeting and locked her doors because no one else would be in the office. 

Awaiting Wilkins at the provost’s office in Wetherby were Provost Bud Fischer, Board of Regents Chair Phillip Bale and a male attorney. Upon Wilkins’ arrival, she was informed she was being “relieved of her job duties … effective immediately.”

“WKU officials have indicated in response to formal requests that no documents or records of complaints against, towards or involving Wilkins, no disciplinary action and/or no alleged actual policy violation reports exist,” the lawsuit states.

The provost hand-delivered a letter from Caboni to Wilkins and, according to the suit, told her: “I am to give you this letter and ask you to read it.”

“The University is taking this action because it is apparent you can no longer well and faithfully serve the University. You have relinquished – or failed to do – the tasks assigned to you, demonstrating that you are no longer devoting your full time and attention to your job duties,” the letter states. 

According to the suit, Caboni did not meet with Wilkins regarding her termination or the letter. The lawsuit states he did not meet with her after May 2020.

After reading the letter, the suit says, the provost read a statement informing Wilkins that she was “immediately prohibited from returning to her office in the Downing Student Union, from that point forward or for any reason.”

Fischer then directed Wilkins to surrender her office and building keys “immediately,” the suit says.

Wilkins informed all three men that she was responsible for closing her father’s estate and that those records would need to be retrieved from her office. She was told that if there is personal property in her office that she wishes to retrieve, she was “only to contact” the attorney who was present at the meeting. 

Wilkins was “publicly escorted” by the male attorney from the provost’s office to her car located in the front of the building. All of this occurred on a regular work day during WKU’s regular operating hours.

While Wilkins was in the meeting where she was terminated, the suit says, WKU Information Technology staff suspended Wilkins’ access to her WKU TopNet – which contains personal information – and her WKU email address. 

The lawsuit states that Wilkins’ WKU email address, which she thought was shut down after her termination, was viewed by  “university officials” and the officials were “forwarding and responding to messages” and her address continued to be published in various course syllabi across the university.

“All of these actions were taken without Wilkins’ knowledge or permission and are in direct violation of WKU policy,” the lawsuit states. “…and the parties to Title IX issues continued to communicate with this email address believing they were communicating with Wilkins.”

Investigative Reporter Michael Crimmins can be reached at michael.crimmins416@topper.wku.edu. Follow him on Twitter @michael_crimm.

Each day there will be an event held to help promote mental health awareness and education for students.

 “We wanted to do something to shed light and reduce stigmas of mental illnesses,” Alex Cissell, SGA Student Mental Health and Wellbeing Committee chair, said in a press release. “Students should feel comfortable and safe on this campus, especially when it comes to their mental wellbeing.” 

On April 25, a mental health awareness week kick-off will be hosted at Centennial Mall from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. 

“We will be tabling with several organizations on campus to celebrate the start of the week,” Emily Bunning, a senior SGA senator, said. “We will be hosting a raffle to win gift cards, handing out information on mental health/counseling resources around campus, playing music, etc. It is going to be an informal way of kicking off the week and spreading awareness and information for the other events to follow.”

On Tuesday, April 26, there will be a Zumba class held in Preston Center from 7:00 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. 

The SGA is collaborating with GroupXFitness to offer students a way to destress with a fun way to exercise. They will also be offering gift cards to the first 10 people to arrive as well as goodies after the event.

On Wednesday, April 27, there will be a Denim Day tabling event in the DSU green space from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and a Rae of Sunshine Foundation Speaker in the DSU Auditorium from 6:00 p.m. to 6:45 p.m.

The SGA is inviting all WKU students to wear denim to stand in solidarity with sexual violence victims all around the world.  

“The SGA will host Taylora Schlosser from the Rae of Sunshine Foundation to speak about her daughter, Taylor Rae’s, story, as well as her experiences with mental health,” Bunning said. “She will also be discussing suicide prevention and ways to help others struggling with mental illness.”

 Admission is free, but there will be Rae of Sunshine merchandise available for people to purchase.

On Thursday, April 28, there will be a Coffee and Kindness tabling event in Centennial Mall from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. to help further spread Rae of Sunshine’s message.

On Friday, April 29, there will be a Dog Day held in the DSU green space from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Students will have the opportunity to de-stress with dogs from the Bowling Green Humane society.

“The goal is to have a laid-back environment where students can just come hang out for a bit with friends and dogs,” Bunning said.

News reporter Makaio Smith can be reached makaio.smith083@topper.wku.edu. Follow her on Twitter @MakaioSmith

Editor’s note: This story contains reference to sexual violence, which could be disturbing to readers. If you are a survivor of sexual violence, resources are available at the Counseling and Testing Center and the Title IX offices on campus and at Hope Harbor, a local sexual trauma recovery center.

Under Herald policy, due to the nature of this lawsuit, the names of students involved have been replaced by “plaintiff” and “defendant”.

A trio of motions have been filed by WKU and the defendant’s lawyers in regards to a lawsuit filed in February over an alleged sexual assault that occurred between a Sigma Nu student and another WKU student, who filed under the pseudonym “K.P.”

In documents filed in late March, the lawyers representing the defendant, Sigma Nu, the university and staff responded to the civil complaint.

Defendant’s motion

The defendant’s lawyer is David Broderick, a law office located in Bowling Green. Broderick’s motion moves to dismiss the lawsuit based on two reasons. One, the motion argues it should be dismissed based on the pseudonym used by the plaintiff, which the document claims is not acceptable.

“Defendant should have the right to know the identity of the individual making claims against him that affect his privacy, his safety, and his future,” the motion states. 

The motion also cites the Kentucky statute of limitations, stating that the complaint should be dismissed because it was not filed within one year of the actions described in the civil lawsuit.

“An action for an injury to the person of the plaintiff shall be commenced within one year after the cause of the action,” the motion states.

University and staff’s motion

The university and its employees mentioned in the initial complaint filed their own “motion to dismiss” on March 22, with attorneys Thomas Kerrick and Ena Demir representing them.

In the initial complaint, the plaintiff named WKU faculty members Andrea Anderson, Charley Pride and Andrew Rash as being “negligently” hired and trained by WKU President Timothy Caboni. Caboni is also being represented in the university’s motion.

The motion denied all allegations mentioned in the K.P. civil suit and stated the defendants were without “sufficient knowledge” of the allegations.

Media Director and University Spokesperson Jace Lux was contacted by phone for comment.

“The university prioritizes the safety and well-being of the campus community above all else,” Lux responded in an email. “WKU has fully cooperated with the criminal proceedings of this case throughout the last year. Due to the ongoing legal proceedings, the university has no additional comment.”

In the university’s motion, under its sixth defense, it pleads the doctrines of sovereign, governmental, official and qualified immunity, meaning that WKU can not be sued in civil matters.

Sigma Nu’s motion

The fraternity Sigma Nu, as well as the Eta Rho chapter, have also filed an answer to the complaint. It was filed through attorneys Gregg Thornton and Caroline Augenstein of Lexington nine days after Broderick and the university’s motions.

The motion denies the accusations made by the plaintiff in the original lawsuit and provides 12 defenses, including invoking the statute of limitations, reasonable doubt and unconstitutionality. 

“The plaintiff’s complaint fails to state a claim against these defendants upon which relief may be granted,” the Sigma Nu motion states.

In addition to denying the accusations, the fraternity’s answer ends with its demands for relief. The demands include dismissal of complaint, trial by jury, for costs expended and “for any and all other relief to which it may appear properly entitled.”

The original suit was filed with Thomas Law Offices in Louisville. The office was contacted by phone for comment on the motions filed by the defendants, but did not respond by time of publication. The office’s comments will be added as they become available.

The motions are scheduled to be heard by judge Steve Wilson in Warren County circuit court at 10:30 a.m. on April 18, 2022.

Investigative Reporter Michael Crimmins can be reached at michael.crimmins416@topper.wku.edu. Follow him on Twitter @michael_crimm.

The Faculty Senate Executive Committee along with the WKU Chapter of American Association of University Professors issued a joint statement addressed to President Timothy Caboni, Provost Cheryl Stevens and Regent Claus Ernest regarding the Big Red Restart Plan Wednesday.

“Faculty are subject matter and pedagogical experts and are in the best positions to make decisions regarding course delivery,” said the AAUP and Senate Executive Committee via email.

The list of demands include faculty choice on how courses should be delivered, free COVID-19 testing for those who are planning to come back to campus, no job losses for faculty and academic support staff and no increase in course workloads.

Julie Shadoan, chair of the Senate Executive Committee, said the statement and a list of demands come after the university issued administrative guidelines earlier that week.

“I as Faculty Senate Chair and Margaret Crowder, the President of the WKU Chapter of AAUP, received numerous emails, text and phone calls for the last few days from faculty requesting that we take immediate action addressing what seems to be a directive to faculty on how courses would be delivered in the fall,” Shadoan said.

The groups’ concerns, presented as demands, are:

– Faculty must decide how to deliver their courses.

– There must “university and frequent free COVID-19 testing.”

– There will be no job losses among faculty and academic support staff.

– Course loads and overall faculty workloads will not exceed those outlined in a faculty member’s appointment letter.

The biggest issue, Shadoan said, was faculty feeling like their choices were limited and that they know best on how to deliver courses based on the subject matter.

She further explained that the expectations of faculty are significant and believes that faculty choice was at the heart of the Big Red Restart Plan but had gotten lost within the planning of it.

Late Thursday, Provost Cheryl Stevens sent out an email to faculty and staff addressing the demands listed.

In her email, Stevens said the hybrid in-person/online classes were not definite, but were most desired by students who were surveyed. The hybrid class guideline includes 70% face-to-face instruction and 30% online. She said leadership in each department and deans will work to create a solution.

Stevens said WKU is following guidelines set by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and will offer alternative work arrangements to those who seek them through their department head and WKU’s EEO office. 

Stevens also said in the email that the university has been working to build an on-campus testing program that will be introduced this fall. 

In response to the demand to protect faculty and academic support staff jobs, Stevens said the university is trying to protect as many faculty and staff positions as possible.

She said department heads and deans have added additional courses and increased course caps to address reduction in state funding as well as to protect full time faculty and staff positions. Reallocating the workload from research and service was a “very difficult decision, especially since most faculty will take a pay reduction.” 

Margaret Crowder, president of WKU’s AAUP chapter, said the right decisions need to be made this fall to ensure the safety of the campus community, which includes faculty, staff and students.

In order to have a successful fall semester for everyone, Crowder said, the campus not only needs to give room for people to make their own health decisions, but faculty also needs to be given the choice about how their courses are taught, whether in person, online or a hybrid.

“Faculty is in the best position to determine the best course modality. That’s for their own health and safety and for the safety of their students,” Crowder said. “We know that coming into this fall that, if we have enough time, we can develop the courses the way that we want to and to make sure that everyone can engage and that they are accessible.”

A new draft of WKU’s strategic plan for 2018 to 2028 has been released ahead of the WKU Board of Regents retreat on Thursday, Aug. 2.

The strategic plan is “a carefully defined roadmap that will guide the university throughout the next decade,” according to the draft.

“It focuses on student success and ensuring that our campus environment attracts the highest quality faculty and staff, and it renews our commitment to being fully engaged in our region and the commonwealth while providing a global context to the WKU Experience,” according to the draft’s mission statement.

The strategic plan was created over the last year with six working groups meeting throughout the year and several forums held for public input, as previously reported by the Herald.

Kirk Atkinson, associate professor of information systems, was a member of the steering committee that helped create the strategic plan and was involved with creating the initial draft for the plan.

Atkinson said that creating the strategic plan has involved meeting with students, faculty, staff and community members. He said one of the most important parts of the plan is that it was created from a student-centered perspective.

“I think it’s very solid,” Atkinson said, referring to the plan.

The Herald reached out to other members on the strategic plan steering committee, but has not received responses from them.

President Timothy Caboni said in a campus-wide email on Wednesday that the Board of Regents will vote on the strategic plan during its meeting on Friday.

“We worked for a year together on our strategic plan, which is beginning to take its final shape now, and I’m excited about where this will lead us over the next decade,” Caboni said in his email.

The new draft is an updated version of the previous strategic planning draft, which was released in April. The new draft’s release comes before the strategic plan’s official unveiling at the August convocation.

The draft of the plan focuses on three sections: the students, the university and the community. For every part, the plan provides goals, strategies and ways of measuring the success of the goals with provides possible targets for 2027-28.

Bob Skipper, director of media relations at WKU, said that the draft is still subject to change and its similarity to the completed strategic plan that will be unveiled in August remains to be seen.

Here are some of the highlights of the new draft:

Our Students

To “ensure WKU student completion and success,” one of the plan’s targets is to increase the first-to-second year retention rate of first-time, full-time students from 69.8 percent in 2017-18 to 80 percent in 2027-28, according to the draft.

Another target of the plan to ensure student success is increasing the percent of first-year, full-time students who are underprepared in English or mathematics to complete a “credit-bearing” course in those respective subjects by the end of the fall semester a year after entering.

For English, the plan aims to increase the percent of underprepared first-year, full-time students who take the “credit-bearing” course from 59.3 percent in 2017-18 to 100 percent in 2027-28. For mathematics, the plan hopes to increase the percent from 38.7 percent to 100 percent, according to the draft.

The plan mentions creating a “Comprehensive Advising Program” to assist students’ success. The program involves generalist and specialist advisers, trained faculty and other support staff.

In the program, the advisers and students will create individualized personal development plans that will “serve as a guide for the pursuit and completion of a four-year degree that leads to a successful career or entrance into graduate school,” according to the draft.

For promoting student diversity, one of the plan’s targets includes increasing the first-to-second year retention rate for full-time, first-year underrepresented minority students from 57.7 percent in 2017-18 to 80 percent in 2027-28, according to the draft.

Our Hill (The University)

To increase faculty participation in programs offered by the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, one of the plan’s targets is increasing student enrollment by 5 percent in online classes and classes that use accelerated five-week formats, from 36,220 students in 2017-18 to 38,031 students in 2027-28.

To help incentivize and support research and creative activity, the draft suggests creating an Office of Undergraduate Research, among other strategies.

Our Community and Beyond

To continue WKU’s international reach, the draft of the plan suggests continuing to recruit, retain and graduate an international student population and integrating them into the WKU community.

Another goal for continuing international reach includes increasing the number of students graduating in a given year who have participated in at least one study abroad or study away course. The plan hopes to increase the percent from 11.19 percent in 2017-18 to 15 percent in 2027-28, according to the draft.

You can read the full draft of the strategic plan here.

This story was updated with comments from President Caboni on Aug. 1.

Nicole Ziege can be reached at 270-745-6011 and nicole.ziege825@topper.wku.edu. Follow Nicole Ziege on Twitter at @NicoleZiege.

WKU has spent more than $26,000 in legal fees for its ongoing lawsuit against the College Heights Herald, according to an open records request by the Herald.

From the time WKU sued the Herald in February 2017 until March 2, 2018, the total cost of the university’s expenses paid from attorney billing records at the Kerrick Bachert law firm and hours worked by its attorneys was $26,381.38.

The university sued the Herald after denying an open records request by former Herald reporter Nicole Ares in November 2016 for records concerning sexual misconduct allegations against employees at the university. The lawsuit is ongoing.

Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear ruled on June 18 that WKU had violated Kentucky’s Open Records Act with over-redacting the financial information regarding the lawsuit. The university stated it “redacted information which discloses substantive information and/or matters protected by the attorney-client privilege,” according to the ruling.

On March 2, former Herald editor-in-chief Andrew Henderson requested “any payments, including amounts and services rendered, paid by WKU to the Kerrick Bachert law firm from Nov. 1, 2016 to [March 2, 2018].”

Henderson appealed the request to the Attorney General’s office on March 29, 2018, after receiving attorney billing records from WKU which he said he believed were over-redacted by the university.

In a letter provided by Deborah Wilkins, WKU General Counsel, in the request from WKU, she said that WKU “possesses insurance coverage which includes coverage for legal expenses incurred defending litigation involving covered claims against the agency.”

Wilkins said in the letter that the invoices Henderson requested included descriptive work that was ‘both substantive and specific, relating to the assessment and defense of the particular claim,’ and she said this was why it had been previously redacted.

“WKU requests as much specificity as possible in order to insure the prudent and responsible expenditure of state funds for legal services generally,” Wilkins said in her letter. “Matters which are not, as yet, ‘in litigation’ – intellectual property, personnel matters, contract negotiations, for example – are invoiced in the same manner as matters in litigation, and as such will include information which is protected by the attorney-client privilege,” Wilkins said in her letter.

Henderson said he was happy that WKU released the information, instead of pursuing further legal action in order to protect the information he had requested. He said he felt it was important for the public to know how much WKU was spending on the lawsuit.

Henderson said it was important to distinguish how the Herald’s case differed from other legal cases for WKU.

“The university decided to pursue legal action against us,” Henderson said. “They themselves can stop at any time.”

The Herald has received grants and donations in order to continue fighting WKU’s lawsuit. They include a $10,000 grant from the Kentucky Press Association Legal Defense Fund, a $5,000 grant from the Society of Professional Journalists Legal Defense Fund and about $7,000 in donations by Herald and Talisman alumni through the College Heights Herald Fund established by the Student Press Law Center.

Nicole Ziege can be reached at 270-745-6011 and nicole.ziege825@topper.wku.edu. Follow Nicole Ziege on Twitter at @NicoleZiege.

Fellow Faculty and Staff:

As I indicated in my communication earlier this week, we have finalized budget reduction decisions for the FY2013-14 budget. Thank you to all who submitted suggestions since we began this discussion several weeks ago. While I am pleased that we were able to manage this process without reductions in anyone’s base salary and without lay-offs, none of these were easy decisions, nor are they ideal. Most campus departments will not be affected, and we have avoided across-the-board cuts, which are tough on morale.

We are achieving a total budget reduction of $2,139,000 that will allow us to cover the deficit in fixed cost increases as described to the campus a few weeks ago. It will also fund over a million dollars of commitments that have been paid with unbudgeted funds and will make permanent the two percent salary increase that was implemented last July. A spreadsheet listing all of these decisions and the budget impact of each is attached.

Beginning July 1, we will eliminate the budgets for the FACET program and the Center of Excellence in the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences. We will also eliminate recurring funding for the Provost’s Initiative for Excellence (PIE grants) and create efficiencies by merging the budgets of the Institute for Citizenship and Social Responsibility and the ALIVE Center. The WKU switchboard operation will be combined with the WKU Welcome Center, and both will move to the Augenstein Alumni Center where all campus tours now begin. These actions will save $645,000.

Recurring budget support for Research and Creative Activity Program grants (RCAP) and the Quality Enhancement Program (QEP) will be reduced. We will also reduce funding for the Talisman and achieve additional efficiencies in Student Publications; curtail food expenditures for Parents and Family Weekend events; eliminate duplicative budgeting of stipends for the Ed.D program; and reduce the recurring budget for computer replacements. These program reductions will save $308,000.

Cell phone allowances paid to employees will be reduced by $10 per month beginning with the July pay period. In addition, we will apply savings from energy efficiencies to reduce the utilities budget, and we will eliminate vacant positions that have remained unfilled for the last five years. We will reduce the budget for institutional memberships and eliminate the Higher Education Price Index (HEPI) increases to Athletics, Student Technology, Student Government Association and Health Services. Additional reductions will be made in the divisions of Campus Services, Finance and Administration, Information Technology, and Student Affairs, and we will redirect tuition for selected DELO programs to the central budget. We will close the Radcliff Center in Hardin County and operate existing programs in either Ft. Knox or Elizabethtown. And over the next five years, we will reduce the university subsidy to Athletics by five percent. An additional $203,000 in efficiencies will be identified and implemented in the months ahead. These combined actions will save $1,186,000.

The overall campus budget will be finalized in the next few weeks and presented to the Board of Regents on June 21 for their approval. I appreciate your hard work and especially your patience as we move through this painful process. Ensuring efficiencies and cost savings is an ongoing effort, and we have all been diligent in that regard.

Our priority remains ensuring high academic quality, preserving jobs, and strengthening the esprit de core on our campus. The most important thing now is to continue to make progress and to make every effort to create an environment where all students can be successful.

Thank you.

Gary A. Ransdell

Below is the email President Gary Ransdell sent to faculty and staff at approximately 3:30 p.m. detailing the Council on Postsecondary Education’s rejection of WKU’s proposed five percent tuition increase. 

Fellow Faculty and Staff: 

The Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE), unfortunately, did not approve our request for a five percent tuition increase at its meeting today.  Rather, they approved a three percent cap on a resident, undergraduate, face-to-face student tuition increase for all Kentucky public campuses.  The CPE was sympathetic to our fiscal realities; but ultimately, the council agreed to accept the CPE staff’s recommendation of three percent.  We will likely, however, still recommend to our Board of Regents a five percent increase for graduate students, non-resident students, and online learners. 

A five percent increase would have given us a balanced budget for next year with no cuts.  This CPE action, however, means that we have budget work to do before taking a balanced budget to our Board of Regents in June. 

We will take this in stride as we have done for the last several years.  I have asked the Vice Presidents to begin making recommendations as we begin budget reduction conversations on Monday.  Every effort will be made to protect as many jobs as possible and to act in the best interest of our students and employees.  I will be back in touch in due course as options take shape.  Thank you.

Gary A. Ransdell