Kentucky requires agreements for collecting debts owed to public colleges

Kentucky public colleges and the Department of Revenue must make yearly agreements to collect referred enrollment debts and final debts. Enrollment debts include unpaid tuition, housing, and other enrollment costs at Kentucky public colleges. Colleges may also arrange collection of other debts before they become final. The Department of Revenue must review each debt separately before refusing collection and explain in writing why it does not qualify or cannot feasibly be collected. Collection proceeds when the department determines that collecting the debt is feasible and cost-effective. Referred debts carry interest and a one-time 25% collection fee unless the department waives them. Recovered money and interest return to the college, minus the retained collection fee. The department cannot collect personal or family debts for health care goods and services. Interest runs from referral until payment. The collection fee is based on the debt and legally added charges at referral.

Public college boards must hold preliminary discussions about their presidents’ evaluations in closed sessions. These rules cover presidents evaluated by Kentucky public university boards and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System board. The final evaluation must be written, discussed and adopted at an open board meeting, recorded in the minutes, and available to the public on request.

Required training for public college board members does not count as a meeting under Kentucky’s open meetings law when members take no official action. The exception covers required board training at Kentucky public universities and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. The exception applies regardless of how many board members attend.

Northern Kentucky University administers the Center for Mathematics and reports on its work. The Center for Mathematics trains teachers to assess students’ math needs and help students who struggle. The report must cover the center’s operations and its impact on student achievement. Northern Kentucky University must submit its report to the Council on Postsecondary Education and the Legislative Research Commission on or before October 1 each year.

The law provides for repeal of the education planning laws listed in Section 23. The list covers goals for 2020, the Strategic Committee on Postsecondary Education, the Kentucky STEM Initiative task force and fund, and local councils linking preschool through college.