Sources: Kirk Schulz, 785-532-6221; and John Currie, 785-532-6912
Kansas Board of Regents: http://www.kansasregents.org/
News release prepared by: Cheryl May, 785-532-6415, may@k-state.edu, and Kenny Lannou, 785-532-7977, klannou@k-state.edu
Friday, June 19, 2009
K-STATE ADMINISTRATION SUPPORTS REGENTS RELEASE OF REVIEW/AUDIT
MANHATTAN -- The Kansas Board of Regents released its recent review/audit of Kansas State University today, Friday, June 19, and the decision to do so was greeted positively by new K-State President Kirk Schulz.
"We agree with the regents that it is the correct decision to release this report in a spirit of openness and transparency," Schulz said. "Our new administration is working to rebuild the confidence of our alums and constituents. Getting this information out into the open should help with that."
Schulz emphasized that his administration is moving ahead with a new leadership team in place and transparent policies to prevent problems in the future.
"There is nothing we can do about the past. However, steps have been taken to ensure these situations do not happen again," Schulz said. "We are moving forward and making sure we are running our programs in a responsible way."
Nelson Galle, former chair of the Kansas Board of Regents, said he supports the release of the exit review, which covers the president's office, the KSU Foundation, K-State Alumni Association and the athletics department.
"A complete exit audit of the K-State entities that are not audited by the state is an excellent idea when there is a change in presidents," Galle said. "This audit was authorized and begun last fall by the Kansas Board of Regents. This was done so candidates for the presidency of K-State could be assured there would be few surprises after they were hired. I support the release and full disclosure of the audit results not only for use by our new president and his new team but for the benefit of the entire K-State family."
Prior to beginning the search for a new athletics director, Schulz made sure he was comfortable with athletics department oversight and processes. K-State's Intercollegiate Athletics Corporation adopted a new governance structure on May 6, 2009, as a result of a process that started months ago. Athletics staff and their audit firm started discussing ways to comply with strengthened Internal Revenue Service -- commonly referred to as 990 -- requirements late in 2008.
Members of the athletic governance board include John Currie, athletics director; Pat Bosco, vice president of student life; Bruce Shubert, vice president for administration and finance; Michael Holen, dean of the College of Education and Big 12 faculty athletics representative; Ruth Dyer, interim provost; and Charles Reagan, deputy to the president and chief of staff.
Currie said, like Schulz, he also supports an open and transparent university and athletics department.
"Dr. Schulz and I support the regents' decision to release this information," Currie said. "It's important to me that the athletics department, as an integral part of this university, operates as transparently as possible. We must be open and transparent if we are to maintain the trust of our donors and fans who, obviously, have been discouraged by recent events. But I am extremely excited about the future; we have great coaches and staff ready and willing to do the hard work that it takes to be successful."
