Powers and duties of board
KRS 164.830
in effect164.830. Powers and duties of board
(1) The board of trustees of the University of Louisville shall constitute a body corporate, with the usual corporate powers, and shall possess all the authorities, immunities, rights, privileges, and franchises usually attaching to the governing bodies of Kentucky public higher educational institutions. A majority of the voting members of the board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Powers of the board shall include the following:
(a) Appointment of a president, all faculty members, and other personnel and determination of the compensation, duties, and official relations of each. No relative of a board of trustee member shall be employed by the university. Faculty member and personnel appointment decisions may be delegated to the president in accordance with policy adopted by the board of trustees;
(b) Suspension or removal of the president, officers, faculty, agents, or other personnel that it is authorized to appoint, except that no president, professor, or teacher shall be removed except for: 1. Incompetence; 2. Neglect of or refusal to perform his or her duty; 3. Immoral conduct; 4. Failure to meet college or university performance and productivity requirements as determined in accordance with paragraph (e) of this subsection; or 5. Bona fide financial reasons, including but not limited to: a. Financial exigency; b. Low enrollment in a particular program or major; or c. Misalignment of revenue and costs in a particular college, department, program, or major;
(c) Any removal shall be made in accordance with procedures established by law for state institutions. Officer, faculty, agent, or other personnel removal decisions may be delegated to the president in accordance with policy adopted by the board of trustees;
(d) The process by which removal as provided in paragraph (b)5. of this subsection shall be proposed, evaluated, and decided shall be established by the board and provided to all faculty members, with an effective date no later than October 1, 2026. The process shall require that no faculty member is removed until after thirty (30) days' notice in writing, stating the reason for removal, and after an opportunity has been given to the faculty member to respond before the board by counsel or otherwise and to introduce testimony which shall be heard and determined by the board;
(e) 1. Creation of a process requiring the evaluation of the performance and productivity of the president, professors, and teachers at least once every four (4) years. 2. Any preliminary discussions relating to the evaluation of the president by the board or between the board and the president prior to the final evaluation report shall be conducted in closed session pursuant to KRS 61.810(1)(f). 3. The final performance and productivity evaluation of the president shall be in writing, discussed and adopted in an open meeting of the board and reflected in the minutes, and made available to the public upon request. 4. Failure to meet performance and productivity requirements may result in removal of a president, professor, or teacher regardless of status. 5. The evaluation process shall be established by the board and provided to all faculty members by January 1, 2026, to become effective July 1, 2026;
(f) Election of a chairperson, a vice chairperson to act in the absence or temporary disability of the chairperson, and any other officers as it deems wise, including the annual election of a six (6) me mber executive committee which shall have the powers that the board delegates to it and shall operate under the rules the board shall establish under its authority to make bylaws, rules, and regulations consistent with this chapter. The committee shall hav e one (1) member representing the students, faculty, and nonteaching personnel with the group alternating each year. The initial appointment to the executive committee after March 21, 2017, shall be a faculty member, to be followed by a student and a nonte aching personnel, respectively;
(g) Receipt, retention, and administration, on behalf of the university, subject to the conditions attached, all revenues accruing from endowments, appropriations, allotments, grants or bequests, and all types of property;
(h) Requirement of reports from the president, officers, faculty, and employees as it deems necessary and proper from time to time;
(i) Granting degrees to graduates of the university, prescription of conditions upon which postgraduate honors may be obtaine d, and conferment of honorary degrees;
(j) The board shall periodically evaluate the institution's progress in implementing its missions, goals, and objectives to conform to the strategic agenda. Officers and officials shall be held accountable for the sta tus of the institution's progress; and
(k) The board shall adopt bylaws, rules, and regulations for the governance of its members, officers, agents, and employees, which shall reference the member removal and replacement provisions of KRS 63.080, and the b oard shall enforce obedience to those bylaws, rules, and regulations.
(2) Board members shall receive no compensation for serving on the board, but shall be reimbursed for travel expenses for attending meetings and performing other official functions, consistent with the reimbursement policy for state employees. Board members who reside outside the Commonwealth shall not be reimbursed for out -of- state travel expenses.
(3) The provisions of KRS 164.030, 164.200, and 164.410, shall be applicable to the University of Louisville, except where inconsistent with the purposes of KRS 164.810 to 164.870.
Effective: July 15, 2026
History: Amended 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 169, sec. 3, effective April 14, 2026; and ch. 171, sec. 21, effective July 15, 2026. -- Amended 2025 Ky. Acts ch. 106, sec. 3, effective June 27, 2025. -- Amended 2017 Ky. Acts ch. 7, sec. 2, effective January 9, 2017; and ch. 101, sec. 9, effective March 21, 2017. -- Amended 1997 (1st Extra. Sess.) Ky. Acts ch. 1, sec. 126, effective May 30, 1997. -- Amended 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 10, sec. 15, effective July 1, 1992. -- Amended 1988 Ky. Acts ch. 257, sec. 5, effective July 15, 1988. -- Created 1970 Ky. Acts ch. 65, sec. 3.
Legislative Research Commission Note (7/15/2026). This statute was amended by 2026 Ky. Acts chs. 169 and 171, which do not appear to be in conflict and have been codified together. Legislative Research Commission Note (4/14/2026). 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 169, sec. 3, inserted new paragraphs and subparagraphs in the existing text of subsection (1) of this statute, changing paragraph "(c)" to paragraph "(e)," but mis-lettered an existing reference in what is now subsection (1)(b)4. This manifest clerical or typographical error has been corrected in codification under KRS 7.136.
Source: Kentucky Legislative Research Commission (legislature.ky.gov)URL: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=58014Fetched: 10/20/2026