The University of Kentucky has approved a new policy creating a process to more easily remove faculty for financial reasons.
The new policy, which must be adopted by Oct.1, eases the path to dismissing faculty due to low program enrollment or financial strain. The move could lead to future degree program cuts.
A spokesperson for UK, which passed the policy Friday, said the university has no immediate plans to shutter programs or reduce faculty.
The board of trustees’ approval last week puts UK in compliance with House Bill 490, which requires the state’s public universities to have faculty removal proceedings for financial reasons. The General Assembly considered significant cuts to higher education during the 2026 session, but the final budget largely maintained funding.
“I've seen a lot of appreciation for the collaborative process that we had, both on the administrative end of the university working with our Faculty Senate,” UK Provost and Co-Executive Vice President for Health Affairs Robert DiPaola said. “They were engaged in terms of recommendations, and then we even had a work group together to actually formulate this particular policy that went to the board collaboratively.”
The Faculty Senate reviewed the policy Aug. 31 and trustees approved it at Friday’s off-site meeting at the University of Louisville.
“A lot of the questions that came up is to make sure that we were going to be fair, transparent and make sure that we're really identifying the things that are of value for the institution, as well as the commonwealth,” DiPaola said.
He said more than finances will be considered when determining whether to continue programs and positions, including if they are solely offered at UK and if they provide valuable expertise to the workforce.
“The policy that we put together includes an assessment not only of the finances, but to take a look at alternatives, to take a look at the program itself. If it was a program that was at least being considered for some sort of restructure, and seeing how that fits in the hole,” DiPaloa said.
He said the university would be taking a careful look at changes that might come as a result of the new policy.
It is unclear how many public Kentucky universities have adopted similar policies ahead of the Oct. 1 deadline.
