University of Kentucky to pay Deloitte $1.3M for studies related to governance, curriculum

The University of Kentucky will pay Deloitte Consulting more than $1.3 million for services that resulted in the creation of new advisory bodies, public records show.

UK contracted Deloitte, an international consulting firm, at the end of last year for services related to an initiative called Project Accelerate made up of five work groups looking at various aspects of the university and its operations.

The university agreed to pay Deloitte up to $600,000 for work on the “more readiness” group and up to $750,000 on the “more responsiveness” group — a total of $1.35 million, according to contracts obtained through an open records request.

As of July 11, UK has paid Deloitte $375,000 and $468,750 for their work on Project Accelerate, and Deloitte will be paid the full amounts listed in the contract, said UK spokesperson Jay Blanton.

Blanton said Deloitte was hired because of the company’s experience in higher education, and to provide a broader overview of UK’s structure and general education requirements — called UK Core — compared to other universities and best practices.

“With their assistance, and with our Board’s approval, we now have significantly streamlined and clarified our Governing Regulations — the most important principles that guide our institution — and we have bolstered the voice that students and staff have in our shared governance structure,” Blanton said.

“They also have provided us a comprehensive sense of best practices in terms of general education requirements that will help guide us as we think about how our UK Core continues to evolve in ways that best prepare students for success at UK and in the future when they leave our community.”

UK board votes to dissolve university Senate, outlines role of new faculty body

The findings of one Project Accelerate work group, which was tasked with looking at the university’s responsiveness, ultimately resulted in the restructuring of the university’s governance, moving the university senate from a policy-setting role into an advisory faculty senate.

The “more readiness” work group has been tasked with evaluating and revising UK’s general education curriculum. Deloitte assisted with research and interviews for both groups.

UK is paying the Deloitte in monthly installments, and is also responsible for “actual and reasonable out-of-pocket expenses” incurred by Deloitte while working on the project, according to the contract.

The statements of work between UK and Deloitte were obtained by the Herald-Leader through an open records request and subsequent appeal to the attorney general.

Deloitte’s contract ran from Dec. 1, 2023, through June 14, 2024, the date of the most recent board of trustees meeting.

University senate to faculty senate

As part of Project Accelerate, Deloitte representatives made a presentation at the February board meeting, presenting data that showed UK’s governance structure as differing from other, comparable universities. At that meeting, the university announced it would be examining the role of the university senate.

After the presentation, university senate leadership said they had not been interviewed or consulted during Deloitte’s research and interviews.

Deloitte’s presentation at that board meeting has been a point of contention for faculty, during which a representative from Deloitte said their interview process “was not intended to be scientific,” while the university referenced it when deciding to make changes to the governance structure.

Over the next several months, the board of trustees voted to eliminate the university senate, replacing it with an advisory faculty senate and adding an advisory president’s council made up of faculty, staff and students.

Following the May board meeting, the senate voted “no confidence” in President Eli Capilouto, citing concerns about the process used to create new governing regulations and the new governance structure.

At the June board meeting, UK outlined a process to determine how the new faculty senate will be created, with elections being held no later than Oct. 31. Until then, a “provisional faculty senate executive committee” led by Provost Robert DiPaola will be in place.

It will be composed of 22 members, including the provost as chair, the two faculty trustees and one faculty member from each college, who were announced last week.

Though the university senate will cease to exist, several committees and councils will continue, including the UK Core Education Committee and the faculty Senate Advisory Committee on privilege and tenure.