According to an e-mail sent by President Gary Ransdell earlier this morning, five people will be on the search committee to find Western’s next football head coach.
The committee will be chaired by Chief of Staff Deborah Wilkins and include Vice President of Student Affairs Howard Bailey, Faculty Athletic Representative James Brown, Hilltopper Athletic Foundation President [...]

Mailboxes will be filled this week with a new kind of student refund.
Western, with the help of a financial services and payment company called HigherOne, has started mailing out debit cards that students can use to manage their leftover scholarship, loan or grant money.
The cards will eventually replace the paper residual check system.
Bursar Belinda Higginbotham [...]

Western officials have plans for 83 facilities-related projects in the next six years, but it could be two years before officials can move forward on any of them.
On Oct. 30, the Board of Regents approved a six-year capital plan that lists plans for construction, renovation and other projects through 2016.
But last week, President Gary Ransdell [...]

Western is one step closer to finding out how much in state money the university will get for the next two years.
The Council on Postsecondary Education approved a “modest” budget request for higher education in 2010-2012 during its meeting on Friday morning, according to a CPE press release.
The request, which includes state funding for Kentucky’s [...]

A case involving a former Western staffer who claims she was forced to retire early has been moved to Franklin Circuit Court.

Elizabeth Esters, who worked as staff assistant to President Gary Ransdell and secretary to the Board of Regents, is suing Western for $44,617.80.

The lawsuit was dismissed from Warren County Circuit Court this morning, said Deborah Wilkins, chief of staff and general counsel.

There’s been a slight drop in students making schedule changes after administrators tacked on a bigger price tag to the add/drop fee.

In April, the Board of Regents voted to increase the fee for adding or dropping a class after the first six days of each semester from $20 to $50 starting this fall.

So far, there’s been about a 10.3 percent decrease in students adding and dropping classes.

With thousands of alumni back on campus to celebrate Homecoming, Western could reap the financial benefits.
Homecoming isn’t designed as a fundraising tool, but the “feel-good” atmosphere on campus often leads to more donations for Western, said Tom Hiles, vice president for Institutional Advancement.
“The main emphasis is welcoming alumni back to campus,” Hiles said. “… The [...]

Formal discussions of raises for two of Western’s administrators have been pushed back.

The Board of Regents voted on Friday to postpone proposed raises for Athletics Director Wood Selig and Dean Kahler, associate vice president of Enrollment Management.

The raises — about $34,000 for Selig and about $19,000 for Kahler — will be discussed again at the next board meeting on Jan. 26 and 27 in Frankfort.

The Board of Regents voted today to postpone proposed raises for Athletics Director Wood Selig and Dean Kahler, associate vice president of academic affairs.
The raises — about $34,000 for Selig and about $19,000 for Kahler — will be discussed again at the board’s next meeting Jan. 26-27 in Frankfort.
Several students and faculty stood in Mass [...]

Some faculty members are signing their names to speak out against prospective raises for administrators.
English Instructor Fabian Alvarez created a petition for faculty members to voice concerns about the raises, which Faculty Regent Patricia Minter will present at the Board of Regents meeting on Oct. 30.
Regents will vote on a revamped contract for Athletics Director [...]