By Dennis O’Neil

The University of Louisville’s Board of Trustees made their way through a busy meeting on Thursday, Nov. 13, with issues of Robert Felner, the mandatory meal plan controversy and possible budget cuts from the state weighing heavily on everyone’s minds.
President James Ramsey said that a round of mid year budget cuts is likely in light $290 plus million revenue shortfall announced by Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear.
Ramsey attributed this shortfall to the massive downturn in the U.S. economy over the past few years, mentioning a loss of durable jobs and a drastic shift in Kentucky’s unemployment rate. Ramsey said he is confident that the university could withstand a mid year cut, as they have identified different efficiencies and set some money aside.
Ramsey did not mention any possible tuition increases, but did say that if the cut becomes recurring over a period of years, it would be extremely difficult for the university to move forward.
“We are for affordability—it didn’t give any of us any pleasure to raise tuition,” Ramsey told the board. “But we need to move forward, and we have to have some resources to help us do that.”
Ramsey also said that much of the university’s fate is dependent on what happens in the next legislative session. 
Student Government Association President Rudy Spencer was critical of the state in light of the revenue shortfall.
“I know the economy is bad right now, but when you look at the numbers, how do you under project $300 million?” Spencer asked. “How do you just miss that completely?”
The board also heard a report from representatives of the firm Cotton and Allen, which has been conducting an audit of the university’s grants management process in light of the investigation into former College of Education and Human Development Dean Robert Felner. Felner was indicted and is currently awaiting trial on charges of tax evasion, mail fraud and money laundering.
The auditors reported that, through a thorough analysis of the university’s policies, they believe that U of L is consistent with what they have seen at other research universities.
The auditors did present several suggestions for improvement of U of L’s oversight practices.  This concerned many areas such as the use of procurement cards by deans and the filings of conflict of interest statements, both areas that were allegedly problematic in the case of Felner.
Cotton and Allen senior manager Simon Keemer emphasized the university’s need to increase checks and balances in these areas.
With procurement cards, Keemer recommended that U of L improve departmental controls on the expenditure process.
He also said the university needed to work harder to make sure conflict of interest statements are being filled out in a timely manner and that the sanctions against individuals needed to be enforced.
“We would suggest to, overall, strengthen the human resources function of the university,” Keemer stated. “That would really be designed to emphasize the preventive controls.”
U of L President James Ramsey was greatly receptive to the auditors’ suggestions, immediately appointing a committee to begin their implementation.
This committee will be chaired by Dave Barker, U of L’s internal auditor, as well as other administrators such as Vice President for Business Affairs Larry Owsley and Vice President for Finance Michael Curtin.
According to Spencer, Ramsey has also called for the creation of a new position of Vice President for Human Resources to better oversee the university’s inner workings.
“They said that as [U of L] keeps growing, we need to do certain things to keep adapting the infrastructure,” Spencer said. “It makes us ask, should a dean be their own investigator, or should there be another investigator above them that they should report to?”
A presentation was also made by Spencer, Owsley and Vice President for Student Affairs Tom Jackson updating the board on the new mandatory meal plan requirement. The three spoke about the plan’s development and reported on student response thus far.
Overall, response from the Trustees was positive about the plan. Trustee Bill Stone felt the plan’s impact had been greatly exaggerated.
“I really think this is something that has been blown up way out of proportion,” Stone said. “You can get a student to sign a petition about damn near anything.”
Trustee Rebecca Jackson was also supportive anticipating how successful the plan could be in the future.
“The goals are good—we just have to get past this short term controversy,” Trustee Rebecca Jackson said.