University of Kentucky awards 2,000 degrees including honorary to holocaust survivor
It’s the holiday season, which means it’s also winter 2023 graduation season for colleges around the Commonwealth.
At the University of Kentucky, 2,000 degrees were given to students at ceremonies on Friday.
An honorary degree was given to John Rosenberg, a holocaust survivor and civil and human rights activist. He is a former attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and founder of the Appalachian Research and Defense Fund in Prestonsburg. As a child, Rosenberg and his parents were placed in an internment camp for a year before coming to the U.S. in 1940.
“In presenting an honorary degree, the institution is honoring itself,” UK President Eli Capilouto said at Friday’s ceremony. “Those persons who are to receive the degree are carefully chosen because their contributions to the world to the social, educational, humanitarian and cultural heritage of our state and nation and globe are of the highest order.”
Editors note: This will be the last higher education newsletter until the new year. Have something that should be considered for the next round-up? Contact higher education reporter Monica Kast at mkast@herald-leader.com.
KCTCS audit update
Earlier this month, a special examination of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System found multiple issues related to finances and accounting in the system offices.
Among the issues found were an unrestricted balance not being accurately reported to the board of regents, the system offices overcharging community colleges by $24 million and discrepancies between balances reported to community colleges. The special examination was requested by the system’s acting president earlier this year and focused on activity that took place between July 1, 2020, and April 30, 2023.
After the audit was released, the board of regents discussed the findings at its board meeting on December 8.
“We really are just gaining a handle on the historical use of this money,” said Pamela Duncan, general counsel of KCTCS. “This goes all the way back, really, to the inception of KCTCS.”
KCTCS has 60 days from the time the examination was published to submit a response to the auditor, which is already in progress, said Combs. One of the recommendations from the report was to conduct a forensic audit of finances, which KCTCS is “in the process of getting that together,” Combs said.
“There were a couple of things that we had already put into place to help alleviate some of the concerns that the board had,” said Interim KCTCS Vice President Buddy Combs.
One of the findings looked at a billing practice that resulted in KCTCS charging community and technical colleges for expenses based on anticipated costs, and not actual costs. In fiscal year 2024, KCTCS began doing year-end reconciliations based on actual costs, which resulted in $15 million being returned to college budgets, Combs said.
