Billy Joe Miles
of Owensboro was elected chairman of the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees at a
meeting this afternoon. He replaces former Gov. Edward T. Breathitt as chairman, who had
served since 1992.Steve Reed was elected vice chairman and Daniel Reedy was elected
secretary. All were elected to one-year terms during the annual September election.
Miles, 60, is president of Miles Farm Supply Inc. and Marathon Fuels, and owner of
Miles LP Gas Inc., firms with total sales of more than $185 million. A 1962 graduate of
Western Kentucky University, he has served on the UK Board of Trustees since 1995.
"My goal is not to make this university Top 20 but to make it the best in the
whole world," Miles said after his election.
Three new members of the UK Board of Trustees also were sworn in, replacing Nathan
Brown, James Hardymon and Martin I. Welenken. They are:
James H. Glenn III of Owensboro, a junior in UK’s BS/MBA program, which
allows students to simultaneously earn a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a
master’s degree in business administration. The UK student body elected Glenn
president of the Student Government Association last spring, a position that includes
serving as a voting member on the Board of Trustees. He is the first African American to
be elected SGA president.
Alice Stevens Sparks of Crescent Springs, president and CEO of SSK Co. in
Warsaw. Gov. Paul Patton appointed her to the Board of Trustees. She has been a long-time
supporter of education through her work with the Northern Kentucky University Board of
Regents and the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence. She attended Bowling Green
College of Commerce.
Elaine A. Wilson of Somerset, director of social work services for Oakwood
Intermediate Care Facility for the Mentally Retarded in Somerset. Gov. Paul Patton
appointed her to the Board of Trustees. She received her bachelor’s degree from UK
and her master’s degree from Case Western Reserve University.
In other action, the Board of Trustees adopted 5.1 percent increases in tuition
for in-state undergraduates during both the 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 academic years,
subject to approval by the Council on Postsecondary Education. The increases would be less
than half of what they have been the past two years: 11.7 percent in 1997-1998 and 10.4
percent this year.
In-state undergraduate tuition was set at $1,555 per semester in 2000-2001.
Out-of-state undergraduates would pay $4,665. For graduate students, in-state tuition
would be $1,715 and out-of-state tuition would be $5,145. Lexington Community College
tuition was set at $810 for in-state and $2,555 for out-of-state.
This is the first year that the UK board has been charged with setting tuition. In the
past, the Council on Higher Education (CHE) set tuition rates and the university accepted
them. Now, the university adopts tuition rates, subject to approval by the Council on
Postsecondary Education, which replaced CHE under the Kentucky Postsecondary Education
Improvement Act of 1997.
The increases are designed to move tuition rates towards the median of UK’s new
benchmarks, which are Top 20 public universities.
