PLAN WOULD VOID UK CHIEF'S CONTRACT DEAL - TRUSTEES GET PROPOSAL FROM BREATHITT

Lexington Herald-Leader (KY) - June 23, 1999

Author/Byline: Holly E. Stepp, Herald-Leader Education Writer

Edition: Final
Section: Main News
Page: A1
The University of Kentucky Board of Trustees next week will consider a proposal that would rescind President Charles Wethington's
contract extension.
The board's chairman, former Gov. Edward T. "Ned" Breathitt, yesterday sent board members copies of the proposal he plans to present
at next week's special meeting.
Breathitt said he had sent the proposals, but declined to comment on its details.
Trustees who had seen the proposal said that if approved, it would rescind the contract extension that the board approved on May 8, but
would keep Wethington on the payroll until 2003 as a fund-raiser. Wethington would step down as president in 2001.
"(The proposal) would keep the president on for a period of two years in other duties under the direction of the new president and would
continue efforts in fund raising and related to the capital campaign," said faculty trustee Dan Reedy.
Wethington could not be reached for comment last night.
Breathitt said last week when he called the special meeting that he thought the proposal would help resolve the controversy.
The board will meet at 10 a.m. Tuesday to consider the proposal. It will be the second time this month that the board has taken up
Wethington's contract, and it comes the day before the terms of two trustees who voted for the contract extension expire.
Trustees James Hardymon and Martin Welenken will leave the board June 30. Gov. Paul Patton will choose two new board members
from a list of six nominees later this summer.
Wethington's fund-raising skill was cited as the reason for extending his contract last month.
"President Wethington has done a good job in fund-raising and matching state money," Breathitt said, after the meeting at which
Wethington's contract was extended. "There was a sense that the university didn't need to switch leaders in the middle of a capital
campaign."
The board's decision to extend Wethington's contract sparked criticism from several faculty members and divided the normally cohesive
board.
On May 8, the trustees voted to extend the president's contract for two years, keeping Wethington at the helm until 2003. Breathitt
negotiated a new contract for Wethington that would give him a 19 percent pay raise, boosting his salary to $229,439 starting July 1.
Many faculty members had complained after the initial vote that the board had left out many of the trustees and the university community
by acting so quickly. The publicized agenda for the board meeting did not include the contract extension.
Some faculty also were unhappy that UK's mandatory retirement regulation was waived for Wethington. Top administrators are required
to step down at 65.
Wethington will be 65 in 2001.
The University Senate voted to formally criticize the board's actions, and the senate and UK's chapter of the American Association of
University Professors filed formal complaints saying the board violated the state's Open Meetings Law.
At its regular meeting early this month, the 20-member board deadlocked on whether to rescind the contract extension, which left the deal
intact.
Some trustees warned that if they didn't resolve the issue, it would come back to haunt them. The Lexington Herald-Leader, The CourierJournal in Louisville and the Kentucky Press Association filed a lawsuit charging the board with violating two open-meetings laws.
Other trustees said they had not seen Breathitt's new proposal but hoped that it would resolve the matter.

"I would have to see in what capacity the president would continue to serve, before I could comment on it," said trustee JoEtta Wickliffe of
Harrodsburg.
"But it certainly needs to be resolved."
Trustee Jack Guthrie of Louisville agreed.
"I think there is a feeling among the entire board that we need to put this behind us, for the university's sake."
Caption: Charles Wethington would step down as president in 2001.
Record: 9906280123
Copyright: Copyright (c) 1999 Lexington Herald-Leader