xt7vq814np0n https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7vq814np0n/data/mets.xml Lexington, Kentucky University of Kentucky 1950044 minutes English University of Kentucky Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Minutes of the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees Minutes of the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees, 1950-04-apr4. text Minutes of the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees, 1950-04-apr4. 1950 2011 true xt7vq814np0n section xt7vq814np0n
Irregularities
Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Universi-
ty of' Kentucky, April 4, 1950.
The Board of Trustees of the University of Kentucky met in the
President's Office at 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, April 4, 1950. The fol-
lowing members were present: Guy A. Huguelet, Harper Gatton, George
M. Cheek, J. Woodford Howard, J. C. Everett, Carl Dempewolfe, Mrs.
Paul G. Blazer, R. P. Hobson, Paul M. Basham and Boswell B. Hodgkin.
Absent: Governor Earle C. Clements, Judge Harry F. Walters, T. H.
Cutler, H. D. Palmore, and Dr. W. M. Coffee. President H. L. Dono-
van and Secretary Frank D. Peterson met with the Board.
A. New Members.
Mr. Harper Gatton was present and submitted his commission for
reappointment as member of the Board of Trustees of the University
of Kentucky for the period January 1, 1950, to December 31, 1953.
Judge Paul M. Basham was present and presented his commission
of appointment as member of the Board of Trustees of the University
of Kentucky, for the period January 1, 1950, to December 31, 1953.
Mr. Gatton and Judge Basham took the usual oath as members of
the Board of Trustees and were extended a cordial welcome by the
other members of the Board.
B. Approval of Minutes.
The minutes of the Board of Trustees for December 13, 1949,
and the minutes of the Executive Committee for January 6, February
17, and March 17, 1950, were approved as published.
C. Resolution on Death of Grover Creech.
President Donovan called attention to the death of Mr. Grover
Creech, former member of the Board of Trustees of the University of
Kentucky. He read the following resolution:
2
Grover H. Creech, citizen of Kentucky, former member
of the University of Kentucky's Board of Trustees and loy-
al University alumnus, died at Norton Infirmary in Louis-
ville, March 27, 1950, following an illness of one year.
A graduate of the University of Kentucky in 1920, Mr.
Creech was a native of Bell County, but to his associates
who knew and valued his loyalty to the Commonwealth and to
the University, it would seem that no more fitting tribute
could be paid to him than to designate him "citizen of
Kentucky."
Loyal to his family, his friends, his University and
to the people of Kentucky in a sense so deep, so lasting.
that words cannot fully-express it, Grover Creech was, to
the last, a true son of Kentucky.
Life member of the University of Kentucky Alumni
Association; past president of the Association; former
president of the University's Louisville group; and alum-
nus member of the University's Board of Trustees under
appointment made by Governor S. S. Willis in 1944, Grover
Creech served the University in every capacity made avail-
able to him, and served it willingly, lovingly, and at
great cost to his personal interests and to himself.
As his associates on the Board of Trustees it is only
fitting that this group pay tribute to his service and his
loyalty. Therefore, be it resolved that the University
of Kentucky Board of Trustees, in quarterly meeting on the
campus of the University, go on record this Fourth Day of
April 1950 in public expression of our appreciation of his
constancy and his belief in his Alma Mater, lid be it fur-
ther resolved that these resolutions be spread on the
minutes of this meeting and that copies be sent to members
of his family.
Upon motion duly made, seconded and carried, the resolution was
ordered adopted and spread upon the minutes, and copies were ordered
sent to members of the family.
D. State Requisitions, et Cetera.
President Donovan read the following letter from the Comptroller
listing purchases made through the Comptroller's Office:
3
April 1, 1950
Dr. H. L. Donovan, President
University of Kentucky
My dear President Donovan:
I submit a list of state requisitions, advices of
emergency purchases, special purchase orders, food con-
tracts and departmental purchase orders which have been
made by the purchasing division from January 1, 1950
through March 31, 1950. These purchases have not been
approved by the Board of Trustees. The listing below
gives the numbers of the documents requesting the pur-
chase or actually issued as purchase orders, which docu-
ments are made a part of this record and are held in the
Office of the Comptroller subject to inspection. The
purchases have been made on properly drawn documents at
the request of the various departments and have been
charged against available funds.
The list follows:
State requisitions numbered ......... 667 through 943
Emergency purchase orders numbered.. 316 through 479
Library departmental orders .... .... 2490 through 2561
University departmental orders , 1263 through 1342
Special purchase orders ........... 6428 through 9846.
The foregoing record of purchases is respectfully sub-
mitted with the request that they be approved by the Board
of Trustees, thereby ratifying the action of the Comptroller
in making such purchases.
Respectfully submitted,
(Signed) Frank D. Peterson, Comptroller
President Donovan recommended that the list of purchases be ap-
proved,
Upon motion duly made, seconded and carried,
State requisitions numbered ...,,.,... 667 through 943
Emergency purchase orders numbered.... 316 through 479
Library departmental orders . .,... .2490 through 2561
University departmental orders .... .1.263 through 1342
Special purchase orders ............ .642B through 9846
were ratified and approved.
E. Refund of Federal Advance for Plan Preparation.
President Donovan read the following letter from the Comptrol-
ler:
March 21,1950
Dr. H. L. Donovan, President
University of Kentucky
Dear President Donovan:
By authority of the Executive Committee of the Board
of Trustees on the date of August 25, 1946, I made appli-
cation to the Federal Works Agency, Bureau of Community
Facilities, for an advance of $10,594,58 to be used for
the purpose of financing plan preparation for a building
to house the Department of Journalism and the Kentucky
Kernel. The application was approved. The advancement
was made. Plans and specifications were prepared by
Robert W. McMeekin and Whayne W. Haffler, Architects.
The conditions of the advancement of funds provided
that the money should be repaid to the United States Treas-
ury whenever construction of the Kentucky Kernel and Journal-
ism Building is commenced, By the authority of the Board
of Trustees, the Kentucky State Property and Buildings Conm-
mission approving, this building is now under construction
and the federal advancement of funds is now due to be re-
paid to the United States Treasury.
I, therefore, request approval and direction to refund
to the Treasurer of the United States the sum of $10,594.58.
I suggest that if this request is approved, the Comp-
troller be authorized to take the necessary funds from the
Campus Book Store Account, since all available funds to the
credit of the Kentucky Kernel have been otherwise pledged
toward the construction of this building.
Yours very truly,
(Signed) Frank D. Peterson
Comptroller
5
Some discussion followed, and upon motion duly made, seconded
and carried, the Comptroller was authorized to refund to the Treas-
urer of the United States the amount having been advanced by the
Federal Works Agency for plan preparation of the Kentucky Kernel-
Journalism building, the refund to come from money appropriated for
the construction of the building.
F. Approval of Increase in Basic Cost of Kentucky Kernel-Jour-
nalism Building,
President Donovan read the following letter from the Comptrol-
ler, explaining an increase in the size of the Kentucky Kernel-
Journalism building as originally planned:
March 21, 1950
Dr. H. L. Donovan, President
University of Kentucky
Dear President Donovan:
Pursuant to the authority of the Executive Committee
of the Board of Trustees, the Comptroller made application
to the Federal Works Agency, Bureau of Community Facilities,
for an advancement to finance plan preparation for the Ken-
tucky Kernel-Journalism Building. The advancement of funds
for plan preparation was based upon an estimated cost for
construction of $353,152.80.
During the course of planning the buildinc-, the archi-
tects were requested to include in the plan preparation two
vault rooms to house transformers for the building and that
section of the campus in proximity to the proposed building,
and to include in the plans and specifications of the pro-
posed building one freight elevator.
The inclusion in the plans and specifications of the
vault rooms increased the size of the building 19,800 cubic
feet which, figured at the original estimated cost of con-
struction of seventy-seven cents per cubic foot, gives an
estimated cost for the vaults of $M5,246.00, or an increase
in the architects' fee, for plans and specifications only
at 3%, of $457.38.
The estimated cost of the elevator was $7,000 and fig-
ured at the original cubic foot cost increases the archi-
tects' fee, for plans and specifications only at 3%, $210.00,
making a total increase for plans and specifications on this
building of $667.38.
The above is additional work requested of the architects
by the owner not originally included in the estimated con-
struction cost of the building.
6
I recommend that approval be given to increase the
estimated cost of the building, including vaults and ele-
vator, from $353,152.80 to $375,398.80 -- this figure to
represent the basic building cost for the architects' fee,
The actual contract construction cost was let for $424,112.00.
Respectfully submitted,
(Signed) Frank D. Peterson
Comptroller.
After general discussion concerning cost of the building, what
is known as basic building cost, and the necessity for increasing the
size of the building as enumerated, upon motion duly made, seconded
and carried, the increased cost was approved and ratified, and the
Comptroller was directed to process the necessary papers to pay the
architect a fee of 3% for plans and specifications for the addition,
and to include in the contract for supervision the total basic build-
ing cost.
G. Cubic Cost--Fine Arts Building.
President Donovan read the following letter from Brock and
Johnson, architects for the Fine Arts Building, correcting an error
in statement carried in the press and mimeographed sheet of facts,
concerning the cubic content and cubic cost of the Fine Arts Building.
RE: FINE ARTS BUILDING
UNIVERSITY OF KEWTUCKY
LEXINGTN,7 KNTJCKT1-
CUUQIC COST
We wish to call to your attention a mimeographed copy
entitled "GENERAL FACTS ABOUT THE FINE ARTS BUILDING" which
was used during the dedication of this building.
The opening paragraph reads as follows:
"This is a building especially designed to house art,
music, drama and speech ... 1,085,000 cubic feet at a
cost of $1,380,000.00".
According to this statement, it appears that the building
cost $1.27 per cubic foot. The cubage figure of 1,085,000
cubic feet is a net cubage and does not include walls, roofs,
floors, furred spaces, attic spaces, crawl spaces, entrances,
parapets foundations, footings, etc.
7
We have rechecked our cubage figures, that is the gross
cubage, and find it to be approximately 1,675,000 cubic feet.
The building contracts will total approximately $1,394,ooo.oo.
This means that the building actually cost 83 a cubic foot.
This figure does not include landscaping, furnishings and equip-
ment.
It is standard practice that the cubage of a building be the
gross cubage and not the cubage between walls, floors and ceil-
ings.
Our firm has always taken pride in being able to design build-
ings in an economical manner. You can readily see that there
is a great deal of difference between the $1.27 cubage cost im
plied by the mimeograph copy, and the actual cubic foot cost
of 830.
One recent newspaper article stated that the taxpayers should
see the new Fine Arts Building and how their money was lavish-
y though well spent. This statement was extremely unfair,
Put could have been based on the erroneous $1.27 cubic cost,
which we agree is lavish.
We would appreciate it very much if all future news releases
that contain cubage costs, would state 1,675,000 cubic feet at
83 a cubic foot.
Very truly yours,
BROCK AND JOHNSON, ARCHITECTS
By (Signed) Ernst V. Johnson
ERNST V. 'JOHNSON
In his statement, President Donovan said that he wanted to cor-
rect to the Board an erroneous impression the public may have gotten
through mimeographed copy, entitled General Facts about the Fine Arts
Building, and requested permission to have the above letter spread
upon the minutes.
Upon motion duly made, seconded and carried, the President's
recommendation was concurred in,
H. Contract between the Central Kentucky Natural Gas Company
and the University of Kentuck.y.
The President submitted contract between the Central Kentucky
Natural Gas Company and the Board of Trustees of the University of
Kentucky for gas to be furnished to the University sufficient to op-
erate a gas-fired boiler now being installed as a part of the expan-
sion of the Central Heating Plant, He stated that the agreement had
been examined by Professor Frank Murray, of the College of Law, and
examined and approved by the Attorney General.
8
Upon motion duly made, seconded and carried, the contract was
authorized approved, executed and filed with the Secretary.
I. Withdrawal of Fees for Animal Husbandry Courses.
President Donovan stated that the Department of Animal Hus-
bandry, at a meeting of the faculty of the College of Agriculture and
Home Economics on March 20, 1950, passed a resolution for withdrawal
of fees for Animal Husbandry courses as follows:
A.I. 27 and 127, Survey of the Dairy Industry...fee of $40,00.
A.I. 46 and 146, Survey of the Poultry Industry.fee of y4O.00.
He stated that since fees are authorized by the Board of Trus-
tees, the elimination or withdrawal of fees should also be approved
by the Board, and he recommended that the request of the faculty of
the College of Agriculture and Home Economics be approved.
Upon motion duly made, seconded and carried, the recommendation
of the President was concurred in.
J. Section of Minor Elements Research Discontinued.
President Donovan read the following letter from Dean Cooper
requesting discontinuance of the Section of Minor Elements Research.
March 24, l1950
President H. L. Donovan
University of Kentucky
Dear President Donovan:
On January 15, 1948, I recommended discontinuance
of the Department of Chemistry in the Experiment Station
and the setting up, as of February 1, 1948, of the Section
of Minor Elements Research, which was assigned to the De-
partment of Agronomy. The experiences of the past two
years have caused me to believe that this section is un-
necessary and that it should be discontinued as of the
close of business June 30, 1950 and the personnel of this
section transferred to the Department of Agronomy for fur-
ther assignment. I recommend this change.
Sincerely yours,
(Signed) Thomas Cooper
Dean and Director
9
President Donovan informed the Board that this section was
formerly headed by Dr. J. S. McHargue, a nationally known authority
on minor elements of the soil, and that, after Doctor McHargue's
change-of-occupation, the section was transferred to the Department
of Agronomy and operated during the past two years, Dean Cooper now
feels it prudent to discontinue this section.
Upon motion duly made, seconded and carried, the recommendation
was concurred in.
K. Authority Granted to Contract with Farmers to Raise Aromatic
Tobacco in Research Program.
President Donovan read the following letter from Dean Cooper:
March 30, 1950
President H. L. Donovan
University of Kentucky
Dear President Donovan:
The research work of the Kentucky Agricultlral Experiment
Station has developed an aromatic tobacco of relatively high
sugar content which is a strain of Burley. Certain tobacco
manufacturers are interested in this product and desire to
procure a sufficient amount to determine its value and prob-
able usage by the public. This tobacco is graded according
to Burley grades. I recommend that the Experiment Station
be given authority to enter into an agreement with a farmer-
grower of Shelby County who desires to grow the tobacco for
the Experiment Station and who will sell it on the ware-
house floors. It will be purchased by the Brown and William-
son Tobacco Corporation for experimental use. It is expect-
ed that the crop produced will reimburse the grower for his
land, labor, etc. If it does not, the Experiment Station
will make such additional payments as are necessary to pay
the ordinary expenses of production and rent. These
funds are of Congressional appropriation and the agreement
for the purpose of growing aromatic tobacco is approved by
the Tobacco Branch of the United States Department of Agri-
culture. I request your approval and that of the Board of
Trustees for this arrangement.
As you know, black shank, a soil-borne disease of tobacco,
has appeared in sections of Kentucky. Also it has appeared
to much larger extent in certain other states. The staff
of the Experiment Station has been working for some time to
develop strains of Burley resistant to this disease, There
are now certain strains that have been developed far enough
10
that we believe may be resistant. However, it is necessary
to plant these strains on an infested soil. We have located
a farmer in Pendleton County who has soil infested with black
shank and who will be glad to participate in the trials to
determine the commercial value of the various experimental
strains of Burley tobacco as to their resistance to black
shank and give an opportunity for further breeding work to
introduce other disease resistance factors. We wish to
enter into an agreement with him for the production of these
strains on land heavily infested with the black shank organ-
ism. He will provide all labor for the production and mar-
keting of the crop. Strains must be handled separately so
that there may be no intermixture. Work will be done under
the direction of a representative of the Experiment Station.
Later the tobacco produced, if any, is to be sold on the
warehouse floors on behalf of the Kentucky Experiment Sta-
tion. The grower will be paid for the use of his land,
tobacco barn and labor expenses. This arrangement,
which is in the interest of the further development of Burley
tobacco, has been approved by the Tobacco Branch of the Unit-
ed States Department of Agriculture. I request your approval
and that of the Board for this agreement.
Sincerely yours,
(Signed) Thomas Cooper
Dean and Director
A lengthy discussion followed concerning the general develop-
ment of burley tobacco, low nicotine tobacco, and aromatic tobacco.
The Board being' sufficiently informed, upon motion duly made,
seconded and carried, approved the request of Dean Cooper as outlined
in his letter and granted authority tQ contact and arrange with farm-
ers to grow the tobacco crops necessary.
L. Adoption of Budget for 1950-51.
President Donovan made the following statement to the Board:
Budget 1950-51
The preparation of a budget is probably one of the
greatest responsibilities a college president and his
11
colleagues have to perform. There is always a demand on
the part of the staff for more funds than there are funds
at hand. How properly to apportion the funds that are
available among the various colleges and departments re-
quires the best effort of the administrative staff. Your
president always seeks the advice of his colleagues and a
group judgment eventually prevails in the recommendations
we make to the Trustees for their final approval.
Since the adoption of the state budget by the General
Assembly in January for the 1950-52 biennium, we have been
working on the budget of the University, which we are sub-
mitting to you today for your consideration. The heads
of the departments, the deans of the various colleges, the
comptroller and his staff, the vice president, and the
president have given many hours of their time to the budget
being presented to you. We trust you will study this
report carefully because we have presented in it the in-
formation you need to have regarding the financial opera-
tions of the University of Kentucky.
For the past four years the enrollment of the Uni-
versity has included from approximately 3,000 to 4,500
veterans. For each of these students the Veterans Ad-
ministration, under the G.I. Bill of Rights, has paid the
University about $210 more in tuition and fees than a
non-veteran student pays for his education. These fed-
eral funds have helped pay a considerable part of the cost
of instruction at the University of Kentucky during this
period. This past year the number of veterans has fallen
off considerably, and next year, and each year thereafter,
the number will decrease very rapidly until the Veterans
Administration program for the G. I. student is terminated.
While the number of veterans is decreasing rapidly, there
is some gain in the non-veteran enrollment. However,
the total enrollment of the University probably will be
in the neighborhood of from 6,000 to 6,500 students when
we open school in September.
The loss of federal funds this next year will amount
to about $300,000 and the following year it may run as
high as $500,000 to $600,000. The Legislature appropri-
ated $200,000 more for the Division of Colleges to offset
this loss. The University will be compelled to make a
budget for next year and the year following to absorb
this loss of funds, The budget for the Division of Col-
leges is $343,085.72 less for next year than it is for the
ciurrent year. It is an extremely difficult thing to cut
our budget to this extent without impairing or interrupt-
ing the efficiency of the University. I have had splendid
cooperation from the deans and other staff members in help-
ing us to prepare a budget this year that will be in bal-
ance, but this budget will be a rigid one and there is
12
nothing left in the "unbudgeted funds" to take care of
emergencies that may arise during the year. If the at-
tendance at the University should be less than we have an-
ticipated, it might become necessary at the beginning of
the second semester for us to review this budget and cur-
tail some of the expenses that are authorized in the pro-
gram we are now presenting for your consideration.
There is one other point that needs to be called to
your attention. Three and a half years after the Vet-
erans program had been started, the Veterans Administra-
tion decided that the Morrill-Nelson (1890) and the
Bankhead-Jones (1935) federal funds should be accredited
to the V.A. for the education of the G.I.'s. An audit
was made by the General Accounting Office and we were
told that they had overpaid the University during this
period by $265,529.31. The Veterans Administration
proceeded to withhold further payments to the University
until the above sum was liquidated. Over the protest
of the land-grant colleges this arbitrary action was taken.
The Land-Grant College Association decided to appeal to
Congress to prohibit this arbitrary ruling which took
from these institutions part of their endowment funds,
A few days ago the House of Representatives passed House
Bill 7057 by a vote of 245 to 101, directing the Veterans
Administration to restore these funds and to cease with-
holding them in the future. The measure is now before
the Senate for its consideration. The Senate will
probably pass this same bill if it can reach the floor
for a vote before adjournment. The prospects at present
do not look too promising for this to become a law. We
now have the Bureau of the Budget opposing the measure.
Our proposed budget calls for very few changes in
salaries during the next year. The money available for
the operation and maintenance of the University would not
permit salary increases, as much as we would have liked
to have recommended some. Many men and women working for
the University are grossly underpaid in terms of our 1950
economy. Salary adjustments should have been made, but
it has been extremely difficult to present to you a budget
at this time that would be in balance without actually
decreasing salaries of staff members.
The Department of Agricultural Extension is the
only department that has been able to increase the salaries
of a large number of its personnel. This was made possi-
ble by an increase in appropriations both by the federal
government and the state government. Governor Clements
and the Legislature generously increased this item in our
appropriation in the sum of $50,000, and about the same
amount came from federal and local funds. Howzever, last
year when a number of the staff members of the University
received increased salaries, we were not able to give the
13
Agricultural Extension personnel any increases. The exten-
sion workers of Kentucky are still underpaid when compared
with the national average. The average salary of county
agents in the United States today is $4,500. The average
salary at present for county agents in Kentucky is $3,996.
The assistant county agents in Kentucky average $2 914,
while the lowest average of any Southern state is $2,950.
The average home demonstration agent salary in the United
States is $3,551, while the average for Kentucky is $3,393.
The average assistant home demonstration agent in the United
States receives $2,-987, while the average Kentucky assistant
receives $2,500.
You will probably want to know what economies we have
used in attempting to present to you a balanced budget.
First, we have asked every department to withhold all pur-
chases for material and supplies for the remainder of the
current year except those that could be regarded as emer-
gency purchases; also, we have requested them not to spend
all of their funds budgeted for personnel, if this could be
avoided. By doing this we hope to be able to have a balance
of $150,000 on June 30 that can be carried over into the
next year. As vacancies have occurred on the staff we have
failed in many instances to recommend the filling of these
positions. Quite a number of graduate assistants and in-
structors will be dropped at the end of the current year.
The biggest economy will be made in the amount of money
appropriated for teaching materials, laboratory equipment,
books for the Library, maintenance of buildings and grounds,
and the elimination of approximately all capital outlay.
The Legislature appropriated $60,000 for the maintenance and
repairs of buildings, This sum is all that we will have
available for the upkeep of the plant.
We have found this the most difficult budget we have
had to prepare in the nine years I have been president. We
have done the best we could to present to you a budget that
will be in balance and one that is designed to carry on the
work of the University with the least possible harm to its
program.
President Donovan requested the Secretary to read further com-
ments, giving an analysis of income and appropriations in the pro-
posed budget.
Introduction
The proposed University budget for the fiscal year ending June 30,
1951, consists of detailed and summary statements of estimated resources
and estimated expenditures. It is a compilation of departmental re-
quests and estimates which have been approved or revised by the Deans
or other administrative officials. The document was prepared in the
office of the Comptroller under the supervision and direction of the
University President.
General Budget
Resources:
Estimated resources to be available during the fiscal year 1950-
1951 will consist of the unappropriated surplus as of July 1, 1950,
plus the state appropriations and other estimated income for the fiscal
year 1950-1951,
Unappropriated Surplus:
The unappropriated surplus as of July 1, 1950 should consist of
the unappropriated surplus as of July 1, 1949, less the excess of
expenditures, encumbrances, and other charges and adjustments, over
the income to be realized during the fiscal year 1949-1950. A cal-
culation of the Estimated Unappropriated Surplus as of July 1, 1950
f ollows:
Division Agricultural
of Exiperiment
Colleges Station Total
Unappropriated Sur Jlus,
July 1, 1949 743p?05.30 p 370,931.00 $1114p636.30
Additions:
Estimated Encumbrances and
Receivable Liquidation 40Jooo.OO 5,000.00 45,000.00
$ 783, 705.30 $ 375,931.00 $1,159,633.30
Deductions:
Excess of estimated charges
over estimated income 633,705.30 75,931.00 709,636.30
Estimated SurplusJuly 1,1950L 150,000.00 _ 300,000.00Q 450,000.00
The current budget anticipated a balance July 1, 1949 of more than
$500,000.00 whereas the proposed budget is constructed in anticipat