The University Board of Regents unanimously voted at their last quarterly meeting to set a schedule for evaluating President Randy Dunn’s contract.

Board Chairman Constantine Curris reported on the concerns of Dunn’s contract at the Dec. 14 Board of Regents meeting. He told the board he was aware of the speculation about the renewal of Dunn’s contract, which is set to expire on June 30, 2014.

He noted that the board unanimously voted on a new contract for Dunn in September 2010.

The terms of the contract stated that the board would take action on the contract no later than a year prior to its maturation, which would be at the end of the 2012-13 fiscal year on June 30, 2013.

Curris appointed a small ad hoc contract review committee, consisting of himself and regents Marilyn Buchanan and Steve Williams.

The ad hoc committee will review relevant information and materials, including resolutions forwarded to the board, data responding to the university’s progress, information and comments that Dunn might wish to forward to the committee, as well as any information or comments individual regents want to convey.

At the scheduled March 15 board meeting, the committee will meet with the full board in executive session to discuss the contract and receive further instructions

At the May 10 board meeting, the committee will conclude its work and make recommendations to the board. The board will take final action on the contract.

The issue of the contract had come to the forefront in recent months in part because of two jobs for which Dunn had applied.

Dunn interviewed for the presidency of Missouri State University in October and for the job of the Florida Commissioner of Education in December.

Dunn said he is not certain how the committee plans to organize its work, but he hopes they will fulfill what they indicated in their resolution last December and they would do so in a public fashion.

Kentucky state law requires meetings for consideration of contract extensions be open to the public.

pursuant to opinions by Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, however, the team must conduct in-person open-session meetings in order to come to any presentable conclusions.

Story by Meghann Anderson, News Editor.