 "Photo: Matt Binter")
President Kirk Schulz and Athletic Director John Currie presented an open forum about the recently conducted audit of K-State by the Kansas Board of Regents in Forum Hall Monday afternoon.
President Schulz said the idea to have this open forum came from Currie.
“I wanted the university community to have the chance to ask the university president and athletics director any questions they had about the audit,” Schulz said.
Before Schulz and Currie opened the floor for questions, he made several announcements about plans to continue to have open forums periodically during the school year and the formation of a group to look into dealing with the audit.
Both Schulz and Currie fielded questions from concerned members of the community including alumni, faculty and students on topics ranging from new lending policies to competitiveness within the Big 12 Conference to transparency issues.
“I thought it was right on in terms of what they needed to do from the standpoint of restoring confidence in the university community that can only be accomplished through communication,” said Steven Smethers, associate professor of journalism and mass communication.
Schulz and Currie were very laid back in their demeanor and would periodically give a joking answer before seriously answering a question. They stressed a need for better communication between the administration and the K-State community and how they were working to restore confidence within the K-State donor base.
“Today was really about rebuilding the confidence Dr. Schulz was talking about,” said Dalton Henry, student body president.
Henry said the Student Governing Association executive cabinet met with President Schulz on Tuesday to talk about SGA’s concerns about the audit. The forum can be found in full at www.k-state.edu/president/speeches.
