…it seemed prudent to implement a procedure that might tighten the controls a bit more. Gary Ransdell, Western president

Following a directors nearly $19,000 spending spree, Western Kentucky University President Gary Ransdell has instituted a new departmental spending policy. The policy will be in effect through at least this year. I have asked the Administrative Council to approve expenditures of $5,000 or more between now and the end of the fiscal year, Ransdell said. Before, the department head had discretion to manage their budget. You like to empower people, and that is a reasonable thing for a department head to have responsibility for their own budget. But in this particular case, it seemed prudent to implement a procedure that might tighten the controls a bit more. The change comes on the heels of what Ransdell called an excessive and unusual expenditure for office furniture by Huda Melky, Westerns Equal Opportunity/ADA Compliance Office director. Between June 16, 1998, and this past June 21, Melky spent $18,619 on furniture for her two-room office. She bought three desks, three credenzas, three keyboard trays, four filing cabinets, a bookcase, two round tables and 11 chairs, according to Fred Hensley, public affairs executive assistant. Western had no guidelines regulating office spending, Hensley said. Each unit director has the autonomy and authority to expend funds the way they think they need to for their office, and we dont have a policy in place currently that requires additional signatures on purchases of X amount of dollars, he said Wednesday. Now Melky, for instance, would have to seek approval of any expenditure over $5,000 from her supervisor, General Counsel Deborah Wilkins. Supervisors can delegate this authority to someone else, but I have made it clear that it did not relinquish their accountability, Ransdell said. Once the fiscal year ends June 30, We will asses the process, he said. If it proves to be a bureaucratic hurdle that seems unnecessary over the course of time, we may remove it. On the other hand, if it proves effective and efficient, we may make it permanent. We will just have to see.