What began as the formation of a sub-committee to explore the possible avenues the Kansas Athletics, Inc., Board of Directors could go in reshaping the board’s structure and purpose, ended with a unanimous show of solidarity from all six of the board’s members.

Temporary chairman Jerry Bailey, who was given the position in August after KU chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little elected to remove former athletic director Lew Perkins from the job, originally called upon interim athletic director Sean Lester, vice provost for student success Marlesa Roney, and secretary-treasurer Theresa Gordzica to take the first shot in studying a list of questions and concerns outlined by Gray-Little during her 30-minute meeting with the board Thursday.

It didn’t take long for that group of four to balloon to six, as Michael Wade Smith, KU’s student body president, and new provost Jeff Vitter quickly volunteered their services to the task.

“Would it be OK if I inserted myself,” Smith asked. “I’d like to be a part of the conversation.”

No objections were heard.

Moments later, Vitter, citing somewhat jokingly that he felt left out, said he would join, too.

“Cool,” Bailey said. “All of us will get together.”

It may have just been one simple action relating to a very preliminary part of the board’s duties, but Thursday’s action signified, in no small way, that the current members of the board are very interested in the process of reshaping the governing body for Kansas Athletics, Inc.

The board meets typically four times a year, but Bailey suggested that they plan three additional meetings for the coming year in order to fully explore the issue. The expansion was questioned by one board member, who said three additional meetings might not be enough.

“To me, this is kind of an added responsibility to what we normally do as a board,” Roney said. “It seems like we’ve got some real work to do.”

Board members were able to identify some restructuring issues as more pressing than others.

Included among those were: outlining the actual protocol for the search for the new athletic director and language changes to the existing by-laws.

“We do need some immediate fixes, and we will do the overhaul of everything after that,” said Judy Pottorff, corporate counsel for Kansas Athletics, Inc.

The need for the “overhaul” came directly from Gray-Little, who, in August, removed Perkins from his position as chairman of the board that oversees Kansas Athletics.

Gray-Little reemphasized her desire to ensure that any of KU’s future athletic directors were not in position to chair the board.

“Over time, as different people chair boards and are on boards, there is a lot of slippage,” Gray-Little said. “And we have discussed doing this in a more systematic way. This is not the only board we need to do this for.”

Lester, who was chosen to succeed Perkins for the remainder of the year but is not a candidate to replace him permanently, demonstrated Thursday that the future role of his current position was important to him.

“I want to make sure that the board serves as a resource not only to the chancellor but also to the athletic director,” Lester said. “That’s important.”

The room responded with a resounding show of support.

“Absolutely,” several people exclaimed. “Absolutely.”

Though very little of substance was nailed down during Thursday’s two-hour meeting, a definitive direction for the future of the board and how to proceed from here was put into place. It’s goal?

“My hope is that by the end of the year we have taken a look at the composition and structure of the board, its role and responsibilities, and that all of it is consistent with the expectations of the university and the chancellor,” Bailey said. “That’s my own personal goal. And it’s a one-year goal.”