When will past and present members of the Kansas Board of Regents and those in the governor’s office acknowledge there is no way for them to really know what is going on at the six university campuses they are supposed to oversee?

The vast majority of the information they receive has been filtered through the Kansas University chancellor’s office or the presidents’ offices of the other state universities or through the provosts or other officials at the six schools and the KU Medical Center.

The Kansas higher education system is big business — big in terms of dollars, big in the number of employees, big in the number of students and big in terms of the role that these schools play in the betterment of the state.

This being the case, it seems imperative that something be done to make sure those serving as regents have a far better understanding of what is happening on and off the campuses of KU, Kansas State, Wichita State, Fort Hays State, Emporia, Pittsburg and the KU Medical Center in Kansas City.

It’s fairly accurate to say the regents are flying partially blind. The governor has the huge opportunity and responsibility of choosing men and women to serve on this nine-member board. The importance of these appointments cannot be overemphasized.

It is assumed these men and women are good, honest, intelligent individuals who realize the importance of having a better-than-average state-aided university system. They should be effective spokespeople for higher education and should merit the respect of the public, state legislators, and administrators and faculty members at the various schools.

Running a state-aided university is likely to become even more challenging in the years to come, and those saddled with this responsibility need all the help they can get.

How much do regents know about simmering issues or problems on the campuses before the troubles hit the headlines?

Tenure and social media issues, the extent of alcohol-related problems among students, what can be done to reduce sexual harassment and assault, maintaining a high level of training for campus police forces and the loss of talented faculty members to other schools are just a few matters that seem to catch regents by surprise. Unfortunately, regents don’t have a good idea of the thoughts and concerns of those living in and around university communities as they relate to problems or issues “on the campus.”

How are regents expected to judge faculty morale and get balanced assessments of how faculty and the public view the performance of school administrators or other university personnel? Their campus visits are carefully planned, scheduled and orchestrated.

What are the primary reasons highly talented faculty members leave KU or other state universities and what is done, or can be done, to minimize these losses? The first answer might be “higher salaries,” but there are bound to be other reasons highly respected faculty members leave Mount Oread and other regents schools.

Not long ago, Jonathan Earle, head of the KU Honors Program, left for a senior position at Louisiana State. Just this past week, Dean of Libraries Lorraine Haricombe announced her plans to leave KU for a top position with the Texas University libraries. This is a major loss. Likewise, Julie Goonewardene, vice chancellor for entrepreneurship and innovation, left for Texas. And there are others.

It’s good KU has faculty members whom other schools want to hire, and there is no way to stop recruiting efforts by other universities. However, regents, chancellors, endowment associations, alumni groups and the public should be interested in what can be done to make KU an even more attractive school that is equipped to recruit and hold talented, challenging and visionary teachers and researchers. Is it strictly a question of money, or could it be faculty morale, lack of leadership and vision, an inability to advance to higher positions or other factors?

The regents need help. They need to be on top of or, better yet, ahead of budding problems and not get caught by surprise. They need more up-to-date and unfiltered information.