WRITER: Conner Mitchell

Faculty leaders blast KU's return-to-campus policies, and a few refuse to comply

Dozens of department leaders at the University of Kansas are demanding more transparency from administrators about plans to reopen campus after a COVID-19-induced shutdown, and a few of them have refused to comply with a mandate that requires instructors to document their health conditions in order to get an exemption from in-person teaching, the Journal-World has learned. When KU announced a slate of ...

After student petition, KU backs off doubling fee for international students

Days after a student-generated petition garnered nearly 2,500 signatures asking the University of Kansas to keep flat a required fee for international students that quietly doubled during a June meeting of the Kansas Board of Regents, KU Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer announced Friday afternoon that the fee increase would be rescinded. The $160-per-semester fee was set to jump to $310 in the 2020-21 academic ...

Despite public interest, Douglas County, Kansas Health Department decline to release locations of COVID-19 outbreaks

Updated at 3:44 p.m. Thursday Information detailing the location of COVID-19 outbreaks both in Douglas County and in the state of Kansas continues to be shielded from the public eye. Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment in recent days have declined requests from the Journal-World made under the Kansas Open Records Act that would detail where the respective ...

KU's Studio 804 to debut 25th annual project, this time a sustainable home in North Lawrence

Set along a nine-mile stretch of the Kansas River walkway in North Lawrence, a home consisting of three independent structures will join a long list of buildings designed by architecture students at the University of Kansas. Finally ready for an open house — delayed somewhat by the COVID-19 pandemic — the sculptural structures at 722 Ash St. will be on public display this weekend. It is the latest project ...

KU international students upset after required fee quietly doubles

International students at the University of Kansas were in for a surprise last week after initially believing the Kansas Board of Regents voted to keep tuition and student fees flat for the coming academic year. Instead, the fee which applies only to international students quietly doubled, virtually unnoticed until it was already approved. Now, KU’s international students will pay a $310 fee per semester ...

Kansas labor secretary resigns after continued struggles with backlogged unemployment claims

Story updated at 5:19 p.m. Monday: Gov. Laura Kelly on Monday announced the immediate resignation of Kansas Department of Labor Secretary Delia García after the department saw months of continued struggle in processing unemployment claims for those who lost jobs because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kelly also cited a recent snafu in which the department processed duplicate unemployment payments to thousands of ...