In 1978, the Council on Higher Education assigned each University the responsibility for an extended campus coordinating area. In the Council's 1989 guidelines, this area is referred to as the Designated Service Area. Within its DSA, each University may offer extended campus instruction within its instructional capability. The university also has the responsibility to seek the assistance of other institutions to meet the instructional needs within its region.

Western Kentucky University's DSA is bounded on the north by the Ohio River and on the south by the Tennessee border. It extends from the western boundaries of McLean, Muhlenberg and Todd counties in the west to the eastern borders of Adair, Russell, and Clinton counties in the east. The DSA includes twenty-seven counties. Western Kentucky University has established three Centers to facilitate the delivery of instruction. Each Center has an administrative office with its own Director and support staff. The Centers are located in Owensboro, Elizabethtown/Fort Knox, and Glasgow. A few additional courses are offered within 30 miles of the campus, primarily in Russellville.

The extended campus programs and centers are coordinated by the assistant vice president for Academic Affairs. The extended campus directors are responsible for providing administrative support for extended campus offerings. Their responsibilities include advising department heads and college deans about current anticipated educational needs in their area, arranging appropriate classroom and support facilities, publicizing Western offerings to prospective students, and mobilizing public and community support for Western.

Extended campus offerings have become an integral part of the educational mission of Western Kentucky University. Insofar as possible, the instructional programs at extended campus centers will be administered in the same way as those same programs are administered on campus. Responsibility for scheduling and staffing classes (including payroll recommendations for faculty) is primarily in the hands of the department heads and the college deans. This provides the best assurance that the quality and integrity of the instructional programs will be maintained.