Reporting directly to President Neeli Bendapudi, Gonzalez works closely with deans, vice presidents�� to advance the teaching, research and service missions of the university.����

Gonzalez is focused on��getting university members back on campus, safely,��over the summer and by the fall as the pandemic lingers.��She also��wants to��help the��campus community��rebuild��its sense of belonging.��

“The human connection is part of the fabric of a��university.��You know, it’s in those moments��you’re walking to the library, you’re going to get a cup of coffee and you see someone that you haven’t seen in a while and you catch up.��I think being detached (during the pandemic)��increased everyone’s anxiety. I know it did mine.��So��any problems become a huge problem. Feelings get hurt more quickly. There’s something about sitting face-to-face with people,” she said.

For the long-term, Gonzalez wants��to partner with the campus community on deciding how we will define and measure being a premier metropolitan university.��

“There’s no set of criteria that would say you��are��a premier, metropolitan university. There are tons of��metrics out there��you can do, so how are we going to define that?��How are we going to measure and operationalize what that will mean for UofL? And becoming a premier, anti-racist campus goes hand in hand with that,” she said. “What is��it going to mean to��show we’re moving closer and closer to being an anti-racist campus? At the end of the day, how will we��know that we’ve moved the needle on both of those things?”����

UofL News had a chance to sit down with the new provost, originally from a small town in eastern Kentucky,��to get��to know more about her��personal and professional��background, as well as her goals as provost.��

UofL News: What motivated you to work in higher education?��
Gonzalez:��I’m a speech-language pathologist by education and early on in my career I was invited to do a series of continuing education activities for other speech��pathologists��and��I realized I loved teaching.��But the real reason, I think, is my father. He was a graduate of Berea College, he was the first in our family to go to college and education was always talked about in my house. He encouraged people in our little town to get a degree and at his funeral, I remember somebody saying, ‘I’m a nurse because your dad told me I could be.’��I was��just��inculcated with the notion that education is a transformative experience. You can transform a person, a family, a community and really our world. That’s my ‘why.‘

UofL News: Did you have a favorite course in college that you remember? A favorite professor?��
Gonzalez:��Yes.��I took a course in phonology��with my professor,��Alice Dyson, who later became my mentor in my doctoral program.��Studying��phonology is��working out the puzzle of a child’s speech when no one can understand them. They have their own rules.��I started unlocking the puzzle of��children’s��speech��and that course set me on a career path of wanting to untangle challenges. When��someone comes to my office��with��a real need and it’s a tricky situation, it’s a puzzle��and I��have to��find the pieces. Sometimes it’s money. Sometimes it’s a��barrier. Sometimes it’s connecting someone to someone else. But it’s all a puzzle that you can solve.

UofL News:��Do you have a��favorite thing��yet��about UofL?����
Gonzalez:��The warm, welcoming people.��I’ve been astounded by it.��Even from the time it was announced that I would assume the position, people reached out to me and were so welcoming.��I haven’t been able to interact a lot��with large groups of students, faculty or staff, but I think it’s a spirit here that is recognizable.

UofL News:��What is your favorite quote or best piece of advice you’ve received?��
Gonzalez:��It’s a proverb:��fall down��seven times, get up eight. It’s all about resilience. When somebody stumbles, sometimes they think that a failure is going to derail them forever. But what you do is, you get yourself up, dust off and then you go forward. You reflect on what happened, but��you just get up every time, every time, every time.

UofL News: How do you like to spend your free time?��
Gonzalez:��I’m a��baker. I like to bake. It’s one of the reasons��I’ll��be��glad to get back into an office, so I can bring baked goods in!��I read a lot.��I also��like to walk. My husband and I, we walk every day when we’re together.��We��also��enjoy renovating homes.��We like to get a house that needs a little��love and put��our own stamp on it. We’ve done that three times.

UofL News: What do you want our students, faculty and staff to know about you?����
Gonzalez:����I would want everyone to know that I see academics as our core mission. It is why we are here. So, we��have to��be a��student-first campus focused��on��how��they can be successful as students and as engaged citizens upon graduation.��But we cannot do that without dedicated, engaged faculty and staff. I’m committed to making sure that our students are successful and supporting and developing our faculty and staff. It’s this synergy we get when we all��have the goal of creating the next generation of engaged leaders,��the��next generation of health care professionals,��poets, musicians, etc.��As we do all those things together, it is, as we say in the Cardinal Principles, our Noble Purpose.��

McKellep��guided senators through a��40-minute PowerPoint presentation on the��free counseling services and resources HDC provides to��all employees.��The��most common��issue employees request assistance with is increased stress��and many counseling sessions��are conducted��virtually��from inside employees’��personal��vehicles.

“The stressors of the world have just increased exponentially, so everyone is feeling stress that they may have never felt before��to a degree they have never felt,” she said.����

When employees call the HDC phone line, 502-589-4357,��they can receive counseling immediately or schedule an appointment.��Counseling��sessions��are:��

• Strictly confidential and not put on medical records
• Free to employees��and their��household family members����
• Available��by��phone��and video call��
• Available 24/7 every day of the year, including holidays

Employees receive eight free��counseling��sessions per issue.��Typical issues include��stress,��marital��or��family��problems, mental health, substance abuse��and��financial��stress. Any problem, however,��causing employees to worry or become frustrated��can be addressed with an HDC counselor.��Counselors��are always on call��and employees may indicate their��preferences in a counselor.����

“You just call us, give us your basic information and then we find out what it is you’d like to talk with someone about and if you��think you’d prefer a female or you prefer a male or an African-American, or someone who is LGBTQ friendly, or someone��who works really well with teenagers. Whatever your criteria might be, just let us know and��then we will match you up with the best counselor for you,” McKellep said.

For more information about free HDC services, employees can call 502-589-4357 or 800-877-8332, email info@humandev.com, or visit��.

The��Anti-Racism Committee��was created over the summer��and��is being��co-chaired by Senators��Leondra Gully and Andrew Grubb. Gully��explained��to senators��that the committee was formed to��ensure staff��senators��play a role in shaping the��university’s anti-racism agenda.��

“Regardless of where you��feel in terms of��where your knowledge level is or where you are in the process of understanding what the anti-racism work is, we know that different people��are in different places, in different levels, and we really want to encourage everyone, if you are interested, to join the committee,”��Gully said.

Staff Senate Chair John��Smith added,��“I think it is a critical piece for us as a senate body��and��I’ve��given this committee��a pretty aggressive timeline to report back to us in October. The important thing is that we shift from��identifying opportunities to making a concrete plan about an action plan.”��

Smith��went on to��report that��the new provost search is��still��moving��forward��and��the Staff Senate Executive��Committee��has��increased��its��meeting frequency from monthly to bi-weekly.����

Policies and Economic Development (PED) Committee Chair Virginia Hosono reminded senators of��HR’s decision to defer the sweep date for employees who have leave time that exceeds their maximum. The date was deferred from June 30 to December 31 this year.

Staff Help and Relief Effort (SHARE) Committee Chair Sally��Molsberger stepped down from the senate over the summer due to her increased workload. Senator Kari Donahue is the new committee chair and Senator Bonnie Dean is the new vice chair.��
��
All committee reports and a����of the September meeting can be found on the��Staff Senate .��The next Staff Senate meeting will be held October 13 via Microsoft Teams.��

Provost Beth Boehm opened her report by��thanking senators for the arduous work they’ve endured throughout the last six months. “For many of us this has been the hardest parts of our careers ever, and I just want to thank you all for all your hard work,” she said.����
��
She reported that fall 2020 enrollment has been stronger than what was budgeted. The fall 2020 budget was developed expecting 223 fewer students to be enrolled compared to fall 2019. The actual is an increase in enrollment by 361 students. Summer 2020 enrollment also experienced an increase by 885 students, as compared to summer 2019. One senator pointed out that the higher enrollment numbers indicate the value of offering remote and hybrid courses. He recommended these offerings be a continued strategy to attract more students going forward. Boehm agreed saying, “I think this is the future of higher ed in a lot of ways and we’re significantly going to have to increase the number of adult learners that we have.”��
��
Provost Boehm thanked Senators��Reginald Bruce and former Senator Scott��LaJoie, co-chairs of the 2019-2020 Faculty Roles subcommittee,��for their work on that was given to the Faculty Senate and to the Board of Trustees. “The board was quite impressed with the fact that faculty took on this work. I’m��really grateful��to you. We’ve already implemented a number of recommendations,” she said.��

Due to concerns, Provost Boehm clarified the frequency of meetings that take place regarding the university’s continued COVID-19 response. The COVID-19 senior leadership group meets daily to closely monitor the areas of campus health, operations, research and academics. The coordinating committee, which develops university operations in response to COVID-19, and the academic scenario planning committee, which developed UofL’s hybrid learning model, both meet weekly. The ASP Committee is already discussing courses for the spring.��

Boehm announced that free flu shots are coming to campus soon and the university ordered three times the amount they normally do. “While we are not going to mandate flu shots, we are going to strongly urge that you get them because if we get a bad flu season and we confuse it with COVID, we could really flood our healthcare providers and we don’t want to do that,”��she said.

Provost Boehm apologized for not first coming to the senate with the decision to mandate COVID-19 testing for all university members on campus.�� During the summer, when the university first decided to only encourage at-will testing, it was not certain if there were enough tests available to mandate testing. By the first week of fall classes, however, the university was informed it would indeed have access to a high volume of tests. Mandated testing has shown to be a key factor in other ACC universities’ successful navigation of the pandemic, so the decision was made quickly to mandate testing once the university had certainty about its increased access to testing. She also explained that after the second week of at-will testing about 2,000 tests were performed each week. After just one week of mandated testing, the university increased to almost 15,000 tests.��

Senators had multiple questions regarding the operations, privacy and enforcement of mandated testing. Provost Boehm confirmed the university is focusing its compliance efforts at this time with students living in residence halls. Many new FAQs have been added to the����section of the university’s COVID-19 website to address the concerns about testing operations and privacy. She reminded senators of the new��. The dashboard is now being updated on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays by Campus Health Services.

Faculty Senate Chair Krista Wallace-Boaz shared a����of university activity over the summer. A key update from her report included the launch of a����in early August. The Call Center can be contacted via live chat, phone call or email for questions related to UofL’s COVID-19 response. The Call Center is fielding approximately 40 calls per day. Most calls are addressed immediately or within 24 hours.����
��
Faculty Senate Officer elections (which were postponed during the spring) were finalized at this meeting. Senator was voted as the new Faculty Senate Chair and Senator was voted as the new Faculty Senate Vice Chair. The����were also approved.����

A new certificate in����was proposed for approval.��The purpose of this stand-alone certificate program is to prepare adult learners who are working in healthcare, public health, private health insurance, and other health-related businesses. The 12 credits students earn from this program may be used toward a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership and learning.��

One senator questioned the value of a certificate that doesn’t need an accompanying degree and expressed concern that as a stand-alone certificate, students might not see the value of pursuing a degree. Another senator argued that the stand-alone certificate helps UofL meet its mission to be responsive to the needs of the local Louisville community— a community that has a variety of needs for a skilled workforce in the healthcare industry. The new certificate was approved.��
��
Committee reports and a����of the virtual meeting can be accessed on the��. The next Faculty Senate meeting is scheduled for��October 7 via Microsoft Teams.��

Senator Reginald Bruce and former Senator Scott LaJoie, co-chairs of the 2019-2020 Faculty Roles subcommittee, presented recommendations for how faculty can be more supportive and inclusive of students this fall semester. Bruce shared a mind map��the subcommittee created which��shows how classroom design, classroom policies, class structure, faculty coaching and cultural proficiency can help faculty foster an inclusive and supportive environment for students. LaJoie then shared the following list of pandemic-specific recommendations the committee submitted to the provost for all faculty to follow this fall:��

1. Attendance: Be more accommodating of students who miss class for health, family or other reasons. Avoid requiring doctor’s notes for absenteeism of less than two weeks. Help students make up missing work.
2. Deadlines for Assignments: Be more flexible in deadlines. Avoid language that prohibits extensions for late assignments. Set daytime deadlines for assignment submission (e.g., not 11:59 pm).��
3. Satisfactory Completion of Coursework: Be willing to grant an incomplete grade or encourage a compassionate withdrawal.
4. Clarity in syllabus content and course requirements: State expectations for being successful; write clear learning objectives. Identify resources for academic assistance and mental health.
5. Grading Policies: Timely feedback throughout the semester with expectations on when grading will be returned. Use Bb gradebook. Early warning system to help students asses academic performance.

A full description of all recommendations can be found . This link was also included on page 14 of the planning document released by the provost on June 23.��

Some senators expressed concern with a few recommendations. One senator asserted that faculty should prioritize preparing students for the attendance expectations of their future workplace. Another senator argued that a doctor’s note should be required for sick absences to avoid students taking advantage of the attendance policy.����

Executive Vice President and University Provost Beth Boehm explained the attendance policy recommendations are pandemic-specific. The level of recommended flexibility is due to the university needing to help students navigate the continued pandemic. Regarding doctor’s notes for sick absences, Boehm said,��“We expect that students cannot always get doctor’s notes. If in fact we have a surge and the health clinic is packed… they said they really don’t want to see a lot of students who are not COVID presenting in the fall because it will overwhelm the healthcare system. So, it’s really about trying to find that sweet spot where we can ask students to be responsible, but also not overwhelm the healthcare system that may have a second surge.”

President Neeli Bendapudi provided brief university updates. She emphasized how fortunate UofL was to be able to save and acquire the UofL Health hospital facilities with loans from the government. Although the university is undergoing significant financial challenges in the face of the pandemic, the profit margins of UofL Health have helped support the university’s programs. Bendapudi applauded the ��which outlined multiple questions the university should consider to better demonstrate its anti-racism priority.

Provost Boehm presented an which compared data from 2013, 2016, 2018 and 2019.��

“We have lost faculty across the board at UofL, but the highest number of folks has been our Black African American faculty and our non-resident, non-citizen faculty,” she said.

Since 2016, UofL has lost a total of 115 faculty members— 13 of which were Black faculty. Following Kentucky State University, UofL currently has some of the highest faculty of color numbers in comparison to the rest of Kentucky. Boehm shared that in the fall of 2019 she charged all deans to ensure candidates of color were part of their hiring searches. Moving forward, when hiring freezes are lifted, she will be putting more pressure on deans to bring diversity into their hiring decisions.

A senator asked if the provost would be willing to set a recruitment goal that aims to double the current number of Black faculty. Boehm agreed that the university needs to work harder and said the university also needs more Black faculty in the pipeline. Bendapudi added that Black faculty who are currently with UofL need to be better supported to become higher levels of professors and chairs. Bendapudi agreed that a goal should be set to increase the number and she will bring it to the attention of the Board of Trustees.

The Executive Committee presented an anti-racism Statement of Solidarity to senators. Some senators expressed concern that the statement was too broad and did not have enough concrete actions included. After a discussion, it was decided that the statement was a first step toward future actions and the passed.

Boehm gave an update on the plans presented in the 2020 Pivot to Fall document. The university has capacity for approximately 15,000 people to get flu shots in support of the recommendation that all university members be vaccinated. A high volume of COVID-19 tests have been garnered for those who display symptoms and for anyone returning from “hot spot” locations. Boehm explained that the is still finalizing the process for what will happen when a room has had someone in it that tested positive for the virus.

Faculty Senate Chair Krista Wallace-Boaz shared a of university activity for the month of July. She shared that the Board of Trustees recently approved the FY21 operating budget, tuition rates for the 2020-21 academic year have been finalized, and that have been established for returning to campus. She also shared the university’s retirement contribution (which had been put on hold for May, June and July 2020) will be partially restored at 2.5% for all employees, plus a 2.5% match of employee contributions beginning August 1, 2020.

Committee reports and a video recording of the virtual meeting can be accessed on the . There will not be a meeting held in August. The next Faculty Senate meeting is scheduled for September 22.

Miles spoke about the university’s efforts to file mass unemployment claims on behalf of employees for the first time in UofL’s history.

“We’ve never done it before and we’ve learned very quickly the ins and outs, in very interesting times,” she said.��

She explained that the state’s unemployment office has been inundated with requests and has struggled with an internal change of leadership and outdated filing systems.

“Apparently the individual process has been even more challenging. More systems have been just completely shut down where people have no way to get in. And the wait times, although they are long all over the place, are even worse,” Miles said. “So I just want you all to know that despite the frustration we have with the mass e-filing process, it’s still in the best interest of our university community and we’re glad that we did it.”

The Human Resources office has been writing daily to the state’s unemployment office on behalf of employees. HR staff have taken measures to stay in close contact with employees, including university text messages and personal phone calls, to ensure time-sensitive actions are completed. They also created a dedicated to all the questions that employees have brought forward during the process.

HR staff ensure every unemployment question submitted to their office gets answered or addressed on the same day. They have worked closer than usual with Staff Senate Chair John Smith and the SHARE committee to ensure employees having a difficult time with the unemployment process receive help.

Senators asked several clarifying questions and inquired about the options for continuing to work remotely when campus operations resume in the fall.

“We are looking at it, we recognize there are lots of people out there who need to possibly have some sort of modifications or need to be able to do things a little bit differently than we did before. And we also need to understand that the university, there’s going to be some things that it needs and we are going to try to balance that.”

President Bendapudi reported on the outcomes of her meeting with the Black Student Union, which can be found here, and she discussed why the university strongly supports the Black Lives Matter movement.

“When we say ‘Black Lives Matter’ what that means is not at all saying other people are unimportant,” she said. “When people say systemic racism, it doesn’t mean you are racist, or I am racist. It says there is something wrong with the system where over time this is happening, and we need to look at what are those barriers and how do we overcome that.”

Bendapudi emphasized that the university’s mission is part of the solution.

“There’s many ways I believe in higher education. I truly believe that higher education has the promise of transforming people’s lives. I would not be here if it weren’t for education. So we have to be true to our mission. I will always come back to ‘let’s educate, let’s do better education, better work, so that we make our local police better and the best practices make everybody better,’” she said.

Staff Senate Chair John Smith reported that the Senate body should put forth a statement of support for the Black Lives Matter movement, but that it should have input. Smith hopes for it to be more than words of support.

“We’d like to have a two-week window for [senators] to send us ideas for … changes that we can advocate for from our platform as the Senate as a whole. We would really like the Senate to be an action group in this arena,” he said.��

Smith briefly shared budget updates from the June Board of Trustees meeting. Based on three different scenarios—all in-person classes, hybrid classes, or all online classes— the university is planning for three various levels of impact to the FY 2021 budget.

“The enrollment and state revenue are the two wild cards that we just don’t know, that are going to drive a lot of which one of these three scenarios we fall in,” he said.

Senators expressed concern about furloughs potentially getting extended. Senators requested that data be made available on how many furloughs have been issued thus far and a campus breakdown of where those furloughs took place. Smith confirmed that he will present those concerns in his next meeting with the president. A formal update on the university’s financial situation is also forthcoming.

Chief Operating Officer Mark Watkins confirmed that $27,995.57 thus far has been reimbursed to remote-working employees who requested refunds. Additionally, $36,293.98 worth of parking fee deductions have stopped for all furloughed employees for the duration of their furlough.

Senator Angela Lewis-Klein reported that the Executive Committee of the Staff Senate recommends the 2020 Senate year be considered a “grace year” due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the operations of the Staff Senate. They also recommended the tabling of Senate seat elections, including the officers, until the 2021 Senate year. All recommendations passed.

Committee reports and a full video recording of the virtual meeting can be found on the .

The next Staff Senate meeting will be held July 14 via Microsoft Teams.

President Bendapudi��focused her report on university updates around issues of racial inequity.��

“What a time it has been hasn’t it? We all were dealing with COVID-19 and figuring out what to do and then an epidemic that has been around a long time also came to the surface, and that is of course the systemic racism that we experience, and we see.”������

Bendapudi shared��national statistics on racial inequity and said the university is pledging to take on an anti-racist agenda that tackles issues of systemic racism.��

“I’m calling this our year of accountability,” she said.��������

In her recent meeting with the��Black Student Union, students requested that the university change the name of the Honors House and that UofL divest from Louisville Metro Police Department.����

Bendapudi��explained that she did not realize the Honors House was still called the Overseers Honors House and she asked Chief Operating Officer Mark Watkins to immediately��take action. Watkins painted over the sign and an official name change and sign replacement will take place after board approval.������

Bendapudi��reminded senators that over a year ago, she also noticed that the university advisors to the president were called the Board of Overseers. She requested at that time for the name to be changed due to the term “overseer” having historical ties to slavery. The group is now called the President’s Council.��

With regard to��divestment from LMPD, Bendapudi explained that as an urban university it would not be possible. Multiple city streets intertwine with university campuses, especially the Health Sciences Center and Shelby campuses. She clarified that the University of Louisville Police Department does not have any written contract or formal partnership with LMPD. ULPD does, however, rely on LMPD officers to��provide assistance��with security and traffic control at athletics events, for example. The university will��look into��ways it can reduce that need over time.��������

There are more initiatives happening across the university to advance UofL’s anti-racism agenda. Chief of Police��Gary Lewis will ensure that ULPD is the lead law enforcement body for any investigation dealing with a member of the university. He is also leading a plan to ensure all ULPD officers undergo training that has input from faculty, staff and students. An academic equity audit is being led by Cherie Dawson-Edwards, chair of the Department of Criminal Justice. The audit will entail a thorough review of curricular content that identifies strengths, deficits and opportunities to improve Criminal Justice education around social justice priorities. Many LMPD officers are enrolled in UofL’s criminal justice courses.��

Detailed descriptions of actions being taken can be found in Bendapudi’s letter to the Black Student Union.
��
A few senators expressed their concerns about nontenured faculty of color needing more support and that there should be visible demonstrations of the university’s commitment to black faculty.����

Bendapudi��agreed that the university must do more. She shared that she and other local college and university leaders have committed to finding solutions to end racial inequity. This written commitment can be found��online.������

Provost Beth Boem��shared that she has strongly supported leadership development opportunities for faculty of color. She hired two executive positions last year that were filled by people of color—the Dean for the School of Music and the Chief Information Officer. Additionally, three of the five people registered for the ACC leadership development programs this year were faculty members of color.����

“I��really believe it’s important for us to recruit and retain faculty of color and I am sorry whenever we fail to retain,” she said.��The Faculty Diversity Update��Presentation from last year can be accessed��.��Provost Boehm will provide an updated report at the next Faculty Senate meeting.����

Boehm��shifted her report to address the����provided in her recent��.�� ��

“What we have��[in the plan] is a hybrid model and one that seeks some kind of capacity to start one way and shift if we need to,” she said.������
������
Some senators expressed concern with asynchronous learning plans and a discussion followed about the pros and cons of the hybrid learning model. Boehm answered questions and encouraged senators to continue��submitting��feedback.��The Pivot to Fall Coordinating Committee will utilize feedback to reshape the plan for fall.����������

EVPRI Kevin Gardner shared the ways in which research work is slowly reopening. Regular research town halls are being facilitated and they are open to the entire university community.��The research Grand Challenges as part of the strategic plan are being moved forward. The three challenges include: empowering our communities, advancing our health, and engineering our future economy. Gardner emphasized these are critical issues for the university and he plans to advance those challenges over coming months.����
������
Faculty Senate Chair Krista Wallace-Boaz reported that Faculty and Staff Senates are expanding their standing executive committees to form a COVID-19 Advisory Committee to Faculty and Staff Senate leadership. Once confirmed, membership will be posted on the Faculty and Staff Senate websites.

The Redbook Committee had their second reading of the University Libraries revised����and��. Also, the Academic Programs Committee presented two certificate proposals: Human Resources Leadership and AI in Medicine. Both Libraries documents passed and both certificates passed.������

Committee reports and a video recording of the��virtual meeting can be accessed on the��.�� The next Faculty Senate meeting��is scheduled for July 1 via video conference.��

This annual challenge for higher education institutions engages students, faculty and staff in advancing zero waste ethics. This year, the competition’s duration was shortened from eight to five weeks in response to widespread closures due to COVID-19. From Feb. 2 through March 7, schools reported on their zero waste efforts in multiple categories.

In the Diversion category, UofL placed first in the state, first in the Atlantic Coast Conference and 10th in the nation for keeping more than 63% of its waste (including organics, plastic, paper, cardboard, metal and glass) out of the landfill.

Full results of the competition can be seen .

In the Food Organics category, UofL again placed first in the state and 33rd in the nation for composting. In the Per Capita Classic category, UofL placed second in the state and 83rd in the nation for recycling 6.691 pounds per person.

In the Waste Minimization category, UofL placed third in the state and 53rd in the nation for reducing total waste production to 26.46 pounds per person. And in the Total Recycling category, UofL placed second in the state and 38th in the nation by recycling 334,020 pounds of paper, cardboard, plastic, metal and glass and composting 86,315 pounds of food and kitchen waste from dining services for a total of 420,335 pounds.

Justin Mog, assistant to the provost for sustainability initiatives, is encouraged by these results and connected them back to .

“All these efforts to keep waste out of the landfill equate to reducing our carbon emissions by 614 metric tons of CO₂ equivalent,” he said. “According to the EPA, that’s as impactful as taking 133 cars off the road for a year, powering 104 homes with renewables for a year, switching 23,326 incandescent lamps to LEDs, or growing 10,153 tree seedlings for 10 years.”

As a member of the Climate Leadership Network for colleges and universities, UofL is committed to reducing campus net greenhouse gas emissions and achieving climate neutrality by 2050. In 2010, UofL released its , a comprehensive roadmap for reducing university emissions to net zero. The plan is shepherded by UofL’s Sustainability Council, a group of more than 60 faculty, staff and students appointed by the provost that coordinate the plan’s implementation and conduct an annual reporting of UofL’s greenhouse gas emissions.��

Boehm��opened her report by��describing��the multiple��planning committees that have formed and are chaired by respective senior leadership members to ensure students, faculty and staff��are brought back to campus��safely��in the fall.��

“These are works in progress and we are running fast at a moving target,”��Boehm said.��A��detailed��description of these committees can be found��.����

Senators requested��clarification��about��the��furloughs��that affected employees with salaries��lower than $58,000.��

“Those below $58,000 in salary��[who are furloughed]��have an opportunity to��recoup��more money through��the federal��CARES Act,��the��extra $600 a month��in unemployment and the expanded��unemployment insurance in the state of Kentucky,” Smith said. “So,��it is not��a perfect solution.��There��are absolutely��situations��where individuals are negatively impacted. But we worked with the Board of Trustees and other donors to��make sure the Staff Senate SHARE fund��was properly��funded (so) that we can intervene in��situations where that’s necessary.”

SHARE Committee��Chair Sally��Molsberger, reported that the SHARE program has only received two��financial assistance requests��thus far for the month of May.��She encouraged senators to remind their constituents��about the��SHARE��program. SHARE��awards are considered gifts to the recipients and not taxed.��

Senators also asked��about��the��state of the��current remote work policy. Smith and Boehm both confirmed that it will be extended.��

“UofL��will be doing a phased reopening over��the next several months, and right now our recommendation is��still remote work. Starting on June 1,��the recommendation in most units is��still going to be remote work.��And that’ll probably be true for the next month or so.��That’ll look different in each unit. And deans, vice presidents,��vice provosts are going to be working on individual plans that make sense for their work,” Smith said.��

A university communication��is forthcoming regarding details��on��the��remote work policy��extension��and��how certain units with critical on-campus work��will have the option to start returning slowly.����

A discussion followed about the level of sanitation and personal protective equipment (PPE) that��will be provided��by the university.

“Centrally and at the unit level there will��be investment in��PPE and��sanitation,”��Smith said.

He also��asserted that��UofL will��clean to the level that is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the��university will continue to meet its��obligation to provide a safe workplace.��

A senator requested clarification on the process for how leaders were supposed to inform their employees about being furloughed,��due to concerns about several employees feeling they were not told appropriately.��

Smith explained that��all deans, vice presidents and vice��provosts were instructed to work��directly��with their units and inform their furloughed��individuals.������

“Official notice was coming from an HR email to employees, but ideally those employees would have heard from their senior most supervisors before, that they were going to be��furloughed for some��period of time. It would be inappropriate for employees to find out for the first time in a public��[Microsoft] Teams meeting,” Smith said.����

Boehm added that some supervisors may have chosen to inform their furloughed employees together as a group in a��Teams meeting, but that would not be considered a public meeting.����

Committee reports��and a full video recording of the virtual meeting��can be found on the��.����

The next Staff Senate meeting will be held��June 9��via Microsoft Teams.��

President Bendapudi opened her comments by addressing the importance of the university making an early announcement about the plan to return to regular on-campus operations for the fall semester.

“One of the things research shows nationally is that students are not interested at all in enrolling if they don’t have a chance at least of being on campus. And it’s a very real concern. And it has been shown by research all over. So, one of the things we want to do is at least preserve our competitiveness,” Bendapudi said.

She expressed that faculty, staff and student safety are her number one priority and that more university communications will soon follow about how the university plans to reopen and how the university will make sure everyone stays safe.

Bendapudi reminded senators that the public-private partnership, the Co-Immunity Project, began its first phase of testing of over 2,000 health care providers across the UofL Health system and other hospitals. The next phase of the project will be random testing of the population across the city, including the university community.

“Not every university has that luxury, we have that because of the research capabilities that we have,” Bendapudi said in reference to UofL being one of only 12 research universities in the country with a regional biocontainment lab for responding to public health emergencies and emerging diseases.

Chief Financial Officer, Dan Durbin, reported on the university budget in three main categories: the past, present and future. The full presentation can be viewed .

In his description of the present state of the university budget, Durbin provided rationale behind the various actions that the university took to mitigate risks and recover lost revenue due to the pandemic. He projects a recovery of those losses through the savings that will yield from the university’s corrective actions, including hiring freezes, travel restrictions, summer online options, dental clinic services, CARES Act funds, admin salary reductions, employee retirement temporary stop, and focused furloughs.

“The last thing we want to do is drive people away from the institution. And that’s part of the balance with this. People still need to feel wanted, people still need to have compensation and the last thing we want to do is drive people away from the institution, so we tried to be somewhat sensitive in terms of the salary reductions. Back to the furloughs, we tried to make sure there was a safety net of that federal $600 per week to be able to balance the furloughs.”

Provost Beth Boehm reported that multiple committees have begun to form in order to conduct scenario planning for the various situations that may occur by the time fall semester begins.

“We are planning a large education to students about personal hygiene, how to behave on campus when there is a pandemic going on, or ending, or wherever we will be in August. We have a platform that will enable us to video tape things for orientations. We will also have a version of that for faculty and staff about how to be as careful with your own personal hygiene. So, we have a whole lot of things we’re planning to do but are not yet finalized. The flu shot is finalized though and that will be a requirement,” said Boehm.

She assured senators that she stays in close contact with ACC provosts who meet regularly to discuss and plan cautiously together. “We will be looking at how we can do this efficiently and smartly,” she said.

Student Government Academic Vice President, Ben Barberie, reported on the student body perspective regarding campus reopening in the fall.

“Some students are very, very conflicted. I’d say that’s the general consensus at the moment. There are some quite eager to get back to campus for in-person instruction in the fall. Some, frankly, have a difficult time justifying the value of online or remote education when they have cheaper options available, especially for general education,” he said. “There is a general consensus as well that students are pretty worried about the safety of reopening in the fall, given that we don’t quite have a real idea of where we’re going to be at in terms of public health.”

Committee reports and video recordings of the virtual meeting can be accessed on the .

The next Faculty Senate meeting will be June 3, via videoconference.

Over the last month, UofL has increased the amount of wellness opportunities available to faculty and staff. While these opportunities have been previously announced on various internal webpages and within the UofL Today employee newsletter, below you will find a central listing of the opportunities compiled for your convenience.

Virtual Classes and Fitness at Home

Get Healthy Now (GHN), the university’s employee wellness program, has collected multiple online resources for staying active and focusing on your wellness.

• is a collection of stretches for your back, neck, arms and legs. Whether you’re sitting at a desk, on the couch or somewhere else in your home, you can follow these short videos for a quick, seated stretch break. The stretches are designed to release tension, ease anxiety, and get relief from aches and pains.
• is a written workout plan you can do at home by following the visuals and step-by-step techniques for exercising with resistance bands.
• is a YouTube yoga channel for families that incorporates yoga movements into interactive stories and songs. The energetic instructor uses her British accent to take families on virtual adventures that build strength, balance and confidence.
• is an online collection of dance tutorials provided by the Louisville Ballet for families to stay active and creative together. The tutorials include a wide range of dance warm-ups, ballet basics, and folk dances from around the world.

The Department of Intramural and Recreational Sports is offering multiple virtual fitness opportunities that are open to faculty and staff.

• Virtual Fitness Consultations are free to all employees Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. When you sign up for a 15-minute, one-on-one virtual consultation with a certified fitness instructor, you’ll receive a customized exercise routine based on what you have available in your home. To get started, send an email to woodall@louisville.edu.
• Mile Club is an exercise program that encourages participants to walk, run, hike or bike the miles they would have traveled this summer to a destination. With the Mile Club, you can email your destination and weekly totals to the host, or you can download the app and join the UofL SRC Mile Club there to track your miles. Once you “arrive” to your destination, Intramurals staff will send you a champion t-shirt.

  
  To join the club on the app, download “Strava” on your smart phone and touch “Sign Up.” Skip any free trials that pop up to maintain a basic, free account. Touch the “Club” tab, then touch “Explore Clubs,” then “Clubs” again. In the search bar, type “UofL SRC Mile Club” and touch the club to join it.

Mental Health and Connection

Human Resources is offering a new professional/personal growth series called “Learning Cafes.”��There are also many existing benefits for employees that can support your overall well-being.

• are online sessions focused on continuing your professional and personal growth while working at home. Each “cafe” features a topic of interest, guidance from a seasoned moderator, an engaging activity or reading, and time for discussion and sharing to renew your connection to the UofL family. Topics include talking to your kids about furloughs, staying motivated while working remote, meditation, how employee resource groups can support you, and more.
• is an online program and app available for Anthem members that helps users learn to reduce stress and monitor different areas of their health. For example, you can utilize their daily mood tracker to analyze your patterns, take mini interactive courses on focus areas such as “Controlling Anxiety,” listen to relaxation audios, and scroll through uplifting images and quotes that update every time you log on. There is also a specific set of practical tools and articles dedicated just to coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.

  
  To get started, log in to , click on “My Health Dashboard,” then “Programs,” and you’ll find “MyStrength.” Follow the prompts to set up your customized MyStrength account. If you already have an Anthem account, you can download the MyStrength app on your smart phone and sign in there to keep your customized program and tools within easy reach.

• The (EAP), is a university benefit that provides free and confidential counseling services and resources to you and your household family members, even if you aren’t enrolled in a UofL medical plan. Managed by a third party, Human Development Company, the program’s counselors are available 24/7 and you can get up to eight free confidential sessions per topic, per year. Topics you can discuss with a counselor include grief and loss, stress management, alcohol/substance use, marital/relationship, depression, workplace concerns, Counselors can also provide referrals for things such as day care, elder care and financial concerns.

  
  Individual use of the EAP is confidential and not reported to your supervisor nor the university. Call 502-589-HELP (4357) or 800-877-8332, or go to to schedule an appointment.

Health Promotion, a division of Campus Health Services, has expanded some of their program offerings to include faculty and staff.

• is a four-week class that teaches participants evidence-based methods for mindfulness, meditation and stress resilience. The “Koru Basics” introductory course is available now through June. After completion of “Koru Basics,” participants may advance to “Koru 2.0” for an additional four-week class.
• is a set of guided narrations meant to facilitate mindfulness by walking listeners through “slow looking” at works of art. Originally created for in-person art observations at the Speed, the guided prompts can also be used with artwork available in your home or with the Speed’s online collections. For example, you can open their online and listen to while you observe a work of art.

Trager Institute, the university’s hub for optimal aging research, innovation and care management, offers multiple opportunities for employees to stay connected over topics related to holistic health.

• is a weekly virtual meeting open to those who want to learn more about individual, family and community holistic health. These weekly meetings occur every Monday evening from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., and feature a range of holistic health topics, guest speakers, activities and open discussions. Meetings are designed to help participants cope with the pandemic and provide a space to bring your concerns for peer support.
• is a virtual meditation series offered every Friday at 12:30 p.m. Sessions are hosted by one of the Republic Bank Foundation Optimal Aging Clinic mental health providers, Anna Walton, LCSW. Participants will address their stress and anxiety during this uncertain time through her guided meditations.

We are all navigating the unknown together. Your total well-being is critical and UofL has multiple resources and opportunities available right now to help you. Carve out some time in your calendar to schedule a meeting with yourself and look further into these opportunities today.

Opportunities listed above might not be an exhaustive list of all available wellness opportunities, and new ones may become available. If your department also offers a wellness opportunity that is open to all employees, be sure to submit an announcement so that it can be featured in the UofL Today employee newsletter.