There are also still pets and livestock that are loose in the affected areas. Many of the companion animals have never received veterinary care or vaccinations against zoonotic diseases that can impact humans such as rabies and leptospirosis. The UofL Comparative Medicine Research Unit (CMRU) is coordinating relief efforts with the Kentucky Veterinary Medical Association (KVMA) targeting family needs for their animals.

The CMRU team will be making several trips over the upcoming weeks to deliver needed items to the affected areas in addition to sending licensed veterinarians and veterinary technicians to provide care for the animals and to assist in capture efforts for animals. If you wish to donate items, please contact Dr. Leslie Sherwood at leslie.sherwood@louisville.edu to arrange for delivery or pickup of items.

Items needed:

• Cat and dog food
• Collars and leashes for cats and dogs (various sizes)
• Cat carriers
• Cat and dog food and water bowls
• 5-gallon buckets from Lowe’s or Home Depot
• Feed/hay for horses, cattle, sheep, goats
• Temporary fencing/barb wire
• T-posts
• Bandage material such as vet wrap and gauze
• Topical antiseptic solutions such as povidone-iodine and chlorhexidine
• Triple antibiotic ointment such as Neosporin

If you wish to make a tax-deductible monetary donation that will go directly to the veterinary care of injured animals, send a check to:  

KVMA Foundation
108 Consumer Lane
Frankfort, KY 40601

.

If you are fully vaccinated

• You no longer need to wear a mask or physically distance on campus in most settings.
• Be mindful of the specific requirements that still apply with public transportation and health care settings on campus, regardless of vaccination status. For example, Cardinals who wish to use the TARC shuttle services or health care facilities on our campuses will still need to wear a mask. Those settings are still required to abide by the state’s and the Kentucky Health Department’s masking standards, regardless of vaccination status.
• For the foreseeable future, you should continue to carry a mask with you in case you interact with university affiliates, health care facilities or other vendors that have mask requirements in place.

If you are not fully vaccinated

• Continue to wear a mask and practice physical distancing in all public, indoor settings on campus.
• . There are numerous, convenient locations available in our area and beyond.
• Remember, the vaccines are safe and effective. They are among our greatest tools for fighting the pandemic and protecting ourselves, each other and our loved ones.

Vaccine strongly encouraged, not required

At this time, we do not plan to require vaccinations for students or employees this summer or fall. We do strongly encourage all Cardinals to get vaccinated. If you have questions about the vaccine, visit the or review our for answers to frequent questions such as “Will I need a booster dose?” “Do I have to quarantine following an exposure if I’m fully vaccinated?” and more.��

Thank you, again, for your continued patience as we respond to changes in CDC and state guidelines. We will continue to keep you regularly updated and remember; in addition to reviewing our FAQs, you can speak with a helpful member of our when you have questions or concerns.��

In our case, a return to normal means we expect to offer students a robust residential experience with in-person classes and fully staffed student services again. Most of us miss the vibrancy of student life on campus, the interactions between students, faculty and staff, and we look forward to a mostly in-person schedule for fall.����

Here are the initial takeaways for the Fall 2021 semester: 

• The fall 2021 schedule includes face-to-face and 100% digital course designations.��While most of our courses will be in person, many students have told us they enjoy being able to take a combination of in-person and online courses that accommodates their learning styles and schedules.����
• In-person courses may incorporate some online expectations. While we’re excited to get back to in-person courses, we plan to implement some of the great benefits that online tools provided students in 2020.��For example, in-person courses this fall will have a majority of classes scheduled on campus with the instructor, but there may be times when the instructor uses hybrid tools, such as scheduling virtual, small group breakout sessions or flipping the classroom.����
• Any combination of in-person and online courses may be taken for the same resident or nonresident full-time rate. We did this last fall, and we will continue that practice for fall 2021 to give more students the option of taking online courses where preferred.����
• We will be prepared to flip some in-person courses to online or hybrid if the pandemic continues into this fall. We certainly hope this will not be the case, but as we learned to do this past year, we will be ready to adjust quickly if necessary.����

Because many students and faculty find the hybrid designation confusing, and because we do not expect to be required to physically distance to the same extent as this year, all courses will be marked as either face-to-face or 100% digital.����  

We are proud that during this difficult year, not a single COVID-19 case was contact-traced to a classroom.��As always, our priority this fall will be to keep faculty, staff and students safe on campus while providing a first-class, in-person education for students.��And if the course of the pandemic requires it, we will be able to transition to hybrid and online more easily this fall.����

After a succession of high-profile growth assignments in technology, manufacturing, lean enterprise, quality and commercial services, Brey’s latest position in distribution is one she is particularly passionate about.

“I’ve worked in almost every function at GE Appliances, and I love distribution,” Brey said. “It’s like problem solving on steroids. This job has a large scope of responsibilities ranging from broad and strategic to figuring how to get an individual in Baltimore their refrigerator today.” 

Foundation for professional development

Starting with her , these experiences laid the foundation for the mechanical engineer, who did her first two rotations with GE Aircraft engineering and then moved back home to GE Appliances for her final co-op, where she remains today.

A Louisville native who graduated with her master’s in  in 1994, Brey credits her engineering education for her steady career climb and series of professional accomplishments within the company over the last 27 years.

“Speed School teaches you how to learn and think,” said Brey. “You learn how to absorb information quickly, ascertain what you need to solve the problem at hand, and move at a fast pace with logical thinking. It’s something I’ve used in every role that I have had in my professional career and it’s served me very well.” 

Dedicated instructors at Speed School were also key to her development, said Brey.

“I had phenomenal professors who didn’t just teach the material, but developed a relationship with you and challenged your thinking. It went beyond providing just enough information to pass the test. It was about teaching you the mindset of an engineer,” she added.

Brey said her experience at Speed allowed her to compete and win a sought-after entry-level program role as an Edison engineer.

“Where I started as a timid freshman and where I ended up had a lot to do with Speed School. It made all the difference for me,” she said.

Paving the way for women engineers

For Brey, being a woman in a non-traditional career path like mechanical engineering in the 1990s wasn’t always easy or comfortable.

“Back then there weren’t many women. When I went to Speed School, I felt like I went from an all-girls high school (Assumption) to what felt like an all-boy college. It was a cultural difference and I spent a lot of time figuring out how to be one of the guys,” she said.

Brey said she has had the distinction of being the first or second woman in many of the roles along her career path, such as the first female plant manager at the refrigeration factory, and the first female warehouse manager for GE Appliances across the U.S.

Today, diversity in the field is improving, said Brey, thanks in part to her alma mater.

“We recruit co-ops and full-time hires from Speed School, and as one of the largest local employers of engineers, we appreciate the emphasis on diversity,” she said. “We need people behind the scenes designing and building the products that reflect the diversity of our consumer base.”

As the executive co-sponsor of GE Appliances Women’s Network, Brey is strongly committed to paying it forward to support the career development and promotion of other women.

“I love mentoring and talking to young women. We reach back into high schools and all the way into grade schools to start talking to young women about careers in engineering. I had phenomenal mentors and coaches starting in Speed School and continuing throughout my GEA career, and I want to pass it on.”

Through the Women’s Network, she is also deeply involved in outreach to support women in STEM careers, and continuing to look for opportunities to pull women in. Women from Speed School and the Society of Women Engineers are invited to participate with GEA women in leadership forums and networking events.

“If you like a fast-paced, team-oriented environment and you want to build and create things where people are really going to use your designs, technology and manufacturing can be great careers. You can be part of designing something, like appliances, that millions of people use every day in their homes. It can be thrilling,” she said.��

Outside the office, Brey and her husband, an electrical engineer whom she met at Speed School, are raising three boys and continuing on the family tradition, with one son in industrial engineering at the Speed School, and another high school senior planning to study computer engineering at Speed.��

This story was provided by Holly Hinson from the J.B. Speed School of Engineering.��

Cushing, who is assigned as the assistant professor of Military Science at Jackson State University’s Reserve Officer Training Corp program, came upon the scene of a three-car accident on January 14.��He directed two bystanders to help him free a man who was trapped in one of the vehicles. When they were initially unable to get the man free, Cushing used a fire extinguisher to bend the broken window so they could extract the man.

Once the man was free of the vehicle, Cushing used his Army medical training to assess the man’s injuries and determined the man had a significant head wound. Cushing directed one of the two men who helped him to keep pressure on the man’s head as Cushing went to check on drivers and passengers in the other vehicles involved in the accident.

At the second car, he found a woman whose arm and shoulder appeared to be hurt, though there no signs of major bleeding. Once he determined the woman’s injuries weren’t life threatening, Cushing went to check on the third vehicle, but the driver had apparently fled the scene.

When the Emergency Medical Technicians arrived, Cushing helped load the seriously injured driver into the ambulance. With the assistance of a police officer who had arrived on the scene, Cushing then searched the man’s car for his phone. He used the phone to call the injured man’s girlfriend to let her know what happened and what hospital the man was being taken to.

Cushing started in UofL’s Master of Arts in Higher ����ֱ�� Administration program as part of U.S. Army Cadet Command’s Master Educator Course. The course, a collaboration between UofL and U.S. Army Cadet Command’s, is a two semester experience, including a four-week instructor boot camp, focused on the knowledge and skills Army officers and senior non-commissioned officers need to be effective senior Reserve Office Training Corps (ROTC) instructors.��

Upon completion of the Master Educator Course, soldiers earn 18 semester credit hours toward UofL’s Master of Arts in Higher ����ֱ�� Administration degree. The soldiers then have the opportunity to complete the remaining 18 semester credit hours in the program to earn their Master of Arts in Higher ����ֱ�� Administration degree.

Cushing is scheduled to graduate from UofL’s Master of Arts in Higher ����ֱ�� Administration program in May 2021.

Story written by Kyle Hurwitz, director of UofL’s Military and Online Initiatives.

According to , institutions designated as Military Friendly “strive towards and succeed in the areas that matter most in helping veterans make the transition from the military to school and, ultimately, satisfying careers in the civilian world.”

To earn the designation, Military Friendly evaluates public data and proprietary data gathered through an annual data-driven survey process. Institutions are evaluated in six weighted areas:

• Academic Policies & Compliance
• Graduation & Career Outcomes
• Culture & Commitment
• Military Student Support & Retention
• Admissions and Orientation
• Financial Aid & Loan Repayment.

Examples of UofL’s commitment to serving this population include the key functions provided by the Office of Veteran and Military Student Services, pending creation of a Military-Connected Student Advisory Council to build on efficiencies and to share best practices in serving this population, offering waived undergraduate and graduate application fees, and offering priority course registration to this population.

“We are very proud of the almost 7% of our student body who are military-connected and of our staff and faculty who serve this population,” said UofL President Neeli Bendapudi. “Earning this designation is validation of our ongoing work to make UofL a great place to learn. However, we recognize we can always do more and we remain committed to improving how we serve this important population.”

Story written by Kyle Hurwitz, UofL’s director of Military and Online Initiatives.��

Gaunt, a Pikeville, Kentucky, native, has completed three co-op rotations at Midea America Research Center where, among other tasks, he led projects including innovative new feature design and laboratory planning, applied CAD design, FMEA analysis and data management skills, and communicated with both local and Chinese teams to ensure project needs were met. He is currently employed at Midea as a part-time consumer appliance R&D engineer.

Phil Hombroek, his co-op supervisor, called Gaunt one of the best students he has ever worked with in 30 years of engineering.

“He demonstrates all the necessary attributes that are expected of a seasoned engineer and surpasses expectations by over-delivering on projects he worked on,” Hombroek said.��

Gaunt participated in the 2018 UofL International Service Learning Program in Cusco, Peru. During the trip, the students inventoried and mapped the irrigation systems for high altitude farming communities, said Thomas Rockaway, Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering.��

“Michael helped lead the assessment teams and coordinated the student work efforts,” he said. “Being fluent in Spanish, he was instrumental in integrating the students into the Peruvian community, making the trip a positive experience for all.”

Gaunt has been involved in several activities at UofL and the Louisville community including Engineers without Borders, Cardinals for the Appreciation of Musical Theatre and Singing Cardsmen.�� At Sojourn Community Church, Gaunt has been a “SojournKids” volunteer for events hosted by Student Government, Engage Lead Serve Board and Student Outreach Uniting Louisville.��

Story written by Holly Hinson.��

In 1997, the Kentucky General Assembly passed HB1—the Postsecondary ����ֱ��al Improvement Act—which established a goal for the University of Louisville to become a premier, nationally-recognized metropolitan research university. The university’s mission at the time included “a special obligation to serve the needs of a diverse population, including many ethnic minorities and place bound, part-time, nontraditional students.” In the 23 years since the passage of that historic legislation, the University of Louisville has transformed itself from an urban commuter college to a world-class research university that competes for faculty, student and staff talent with the likes of Vanderbilt, Duke, Arizona and Michigan. We serve a more racially and socio-economically diverse student population than most research universities in the country, and we have a unique, abiding and pervasive relationship with the City of Louisville.

But we must do more. In higher education, we have the great good fortune to be able to aspire to the highest ideals of society. In our exploration and growth, I believe universities can be models for the communities in which they exist. Yet, in so many institutions, including our very own, we often fall short of these lofty ideals.�� That is why it is more important than ever that we reframe our initial goal of becoming a “premier metropolitan research university,” put into place more than two decades ago.

Now is the time to go beyond—to set a new goal with even higher ambitions.�� That’s why today I am announcing the kickoff of the , which will guide us in becoming the premier anti-racist metropolitan research university in the country.�� I am asking for your help in bringing this goal to fruition.

The term anti-racist may be novel to some and even may be frightening to others, but it should not. I believe, on the whole, we are a supportive community of care with a deep respect for the vast diversity of experience and thought found on our campus. The term anti-racist asks that we intentionally act against racism. Simply not being racist is not enough. For this university to rise to the highest ideals to which we aspire, we must model what it means to take meaningful anti-racist action in our work. This work must also happen at the intersections of race and other identities including gender, sexual orientation, ability and socioeconomic background.   

I have always believed talk is cheap, and that action defines who we really are and what we truly believe.�� In the months and years ahead, the Cardinal Anti-Racism Agenda will define our actions and guide our work as a university aiming to become the premier anti-racist metropolitan research university in the country.

Since I arrived at UofL, I have shared with you many times that we will be a great place to learn, work and invest because we celebrate diversity, foster equity and strive to achieve inclusion. Now, we will join together in determining how to accelerate this important work.

The initial step in the process is to tap into the collective wisdom of our university community to build a robust agenda. First, it is important to recognize and celebrate past anti-racist initiatives at UofL—the historic initiatives—that have paved the way for our bold action in the future. For instance, did you know that UofL integrated its student body in 1951, several years ahead of the vast majority of our Kentucky peers? Or, that the Department of Pan-African Studies was launched in 1973, making it one of the oldest departments of its kind in the country?

Second, we should respect the ongoing and current initiatives occurring now across the university, where leaders at every level are engaging in anti-racist actions to help UofL achieve its aspirations. For instance, half or more of all new faculty hires in the last year in the College of Business, the College of ����ֱ�� and Human Development and the Brandeis School of Law were people of color. This intentionality on the part of these unit leaders and their teams demonstrate a commitment to anti-racist action in our hiring. Further, a recent study by The ����ֱ�� Trust found that the University of Louisville is one of only three out of the country’s 101 most selective public universities that are providing equal access to the university for Black and Latinx students.  We also recently began construction on a brand new right in the heart of Belknap campus. Of course, we need more of this intentional work to succeed.

That is where the new initiatives come in, which begin with the development of the actions we must take to realize our vision. Throughout the past seven weeks, I have been fortunate to have engaged in countless conversations with leaders, activists and friends throughout our Louisville Black community and across the nation. From those conversations, it is evident there is an array of perspectives on what must be done to achieve racial equity and there is no quick solution. We are committing to taking anti-racist action, but that does not mean we all will agree a particular action is the right one. We have to be willing to take some risks, try different approaches, evaluate what works and what does not and continue to be courageous and purposeful about prioritizing intersectional anti-racism in our actions.        

The change we need will require all of us. I need your help in defining and refining our Cardinal Anti-Racism Agenda and so have established a website to share the institutional projects that have contributed to and are currently making UofL a more anti-racist university  Please to contribute to this important discussion and about what UofL has done (historic initiatives), is doing (current initiatives) and/or should consider doing (new initiatives) to make our university community decidedly more anti-racist.

In the coming weeks and months, we’ll engage our students, faculty and staff on potential items for our Anti-Racism Agenda.�� Some members of our community have already recommended key areas for us to address, such as provided by the Department of Sociology’s Diversity, Equity; and the Student Government Association has launched an anti-racism education initiative, promoted via . These recommendations and early actions guided our work on initial steps to support the launch of the Cardinal Anti-Racism Agenda.    

To build this agenda with specific actions to affect change in these areas, we will continue to listen to the , particularly those individuals with personal and lived experiences most closely related to the work we seek to do. The Commission on Diversity and Racial Equality (CODRE), with support from the Office of Diversity and Equity, will be tasked with preparing our draft agenda to share with the campus community for feedback. The goal is to gather all input by Labor Day in order to present our proposed Cardinal Anti-racist Agenda to the Board of Trustees on Sept. 24.

As Dr. King reminded us, “The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” We must each do our part to ensure the original promises of American equality are realized sooner than later. When our framers wrote “all men are created equal” and that there would be “liberty and justice for all,” many were excluded from that vision of this great nation. The legacy of these exclusions still play out in our systems and our institutions today. In this moment in our history, I am hopeful we all will rise to the opportunity to more fully live out the ideals of our nation. I am committed to doing my part and to working with you to make our institution one that can proudly proclaim itself to be the country’s premier anti-racist metropolitan research university.��

Amber Peter, director of Web in the Office of Communications & Marketing, presented on a three-year plan for a re-haul of the university’s website.

“The goal is to unify the university.��A web experience that is audience-centered and an authentic representation of our brand,” she stated during her opening slides.

Currently there are about 255,000 different webpages that live on the website and very few follow a consistent format.��Peter has been working with a steering committee to consider the many ways in which to make the site more intuitive so that resources can be found faster.����

An ITS staff member asked how this project will affect their work. Peter responded that it will eventually replace Plone. Another staff member asked about the timeline and if training is being planned. Peter assured senators that there will be numerous opportunities for training and that it will take a minimum of 2 months to kick off, followed by a series of implementation phases which will take a total of three years. Peter closed with an invitation to any staff members who have questions about the project to contact her directly at amber.peter@louisville.edu.����

Jason Beare, Staff Grievance committee chair, reported that the health benefits design group met earlier this month. He  that is being used to plan out the next 3 years of the Strategic Plan.��No decision has been made yet on 2020-2021 benefits yet. Decisions will be made by this June.��

Carcyle Barrett reported on several bylaw revisions, .��

They also reported that the executive committee voted to go back to having one of their meetings in the fall and the other meeting in the spring, with the requirement that every meeting be posted at the beginning of the academic year.��

John Smith, Staff Senate chair, both met recently, and that the S&P issued an A+ rating to the Foundation which is a high level of distinction for a foundation.��Additionally, the Provost search committee submitted their top eight names. There were over 50 applicants.��Glenn Gittings and John Smith are representing the Staff Senate on the Provost Search committee.��

Groundbreaking for the new Miller Hall, “Dorm 1,” is scheduled for April 21.��Additionally, there is an RFP out for a new, 120 occupancy resident hall that would be constructed on Floyd Street across from the Kueber Center. The project would be spearheaded by Athletics and not involve any University funds. It would become the residence of teams that utilize the Kueber Center for their practices, such as men’s and women’s basketball, field hockey, and lacrosse.��Per NCAA rules, however, a minimum of 51% of the beds available must be for students who are not athletic team members.��

A motion was brought to the floor to make Staff Senate meetings available via teleconference. A lengthy discussion followed, weighing the pros and cons.��An amendment was added to the motion that in-person attendance at least be required for the election meeting. Senators requested more information about the logistics of this teleconferencing and suggested a test run of the system. A vote was held to table the discussion until the next meeting, when more officers and senators are present.��

.��

The next Staff Senate meeting is April 13 via teleconference.��

Kalbfleisch proudly identifies as nonbinary (expressing a gender identity that is neither entirely male nor entirely female) and bisexual, and it was ASCE Code of Ethics’ Canon 8, adopted in 2017, that helped empower their civil engineering dreams.

“Seeing gender identity and sexual orientation recognized and protected at such a high level gave me a renewed burst of enthusiasm to pursue my dreams within the field of civil engineering, even though people who look, act and identify like me aren’t traditionally expected to do so,” Kalbfleisch said.

At UofL, Kalbfleisch found an environment that was welcoming and supportive.

“The faculty, the staff, the advising team, and your fellow students – the school wants you to succeed,” said Kalbfleisch. “They walk the walk and not just talk the talk when it comes to diversity and inclusion. They listen to students of marginalized identities, and make sure that they’re academically safe here.” 

A native of Louisville, Kalbfleisch said they were initially drawn to the Speed School in their own backyard because of its quality reputation, but what really sold them was the co-op program, and all the opportunities for student involvement.

Kalbfleisch is active with the UofL ASCE Student Chapter, serving as the vice president of activities, as well as serving as treasurer for the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), and as a member of Speed Spectrum, the LGBTQ support group on campus.

“I really have loved the support that SWE and Spectrum give, as it is still traditionally kind of a male-dominated workforce,” said Kalbfleisch.

“I’ve been able to grow as a leader in different organizations and there’s so many opportunities on campus and in the community,” they said. “Having students that share identities and backgrounds with you; that you can grow together through your college experience, is really nice. And then ASCE, the civil society, has the more technical and professional opportunities.”

As a senior, Kalbfleisch has also enjoyed mentoring younger students. “I think the most meaningful part has been getting to work with underclassmen, whether as a teaching assistant or as a student organization officer, with younger folks reporting to me, or just recruiting new freshmen to organizations,” Kalbfleisch said. “Seeing where I was a few years ago, and how much I’ve grown since then, and knowing the growth that they’re about to experience, has been gratifying.”

Kalbfleisch has completed three semesters of full-time work at Louisville Gas & Electric and Kentucky Utilities Energy for co-op, with hydropower as a chief interest. But they hope to excel in many different areas of civil engineering, they said.

“It’s all about the real-world problem solving, the working with people,” Kalbfleisch said. “Once I discovered I could do everything I was interested in with a civil engineering degree, I fell in love. The scale and impact that our work can have, on communities and on people’s lives. It captivates me.”

This story was written by Holly Hinson.��