Read more about how UofL is entering the brave new world of ChatGPT in the .  The issue also honors the 150^th running of the Kentucky Derby, showcases the impact we’re making on health care in rural communities and highlights our continued efforts to make college accessible for all.

As UofL is located in the shadows of the Twin Spires, our connection with Churchill Downs is strong, View a collection of pictures from our university archives that illustrate how UofL has celebrated its most famous neighbor for many decades.

Learn how UofL is creating a rising tide of equitable health care by expanding its footprint into rural communities across the state, providing access to care and bolstering economies in areas with the highest need.

Discover how UofL is addressing affordability by putting accessibility at the forefront of education and making strides to lessen student debt.

UofL continues to creative thriving futures while embracing technology and strengthening our dynamic connection to our commonwealth communities. All these stories and more are available in the latest edition of .

Leaders at UofL are taking steps to help faculty and students explore the possibilities and determine when and how it should be used at the university.

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is computer technology that creates text, images, video or other materials in response to a user prompt. ChatGPT, a large language model powered chatbot, is one of the most recognized generative AI platforms for creating text, along with Google Bard and Microsoft CoPilot. Users input questions, requests or instructions to these platforms and, in return, receive seemingly complete articles, reports or refined text.

So, does this tool allow students to bypass assignments or offer a whole new way to learn?

Jose Fernandez, associate professor of economics in the College of Business who co-chairs the university’s committee on generative AI in academics, believes generative AI will allow students to spend more time in creative projects and less on mundane processes.

“I can have my students have worldly debates with dead people who didn’t exist at the same time,” Fernandez said. “You can push the envelope a little bit in the classroom because students will spend less time learning-by-doing where they make multiple mistakes, like computer coding, before they get it right, and can spend more time being creative and critical.”

Generative AI models are trained with large amounts of existing information from the internet. This information is then processed through a digital neural network with the user’s prompt, returning what may seem like a complete and accurate composition. However, it also may confidently return information that is not factual, a phenomenon known as “hallucination.”

“This is going to be your new ‘Google,’ but it’s a Google that lies to you sometimes, so you have to be smart enough to know when it’s lying,” Fernandez said. “We have to understand its strengths and its weaknesses.”

To help faculty better understand those strengths and weaknesses, UofL’s Delphi Center for Teaching and Learning has hosted workshops and discussions over the last year to consider ways to use – or not use – generative AI in their teaching, and hosts web pages with resources for teaching in the ChatGPT era. The center’s goal is to make instructors aware of the models, support their use when appropriate and consider problems that may arise.

While some faculty members have reservations about the new technology, Kelvin Thompson, vice provost for online strategy and teaching innovation, said the Delphi Center aims to support its beneficial use.

“Everybody is hungry for information on how to process this. It is far from a settled thing,” Thompson said. “I want to encourage folks to be open-minded and see but also wisely and knowledgeably make decisions. I would characterize our approach as respectfully positive. How do we look for opportunities that weren’t there before and encourage faculty to do that?”

Thompson hopes that support will spill over to students, allowing them to learn to use generative AI tools as part of their education and at the same time helping faculty members save time and improve processes.

Here are three examples of how Cardinals across campus are helping to effectively
employ the new technology.

Legal writing

Susan Tanner, an assistant professor who teaches legal writing at Brandeis School of Law, was an early adopter in using generative AI in her teaching. She is developing a toolkit to help other law instructors use the technology in their legal writing curricula.

“Lawyers are going to have to become familiar with the new technology; there actually is a duty for technological competence baked into the rules of professional conduct for attorneys,” Tanner said. “But students need to use it ethically, so I think about this from an ethical standpoint of being responsible to our students, to each other and to future clients.”

Tanner said some students have been hesitant to use generative AI, whether because they are less comfortable with technology or they worry about unintentionally using it in a dishonest way. To help them over that hump, Tanner provides specific scenarios for them to use in ChatGPT, such as to get feedback on their writing or to convert a legal memorandum into a style that is more understandable for a client.

She also uses the tool to save herself time. For example, she can create hypothetical cases for her students in about 20 minutes using ChatGPT as opposed to several hours without using AI.

AI in business

The College of Business offers an undergraduate marketing course that explores AI’s impact in the marketplace, and a new online MBA course, “Business Applications of AI,” will equip students with knowledge and skills to evaluate, implement and manage AI initiatives in business practices and strategies.

Nat Irvin, assistant dean for thought leadership and civic engagement in the College of Business, believes the use of generative AI in business is just beginning.

“We’re just getting started. We’re in the wave, but we’re at the early part of the wave,”
he said.

Irvin jumped into that wave with both feet, focusing his popular “Managing the Future” class in early 2023 on using generative AI in business management, asking his students to use ChatGPT to create a health care system that solves the problem of cholera in the year 1854.

“I put it in my class immediately,” Irvin said. “The question for me is, how do I design a learning experience that will force you to think critically, now using this new tool? When you ask it to help you explore ideas that you would have never considered, you suddenly have at your disposal unlimited possibilities.”

Addressing concerns

Along with all the possibilities, concerns about expanding generative AI go beyond academic dishonesty and fabricated information to data privacy, the ecological cost of the vast computational power required to run the models and systemic bias inherited from information used to train the models.

Irvin believes some of those concerns will be resolved in the private sector but that universities also have a role.

“The problem of whether or not something was written by AI is going to be solved in the private sector because it benefits the market to be able to determine whether something is authentic or not,” Irvin said. “The ethical issues are huge, of course, and institutions like ours will have to deal with that with policies and procedures.”

In August, the Office of the Provost created a university committee to examine how generative AI should be used and taught at UofL. While the initial mission was to address academic dishonesty in assignments and research, there also is a desire to ensure students are prepared to use the technology in the real world.

“Our goal is to explore how AI can enrich learning experiences and empower our students and faculty to be at the forefront of technological advancements, while maintaining the highest standards of ethical conduct and academic integrity,” said Beth Boehm, vice provost for graduate affairs, who co-chairs the committee with Fernandez. “We are leaning away from the idea that you should ban it, because we don’t think that’s possible, and leaning toward the notion that you should teach it and be honest and open about it and ask your students to be honest and open if they use it.”

Irvin believes that in time, using generative AI will be as common as using a calculator.

“We’ll have changes in the way we think, what’s important to know, what’s important to memorize,” Irvin said. “The idea of not using generative AI – that’s over. We will use it and we will adapt and we will never look back.”

UofL is committed to increasing access, affordability and equity for students of all backgrounds so they can take advantage of learning opportunities and follow their dreams without a heavy financial burden. By expanding and increasing funds for the Cardinal Commitment Grant, including additional states eligible for the Border Benefit award and investing in merit-based scholarships, UofL is removing financial barriers to college for students who go on to strengthen the community and state.

“In order for the commonwealth to be strong, we need an educated population. So particularly as a public university, we need to step up and find ways to make attending UofL affordable,” said Jenny Sawyer, executive director of admissions. “We might not be in a position to totally erase debt, but we are doing everything we can to minimize it.”

In the past few years, Cardinals have graduated with the second-lowest student debt among all Kentucky four-year public universities. With expanded affordability programs, made possible through funds from increased enrollment, UofL will continue changing the game for students of all backgrounds, helping them find success through a college education and reach their potential without assuming overwhelming debt after graduation.

“We’re dramatically increasing aid, going to a 20% increase in need-based aid,” said Jim Begany, vice president for enrollment management.

Closing the gap

That increase in need-based aid means UofL is investing $2.4 million toward the Cardinal Commitment Grant in 2024. The grant helps to close the gap between eligible Kentucky students’ financial aid and the cost of attendance, which includes tuition, dining, transportation, books and other expenses.

“With this grant, we’re making a commitment to Kentucky residents,” Begany said. “We want to put a college education within reach of all of the Kentucky students we enroll into the university, so now even students who might qualify for merit-based aid can also receive this grant.”

Previously available only to Pell Grant students, the Cardinal Commitment award expanded to include students with financial need who do not qualify for Pell Grants. All first-time freshman Kentucky residents who have been accepted to UofL and have a demonstrated financial need based on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) are eligible for the automatic Cardinal Commitment Grant.

“Part of our mission is to move the needle on social mobility and really attract first-generation, low-income students and others by which a college education could transform the lives of not just them but also their generations of family and family members,” Sawyer said. “This grant allows students to really maximize the opportunities at UofL and puts them in a position to not just be able to afford to go to school, but also afford to have a deep, impactful experience while they’re here.”

Freshman biology major and first-generation student Elienai Moreno Ramirez is one of the students who benefited from the expanded Cardinal Commitment Grant and is paving the way to a transformative life for herself and her family.

Ramirez moved to the U.S. from Cuba at 8 years old and worked hard to learn English and excel in her studies, leading her to graduate as valedictorian from local Waggener High School. Now, she is striving toward her dream of becoming a doctor as an honors student at UofL and leading the way for her three younger siblings to find their own success through a college education.

“Without the grant, it would have affected not only me but also my family. I was thrilled to be able to say, ‘See mom, you don’t have to go into debt for me,’” Ramirez said. “Having that financial support to back me up and being able to show my family a path they can walk through themselves one day is so rewarding. It’s amazing to go through these moments to show my younger siblings we can all do this.”

Taking high achievers to new heights

UofL’s efforts to make college affordable also draw in high-achieving students through expanded investments in merit-based, competitive scholarships such as the Grawemeyer Scholarship, McConnell Scholars, Martin Luther King Scholars, Woodford R. Porter Scholarship and Henry Vogt Scholarship programs.

These niche scholarship programs encourage research, innovation and intellectual curiosity at the university and help attract students who took rigorous high school curricula and are committed to creating positive change in the commonwealth and beyond.

“These awards are focused on attracting students we think will make our campus a
better place,” Sawyer said. “For instance, the Vogt Scholarship is focused on local
students with strong academic records who have also made significant contributions to
their communities outside the classroom.”

Benji Kostic, a Vogt Scholarship recipient, is a first-generation American whose parents moved to Louisville as refugees from Bosnia. The biology major, who will graduate in May, works in clinical research at the Norton Leatherman Spine Center and as a chemistry tutor at UofL and hopes to one day become an orthopedic surgeon.

“The Vogt Scholarship allowed me to explore various opportunities at UofL because I didn’t have a financial burden,” Kostic said. “I was able to join clubs and get involved without also getting a job to pay for my schooling. It made me feel very free.”

Kostic used that freedom to cofound the nonprofit Homeland Project, which he is working on turning into a club to continue on after he graduates.

“We’re focused on helping refugees and immigrants learn English and how to go to the grocery store or the doctor, how to survive and live and assimilate to American lifestyle,” he said. Kostic says his parents found similar support when they moved to Louisville, which inspired him to pay it forward for others.

“My parents always instilled in me to give back to the city that gave to them,” he said. “Louisville has given my family so many opportunities and I want to give back to
Louisville, too.”

Extending affordability across the state lines

Students from outside Kentucky can also access an affordable education at UofL through the Border Benefit program, which gives residents of select bordering states and metropolitan areas the chance to attend UofL at in-state tuition rates.

Beginning in fall 2024, the Border Benefit award will expand to include transfer and
first-time college students in all counties in Ohio and West Virginia. The award already is available to students from all Illinois and Indiana counties, select Ohio counties and some counties surrounding the Nashville and St. Louis metropolitan areas.

“We want to give students that are coming from different parts of the country, particularly within our Border Benefit areas, the opportunity to come at our in-state tuition rate,” Begany said. “We’re eager to help more students find success and earn their college degree without an overwhelming financial burden.”

Students residing in regional areas can receive an estimated $16,000 per year award, which reduces their tuition to the equivalent of Kentucky in-state tuition. In fall 2023, Border Benefit students made up over 13% of the incoming freshman class.

Setting up success

Though there may be more work to be done to make higher education more affordable
and accessible to all students, UofL is making strides to eliminate financial barriers
and empowering students to strengthen their communities after graduation.

“When the university began to invest in merit-based aid about 25 years ago, we changed the profile of who our student body was and that increase in our number of high-achieving students has made us a leader in competitive scholars across the U.S.,” Sawyer said. “As you have more students with strong desires to do research and learn, the more opportunities open up for all students to grow.

“When I see the types of things our students are going out to do in the world after graduation – whether it’s cancer research or building new businesses or becoming doctors – I know our efforts are worth it.” 

“My answer was I always wanted to be a social worker,” said the 24-year-old Somerset native. “But because I was in recovery, I thought that idea was off the table for me.”

But Cheek’s second chance was waiting for her, thanks to a unique opportunity to get the training and education she needed. The UofL Trager Institute’s Trauma-Informed Flourishcare* Paraprofessional Training Program, which prepares participants for a behavioral health career, emphasizes recovery for people with substance use and other mental health needs throughout Kentucky.

This program is an example of just one of the many UofL partnerships and programs supported by federal funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration, which works to provide equitable health care to communities with the highest need.

At UofL, these federal funds create partnerships and programs that are making an increasingly important impact across the state by addressing health disparities and workforce development needs in social work, medicine, nursing, public health and dentistry.

Scholarships offered translate to more students able to fulfill their dream of a medical career or taking their career to the next level, as well as addressing rural shortages of primary care providers, nurses, nurse practitioners, therapists, social workers and public health professionals in eastern, southcentral and western Kentucky.

TRANSFORMING LIVES

Recent HRSA grants in medicine and nursing have added millions to collaborations that benefit the health of Kentuckians and boost health-related employment in areas that need it most.

In fact, Kentucky has a severe shortage of health care providers, with at least some portion of 113 of the state’s 120 counties designated as “health professional shortage areas.”

For Cheek, the paraprofessionals program offered her a new pathway to gain certifications and valuable internships to take her from UofL student to peer support specialist to community health worker. Now on the cusp of completing her associate degree in social work, Cheek said she plans to continue working for her bachelor’s degree from UofL online. With the support and training she is receiving, the community health worker can both support herself and continue her education, all from her own backyard in Harlan.

“This really gave me a broader vision of going into social work,” Cheek said. “It is honestly mind-blowing to me all the different doors this program has opened forme, to have this opportunity that I never dreamed was possible.”

In addition, learners such as Cheek are given credit for their “lived experience,” said Natalie Gober, director of the paraprofessionals program. “In the behavioral health field, we’ve started to see more clearly the value of peer support positions or people who have that lived experience working in the field,” she said. “It also provides a nontraditional access point for people who may have been through recovery or have struggled with mental health, and who want to give back and help others in the ways that they’ve been helped.”

BUILDING A WORKFORCE

In summer 2023 UofL School of Nursing received $6.5 million through two new HRSA grants to help increase Kentuckians’ access to health care, particularly in underserved rural and urban areas. The funds go to develop and implement two projects, the first an accelerated Licensed Practical Nurse-to-Bachelor of Science in Nursing (LPN-to-BSN) pathway in the state’s medically underserved areas. The second project aims to increase the number and diversity of nurse practitioners to better address needs of rural and urban underserved populations. Both projects leverage resources by partnering with Mountain Comprehensive Health Corp. (MCHC), a federally qualified health center serving seven southeastern Kentucky counties. One focus of this extended partnership is to increase the nurse practitioner workforce in an area where 57% of the population lives below the federal poverty level.

Teresa Dotson, director of financial affairs for MCHC-Whitesburg, said that workforce recruitment and retention is improving now that some of the barriers are being addressed.

“Employees often had to quit or go part time or go to another work setting to go back to school,” Dotson said. “We were losing all that experience just because they were trying to better themselves. They didn’t have time or couldn’t afford it, but now we have 132 of our 517 employees enrolled in some type of pathway program.”

Bennie McCall, MCHC’s workforce development coordinator, said everybody wins with the pathway programs.

“As a corporation, we get highly educated individuals, and for our people who want to make a difference in their community by becoming a nurse or nurse practitioner, this program gives them the leeway to do that, the ability to fulfill their dreams.”

Registered nurse Jacob Hunter, an employee of MCHC in Cumberland, is one local excited to take his career to the next level and serve the community where he grew up. A practicing nurse for seven years, Hunter said he fell in love with patient care in nursing school.

“I always had the aspiration to become a family nurse practitioner but could never find the time or had to work to meet financial obligations. I’ve lived here all my life,” Hunter said.

“It is a different culture here in southeast Kentucky in the Appalachian Mountains, and health care is not always the priority,” he added. “To have practitioners familiar with the area and provide services that aren’t available nearby will benefit the community. We also are giving people like myself the opportunity to advance, something I wouldn’t have been able to do on my own. My father was a coal miner, but this is my calling and my dream.”

HELPING COMMUNITIES THRIVE

Sonji Adams, MCHC-Whitesburg’s behavioral health director, said unfortunately counties where MCHC has its clinics lead the nation in what are termed “diseases of despair” such as hypertension, obesity, diabetes, substance use disorders and heart disease. In the three years the paraprofessional program has been in the area, Adams said she has seen an increase in stability in community residents. “There have been undeniable changes and positive impacts in the community that have come out of this partnership.”

Preventive care is making a dramatic difference, according to Adams. “Having these paraprofessionals placed here means they have greater communication with the patient population and can directly ask those questions about living situations, financial status, food insecurities,” Adams said. “Patients are not concerned about their diabetic situation if they don’t have enough food in the home.”

Paraprofessionals establishing rapport when patients come in for routine visits can help identify other unmet needs. “They can link them to resources and get them enrolled in programs while they are here without the burden of additional travel,” Adams said. “We have been able to make positive impacts in the community because we are increasing access to patient care, specialized care options and resources.”

Adams said while it is easy to focus on treatment population and their positive outcomes, it is notable that UofL partnership programs are also transforming lives for educational participants.

“So many single mothers here are the sole income for their children, and they would not be able to further their career or make a better life for themselves if they did not have access to programs that allow them to work and attend school at the same time,” she said. “They are getting education and bettering themselves, which is bettering their children and bettering their household and bettering the community.”

Adams notes that it increases the overall positive vibe of the community and helps reduce depression because residents don’t feel stuck.

“They have options that were not available before, actually not even possibilities before,” she said. “This program affects all areas of basic need: employment, housing and improving sustainability and self-reliance of the community, and that’s what everybody wants.” 

Since then, with the Twin Spires and now the Big Board video screen visible in the background view from campus, the university and the racetrack have been intrinsically linked. UofL connections abound on Derby Day, from performances by the Marching Band and Cardinal Singers to students and alums working everywhere from the track backside to the media room for the big race.

The connection doesn’t only last for the signature event. UofL nursing faculty run the Kentucky Racing Health Services Center; students participate in internships in business, communication and more; university art classes decorate the track; the Kentucky Cancer Program at UofL supports Oaks Day initiatives; and Churchill Downs Inc. was even the first tenant of the university’s Shelbyhurst business park.

Additionally, UofL Libraries Archives and Special Collections house photography collections with Churchill Downs and Derby-related images dating back to the 1880s. In celebration of the 150th Kentucky Derby, UofL Magazine dug into the university’s Photographic Archives to uncover visuals of Louisville’s day (or week or more) at the races. They include shots from well-known local photographers and UofL students and document events from the race itself to Kentucky Derby Festival staples and college traditions. In all, they provide a historic perspective of the crown jewel of the Triple Crown and all the celebrations that surround it.