Faculty Senate met virtually on September 2 via Microsoft Teams. Senators received updates from the provost about the university鈥檚 Pivot to Fall plan, two new Faculty Senate Officers were elected, and a new certificate in Healthcare Leadership was approved.听
Provost Beth Boehm opened her report by听thanking senators for the arduous work they鈥檝e endured throughout the last six months. 鈥淔or 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,鈥 she said.听听
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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, 鈥淚 think this is the future of higher ed in a lot of ways and we鈥檙e significantly going to have to increase the number of adult learners that we have.鈥听
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Provost Boehm thanked Senators听Reginald Bruce and former Senator Scott听LaJoie, co-chairs of the 2019-2020 Faculty Roles subcommittee,听for their work on that was given to the Faculty Senate and to the Board of Trustees. 鈥淭he board was quite impressed with the fact that faculty took on this work. I鈥檓听really grateful听to you. We鈥檝e already implemented a number of recommendations,鈥 she said.听
Due to concerns, Provost Boehm clarified the frequency of meetings that take place regarding the university鈥檚 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鈥檚 hybrid learning model, both meet weekly. The ASP Committee is already discussing courses for the spring.听
Boehm announced that free flu shots are coming to campus soon and the university ordered three times the amount they normally do. 鈥淲hile 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鈥檛 want to do that,鈥听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.听 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.听
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听听section of the university鈥檚 COVID-19 website to address the concerns about testing operations and privacy. She reminded senators of the new听. The dashboard is now being updated on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays by Campus Health Services.
Faculty Senate Chair Krista Wallace-Boaz shared a听听of university activity over the summer. A key update from her report included the launch of a听听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.听听
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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听听were also approved.听听
A new certificate in听听was proposed for approval.听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鈥檚 degree in organizational leadership and learning.听
One senator questioned the value of a certificate that doesn鈥檛 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鈥 a community that has a variety of needs for a skilled workforce in the healthcare industry. The new certificate was approved.听
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Committee reports and a听听of the virtual meeting can be accessed on the听. The next Faculty Senate meeting is scheduled for听October 7 via Microsoft Teams.听
