President Bendapudi reviewed the university’s commitment to anti-racism. Updates were provided to senators on the Commission on Diversity and Racial Equity (CODRE), current progress on commitments made in the , and the financial benefits of healthcare expansion.

CODRE has been tasked with developing a plan to implement the university’s anti-racism agenda. CODRE is considering reforms and actions needed within five key groups in the university community: faculty, staff, students, administrators and trainees, which was identified as a subcategory of students. A representative from the Office of Diversity and Equity will be assigned to each broad area and will assist in future implementation of anti-racist policies and practices.  

Updates were also given about the university’s Strategic Plan. The plan outlines a commitment to increase need-based aid for first-time freshmen to 20% by the year 2022. Bendapudi was proud of the progress made on this commitment, reporting an increase from 8% to 17% as of this year. 

Bendapudi added that efforts toward diversity and equity are also related to the university’s healthcare enterprise expansion, which included UofL Health-Mary & Elizabeth Hospital, the only hospital in Louisville located west of Interstate 65. Last year’s healthcare acquisitions as well as partnerships made with Norton pediatrics have proven to be strong financial assets for the university.

“In my third year, we are much stronger financially than we were, and we are making investment in things that we think matter,” she said. 

Executive Vice President and University Provost Beth Boehm addressed a student petition for a pass/fail option for the fall 2020 semester. Both the Academic Scenario Planning Committee and the Coordinating Committee determined that this would not be in the best interest of students or the university for many reasons, including accreditation for future semesters.

The Academic Scenario Planning Committee is reviewing the use of proctoring software, specifically Respondus, which depends on facial detection. Concerns about racial bias within the software were brought before the committee over the summer. Faculty members and students are contributing to the committee and they are working diligently to prepare recommendations for the future. The provost emailed all faculty on Nov.6 with a warning about this bias.   

Both Bendapudi and Boehm gave remarks on the importance of flu vaccines in the coming months. TAll faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to take advantage of the free flu shots administered through Campus Health Services, even if they will not be physically attending courses in the coming semester.

Senators were provided updates on COVID-19 testing by the executive director of Campus Health Services, Phillip Bressoud.

Bressoud announced that Campus Health Services will be adding molecular Helicase Chain Reaction (HCR) testing for COVID-19. This new testing option is approximately half the cost of traditional Polymerise Chain Reaction (PCR) tests. Hundreds of the new HCR tests can be processed daily in office. It is expected that the new testing option will be available in December.

A winter break schedule is being developed so that COVID-19 testing can continue being available on campus. The testing site at Cardinal Station Health Center will be open between Dec. 18 and Jan. 4 in order to accommodate health care employees and the campus community. 

Senators received an update on a PeopleSoft HR software replacement from M. Rehan Khan, vice president of Information Technology Services and chief information officer. The system, initially developed in the 1990s, has inherent inefficiencies that can contribute to increasing costs and negatively impacting user experience.

The ITS team diligently worked within the campus community over the last year by engaging stakeholders across 20 departments for participation and feedback, conducting interviews with 14 higher education institutions using other software, and price negotiation among vendors. The result of their efforts showed overwhelming support for Workday HR Software.

Kahn reported that a recommendation to the provost and chief financial officer has been made in favor of selecting Workday as the replacement for PeopleSoft. The cloud-based HR software will be introduced to the university gradually in two-year phases, the first of which is set to begin in January 2021.

Committee reports and a of the virtual meeting can be accessed on the . The next Faculty Senate meeting is scheduled for Dec. 2 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.