Trucios-Haynes said she remains “unsettled” about the search process, but added that none of the top candidates, with the exception of internal candidates, would agree to an open search/interview process. She added that Bendapudi was her top choice out of the 50 candidates.

“I am so delighted that she wants to be here,” Trucios-Haynes said. “And that she’s the first woman and person of color to lead our school speaks out loud to our commitment to diversity and inclusion. I could not be more pleased with this choice.”

The Faculty Senate unanimously passed a resolution thanking Dr. Greg Postel for his interim leadership during a challenging time at UofL.

In other news, Trucios-Haynes reported that the UofL Foundation has agreed to add constituency trustees to its board. The bylaws were amended at the end of March indicating that the Faculty Senate, Staff Senate and SGA will now be represented on the ULF board.

Senators discussed the budget bill in Frankfort and its implications for program closure. A draft of guidelines for program closure was presented by the senate APC and P&B committees, led by David Owen and Jasmine Farrier. The two circumstances proposed to cause closure are financial exigency and the “result of academic considerations.”

“In both cases, we believe faculty deliberation and governance must place a central role in the decision-making process since the faculty possess the requisite expertise to judge the academic value of a program,” the guidelines read.

As Farrier notes, these proposed guidelines are not new. “This is just a collection of procedures that already exist.”

“The goal is to have something concrete so that we have the ability to determine the process internally,” Trucios-Haynes said. The committee will work with the executive committee to update language in the draft and a vote is anticipated during the May meeting.

Trucios-Haynes said a statement has also been drafted by the Kentucky Coalition of Senate & Faculty Leaders strongly opposing any budget bill provision that would permit the summary dismissal of tenured faculty. This draft will also be brought to the executive committee for refinement.

Interim Provost Dale Billingsley provided an update from his office, including an announcement that his last day in that role is June 1. Beth Boehm, dean of SIGS, will fill the interim provost role until the search process concludes, which is anticipated by January 2019.

Billingsley strongly urged the Faculty Senate to document what went wrong during the presidential search process to avoid these types of issues in the future.

He also provided an overview of the SACS visit in March, which was “a normal accreditation visit.” He said the visit was “very positive,” including a SACS endorsement of UofL’s QEP program. UofL did receive two recommendations from the accrediting body – the first in regards to the transcripting of transfer work and the other in response to the university’s financial stability after a downgrade in bond ratings. UofL has until September to address these recommendations.

Billingsley chimed in on HB 200 about program closures, mentioning he attended a graduate school that had an extinct languages program with five professors and no students.

“Culturally, it’s a threat to say there are certain types of knowledge we don’t need to know anymore. Declaring that bodies of knowledge are no longer useful is dangerous,” he said, noting that someone once declared, “physics is dead.”

Two dean searches continue and Billingsley said he hopes the Speed School dean will be named within the next two weeks. Nursing is down to three finalists. There are three decanal reviews this year – SIGS, Music and SPHIS.

The ombudsman job is posted and will be filled “hopefully” by July. Finally, Rhonda Bishop has been named the new VP of Enterprise, Risk Management and Compliance and she starts later this month.

In other news, the Redbook committee passed revised bylaws, and the committee on committees and credentials is looking for nominations. There are currently three vacancies on the committee. Elections will be held during the May meeting.

The next Faculty Senate meeting is May 2 in Chao Auditorium.

The campus climate survey received about 1,900 responses, while the budget survey received about 1,7000 responses, both of which he called “statistically significant response rates.”

“For the campus climate survey, what’s important is that we correct some of the problems we initially discovered in the 2014 survey. We will have forums to drill down the biggest, most persistent concerns,” he said. “For the budget survey, we will also hold two forums to figure out where we go from here.”

The budget forums are planned for Feb. 22 at noon on the Belknap Campus, and Feb. 26 on the HSC Campus. More information will be shared in UofL Today.

Postel concluded by mentioning that the NCAA has not yet reached out to UofL with its punishment about the prostitution scandal.

“We want to get this over with. We have no desire to prolong these issues. We have to be fair and protect our interests, but prolonging this issue is a no-win. We’re hoping to get closure as fast as we can,” he said.

Postel took a few questions from the senators, including UofL’s “new budget model.”

“What we’re trying to do is set revenue targets for each unit and have a budget where if you don’t meet those targets, there will be withholds,” he said. This approach was both recommended by a consultant and is in keeping with the CPE’s new performance-based funding model.

Other business

The meeting opening up the meeting with an in memoriam statement for Dr. Ruth Huber. Huber passed away on Jan. 23.

She was a professor emeritus in the Kent School of Social Work and was the inaugural director of Kent’s doctoral program. Huber, who was also active in the community, was named the Trustee Award winner in 2002.

The Student Government Association submitted a letter to faculty advocating for midterm academic evaluations. Studies have shown that this type of communication helps with retention rates. .��

Staff Senate did not meet in January, but reported concerns about the ongoing budget issues and employee morale.

Chair Enid Trucios-Haynes provided the chair’s report, which included a summation of the listening tour meetings that provided Board of Trustee members with a better understanding of the opportunities at UofL. Two additional faculty representatives for the presidential search process have been added – Krista Wallace-Boaz and Diane Chlebowy.

The presidential nomination period closes Feb. 15. Trucios-Haynes said there are 55 to 60 candidates expected by that date. All candidates will be reviewed and the pool of applicants will be whittled down to “10 or so” who will continue through the process.

Two budget forums are planned for this month, including one on Feb. 22 at noon on the Belknap Campus, and the other on Feb. 26 on the HSC Campus. More information will be available soon.

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Trucios-Haynes invited a deeper discussion about the budget survey, as well as the presidential forum pillars presented earlier in the fall semester. Senators suggested more details about the “aggressive cultural assessment” goal and redefining “overview of recruitment policies” to “enhancement of recruitment policies” or something similar. Also, they noted there is nothing referencing service in the community engagement pillar, and the “advocacy in health care” description is too vague.

Finally, one senator noted that the pillars are presented as being equal and he believes “educational excellence” should hold more weight than the others since it’s the “primary purpose” of our institution.

Provost Dale Billingsley

Provost Dale Billingsley discussed the objectives of the enrollment growth steering committee. Discussion of the university’s enrollment growth has used 30,000 students as a placeholder for a more considered goal throughout the next five years. This number is based on the typical enrollment of a public research 1 university.

The provost’s office plans to organize this committee to address four questions in detail:

• What is the university’s optimum size?
• What distribution of enrollments will the university support?
• How will the university provide for the students’ educational experience and support?
• Assuming that the new plan aims to provide ongoing long-term support, what resources will fund immediate development?

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The next Faculty Senate meeting is March 7 at 3 p.m. in Chao Auditorium.

“It’s important we have an active dialogue to make sure we are understanding what it is we want for this university going forward,” he said.

Postel opened the forum with an introduction of a new social media campaign, #WeAreUofL, launched last week in the midst of the news about an active FBI investigation into the men’s basketball program.

“What this means is this is our university. We are tough. We are resilient. We’ve gotten through all types of problems and we’ll get through these,” he said.

Updates on SACS and athletics

Prior to introducing the panel of UofL leaders, Postel provided updates on the SACS accreditation process and the latest news from athletics. Last week, SACS sent six visitors to campus to gauge UofL’s progress in addressing the organization’s concerns that initiated probationary accreditation status last year. Specifically, SACS representatives were looking at 10 issues and UofL was cleared on eight of them.

The two that remain a concern have to do with the university’s affiliated entities and the qualification of administrators.

Postel said a memorandum of understanding is being created to define UofL’s relationship with the UofL Real Estate Foundation and the Pediatric Medical Office Building to close the first loop. He added that many searches are underway for administrative positions and he hopes to name a few permanent positions soon to help with the second concern.

More information about the SACS visit is .��

On the athletics side, Postel said the “bombshell” news about the FBI investigation has consumed a lot of time and he is very concerned about how it is going to play out.

“I’m not going to downplay this. I love this place and it makes me sick that we have to continue to dodge things that hurt our reputation like this,” Postel said. “There is a lot that we still don’t know. It is an ongoing criminal investigation.”

Postel added that he is working to make the best decisions to protect the university and its reputation and that these decisions are not being made in a vacuum.

“There are no personal issues here. I am having many thoughtful conversations with the boards and we are approaching these issues as a team to acknowledge what is necessary to protect the University of Louisville,” he said.

2020 Plan

Postel then pivoted to the panel, brought together to examine UofL’s progress and discuss ideas for the future related to the five pillars in the 2020 plan.

• ����ֱ��al excellence: Interim Provost Dale Billingsley led the conversation on educational excellence, soliciting ideas on how to best increase enrollment while simultaneously increasing our graduation rate.

Professor Al Futrell suggested using distance education as a strategy to do both: “Distance education has played a major role in helping us get to where we are now. We need more of a focus on it as a legitimate strategy,” he said.

It was also suggested to increase a focus on our international student program. The graduation rates of international students are higher and “if we provide them with a good undergraduate experience, they may be more likely to choose UofL for their graduate studies.”

A concern was raised about who is going to teach all of these extra students if we hit ambitious enrollment goals in the next few years, since faculty resources are already compromised.

A suggestion was made to create a committee to focus on innovative ways to retain and develop adjunct faculty, since about 70 percent of classes are taught by adjuncts.

• Research, scholarship and creative activity: Bill Pierce, EVP for Research and Innovation, noted the dramatic increase in research output from 1997 through 2007-08 and said if UofL would like to continue in the top tier of research institutions, a business plan needs to be devised. He added that the IPR site is a major opportunity for the university.

“Most research institutions in metropolitan areas would kill to have 40 acres of land contiguous to their engineering school,” he said.

It was also suggested that the university focus more on undergraduate research as much as graduate research. This would overlap other priorities, such as educational excellence and recruitment of faculty.

• Diversity, opportunity and social justice: Mordean Archer-Taylor, vice provost for diversity, said there is a compelling interest in diversity, as it intertwines with all of the pillars. Also, a diversity plan has been approved by the CPE and the board of trustees and will be online soon. She noted it is a live document and is focused on the diversity of students and our workforce, as well as cultural competency programs.

• Community engagement: Ralph Fitzpatrick, interim VP of community engagement, noted that UofL is a national leader in community engagement. His goal is to become a national model. He provided a brief overview of some of successes in this area, including the Brandeis Human Rights Advocacy Program, which was recently named as an exemplary designee by the Engagement Scholarship Consortium and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities as an outstanding model of community engagement. Fitzpatrick also said UofL is in the midst of helping with the major revitalization of the Russel neighborhood in West Louisville, and is heavily involved in health care projects, especially for indigent communities.

“We are a major player in helping to strengthen regional economies and revitalize neighborhoods. We are a national leader. I believe we can become a national model. We stand ready,” Fitzpatrick said.

• Creative and responsible stewardship: Finally, Bryan Robinson, interim vice president of advancement, said his department is getting back to the basics of accountability and transparency. The team is improving the information flow to donors, including annual reports, and it is communicating more closely with deans and faculty to understand unit priorities and how endowment should be spent. The department created an office of stewardship to fulfill this objective.

Postel concluded the forum with a financial update, noting that UofL finished ahead of budget for 2016-17, and is on budget for 2017-18.

“We are just scratching the surface today,” Postel said. “We will continue to obtain input and spend time and consideration to decide what makes sense and find resources to make it possible.”

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Trucios-Haynes presented a statement of the executive committee for endorsement. It reads:

“The forensic audit of the University revealed significant issues regarding administrative transparency. The Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate continues to strongly encourage the University of Louisville Foundation to enhance faculty involvement in board governance by creating a permanent, ex-officio voting Faculty Representative on the Board of Directors. This increased faculty participation will strengthen the commitment to transparency and accountability of the Foundation’s business. We believe that robust shared governance at the University of Louisville Foundation might have led to greater oversight because of the unique perspective and investment faculty have in University matters.”

Trucios-Haynes put the endorsement of this statement up for a vote and it was passed unanimously.

She also said there are a number of RFP committees underway, including banking, print services and employee assistance program, and the faculty consultation committee to the presidential search held its second meeting last month.

The ad hoc budget committee also recently met for a second time to discuss strategic initiatives and the widespread impacts of the hiring freeze/frost. Trucios-Haynes said a major concern is the role faculty members play when there are less faculty available to teach, and the committee’s priority is to ensure this does not become the “new normal.”

Report, Dr. Dale Billingsley, interim EVP and Provost

Billingsley reported that the ombudsman search will conclude soon, and Dr. Bob Staat will continue in that role until Aug. 1 to ensure a smooth transition.

The Law School dean search has concluded and Colin Crawford will start Dec. 31. Professor Lars Smith will fill in until Crawford is on campus. Billingsley also reported that the Law School is expecting 150 students for the fall semester, about 60 more than last year.

The nursing and Speed dean positions have been posted and the goal is to have those searches underway in the fall.

SIGS Dean Beth Boehm and School of Music Dean Christopher Doan are up for the 5-year reviews.

Billingsley also reported that the Board of Trustees approved Redbook changes in its June meeting to bring it into compliance with SACS’ expectations. The scope of SACS’ September visit to campus has been expanded to address “financial stability issues,” in light of the Foundation audit.

The budget advisory committee continues to review requests for general funds and is tracking all open positions to ensure UofL hits a $10M savings target. There are five areas exempt from the hiring freeze/frost:

• Instructional impact
• External compliance and internal policy
• Safety and Security
• Essential patient care
• Contractual obligations

Billingsley noted there has been some confusion about funding sources, adding that general funds represent about 40 percent of the captures from attrition.

Enrollment is about 300 students behind this time last year – equating to about $3 million in revenue – though professional and graduate schools are doing well. Other institutions are reporting lower enrollment, too, with the University of Kentucky down about 7 to 8 percent.

“All of the incoming freshmen are excited and eager to be here. I’m hopeful that positive energy will be enough to overpower some of the negative stuff the staff and faculty are feeling,” Billingsley said, noting that those feelings are justified given the current situation. “The enthusiasm is there, but people are perplexed. Hopefully the positive energy from the incoming freshmen will help sustain us through the hard times. The bad times will end.”

Billingsley concluded his report by discussing his concern for the Trump administration’s federal aid plan, which primarily targets PELL and SGO grants.

“This is the financial aid these students use to get out of the poverty cycle,” he said. “If the budget does not change, we will have to adjust to reinforce the closing of that socio-economic gap.”

Report, Lee Smith, interim COO, and Mark Watkins, AVP for Business Services

Smith reported that his department is tasked with helping to find $20 million in savings – $10 million of that from the operational budget and $10 million from procurement.

From the operational budget, Smith said a variety of opportunities have been identified, such as IT costs (for example, paying for licenses that were not being used), energy management and supply costs. There are a handful of RFPs in progress, including managed print and wired and wireless internet that should also trim costs.

For procurement, Smith said we spend about $320 million to external companies. He said we will recoup some savings en route to that $10 million goal in the next year by applying a 6-percent surcharge to procurement activity at units.

Watkins added that there are 10 prioritized areas to find procurement savings, including computers, software, furniture, catering services and more.

“Our $3.2 million catering services bill is dispersed through many providers. The goal is to get that down to six preferred caterers,” he said, as an example.

A task force has been created to help with this initiative.

An extensive Q&A followed their report, with many expressing concern over the “procurement tax.” Smith said, “Our judgement is this is the best path forward for us right now.”

Dr. Greg Postel, interim president

Postel opened his PowerPoint presentation by stating that there is so much going on right now, “I don’t think it’s a time when over communication is possible.”

His first slide provided an overview of the UofL Hospital/James Graham Brown Cancer Center management transition, which was completed without incident July 1. Postel said 2,500 employees now work for UMC, which has a “strong” balance sheet and a balanced budget. Also, employee enthusiasm and engagement over the transition is “profound.”

“There were a number of people outside cheering when they were changing the signs. They’re excited about the opportunity to manage their hospital,” he said. “This is a real economic engine for the University of Louisville. This is one example of how to bring into our control and asset and a growth opportunity versus a cut.”

Postel provided a quick overview of the four construction projects underway – Belknap Academic Building, Swain Center renovation/expansion; Pediatric Medical Office Building; and Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.

“I’m most excited about the academic building. It will include all of the things that go into making sure our students excel,” he said.

All projects remain on track for completion about a year from now.

There are a number of appointments and searches underway:

• CFO, national search underway
• CAO, position will not be refilled
• COO, proposed internal search
• AVP HR, an interim appointment will be followed by a search
• VP for advancement, an interim appointment will be followed by a search
• VP for community engagement, an interim appointment will be followed by a search
• HSC CFO, complete
• Director of the James Graham Brown Cancer Center, complete
• Brandeis School of Law dean, complete
• School of Nursing dean, national search to start in the fall
• Speed School dean, national search to start in the fall
• Ombudsman, search concluding

Postel provided an update to UofL’s SACS accreditation status, noting the leadership had an “excellent” meeting in June with SACS. Postel and a few other administrators are going to visit SACS in Georgia to talk about anything extra the university can do to ensure the September site visit is successful.

“It is a way for us to be proactive and for us to get our faces out there,” he said.

One of his biggest concerns is the financial stability of the university.

“SACS will want to see that we have a balanced budget. This institution has not had a balanced budget in years and they’re going to make sure we’re sticking to this. I’m very focused on this. “Now is not the time to be lax on expenses and revenue,” Postel said.

Postel said he has received a lot of feedback from donors and members of the public about the recent NCAA ruling about the men’s basketball team.

“There were four sets of findings and they were not appealing. This is a bad story and we’re not making excuses,” he said.

UofL is appealing two of the penalties: vacation of wins/titles and financial claw back from conference proceeds.

“It’s hard to find precedent with these penalties. We are appealing these two with a ‘non-emotional’ justification. We feel that there were errors made in the way these penalties were decided. Some of the players ended up not even playing for UofL, for example,” Postel said. “We have to balance being fair but accepting our punishment.”

The appeal process will run at least until the fall, when the next hearing is scheduled.

Postel said there is not much to update on the UofL Foundation’s forensic audit. The board of trustees continues to study the report and a detailed discussion will take place at the next board meeting, July 20. This, he said, will kick off additional conversations.

The Jewish Hospital/Frazier Rehabilitation Center are on the market. These are KentuckyOne Health’s largest facilities and UofL owns the ground and much of the programming that takes place there (about half of the admissions).

“We’re trying to understand what we can do that produces no-to-minimal risk for the university but is in the best interests of the community because these facilities provide a big safety net for many, many people,” Postel said. “Two of the three busiest ERs in the city are for sale and as a service we can’t look away, but we can’t do something at the peril of the university.”

Finally, UofL will “reassess” the current, “extremely conservative” budget in the fall to see if we can change strategies.

“Will we have to be as harsh about hiring? Procurement? We should be able to know more by then. Nothing is going to be easy or popular,” Postel said. “But we are busy trying to make this as painless and short term as possible. I am also confident we are going to have donors back again and soon. We’re all in this together.”

There is no Faculty Senate meeting in August.��

John Paul Nelson, from the College of Business, was recognized for 50 years at UofL. Nelson is professor of Economics.��

All recognized faculty members and their years of service include:

College of Arts & Sciences

• Augustus A. Mastri, Classical and Modern Languages (40)
• Robert M. Buchanan, Chemistry (35)
• Susan M. Griffin, English (35)
• Barbara L. Hanger, Fine Arts (35)
• Beth A. Boehm, English (30)
• Alan Golding, English (30)
• Suzanne Meeks, Psychological and Brain Sciences (30)
• Prasanna Sahoo, Mathematics (30)
• Patricia Gagne, Sociology (25)
• Elizabeth Grossi, Criminal Justice (25)

College of Business

• John Paul Nelson, Economics (50)
• Archie W. Faircloth, Accountancy (45)
• Alan N. Attaway, Accountancy (40)
• Jay T. Brandi, Finance (35)
• P.S. Raju, Marketing (30)
• Robert M. Barker, Computer Information Systems (25)

School of Dentistry

• Carmine J. Esposito, Oral Health and Rehabilitation (40)
• Susan W. Grammer, Oral Health and Rehabilitation (40)
• Douglas S. Darling, Oral Immunology and Infectious Diseases (25)

Brandeis School of Law

• Russell L. Weaver (35)
• John T. Cross (30)

School of Medicine

• Jeffrey P. Callen, Medicine (40)
• Richard D. Miller, Microbiology and Immunology (40)
• Richard W. Stremel, Physiology (40)
• Gordon R. Tobin, Surgery (40)
• Michael E. Brier, Medicine (30)
• William Gerald Cheadle, Surgery (30)
• Royce D. Coleman, Emergency Medicine (30)
• Steven R. Ellis, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics (30)
• Mary E. Fallat, Surgery (30)
• Mark P. Pfeifer, Medicine (30)
• Gerard Paul Rabalais, Pediatrics (30)
• Michael J. Voor, Orthopedic Surgery (25)
• Gordon Strauss, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (25)
• Vicki L. Montgomery, Pediatrics (25)
• Karen W. Krigger, Family and Geriatric Medicine (25)
• G. Rafael Fernandez-Botran, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (25)
• Rif S. El-Mallakh, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (25)
• Tracy D. Eells, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (25)
• Vernon Cook, Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health (25)

School of Nursing

• Carla P. Hermann (30)

J.B. Speed School of Engineering

• James Charles Watters, Chemical Engineering (40)
• Patricia Ann Stark Ralston, Engineering Fundamentals (35)
• J.P. Mohsen, Civil and Environmental Engineering (35)
• Adel S. Elmaghraby, Computer Engineering & Computer Science (35)
• Geoffrey Cobourn, Mechanical Engineering (35)
• John S. Usher, Industrial Engineering (30)
• Glen Prater, Jr., Mechanical Engineering (30)
• Mark N. French, Civil and Environmental Engineering (30)

Elections

Election results for Faculty Senate officers are as follows:

Enid Trucios-Haynes, Chair

Krista Wallace-Boaz, Vice Chair

Roger Bradshaw, Executive Committee

Academic Programs Committee: Rob Barker, Dno Demuth, Jasmine Farrier

Committee on Committees and Credentials: Dwayne Buttler, Susan Peacock

Part-Time Faculty Committee: Tim Crawford and Mary Makris (tie)

Planning and Budget Committee: Reg Bruce, David Owen

Redbook Committee: Beth Willey

Academic Technology Committee: Murali Ankem

Parking Advisory Committee: Tom Simmons

Staff Senate Rep: Avery Kolers

Student Conduct Hearing Board: Elizabeth Grossi, Martin Hall

Student Grievance Committee: Lynn Boyd, Robert Detmering

Regular meeting

Dr. Billingsley provided a number of updates to the Faculty Senate, including news that the 2018 budget is where it needs to be at this time. UofL will host three public workshops in May prior to the next Board of Trustees meeting, which will allow for feedback before the full, final budget is presented to the board in June.

Each unit has and will continue to be informed monthly of their progress on deficit reduction. The budget committee has been expanded to include Faculty and Staff Senate representation, among others.

The search for a new ombudsman has been reduced to three finalists. A final recommendation will be made to the provost on May 17.

Dean searches continue as well. Colin Crawford has been named the new dean of the Brandeis School of Law, pending board approval, and will begin Jan. 1. Law professor Lars Smith will fill the role in the interim. A new search for the Speed School dean will begin in the fall with “an aggressive timeline.” Gail DePuy will take on the acting dean role in the interim. Finally, the School of Nursing dean search will begin in the fall.

SACS work, according to Billingsley, is moving forward as usual, with nothing new to report.

From the enrollment front, applications and admissions are up 11 percent compared to last year. Students, surveys have shown, are not deterred by the SACS accreditation status. Underrepresented minority student numbers and mentored scholarship numbers are both strong at this point.

UofL is currently exploring a winter online session, but there is no follow up news to report at this time. The University of Kentucky has such a program and has generated thousands of registrations throughout the past few years.

There are two policies faculty should be diligent about due to either SACS or federal requirements – posting syllabi on Blackboard prior to the course and posting book orders before the first day of registration.

“These aren’t just a requirement by SACS and the federal government. They’re also a benefit to students,” Billingsley said.

Finally, Billingsley encouraged faculty to attend graduation next week, stating it is “an important year for students to know their teachers are there to support them.”

Dr. Postel opened his remarks by expressing appreciation to faculty for another successful semester. He also provided an update from the latest CPE meeting in Frankfort, including the growing recognition of deferred maintenance on state campuses across Kentucky, estimated to be around $8 billion.

“We have been giving attention to that at UofL and have been looking at ways to put in requests to the state to consider a bond issue of some kind to help defray the cost of deferred maintenance on this campus,” Postel said. Other campuses agree and they are looking at perhaps a larger, coordinated request for a bond issue that is partly, “hopefully,” funded by the state, and partly funded by donors.

“This is the state’s property and at some point they have to understand how it’s going to be maintained, so I thought that was an interesting conversation,” Postel said.

Another point was brought up about the state’s budget, which was about $113 million behind what was anticipated for Q3, or just over 1 percent, for the general funds budget. Things could change for Q4 to get the budget back in line. However, if that doesn’t happen, the governor has the ability to use about 25 percent of the rainy day fund to heal the general funds shortfall. This would still leave a deficit of about $60 million, which could potentially threaten the higher education budget. Postel said they will be watching this closely and will know more in the next few weeks.

Postel noted some positive news from UofL, including production of the state’s only Truman Scholar, the multiplicity of Fulbright Scholars and the success from the athletics programs. Additionally, he noted success with recruitment for hiring the law school dean, the new CFO of the HSC campus and the new director of the James Graham Brown Cancer Center.

Coming up, Postel expects May and June to continue to be busy, courtesy of the initial budget presentation to the Board of Trustees on May 18, and with two “big announcements” coming out within the first two weeks of June – the NCAA ruling on the men’s basketball team and the UofL Foundation forensic audit report.

“Both of these will attract a lot of media attention regardless of the outcomes,” he said.

Also, June will mark the final days for Kentucky One Health’s management of UofL Hospital, which will revert back to UMC management on July 1.

“This is a really big deal,” Postel said. “There are literally hundreds of people working on this transition. It is a good thing for UofL. Management will be focused on gaining efficiencies like never before and profitability will be able to better sustain all of our activities on the HSC campus.”

Postel also touched upon the budget process, saying it is “starting to get to a point where we’re about ready to conclude and begin presentations for the board for their deliberations and hopefully approval.

“It has been a tough process, but we have had incredible involvement and a lot of help from deans and faculty and staff on both campuses.”

Postel said everyone involved in the process has been focused on minimizing the impact on employees and programming. Opportunities have been located within the operations of the university, where we have modernized and become more efficient, which has saved us close to $20 million for the 2017-18 year.

“The beauty of this is it is done without the loss of jobs, it enhances functionality, and it also saves us money in the next year and also in the ongoing years,” Postel said. “We are now trying to create a budget not just to get the budget approved, but to build on the budget in future years.”

Postel added that we are holding firm on avoiding mass RIFs and programmatic closures and that the hiring frost may not be as widespread as initially predicted.

“We don’t want to ever live through this kind of process again. This is not the kind of process that builds long-term stability and growth,” he said. “We now have to sharply turn our focus to revenue generation and that will be through the medical complex, a better and larger UofL hospital, through a revised approach to development, and also a focus on a strategic plan of future.

“We’ve lived through this process and we’re going to be OK, but I don’t want anybody to think I’m happy about having to go through this.”

Other business

The Faculty Senate meeting also included the Redbook Committee’s second readings of the Speed School Personnel Policy and Procedures and the Kent School Bylaws, both of which passed.

There was no report from the Student Government Association.

The Staff Senate reported that its elections are coming up – June 12. The body has also created two new ad hoc committees, one focused on strategic plans and bylaws, and the other on presidential qualities.

Standing committee reports include:

Academic Programs: The committee is exploring a new BS in interdisciplinary studies, focused on neuroscience. Members are not ready for a report at this time.

Part-time Faculty: .��

Executive Committee: .��

Faculty Athletic Representative: .��

Faculty Senate’s next meeting is June 7 at 3 p.m. on the HSC campus. The location will be announced later.

The board heard from the heads of health systems at the University of Kansas and Vanderbilt University regarding how their organizations separated governance of the clinical enterprises away from the universities proper.

Both systems took the actions during recent years in reaction to changing dynamics in healthcare. Both leaders stressed the positive impact on the clinical enterprise and the consistent academic support back to the university while insulating the universities from potential risk.

President Greg Postel stressed that UofL has not made any proposals related to this type of action. However, the transition of management of UofL Hospital and the JGBCC to the university medical center affords the university the opportunity to examine the management structure at HSC.

In other action, Postel updated the board on the UofL Athletic Association’s budget process. He noted that ULAA’s budget will be incorporated into the university’s overall budget, which will be submitted for approval at the trustees’ June meeting.

Also at the meeting, Provost Dale Billingsley updated the board on the university’s progress in addressing issues raised as part of the university’s probation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). Billingsley said he will bring any needed revisions to the Redbook, UofL’s governing document, back to the board for its approval before submitting to SACS in September.

A 38-year member of the UofL faculty, Billingsley currently serves as professor of English in addition to his vice provost duties. He is a former Faculty Senate chair and a 21-year member of the provost’s senior staff.

“Dr. Billingsley is intimately familiar with the workings of the university and the provost’s office,” Pinto said. “He is respected and admired by the entire university community, having served in various roles in his department, his unit and university-wide.”

Pinto said Billingsley will oversee the continued implementation of the 21^st Century University Initiative, a plan to position UofL for excellence for decades to come.

He noted that Billingsley previously had announced his intention to step down from his role as vice provost and return to the classroom in 2017.

“When the new appointment ends, he plans to return to the classroom to teach until his retirement,” Pinto said.

Billingsley received his B.A. magna cum laude in English and history from Texas Christian University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He was a Rotary International Fellow at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, and returned to the United States for graduate study in Renaissance literature at Yale University, where he earned master of arts, master of philosophy and doctorate degrees.

Billingsley received the 1998 Trustees’ Award for his contributions to the student experience at the university. In 2007 he received Distinguished Service Awards from the College of Arts and Sciences and the university. In 2009 he received the from the university’s Office of Student Affairs “for his unwavering support for both students and the university.”