Dr. Dale Billingsley – UofL News

Distinguished faculty, outstanding staff recognized at awards program

Alicia Kelso — Thu, 10 May 2018 15:28:03 +0000

The 2017 and 2018 University of Louisville’s Celebration of Faculty and Staff was held Wednesday, with awards conferred by Dr. Greg Postel, interim president, and Dr. Dale Billingsley, acting provost. A complete list of employees recognized is below.��

2017 Distinguished Faculty Awards��

Awards for Outstanding Scholarship, Research and Creative Activity

David Scott, School of Dentistry
Terry Scott, College of ��ֱ�� and Human Development
Wendy Pfeffer, College of Arts and Sciences
Frank Zamborini, College of Arts and Sciences

Awards for Distinguished Service

Jenny Bay-Williams, College of ��ֱ�� and Human Development
Tim Daugherty, School of Dentistry
Keith Lyle, College of Arts and Sciences
Robert Pennington, College of ��ֱ�� and Human Development
Elaine Wise, College of Arts and Sciences

Awards for Distinguished Teaching

Patricia Ralston, J.B. Speed School of Engineering
Sarah Miller, College of Arts and Sciences

2018 Distinguished Faculty Awards��

Awards for Outstanding Scholarship, Research and Creative Activity

Charles Hubscher, School of Medicine
Cynthia Logsdon, School of Nursing
Stephen Mattingly, School of Music

Awards for Distinguished Service

John Gibson, College of Arts and Sciences
Cedric Powell, Brandeis School of Law
Chris Reitz, College of Arts and Sciences
Roman Yampolskiy, J.B. School of Engineering

Awards for Distinguished Teaching

Chris Fitzgerald, School of Music
Allison Ogden, School of Music��

2017 Outstanding Performance Awards��

Professional/Administrative Awards

Kristen Brown, Delphi Center
Daniel Bye, Office of Academic Planning & Accountability
Keneka Cheatham, College of Arts and Sciences
Sharolyn Pepper, International Student and Scholar Services
Jessica Kidd, College of Arts and Sciences

Technical/Paraprofessional Award

Donald Biddle, College of Arts and Sciences

Skilled Craft/Service Worker Award

Rick Cardwell, Business Services

2017 Supervisor of the Year Award

Kathy Meyer, Student Involvement

2018 Outstanding Performance Awards

Professional/Administrative Awards

Melissa Atkinson, School of Dentistry
Misty Burkhead, Planning Design and Construction
Lyshanna Cunningham, College of Arts and Sciences
Amanda LeDuke, College of Arts and Sciences
Karen Newton, Health Promotion and ��ֱ��
Linda Wilson, Office of Planning and Budget

Technical/Paraprofessional Award

James Hundley, College of Arts and Sciences

Skilled Craft/Service Worker Awards

William Brown, Department of Public Safety
Kenneth Carey, Physical Plant

Clerical/Secretarial Award

Lisa Shonburg, Department of Comparative Humanities

2018 Supervisor of the Year Award

Gale Rhodes, Delphi Center

2017 Presidential Exemplary Multicultural Engagement Staff Award��

Shannon Fitzgerald, Office of Dental Clinical Affairs��

2017 Presidential Exemplary Multicultural Teaching Award��

Delaina Amos, J.B. Speed School of Engineering��

Distinguished University Scholar��

Shirish Barve, School of Medicine��

University Scholars��

Bradford Hill, School of Medicine
Norman Lehman, School of Medicine

to see a full photo gallery of award winners.

Drs. Postel, Billingsley recognized during Faculty Senate meeting

Alicia Kelso — Tue, 08 May 2018 15:19:22 +0000

Dr. Greg Postel and Dr. Dale Billingsley were both recognized for their service as interim president and provost, respectively, with a reception and a certificate of appreciation during the May 2 Faculty Senate meeting.

Postel spoke briefly about his experiences throughout the past year and half as interim president, stating that he enjoyed the endless conversations and opportunities presented to him during that time.

“The past year and a half took a toll personally for me and my family, but all that said, it has been an extremely gratifying experience,” he said. “I’d like to thank the campus community for being responsive to our needs.”

Postel added that he has had numerous conversations with incoming president Neeli Bendapudi to help her “have a soft landing.”

“She is engaging, bright, fun to talk to and I think she will be a pleasure to work with,” he said.

Postel has compiled a transition document for Bendapudi that includes 195 active topics.

“She is not coming to the university in a time of full-blown crisis, but she is coming to a campus that has an awful lot of needs. Those needs are challenging. They will require year over year attention. She deserves and needs the full support of the university, the city and the state to move the needle,” Postel said.

Postel also touched on the state budget process, noting that the proposed 6.25-percent cut is disappointing, but some of it is offset by performance funding and cancer research.

“Still, we have to remain sharply focused. There is a pervasive attitude in Frankfort that higher education is bloated and we are forced to become lean – too lean in some areas,” Postel said. He submitted a list of priorities UofL needs to focus on to be transformational, including enhancing liquidity, retaining and recruitment of students, establishing a Phi Beta Kappa chapter, asset preservation and more.

“These are not in the budget. The budget is balanced right now, but that doesn’t include these things, which we need to move forward,” Postel said. “We have to focus on revenue generation – re-gaining the trust of our donor community and student recruitment. We’re past the crises, but we still have some heavy lifting to get to where we want to be.”

Billingsley said the CPE has approved a 6-percent ceiling on tuition increases for the next two years. If the board refuses a tuition increase, UofL will have to implement budget contingencies again, noting that enrollment increases will continue to be critical.

A new, electronic faculty evaluation system has been proposed that aims to make the process easier and save money. Miami of Ohio implemented a similar system and realized an 80-percent saving of faculty time, for example. There will be a formal proposal to include this system in next year’s budget.

Billingsley noted that Beth Boehm will serve as acting provost beginning in June; Paul DeMarco will be acting dean of SIGS; and Beth Willey will be interim associate provost for undergraduate programs.

Brandeis School of Law Dean Colin Crawford provided an update of the work he has been focused on since starting in that role in the beginning of the semester. These focus areas include signature programs, such as the Human Rights Advocacy Program and Central High School partnership, as well as commercial law opportunities and international programming.

CHAWS proposal

A proposal was made for a Center for Health Air Water and Soil (CHAWS), to be housed in the Cardiovascular Institute and led by Dr. Aruni Bhatnagar from the School of Medicine. CHAWS received a $250,000 annual gift for five years and is expected to be self-funded after that time period.

The mission is “to support and promote innovative, environmental research and project focused on health in all policies using the city of Louisville as an urban laboratory; to improve the health and harmony of our community by empowering citizens and using inventive technology; and to encourage new conversations and find new solutions to health challenges in our community and in our world.”

CHAWS is to be part of an Envirome Institute that also includes the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health Science; the Center for Integrated Environmental Health Science; Superfund Basic Research Program; American Heart Association Tobacco Center; Diabetes and Obesity Center; Center for Environmental Engineering; Center for Environmental Sciences; Center for Environmental Policy and Management; and Center for Healthy Air, Water and Soil.

The proposal was approved by the Faculty Senate.

Geospatial Technology certificate

A certificate In Geospatial Technology was also proposed during the meeting. The 15-credit-hour undergraduate certificate complements other programs including criminal justice, engineering, anthropology and biology. It was noted that the discipline is marketable and multidisciplinary. The proposal was approved.

Other news

Enid Trucios-Haynes provided the chair’s report, .��

Elections were held and new senate officers include:

Chair, Krista Wallace-Boaz, Music

Vice Chair, David Owen, A&S

Academics Programs Committee: Chin Ng, Medicine; David Stirling, Medicine; Clare Sullivan, A&S

Committee on Committees and Credentials: Ben Foster, Business; Rebecca Jemian, Music; Michael Tseng, Medicine

Executive Committee: Diana Chlebowy, Nursing; J.P. Mohsen, Speed

Part-Time Faculty Committee: Robert Detmering, Libraries; Robert Myers, Business

Planning and Budget Committee: David Schultz, A&S

Redbook Committee: Forest Arnold, Medicine; John Ferre, A&S; Patrick Harris, Medicine

Academic Technology Committee: Patrick Harris, Medicine

Parking Advisory Committee: Ricardo Caicedo, Dentistry

Parking Appeals Committee: J.P. Mohsen, Speed; Eugene Miller, A&S; Patrick Lai, Dentistry

Staff Senate: Christopher Tillquist, A&S

Student Conduct Hearing Board: Joseph Gutmann, A&S; Diksha Katwal, Dentistry

SGA Representative: Patrick Harris, Medicine

Student Grievance Committee: Robert Barker, Business; Meg Hancock, CEHD; Avery Kolers, A&S; Patrick Harris, Medicine; Ben Schoenbachler, Medicine

Faculty Senate introduced to new COO

Alicia Kelso — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 18:06:48 +0000

Joseph Han was introduced to the Faculty Senate during its monthly meeting March 7. The new COO started March 1.

He said the operations unit is working on a 5-year plan that includes making data-based decisions, improving communication within units and getting staff involved in decisions.

“I am thrilled to be here and I am excited about the direction we’re headed in,” Han said.

Also during the meeting, SGA’s newly-elected president Jonathan Fuller gave the group’s report, which includes a resolution to establish course fee evaluations. Fuller asked faculty senators for input on where this information should go (for example, at the end of a course evaluation). The resolution objective is to make clear to all students enrolled in a course with associated fees what the intended use of those fees is. The full resolution is .��

Faculty Senate Chair Enid Trucios-Haynes provided her report, which included an update on several board meetings and subcommittee meetings since February. She said 53 candidates have applied for the presidential position, calling it a “good pool of candidates.” That number has since been whittled down to about 10. The presidential decision is expected in April or May. Her full report is .��

Trucios-Haynes opened the floor for discussion on recently-held budget forums, survey results and other university priorities. Concerns were raised about the process behind dropping low-enrollment programs and which metrics are used to determine their fate.

“We shouldn’t be cutting any programs if our goal is to grow enrollment by 40 percent,” one senator said.

Another expressed concern about how to scale for such ambitious growth, including digital and physical infrastructure, support staff and services.

Interim Provost Dale Billingsley provided an update on the state budget process, noting that UofL will not know if any cuts are on the table until mid-April.

“The House passed a budget proposal that removed most of the governor’s cuts to university budgets; while this more generous budget is likely to be tightened up in the Senate, the university’s advocacy work, led by assistant vice president Shannon Rickett, seems to be having good effects,” he said.

Billingsley also reported that about 500 employees and students participated in President Postel’s budget forums in February, noting that while there was good discussion, none of the ideas proposed have been unexplored already.

UofL is reconsidering tuition sharing plans and whether they’re beneficial. Billingsley also discussed the university’s enrollment growth goals, which will become more clear when the revenue targets are further along by the end of April.

“Enrollment growth is many different things. The cheapest is retention, so we’re focusing very heavily on retention efforts,” he said. “Part of the reason for growth is not just to get money, but to improve the programs we have and to provide our students with the education and experience they need to become productive citizens.”

Billingsley also noted that, at 2018 tuition rates, discounting fees of any sort and thinking only of resident undergraduate tuition, an increase of 5,000 full-time undergraduates will yield almost $28 million dollars in gross tuition revenue per term.

Other general interest items from Billingsley’s report include:

Cardinal Core, the program that replaces the General ��ֱ�� Requirements of 2002, has been accepted by the undergraduate faculties and will be promulgated for all undergraduate students in the undergraduate catalog to be issued in May. The Cardinal Core makes some significant but not radical changes in the current program, especially in the areas of quantitative reasoning, historical understanding and diversity.
CPE has proposed a new academic program review policy with more CPE control over curriculum and program administration.
Campus Climate Survey action plans should be released later this month.
Dean search updates: The Speed School search committee hosted four campus visits, which concluded at the end of January. The committee submitted unranked recommendations. The Nursing School search committee selected five finalists for on-campus interviews. The SIGS decanal review is underway and expects to complete its work in May. The Music decanal review and SPHIS decanal review are getting underway with the election/appointment of members as required by the REDBOOK. Medicine decanal five-year review will begin in July.
For other searches: With the resignation of Bryan Robinson, President Postel is overseeing advancement activities until a consultant can be retained. VP Enterprise Risk Management and Compliance: Rhonda Bishop, Vice President for Enterprise Risk Management, Audit and Compliance, starts April 16. VP Finance and CFO: Preparations for a renewed search have begun. University Ombuds: Dr. Bob Staat has agreed to take up this assignment (again) until June 30.
The SACS reaffirmation team will visit the university March 26-29 for onsite review of the focused report issues and the QEP proposal.

Billingsley’s full report is .��

Committee reports, including academic programs, part-time faculty, ULAA and the president search faculty consultation committee, are also .��

The next Faculty Senate meeting is April 4 from 3-5 p.m. in Chao Auditorium.

Faculty Senate voices opposition to closed presidential search

Alicia Kelso — Tue, 10 Oct 2017 14:13:20 +0000

UofL’s Faculty Senate convened last Wednesday on the HSC Campus, opening the meeting with a memorium statement for Dr. Susan Peacock, an instructor with the College of ��ֱ�� and Human Development, who passed away on Aug. 2. It was noted that Peacock was a repeated faculty favorite and held a number of leadership roles, including on the part-time faculty committee.

Senate committee elections were held, and an action item was approved to add a graduate certificate in biostatistics. All courses already exist as part of the master’s program, so no additional resources are needed to launch the certificate program.

Chair Enid Trucios-Haynes presented highlights from the chair’s report, which is available .

She noted her efforts urging board of trustees’ chair David Grissom to advise the campus community about the planned framework for the presidential search process, which he has reported will be a closed search throughout the process. The BOT has received numerous responses to his proposal, including from faculty, chairs, deans and the AAUP.

The Faculty Senate Executive Committee also responded and, after a lengthy discussion, it was motioned and approved that the senate endorse the XC’s letter, which reads:

Dear Members of the Board of Trustees,

The Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate is thoroughly opposed to the decision of the Board of Trustees to conduct a closed Presidential search. We feel that severely limiting the input from faculty and other constituents will damage the efforts to cultivate greater transparency, undermine the importance of shared governance, and negatively impact the future working relationship and trust between the faculty and senior leadership.

We believe that more input from constituents, particularly faculty, will assist the search committee throughout the process by providing important institutional history, and thus result in a better outcome. This more inclusive representation would also help restore the confidence of the University’s donors. We urge the Board to reevaluate the search process, and open the search once finalists are selected, allowing faculty, staff and students to interact on campus with each of the finalists. We also strongly recommend that the search committee be expanded to include a broader representation of campus and community constituents, along with a robust engagement of the .

Collaboration is essential to restoring the morale of the faculty, and greater collaboration will serve to unify the administration, students, staff and faculty so that we, the community of the University of Louisville, can focus on moving forward with our values, goals and initiatives.

Sincerely,

The Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate & The Faculty Senate

Todd Mooradian, dean of the College of Business, was introduced to the Senate. He has been in the post for a little less than a year and provided some of his background, including his proximity to higher education throughout his entire life, growing up near the campus of the University of New Hampshire.

Mooradian outlined three of his priorities in the decanal role, including promotion of a culture of inclusiveness, innovation and efficiency.

“I want to the school to embrace and celebrate each individual and invest in their success wholeheartedly. We’re also spending a lot of time thinking about value propositions so the community embraces us more,” he said. “We’re working hard to engage the community and finding ways to contribute to Louisville, Kentucky and the world. I am so pleased to be a part of an institution that gives students a public service opportunity.”

Report: Interim president Dr. Greg Postel provided an update on a variety of issues, including SACS. 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. 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��.��

Postel noted that September marked UofL’s biggest research month in the history of the institution, led by Dr. Roberto Bolli’s $13.8 million grant from NIH to study a promising new heart failure treatment.

He pivoted to donor activity, which he described as “good, surprising,” and noted that the Advancement Office is working on enhancing stewardship efforts and programmatic support.

Postel provided an update on UofL Hospital, describing it as “busy, busy, busy.”

“The hospital is full. It hired 108 nurses in two months. Prior to July, it couldn’t hire a nurse to save itself, so that just shows the kind of work UMC is doing,” he said.

Postel discussed the budget, noting that 2016-17 is done and favorable. It will be available next week. The 2017-18 budget, meanwhile, is balanced, including the $48 million deficit.

“We’re right on target in every category,” he said. “I’m obsessed with finding new revenue streams. My biggest worry right now is how much education could be a victim to a decrease in state appropriations. It’s not a matter of ‘if,’ it’s a matter of ‘how much.’ But it’s reason for us to get motivated to find ways to stand on our own,” Postel said. “This is why we’re focusing on priority setting and hosting open forums to get faculty and staff to help us understand our priorities.”

Finally, Postel touched on the athletics scandals taking place, nothing the NCAA appeal for the prostitution scandal is in process and expected in mid-December. He said he is not optimistic because of the more recent FBI allegations against the men’s basketball team.

“The real issue here is reputational. To see another hit is painful,” he said. “There is nothing good about this (FBI) story. We are working very hard to stay current about the information as it comes in. The university is not a target in this, we are viewed as a victim. But that means we will have financial and reputational exposure again.”

Postel said he received about 3,000 emails last week about this scandal via email.

“It’s important to note that none of the decisions being made are personal. They’re all being made to protect the university,” he said.

Report: Interim Provost Dr. Dale Billingsley provided a brief update that will be available online soon. He mentioned the diversity plan is now available online and individual units will be required to work on their own plans soon. He also noted that there have been requests for more support for tuition revenue sharing plans for new programs and his office is working on getting a single template launched to tuition revenue sharing plans are transparent.

Report: Brian Bigelow, Title IX and ADA Coordinator, introduced himself to the Faculty Senate, having been in his position for the past 15 months. He provided an overview of what the university’s responsibilities are in response to last month’s changes to Title IX, introduced by Secretary of ��ֱ�� Betsy DeVos.

“There are new regulations, but we don’t know what they say yet and we don’t know how long it will take for them to go into effect,” he said. “In the meantime, it doesn’t affect UofL specifically. We’re in a holding pattern, but we’re alert to changes coming down the pike.”

Other reports are available online:

The next Faculty Senate meeting is Nov. 1, 3-5 p.m. in Ekstrom Library’s Chao Auditorium.

New HR leader outlines list of objectives for Staff Senate

Alicia Kelso — Mon, 18 Sep 2017 13:54:15 +0000

UofL’s Staff Senate met Monday after an August hiatus, with Vice Chair Vickie Tencer presiding. Dr. Dale Billingsley, interim provost, provided an extensive report on a number of issues, including the budget.

The first quarter report will be presented to the Board of Trustees in October and Billingsley said we have experienced about $4 million per month of growth since the budget process began earlier this year. Positions will remain unfilled until more goals are met, however some exceptions have been made for positions that pertain to patient care and other needs.

“The objective is to reduce spending,” he said.

There have been 89 RIFs reported at UofL since the budget crisis was announced and this includes all positions – full-time, part-time, people on grants, etc. Billingsley said this number is not different than “normal” (non-budget crisis) years. He said many of those jobs won’t come back.

“One of the issues our university has had for a long time is the management of our funds hasn’t been great. This experience should teach us how to better manage our expense and revenue,” he said. “We want to be more strategic and focused. How we do fiscally has to do with what SACS thinks of our university.”

SACS will visit UofL next week to determine our current probation status. A decision will be made in December. Billingsley said President Greg Postel is confident we’re in a good position before next week’s visit.

John Elliott, interim AVP of HR

Elliott introduced himself and provided some of his background information to the Staff Senate. He has been in the interim AVP for HR role for six weeks, replacing Jeanell Hughes who left for another opportunity. Elliott outlined his observations and objectives so far, including:

Trying to get to know the HR team and making the department more efficient and service-oriented.
Reviewing and revising the HR policies by Nov. 1. Elliott said many of these haven’t been updated since 1992.
Elliott said they are looking at the RIF policy/procedures and he is looking at changing some of the content; for example increasing the minimum time an employee was informed of a RIF to their last day from 30 to 60 days.
Open enrollment is Oct. 16-27 and employees should be looking for more information via UofL Today soon.
There have been four RFP processes recently, for COBRA, Life, LTD and flex spending and those will be announced soon.
Elliott said about 750 employees are affected by the one-year transition for waiver credit and that amount will be rolled into their paychecks throughout the course of 2018.
Regarding the FSLA policy that was put into place earlier this year, Elliott said right now he can’t say if this work will be reversed to coincide with the Trump Administration’s reversal of the policy. “Until there are new federal guidelines, we have to be in a holding pattern,” he said.
HR is currently undergoing a search for director of Benefits and is down to a few finalists.
Elliott said he can’t answer whether or not the hiring freeze will be lifted in October, as has been a rumor.

Elliott ended his report by outlining his short-term goals, which include preparing for the SACS HR interview, finalizing policies and hiring a director of Benefits. He also took some questions, many of which addressed low morale among employees who are working to fill holes left from recent RIFS. He thanked senators for providing that feedback and said he will be mindful of this environment.

Lee Smith, interim COO

Smith discussed a recent change that was made in the HR self-service direct deposit feature. He said because there have been so many issues around phishing, UofL had to adopt a more sophisticated system and has taken direct deposit offline for now. HR self-service will either by done by mobile app, text or call until IT can implement a multifactor authentication process.

Smith also suggested that all senators visit the SAC to see the construction progress and updated dining options.

The university is required to submit a 6-year capital plan to the state covering what projects we plan to pursue. Smith said UofL has identified 87 projects worth more than $1 billion of work. His team is working on finalizing this plan now.

They are also working on an updated safety report. Smith said crime numbers are steady from years past, but there have been more vehicle thefts, which reflects a broader, citywide trend.

Smith provided an update on where we are with our savings goals. The $10 million operations savings goal is now around $4.5 million, and the $10 million procurement savings goal is now around “several million,” though some of these savings intersect.

Finally, Smith encouraged senators to acknowledge Physical Plant employees for their work beautifying campus in preparation for Saturday’s ESPN GameDay set.

Faculty Senate report

Avery Kolers provided a Faculty Senate report, including work on a statement in support of DACA. He said UofL has 80 DACA students enrolled. He also said there is concern about our nepotism and tenure policies, both of which are currently being analyzed.

President Postel spoke to the Faculty Senate and said he was optimistic about the SACS visit next week. He also provided updates on our donor community and our budget, stating that UofL finished the fiscal year more than $20 million ahead this year and the donor community is “starting to warm up to us again.”

Postel will host panel forums in October to provide the university community with more updates.

Other items/reports

Vice Chair Tencer said that the two Staff Senate listening sessions held in August were well attended.

The Credentials and Nominations committee named new senators and committee members and also held one at-large election for a VPHA seat, which went to Donna Hardesty.

The Policies and Economic Development committee presented its finalized hiring policy to the executive committee and it has now moved onto HR for review.

The Services and Facilities committee announced that its list of objectives has been completed.

The Staff Grievance committee has scheduled training sessions and announced the new ombudsman, Mindy Eaves, named earlier this month.

SHARE introduced new committee members and acknowledged the EVPRI office for donating $500 to its account.

The Staff Morale and Community Outreach committee introduced a new webpage, with more and updated content. It also includes a senator profile template. The Staff Senate is also working to increase employee profiles with the Office of Communication and Marketing to help improve engagement and morale, and has added Facebook and Twitter accounts. .��

The Staff Senate is partnering with the Alumni Association to host the Cardinal Day of Service Oct. 6 and 7 and more information about this is .��

According to the Treasurer’s Report, the Staff Senate has $23,543 in its general account for the fiscal year, as well as just over $15,000 in the SHARE account and $1,674 in the technology account.

The next Staff Senate meeting is Oct. 9 in CTRB Room 100 on the HSC campus.