Within the University of Louisville’s (LEARN, strategy 2, action 1) the was established to provide a resource for all undergraduate students to participate in at least one external learning experience by graduation. The center’s new specifically considers unpaid opportunities within 501(c)(3) nonprofits or government organizations, and provides an avenue for students to apply for funding in the form of a stipend received via their financial aid. This means experiential learning need not be limited to paid positions, and that students can more likely have their practical needs met while working and learning in their preferred environment.

“Research shows that students who participate in engaged learning have a better understanding of the classroom material, gaining real-world applications of what they’re learning,” said Gail DePuy, senior vice provost who oversees the program. “Research also shows these students often have higher GPAs and higher likelihoods of graduating. Not only is WINGS beneficial to the student, but also to the community, as our talented and energetic students have a lot they can now give to these non-profit organizations.”

Erica Gabbard, director of experiential learning, noted that many nonprofits might not advertise for an internship if they do not have the funds. However, if a student is able to approach them with interest and having the option to apply for financial support from WINGS, more possibilities could become available. The experience also does not need to be directly related to the student’s major; they can apply for support to investigate other areas of interests beyond their particular school.

“We will continue to develop additional programs in the future, all in line with the mission to incentivize and support students toward engaged learning,” said Gabbard. “We want to create a culture in which students are choosing to attend UofL because of the abundance of these opportunities.”

For questions, details and to apply to the WINGS program see the �ǰ���email the Center for Engaged Learning.

On April 26, 2022, the Find Your Fit Awards reception was held in recognition of the many faculty and staff who have contributed to its success and mission of supporting undergraduate students inside and outside of the classroom.����

“We were thrilled to have this special opportunity to thank and recognize the faculty and staff who collaborated across departments and programs to engage in this innovative work on behalf of our undergraduate students,” said Dr. Patty Payette, the executive director of Find Your Fit.��

At the heart of Find Your Fit is a three-credit hour elective that was offered through the department of Counseling and Human Development. The Personal and Academic Inquiry seminar (ECPY 302) was designed to help second-year students who are undecided, pre-unit or in transition between majors, identify their strengths as well as academic and career goals.����

A previous ECPY 302 student said, “I learned a lot about who I am as a person and a student and how I can thrive in the upcoming years of my life. This class has taught me both educationally and personally.”��

Led by a dedicated team of UofL faculty members, advisors and librarians, the course offered an intimate setting for students to explore personal and academic areas of interest. Those enrolled also worked closely with a designated advisor to help them navigate potential program majors and career paths. The result is an academic plan that can be modified beyond the course and aid students in the decision-making process as they continue to refine their values and skills.��

Robert Detmering, professor and head of research assistance and instruction at the University of Louisville Libraries, served as the embedded librarian for many of the instructional teams.��

“The intent is to help exploratory students who are maybe having trouble finding out where they’re situated in the university, in terms of a major, but also in terms of the community and relationships they have on campus,” Detmering said. “Find Your Fit is designed to help students think through where they’re at in life, what their goals are, and help them go through a research process that’s personally meaningful to them.”��

When COVID became a reality for our community, all the Find Your Fit partners stepped up to modify the course and project to keep teaching and reaching our students in hybrid and online formats. The instructional teams stretched themselves to teach and advise in new ways while modeling a pedagogy of care during a series of difficult semesters.��

Responsibilities of those who assisted the Find Your Fit program included serving on QEP planning and implementation committees, teaching on an instructional team during one or more semesters, and tapping colleagues and students to be part of the QEP. These commitments were completed in addition to their usual workload within the university.��

Interim Senior Vice Provost, Gail DePuy, presented awards to the faculty and staff for the successful completion of this ambitious initiative. Those award winners are listed below.

QEP Staff Team��

• QEP Executive Director and QEP Impact Report co-chair Patty Payette
• Manager of Assessment IL Barrow
• Faculty Development Specialist Caroline Boswell
• Administrative Services Manager Crystal Bradley
• Graduate Assistant Abbie Bordewyk

��Find Your Fit Faculty, Advisors and Librarians��

• Arts & Sciences faculty member Mary Ashlock
• Kent School of Social Work faculty member Jennifer Bobo
• Exploratory and Transition Advisor Daniel Darland
• University Libraries faculty member and library team leader Rob Detmering
• ����ֱ�� faculty member Eileen Estes
• Speed School of Engineering faculty member Mark French
• University Libraries faculty member Lidiya Grote
• ����ֱ�� faculty member Meg Hancock
• ����ֱ�� faculty member and QEP Impact Report co-chair Amy Hirschy
• Public Health faculty member David Johnson
• Business faculty member Abby Koenig
• Public Health faculty member Scott LaJoie
• ����ֱ�� faculty member Mark Leach
• Music faculty member Kimcherie Lloyd
• Arts & Sciences faculty member Brandon McCormack
• ����ֱ�� faculty member Amanda Mitchell
• Exploratory and Transition Advisor Jessica Newton
• University Libraries faculty member Latisha Reynolds
• Exploratory and Transition Advisor Jessy Rosenberg
• Kent School of Social Work faculty member Sharon Sanders
• University Career Center liaison Rosie Shannon
• Exploratory and Transition Advisor Emily Spoden
• Law School faculty member JoAnne Sweeny
• ����ֱ�� faculty member Shelley Thomas
• Exploratory and Transition Advisor Eric Turner
• University Libraries faculty member Amber Willenborg
• Exploratory and Transition Advisor and project co-leader Marissa Williams

Find Your Fit Administrative Leaders��

• Director of Student Success and Director of Exploratory and Transition Advising Katie Adamchik
• Interim Associate Provost for Teaching & Innovation Marie Kendall Brown
• Vice Provost for Assessment and University Decision Support/Analytics Bob Goldstein
• Vice Provost for Undergraduate ����ֱ�� Beth Willey

Now at the end of its five-year arc, Find Your Fit will culminate in a QEP Impact Report currently underway. The University will review the program’s outcomes and decide how the program will transition beyond the experimental phase. More information about the Find Your Fit QEP initiative is available .��More photos from the awards ceremony are .��

Story written by Ashley Striegel, marketing and communications coordinator at UofL’s Delphi Center.��

Gonzalez announced Wednesday that School of Dentistry Dean Gerry Bradley will serve as interim provost. Dean since 2016, Bradley has extensive academic and administrative experience, previously serving as associate dean for research and graduate studies and chair of developmental sciences at the Marquette University School of Dentistry. Since coming to UofL, he has played a key role in many important initiatives at the university, including serving as chair of several dean searches and co-chairing the Executive Budget Steering Committee.

Margaret Hill, associate dean for academic affairs, will lead the School of Dentistry as interim dean.

Gonzalez also appointed Gail DePuy, professor of industrial engineering and interim vice provost in the Center for Engaged Learning, to serve as interim senior vice provost. She will have oversight of the other vice provosts and oversee key initiatives in the provost’s office. ��A former acting dean of the Speed School of Engineering, DePuy has been instrumental in developing and shepherding the university’s strategic planning effort since 2019.

Paul DeMarco, professor of psychological and brain sciences and interim director of undergraduate research and creative activity, will assume the role of interim vice provost for the CEL.

The appointments are effective immediately.

“With these changes to our already strong leadership team, and with the continued outstanding efforts of you, our faculty and staff, we are well positioned to continue our growth as a premier anti-racist metropolitan research university that creates thriving futures for students, our community and society,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez also said she expects to fill two other key positions, the vice provost for faculty affairs and the vice president for diversity and equity, “in the coming weeks.”

Those subcommittees include one to identify grand challenges, and nine (three each) for our strategy focus areas of making UofL a great place to learn, work and invest.

The grand challenges subcommittee has met its January 2020 timeline and has passed along recommendations for priority research areas in which UofL can make the biggest impact on local and global communities. These recommendations will be reviewed by the president, provost and EVPRI and announced in late February/early March.

The strategy subcommittees start meeting this month.

For the Learn strategy, the objectives are to attract and graduate the most talented, diverse student body through meaningful and structured commitment to student success; engage every undergraduate student in required meaningful experiential learning opportunities; and engage students in increasing research that will bolster our prominence.

For the Work strategy, objectives include becoming an employer of choice that intentionally attracts and retains the most talented and diverse faculty and staff; inspiring a culture of care, trust, accountability, equity and transparency by embedding the Cardinal Principles; and providing all faculty and staff fair and equitable compensation.

For the Invest strategy, objectives include increasing productivity and innovation in research, scholarship and creative activities addressing the grand challenges; improving the ease and impact of partnering with the university by building and stewarding mutually beneficial relationships that support student success, faculty productivity and staff development; and creating social, cultural and learning opportunities that bring people to campus or campus to people.

The implementation update is . Also, regular updates will be posted on the Strategic Plan website: my.louisville.edu/strategic-plan. ��

Provost Beth Boehm��provided an update to the Faculty Senate, noting that a budget planning and monitoring committee has been formed and includes three subcommittees – funding requests, budget model discretionary allocation, administrative activity. She said the goal is to make sure the campus community is better informed about the budget process.

The provost search committee has been created, co-chaired by Dentistry Dean Gerry Bradley and Kent Dean David Jenkins. The provost will replace Boehm, whose two-year term ends June 30. Airport interviews will be conducted in mid-March, with on-campus interviews taking place in April.

Boehm also reported that the search is also underway for a new Arts & Sciences dean and that UofL has suspended travel to China as the coronavirus proliferates.

Krista Wallace-Boaz provided the Faculty Senate Chair report, including the provost search timeline, and a call for faculty representation on the shared governance workgroup and the strategic plan implementation subcommittees.

Finally, Speed School Professor Olfa Nasraoui presented details on an Athena grant received from the National Science Foundation, which includes a Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher ����ֱ�� (COACHE) Faculty Satisfaction Survey.

There are two main objectives for this survey: to improve the recruitment, retention, promotion and advancement of faculty, particularly women in STEM fields; and to provide education on implicit bias.

Survey themes include research, teaching, service, resources and support, interdisciplinary work/collaboration/mentoring, tenure and promotion; institutional leadership; shared governance; department engagement/quality and collegiality; appreciation and recognition; and retention and negotiation.

More information about the COACHE Survey is available online.��

Additional committee reports are .��The next Faculty Senate meeting is March 4 in Chao Auditorium.

Dr. Gail DePuy was named acting dean of the J.B. Speed School of Engineering as of July 1, taking over for Dr. John Usher, who stepped down after two years as acting dean.

DePuy has been a part of the Speed School since 1995 and most recently has served as an associate dean for Academic and Student Affairs. A professor of Industrial Engineering, DePuy’s research focus is in the areas of production planning, health care engineering and operations research.

She has written more than 80 technical papers and has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on more than $2.4 million of funded research.

DePuy is a professional engineer and member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers, Institute of Operations Research and Management Science, and American Society for Engineering ����ֱ��.

She earned her bachelor’s from North Carolina State University (1988), a master’s degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (1990), a masters’ degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology (1992), and a PhD from the Georgia Institute of Technology (1995).

Usher is taking a sabbatical through December and will return to UofL in January as a tenured professor in industrial engineering.

A national search for a permanent dean will begin in the fall.

Meanwhile, Brandeis School of Law Professor Lars Smith is filling in as interim dean prior to Colin Crawford’s arrival Jan. 1.

Smith, who holds the Samuel J. Stallings Chair in Law, arrived at UofL in 2000. He teaches in the areas of intellectual property and business law and incorporates practice-based exercises into his Trademark Law and Business Planning courses.

In 2012, Smith received the University of Louisville Distinguished Faculty Award in Teaching. In 2011, he received a Fulbright Scholarship Award to teach at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law in Wuhan, China, where he taught Chinese Masters of Law students about U.S. intellectual property.

He has been serving as associate dean for academic affairs at Brandeis for the past two years. Smith received his JD from the New England School of Law (1992).

Crawford was appointed dean of .��

He is currently finishing his obligation as the Robert C. Cudd Professor of Environmental Law at Tulane University, where he also directs Tulane’s International Development Studies in the School of Liberal Arts and the Payson Graduate Program in Global Development in the School of Law. He succeeds Susan Duncan, who was recently named dean of the University of Mississippi School of Law.