Funded by the Gheens Foundation, the UofL Office of Admissions has developed a plan that carries out the university’s strategic goals for reaching the “some college, no degree” population. Through it, eligible former UofL students can apply for a grant that will help them complete their remaining educational pursuits.

“As of 2020, there are more than 118,000 adults aged 25+ just in Jefferson County with some college and no degree and nearly 625,000 in Kentucky,” said Hannah White, assistant director of adult services. “There are so many reasons for this – life happens. Many stop due to lack of an alignment with their degree program or university, or due to the difficulty of balancing family, work, life and more with school. We also know that finances and student debt play a huge role.

“Eligible students must have been away from college for a minimum of two academic years and must owe a balance of $4,000 or less on their UofL account. Comeback Card grant recipients can earn up to $1,000 per semester if they complete program requirements. Already 60 participants have taken advantage of the grant, and the Office of Admissions hopes to grow that number.”

“The program provided the motivation I needed to return and complete my degree; it’s incredibly fulfilling to know that I’m finishing something I started years ago,” said Ashley Arkels, a participant in Comeback Cards. “Being a first-generation college graduate, I now fully understand the impact of education — not just for myself, but for my family and future generations.”

Comeback Cards is only one of the many opportunities offered by the Transfer & Adult Student Services team, along with numerous university-wide resources to support non-traditional students.

“We offer over 60+ online programs — designed with adult learners in mind — with some even offering college credit for work, life, or military experience,” White said. “This new program aligns with our university’s goals and responds to an unmet need within post-secondary education.”

To apply for the grant, fill out the Comeback Cards interest form at

The gift is part of continued renovation to the building that includes classroom, simulation lab and student lounge upgrades that make the School of Nursing a competitive destination for students.

The School of Nursing provides students with a nursing education experience while attracting and retaining top nursing faculty to guide students through today’s health care challenges. Great cities have great medical complexes, and this project will be a catalyst for the school to create healthier communities.

“We are so thankful to the Gheens Foundation for their investment in our students, programs and facilities,” said UofL Interim President Lori Gonzalez. “Donors like the Gheens Foundation make it possible for the University of Louisville to better prepare our students for promising futures.”

Ellen Tinker, a third-year nursing student has experienced first-hand the impact of donors like the Gheens Foundation.

“We will be learning, laughing and crying in these spaces,” said Tinker. “As a Cardinal Nurse, I am very grateful for the gifts they contribute to the nest that we have here in the School of Nursing. One of the most important parts of nursing school is the togetherness and collaboration we all get to feel in these newly renovated spaces.”

After donating $2 million to the university’s strategic plan in 2019, the Gheens Foundation has proven to be an important part of the university and students’ success. The donation was used for many campus improvements, including campus safety and security, employee onboarding, and tools for��student recruitment and retention.

Established in 1957 by philanthropists and entrepreneurs C. Edwin and Mary Jo Gheens, the Gheens Foundation has provided more than $130 million in grants to improve the quality of life for the residents of Metropolitan Louisville, particularly in the areas of education and human services.

“The very existence of The Gheens Foundation is a testament to the legacy of love and generosity of its founders, Edwin and Mary Jo Gheens, for the citizens and the institutions of this community,” said Barry G. Allen, president and treasurer of the Gheens Foundation. “I am confident they would be most pleased with the trustees’ decision to make this grant for the benefit of the vital mission of the School of Nursing, especially given the urgency and necessity to attract, recruit and educate the next generations of nurses.”

The latest donation from the Gheens Foundation adds to the $2.5 million already invested by various donors toward the School of Nursing improvement project.

The University of Louisville plans to introduce a dynamic new tool designed to improve students’ educational experience and give them a leg up on the competition when entering the workforce and help prepare them to further their education in graduate or professional school.��

The Center for Engaged Learning (CEL) will be a resource for students, faculty and the community to help them find and create opportunities that complement the classroom experience, enabling students to apply their knowledge toward real-world projects and issues. These opportunities include research projects, internships, apprenticeships, community service and more.��

The CEL will partner with many offices, including undergraduate research and creative activities, study abroad, community engagement, student teaching, Army and Air Force ROTC, competition teams, student government and UofL’s Center for Digital Transformation, established last year.��

The CEL will also administer a co-curricular transcript that will be supplied to students in addition to their traditional transcripts.

“This is an exciting opportunity that will greatly benefit our students and is specifically mentioned in our 2020-2022 strategic plan,” said Interim President Lori Gonzalez. “Students who have had engaged or experiential learning opportunities ask richer questions in class and are prepared after graduation to tackle complex problems in any workplace setting.”��

The center will be headed by Gail DePuy, interim vice provost for engaged learning, along with Paul DeMarco, interim director of undergraduate research and creative activity, and a soon-to-be-named director of experiential learning.

UofL already incorporates dozens of experiential learning opportunities in its programs. For example, students in the J.B. Speed School of Engineering are required to work at three paid cooperative education jobs in addition to classroom instruction. Study abroad programs, community service and undergraduate research are also commonly included in the student experience at UofL.

“The Center for Engaged Learning will expand these types of opportunities so that all students can apply their knowledge to concrete experiences, including those whose majors may not have a direct career path,” DePuy said.

Experiential learning also helps students increase involvement on campus and develop a sense of belonging.��

For local employers, partnering with the CEL can provide early access to UofL students for possible future job opportunities. Faculty members at UofL who do not already incorporate experiential learning in their classes are encouraged to work with trainers in the Delphi Center for Teaching & Learning to find the best approach for their students.

Funded primarily through a grant from the Gheens Foundation, the new center will have offices in the dormitory called Belknap Residence Hall 2022 currently under construction. That facility is expected to open in Fall 2022.

Contact CEL@louisville.edu to learn more. More information about UofL’s Strategic Plan projects supported by the Gheens Foundation can be found here and here.��

In 2019, the private contributed $2 million to support the University of Louisville and, particularly, the Strategic Plan announced by Neeli Bendapudi shortly after she was named president

About $500,000 of the Gheens funding was directed to immediate campus safety and security enhancements. The rest was to fund seven strategic initiatives identified and created by committees of faculty, students, staff, alumni and community members through the university’s strategic planning process. Those projects, which were submitted by the Work, Learn and Invest committees and evaluated for potential impact and implementability, include:

Research Mentoring Academy

Participation in undergraduate and graduate research positively impacts retention, especially for underrepresented and underprepared students. But to be truly effective, the research also should be accompanied by appropriate peer mentoring, positively affecting both mentor and mentee. The newly established Research Mentoring Academy is designed to provide a foundation of best practice guidelines for mentoring, an opportunity for graduate students to learn and practice mentoring skills, and an environment to provide undergraduate students with a mentored research experience.��

The program consists of three parts:

• Developing skills and building confidence among graduate students through courses in communication, equity and inclusion, setting expectations and establishing boundaries, distorted thinking and growth mindset, and building a mentoring network
• Practicing and reflecting. Graduate students mentor undergrads through a proposed research experience; graduates meet to reflect and build skills; undergrads present their research results at an institutional showcase; graduate students discuss their experience at a research conference; and both parties reflect on the experience for assessment.
• Planning and achieving. Both parties conduct self-assessments to determine areas of strength and continued growth; graduates may continue to mentor undergraduates and will be paired with alumni mentors for continue learning; and all students will be supported in identifying skills for their career paths and the job market.

“We’re excited about the opportunity to offer a pipeline of mentoring training,” said Michelle Rodems, director for professional development, retention and success at the Graduate School. “We think this will contribute to the culture of quality mentorship overall at UofL – we know that graduate students who have training in mentoring and other personal and professional development skills end up having conversations about these with both their own mentors as well as their mentees. Both students and faculty benefit from an increased focus on effective research mentorship.”

Mentor/mentee teams will receive $1,500 per pair through the program, while alumni mentors will receive $100 honoraria for their participation. Gheens will cover the program costs, including administrative needs and the student funding, in its first year.

Cardinal Principles Marketing

UofL follows a set of guiding principles, the Cardinal Principles, that promote a culture of care, accountability, trust, equity and transparency. A proposal from a Great Places to Work subcommittee will ensure the Cardinal Principles are front and center for faculty, staff, students and visitors to campus.

The Gheens donation will help fund Cardinal Principles marketing initiatives to include display of the Cardinal Principles in high-visibility indoor and outdoor areas on all three campuses. In addition, the committee will print more than 2,000 t-shirts to be shared with incoming students during Welcome Week as well as intentionally place the Cardinal principles on the 2,000 Welcome Week schedule guides used by new students during Welcome Week.

“Creating bold, visible representations of the Cardinal Principles allows us to better tell our story,” said Glenn Gittings, co-chair of the subcommittee that proposed the campaign. “Sharing and leveraging that story allows us to grow partnerships and increase support.��“

Welcome Week T-shirts and schedules already have been distributed, and the signage installation begins in the spring. Gheens funding is covering the cost of the marketing program, including production and installation of the campus signage and printing and distribution of the t-shirts.

Outdoor Lighting and Safety

A survey conducted among Physical Plant custodial staff revealed concerns, substantiated by light-meter studies, about safety and security on the Belknap Campus, particularly in areas near waste/recycling containers, parking lots and railroad underpasses.

The university used Gheens funding to improve lighting and install security cameras in these high-concern areas. Physical Plant/Maintenance and Physical Security Management will be responsible for upkeep of the equipment.

Key upgrades on Belknap Campus included installation of lighting and cameras in parking lots near the affiliated residence halls on the west side of campus and behind Thrust Theater on Floyd Street.

“Appropriate lighting plays a significant role in the safety and comfort of our students, particularly those who must walk across campus in the evenings and early mornings,” said Mark Watkins, UofL’s chief operating officer. “Students, faculty and staff on all our campuses will benefit from the security provided simply by making sure they have safe walkways to get to and from their vehicles and residence halls.”

��The upgrades are expected to be completed by the end of the fall semester.

Last week: Gheens funding supported programs designed to improve the campus culture and provide 24-hour access to student services.

Next week: The Center for Engaged Learning will combine services and programs to give UofL graduates a significant leg up in their future employment and/or education.

The University of Louisville continues to make progress on its 2020-2022 Strategic Plan. The Gheens Foundation is playing a key role in its success.

Established in 1957 by philanthropists and entrepreneurs C. Edwin and Mary Jo Gheens, the Gheens Foundation has provided more than $130 million in grants to improve the quality of life for the residents of Metropolitan Louisville, particularly in the areas of education and human services. With those priority areas in mind, Gheens contributed $2 million to support the university’s mission in February 2019. About $500,000 was committed to immediate campus safety and security enhancements. In addition to that initial investment in safety and security, UofL has used more than $530,000 of the Gheens funding to support seven strategic proposals submitted by the Strategic Plan subcommittees that will directly impact students, faculty and staff.

“Early in my tenure at UofL, the Gheens Foundation stepped up to ask: ‘How can we help the university better accomplish its strategic goals and improve the lives of students, faculty and staff?’” President Neeli Bendapudi said of the gift. “The Gheens gift continues to make a difference as we target the funds in areas that benefit the university in a variety of ways. By directing the money to these projects, we are ensuring that UofL is and will continue to be a great place to learn, to work and in which to invest.”

Over the next two weeks, UofL News will share information on each of these areas, beginning with:

Chatbot

Recruiting and supporting prospective and current students is a ‘round-the-clock service, as they seek information at times that best fit their schedules and from a number of digital channels. With the implementation of an artificial intelligence chatbot on its website, UofL will be better able to address students’ needs by providing information and support 24 hours per day, seven days per week.

A chatbot is a program that responds to a users’ questions in real time, providing service to students who may not be able to reach offices and individuals during regular hours. This is particularly important for the areas of student recruitment and retention, which deal primarily with students and their families.

The Great Place to Learn subcommittee partnered with the offices of undergraduate and graduate admissions, Information Technology Services, the Registrar’s Office and the Delphi Center to select a chatbot that would best serve the university’s needs. Administered by Mainstay (formerly AdmitHub) and coordinated by the Enrollment Management Systems team, the chatbot program will be implemented in spring 2022 and, eventually, will be available to add to any university website.

Gheens is providing the funds for the three-year initiative, including annual maintenance and licensing fees. The Strategic Enrollment Management and Student Success unit will supplement funding for the program.

“This will be a game changer for us,” said Jim Begany, vice provost for enrollment management and student success. “Students want and deserve the higher level of service we will be able to provide.”

Employee Onboarding

Employee satisfaction begins the day a new faculty or staff member walks onto campus for the first time. A Great Place to Work subcommittee and the Employee Success Center have designed a new, year-long onboarding process to better support new employees. The onboarding process will be enhanced with unit-specific activities such as assigning onboarding mentors and using a checklist to ensure the new employee’s needs are being addressed.

The process also will include a branded gift box that will be sent to new employees, which includes items that will be useful in the first few days on the job, keepsake items and a personal message from the university president. The committee also proposed recognizing employees after their first year of the start date with a message of thanks and a small token of appreciation.

The Employee Success Center hopes to launch the new program in January; training and development of the checklist will begin by the end of this year.

Cultural Wellbeing Index

Between the Covid-19 pandemic and social justice issues, particularly in Louisville, the UofL community experienced significant cultural shocks in 2020-21. The Cultural Wellbeing Index provided an opportunity to gauge the current health of the campus culture at UofL and to establish a baseline for future studies. The Gheens gift provided funding for implementation of the study, which surveyed more than 2,300 students, faculty, staff and alumni.

The study has led or will lead to a number of outcomes, including the previously mentioned restructuring of the university’s onboarding process. The survey results also suggested that the CWI will be effective in assessing the campus community’s response and the university’s actions following any future societal and cultural shocks.

“A healthy campus culture is vital for any organization and an important factor to consider in determining the direction of the university,” said Faye Jones, interim senior associate vice president for diversity and equity and co-chair of the subcommittee that recommended the survey. “The CWI will assist us in determining the potential impacts of policies and administrative actions on our community. It will help us make decisions that will improve the work environment for our faculty and staff.”��

Next week: UofL News will highlight three more projects funded by Gheens, including safety improvements, a research mentoring program and Cardinal Principles marketing.

“We were so excited when we learned about this gift,” said UofL President Neeli Bendapudi. “Once again, the Gheens Foundation has stepped up to support the University of Louisville. Now it is up to us to use this funding in ways that clearly will benefit our students and the community.”

The unrestricted gift allows the university to allocate the funds toward areas of greatest need.��

Bendapudi said $500,000 will be directed toward enhancing safety and security staffing and technology on the Belknap and Health Sciences Center campuses. The remaining $1.5 million will fund strategic initiatives identified through the university’s strategic planning process, which is currently underway.

“This is a perfect time to look at where and how we should invest these funds,” she said. “The only thing we know for sure is that this gift will be used to ensure that UofL is a great place to learn, to work and in which to invest.”

Gheens has given more than $12 million to UofL over five decades, including funding for the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute, Gheens Science Hall and Rauch Planetarium and the Gheens Foundation Inc. Chair in Aging Research. The largest gift was a $2.5 million grant in 2013 for health-related medical research.��

Gheens President Barry Allen said, “I am confident that our founders, Edwin and Mary Jo Gheens, would be most pleased with the trustees’ decision to make this grant. It recognizes the vital importance of the university’s mission and is an affirmation of Dr. Bendapudi’s fresh and strengthening leadership.”

Mike Mountjoy, Chair and CEO of the Foundation said, “The University of Louisville is critical to this city. We felt like it was time for us to step up.”

Since Bendapudi assumed the UofL helm, major gifts include from the Owsley Brown II Family Foundation, from retired Churchill Downs Inc. Chairperson Carl F. Pollard and a from Republic Bank Foundation and the Trager Family Foundation in support of optimal aging research.

Check out footage from today’s press conference:��