Overseeing the Compensation and Total Rewards Study are co-chairs Kari Aikins, director of total rewards for UofL, and Krista Wallace-Boaz, associate dean of the School of Music. An additional of UofL faculty and staff members was also selected to serve as the voices of the campus community and provide feedback throughout the studies.

This comprehensive study comprises several studies that assess total rewards- employee wages and employee benefits (e.g., health care, tuition remission, paid leave, etc.). During May 2021, the six-phase compensation study began with the help of Segal, an HR consulting firm with expertise in higher education, and will conclude 18-24 months after the launch date. For a further look into the six phases, visit the .

Findings from the studies will provide the necessary framework for employee wages and employee benefits moving forward. If the compensation study shows a market position at a lower salary grade, UofL will not lower the employee’s salary.

During Phase 2 of the study, the university reviewed and/or developed job descriptions, minimum requirements, preferred qualifications, and essential duties for most university positions. This review ensured that position descriptions were up-to-date, accurate and consistent across all schools and departments, and was essential to obtain benchmarks comparable to similar jobs in the market.

“The goal was to submit job descriptions reflective of the role, not reflective of the employee in that role” said Aikins. “When we’re benchmarking for our compensation structure, we’re benchmarking the positions. Once we have our compensation structure in place and jobs are classified and graded based on comparable market data, we can then review and recommend equitable pay.”

More specifically, said Vice President of Human Resources Mary Elizabeth Miles,  “once we have the baseline data, the consulting firm will conduct a gap analysis that will look specifically at any unintended disparities that may cause women and minority employees to be paid less. These gap analyses will help us honor some of the other commitments made in the strategic plan and our anti-racism agenda.”

The study is now in phase three, with Segal and university leadership working to define a compensation philosophy for the university. This philosophy, developed by university employees in conjunction with Segal, will serve as guiding principles throughout the study.

“Our compensation philosophy will be a high-level statement that outlines our values as they relate to how we will compensate our employees, both through wages and benefits,” said Miles. “A compensation philosophy is needed so that we can establish our parameters moving forward.”

During this phase of the project, employees will receive a brief survey to complete on the university’s compensation and total rewards. A link to the survey will be distributed to all full-time (non-clinical) faculty and staff via email on Feb. 7, 2022. Responses will be confidential, and all are encouraged to participate.

For a description of future project phases, a project timeline and subcommittee members, visit the . Additional information can also be found on the .

“When I was onboarded by the Employee Success Center, I noticed these things called ERGs,” Wang said. “I saw that we had the Black Faculty/Staff Association and a group for the Latinx community. As I’m Asian myself, I took note that there wasn’t an ERG for our community.”

UofL’s Employee Resource Groups emerged in response to the “great place to work” initiative outlined in the . These voluntary, employee-led groups provide regular meetings, events and networking opportunities for faculty and staff members with common interests, backgrounds or identities. ERGs have been established to foster strong connections and networks of support, while also serving to address feelings of isolation among university employees from minority or underrepresented backgrounds.

Wang acknowledged early on that the Asian, Asian American and Pacific Islander community would benefit from additional university resources, but she didn’t take action immediately. That changed following the  spa shootings in Atlanta, which are being prosecuted as anti-Asian hate crimes, as well as a national spike in hate crimes against the AAPI community. , hate crimes targeting people of Asian descent in the U.S. rose by 70% last year versus 2019.��

“The first few months passed, and I hadn’t taken any action. Then we had the shooting in Atlanta where Asian women and women of Asian descent were targeted. That was a turbulent and traumatizing time, to say the least. At that moment, I didn’t feel there was an AAPI organization at UofL to make a statement or to say that we are here for each other as members of this community,” Wang said.

This led to the establishment of UofL’s new Asian, Asian American and Pacific Islander ERG. In immediate response to the Atlanta shooting, Wang assisted in organizing two town hall events. These town halls provided both AAPI and non-AAPI members of the university community with an opportunity to come together and express pain and grief associated with the tragic events in Atlanta. Over the summer, the AAPI ERG also offered several virtual coffee chats, as well as an in-person meet-and-greet for interested university employees.

“Student-wise, we talk about retention, recruitment, sense of belonging and the importance of seeing folks that look like you. This is just as true for employees, so we want to talk about the diversifying of faculty and staff, as well as the retention efforts for AAPI employees.” Wang said.

UofL is home to an expansive AAPI community with more than 1,200 students and 750 employees self-identifying as of fall 2021. Moving forward, this ERG aims to champion action and change, promote diversity and provide a strong sense of community, visibility and belonging for AAPI employees. The AAPI ERG is open to all faculty and staff identifying as AAPI, and non-AAPI employees interested in supporting diversity and equity within the UofL community are also welcome to join.

“Overall, I think that this is contributing to our anti-racism agenda. We don’t always see visibility, representation or initiatives behind the AAPI community. Advancing racial diversity and equity is our goal, and we’d be missing an important opportunity if we failed to improve our resources and include our AAPI employees in the conversation of anti-racism,” Wang said.

Faculty and staff members interested in learning more about the AAPI ERG are encouraged to contact Stella Wang. For additional ERG information and a , please visit the Employee Success Center’s .

Michael Wade Smith, vice president for external affairs and chief of staff, informed senators of the university’s continuing commitment to providing fair compensation for faculty and staff. The identified the equitable compensation of employees as a critical aspect of institutional success. To honor the university’s commitment, Human Resources will lead two university-wide over the next several months. The studies will assess employee wages and Total Rewards, which include all available benefits such as health insurance, retirement and tuition remission.

“We are trying to increase compensation in spite of the limited resources that we do have and the turbulent time that we’re in,” Smith said. “We have our larger university-wide effort that’s underway; that’s going to take some time. But in addition to that, we are trying to make incremental gains wherever we can.”

Smith further acknowledged that the university’s compensation initiative contributed to the recent improvements in employee wages. In addition to the 1% salary increase that went into effect earlier this year, UofL staff and faculty also received a $1,000 bonus in August.��

Executive Vice President and University Provost Lori Gonzalez provided senators with her insight on the current student enrollment figures. Both Smith and Gonzalez reported an increase in graduate school enrollment by 232 graduate students, but a decline of 194 undergraduate students. Gonzalez reported that universities nationwide are experiencing a decline in undergraduate enrollment due to COVID-19 and highlighted the impact of the enrollment efforts made by UofL employees.

“I want to point out that we started out at about 750 students down. We are now only 194 students down. This was a Herculean lift from our enrollment management team and the Cardinal family, and now this year we will be focused on retaining those students,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez also encouraged senators and their constituents to contribute to the Cardinal community of care by vaccinating for the upcoming flu season. UofL will offer flu shot clinics on both the Health Science Campus and the Belknap Campus until Friday, Oct. 1. Dates, locations and hours of operation for the clinic can be found on the .

“When we talk about a community of care, the one thing that people can do to make sure this a safe campus is to get vaccinated,” Gonzalez said. “Now in addition to COVID-19, we are getting ready to move into flu season. Just like we’re encouraging you to get your COVID-19 vaccine, please get your flu shot as well.”

Brian Buford, executive director of university culture and employee success, presented an overview of UofL’s reimagined employee onboarding experience. Launching in January 2022, the improved onboarding process aims to address issues that were identified through numerous focus groups and interviews conducted by the Employee Success Center.

New aspects of the process will include a full year of onboarding support through the Employee Success Center, increased onboarding support at the departmental level, a revamped new employee orientation, as well as a welcome gift during the first week of employment and again on the one-year employment anniversary.

Buford also announced that each department will have a designated liaison known as an onboarding navigator. As the point-of-contact for onboarding employees, navigators will strive to create a spirit of welcome for new hires within their department. Those interested in serving as onboarding navigators for their departments will have the opportunity to volunteer and receive training in the coming months.

Committee reports and a of the virtual meeting can be found on the . The next Staff Senate meeting will be held on Oct. 11 via Microsoft Teams.

Bendapudi informed senators that the university recently received positive ratings by Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s. These credit rating agencies evaluate several different industries, including higher education institutions.

“We were downgraded by these agencies for a couple of years, but this year, they took notice of the fact that we have stabilized our finances. We took some important corrective measures that we needed to, and I am pleased to tell you that both of them changed the outlook of the university from negative to stable,” Bendapudi said.

Bendapudi also provided senators with preliminary information on budgeting priorities. She asserted that her highest priority will be the restoration of retirement benefits, pending approval from the Board of Trustees. If passed, retirement benefits will be restored to 7.5% effective July 1.

Bendapudi also addressed her priority on employee healthcare, stating “we are making a commitment that there will not be any health care cost increases. Last year, we felt that given everything going on, the university would absorb those additional costs and not pass it on to our employees. So, I am pleased to tell you that for a second year in a row, the university will absorb those increases.”

Mary Elizabeth Miles, vice president for Human Resources, informed senators about upcoming training sessions for the Remote Work Policy. The policy was developed over the past year with the assistance and feedback of several members of the university community, including the Policy and Economic Development Committee of the Staff Senate.

Referencing the Miles stated, “department leaders may offer flexible work options to employees as long as a strong presence is in our classrooms and student-service areas are maintained and the overall operations of our schools, colleges and departments are continued without compromising the quality or productivity.”

The new Remote Work Policy and the Remote Work Agreement will be released on June 1. At that time, employees wishing to work from home may submit the Remote Work Agreements to their first- and second-line supervisors. Any denials will be directed to the department head for final review and determination.

In response to feedback from staff and faculty members, HR will be providing a series of supervisor and employee HRtalks training sessions to review the Remote Work Policy and Remote Work Agreement. All faculty and staff were encouraged to attend the upcoming trainings, which can be accessed from the .

Executive Vice President and University Provost Lori Gonzalez announced that her office is interviewing for a chief of staff to the provost. Gonzalez stated that the position will increase the responsiveness of the Office of the Provost. Four candidates were interviewed for the Dean of the College of ����ֱ�� and Human Development, and Gonzalez announced that a decision should be expected in the near future.��

Committee reports and a of the virtual meeting can be found on the . The next Staff Senate meeting will be held on June 8 via Microsoft Teams.

Diane Tobin provided an overview of her role as ombudsman. She said the trends she is seeing that cause people to use her services include communication issues, budgetary issues, hierarchal/power struggles, poorly trained supervisors, understanding policies and procedures and lack of positive recognition. Throughout the past year, 122 people across campus have used the ombudsman’s services.

Tobin said her four tenets include neutrality, informal, independent of the university and confidential. More information about her services is .

Justin Mog, assistant to the provost for sustainability initiatives, said UofL has made progress toward its sustainability goals and recently earned a STARS Gold rating. With a 66.24% score, UofL is the most sustainable school in Kentucky, ahead of No. 2 Berea College, with 65.95%. The next highest score was JCTC with 58.80%. In the ACC, UofL is fourth behind just Virginia Tech, North Carolina and Virginia.

Mog said his department is now working to achieve the next level – platinum. To do so, he outlined the following strategies, among many others:

• Increase courses offered that are sustainability-focused or related.
• Increase the number of students who graduate from programs that have adopted at least one sustainability-learning outcome.
• Administer a sustainability literacy assessment to the student body.
• Increase research-producing faculty and staff that are engaged in sustainability research.
• Administer a longitudinal assessment of sustainability culture.
• Get more staff to participate in annual sustainability professional development training.
• Engage the entire student body in community service.
• Re-join the Worker Rights Consortium or the Fair Labor Association.

Mog also noted that UofL has decreased its carbon footprint by 13%.

“We are decreasing emissions even as we are growing and that is great news. But we have a lot of work left to do,” he said.

�ѴDz�’s��.��A reminder that Sustainability Week is Oct. 17-25 with a number of events scheduled. More information is .

Laura McDaniels, from HR, reminded senators that open enrollment begins Oct. 23 and runs through Nov. 6. HR will host benefits fairs on both campuses and more information will be available in UofL Today.

Also, HR has two new initiatives – HR talks and HR listens – to better communicate and get feedback from the campus community. More information, including a full schedule, .

Carcyle Barrett provided an update to the bylaw revision. It is proposed that Article VII, Section 4 be amended to read: “Standing committee chairs serve a term of one year. A staff senator may serve no more than two consecutive terms as chair in the same standing committee. After the second term, a staff senator must wait one year before serving as chair in the same standing committee.”

Also, it is proposed that Article VII, Section 4, be amended to read: “Standing committee member serve a term of two years. A staff senator may serve no more than two consecutive terms as a member in the same standing committee.”

Additional information and proposed language is .

The Staff Senate Chair, secretary-treasurer, vice-chair and committee reports are . Also of note, the IBM partnership committee has met twice and four sub-committees have emerged:

• Developing curriculum
• Faculty/staff development
• Civic and partner engagement
• Research and innovation and transformation space

The next Staff Senate meeting is Nov. 11 in Chao Auditorium.

Michael Wade Smith, chief of staff and external affairs, provided an update on the Strategic Plan, recently approved in principle by UofL’s board of trustees. Smith said the plan includes the strategy and metrics we’re going to hold ourselves accountable to, which will guide our actions significantly for the next three years.

“The secret sauce for us behind this plan is how we make this a great place to learn, work and invest,” he said.

For the “learn” piece, for example, one strategy includes attracting and graduating the most talented, diverse student body through meaningful and structured commitment to student success. That includes actions like attracting and enrolling a capable, diverse and engaged student body responsive to the demographic and workforce needs of the future; improving retention and persistence to graduation; ensuring progress toward equal outcomes for student sub-populations; and inspiring a “student-centered culture.”

“Also, we’re going to lean heavily into the benefit of being a Research 1 university and, as we grow our research prominence, doing so with our students in mind,” Smith said.

Metrics include increasing scholarship awards, enrollment, retention and graduation rates.

For the “work” piece, Smith said the biggest focus is on professional development and, over time, creating a culture based on Cardinal principles. We will also be working on a total compensation study, knowing we’re under market for salaries.

“We aren’t going to get there in three years because what we need to catch up is larger than we can handle. But we have to start taking meaningful steps to solve the gap and I hope you’ll hold us accountable for making meaningful progress,” he said.

Another directive from the strategic plan is to focus on a handful of key topics that make us unique; for example that UofL is one of just 69 schools in the country that is both a Research 1 university and  Carnegie-designated for community engagement.

“We want to own four to six areas that are broad enough for multiple disciplines, but are specific enough for us to focus on,” Smith said, citing aging as an example.

Speed professor Gail DePuy has been tasked with heading the implementation of the Strategic Plan. A committee will be populated to help her, reporting progress updates regularly. There will be Strategic Plan kickoff events announced soon.

The search is underway for a new EVP of Research and Innovation, and Smith expects this to be filled by October. An RFP is out to help with the provost and general counsel searches. These positions should be filled by next summer at the latest.

Smith also discussed the recent KentuckyOne Health announcement, in which UofL agreed to acquire its assets, including Jewish Hospital. Smith said the vote will be finalized in Frankfort in January and confessed it will take some work to get 16 senators on board.

“Our acquisition of KentuckyOne Health was not contingent on government funding. No one in the administration will say this is without risk. But the risk of not doing the deal would have sunk the university. The risk of doing the deal would not sink the university,” he said.

Teresa Reed, the new School of Music dean, was introduced to the senate. She said her priorities include interdisciplinary opportunities – for example, music therapy with a jazz track – and student success.

Provost Beth Boehm provided an update on the one-time money that went toward recruiting and retaining students. She said 57 projects in total have been funded and most of them have shown real progress so far, including a summer camp that was held for out of state students prior to Welcome Week.

There are three new committee needs that have been identified: an advising task force, which will look at best practices on how to improve student advising; student mental health; and the IBM implementation committee.

Finally, Todd Kneale, director of total rewards, provided an update on health insurance rates, which are increasing in 2020. Ahead of open enrollment, Oct. 23-Nov. 6, HR will host a number of town halls to provide an overview of these changes.

Additional actions taken

Also during the meeting, the revised CEHD bylaws were approved, while the certificate in Teaching English as an International Language and MS in Couples and Family Therapy program proposals were approved.

Committee elections took place. Karen Hadley from A&S, fills the academic programs committee vacancy; Kimberly Boland, Medicine, will fill the executive committee vacancy; Jocelyn Fetalver, Kent School, fills the part-time faculty committee vacancy; and Joe Gutmann, A&S, Chad Sloan, Music, Brecya Washington, Dentistry, and Roman Yampolskiy, Speed, fill the student conduct hearing board vacancies.

Sabrina Collins from the SGA, provided an update from her group, noting that there are two major initiatives underway – improving scholarship publicity and creating an RSO to facilitate undergraduate research.

The next Faculty Senate meeting is Oct. 2 at 3 p.m. in CTR Room 101/102 on the HSC Campus.

“Overall, I could not be happier. I am more optimistic today than I was three or four months ago,” she said. “Now, I feel good because I better understand the challenges we face.”

Her favorite part of the job, she adds, has been the students.

“We really have some extraordinary students here. They always impress me. They are innovative and excited and they are ready to be a part of the solution,” Bendapudi said.

Still, she did not sugar coat that UofL still has a long way to go to recover financially from the past few years of operating through deficits.

“There’s no money tree. We’ve got to be responsible with what we’re doing,” she said. “That means, would want your parents to know what you did? Would you want your children to know what you did? Would you want the newspaper to publish what you did? We all have to be accountable in order to move in a positive direction.”

Bendapudi said each department will see the entire budget – currently being worked on – to help inform them of their decisions.

“This is not going to be solved if I have the materials and you do not,” she said. “We will be transparent with this moving forward.” 

She asked senators to be patient for a little while longer and said she hopes some solutions come out of the strategic planning process.

Mark Hebert, an advisory board member for the Louisville Cardinal, told the Staff Senate that the newspaper is running out of funds and that advertising opportunities are drying up. The Cardinal has soft launched a fundraising campaign that kicked off with a donation from Congressman John Yarmuth.��The publication is autonomous from UofL and therefore doesn’t qualify for university-specific fundraisers like Raise Some L.��

“This newspaper serves a really important function on our campus. Every ACC school has a student-run newspaper, and we don’t want to be the first without one,” Hebert said.

Cardinal alums Kyeland Jackson, who now works for WFPL, and Shelby Brown Greenwell, who now works for CBS Interactive, provided stories about how much the Cardinal has meant to them personally and professionally.

“Working for the Cardinal gave me experience I wouldn’t have otherwise gotten, like having a byline or filing an open records request,” Jackson said. “A lot of people go their whole lives and never find their passion. I found mine because I worked for the Cardinal.”

A donation button for the Cardinal’s fundraising campaign is .

Todd Kneale, director of Total Rewards, told senators that HR is looking at the possibility of adding a health savings account benefit. Such implementation would take some time and would require a few other changes, however.

“We don’t have a high deductible plan and an HSA has to be attached to a high deductible plan,” he said.

Kneale said HR will continue to host town halls around campus and encouraged everyone to attend to provide feedback on this and other ideas.

Reports

Staff Senate chair John Smith said he’s been pleased with the “results-oriented focus” of the strategic plan committees. .��

April’s Staff Senate meeting opened with a report from the Student Government Association. Among the SGA’s updates: the HSC lighting project is underway, as is the work on the Brook Street corridor in between the BAB and Houchens. The SGA is looking to add monuments in that area to celebrate our historically black fraternities and sororities.

Louvelo’s bike share program is now available on campus, so students don’t have to buy bikes. The SGA is also looking at installing water bottle-filling stations on the HSC campus.

Four SGA officers are participating on committees for the strategic planning process. The association has been working with parking to extend fine deadlines from seven days to 14 days to give students a little more time to come up with that money if necessary. Crosswalks are going to be installed on the Belknap Campus near the BAB, the SAC and the School of Music.

Also, the Cardinal Cupboard food pantry for students and employees who are food insecure is having trouble securing donations. The SGA is trying to facilitate food drives within specific schools and departments.

Finally, the SGA is working on its strategic plan for 2025.

The Faculty Senate heard updates from Provost Beth Boehm, Libraries Dean Bob Fox and from Rehan Khan, new chief information officer. The is available online.��

Committee reports are . The next Staff Senate meeting is May 13 in Chao Auditorium.

The Great Places to Work workgroup is comprised of a number of subcommittees, including climate and culture; professional development; compensation, salary and benefits; onboarding, retention, recruitment, hiring and workflow; and transparency.

The Great Places to Learn workgroup is examining three questions to guide its work: what do we do well; how do we build on these successes; and what opportunities should we consider for the future.

The learn workgroup has held two meetings thus far to pore over data such as graduation and retention rates. The group will start meeting once every week to turn around the final report, which is due in May.

The Great Places to Invest workgroup is also considering those same three questions to guide discussions. An to senators asking for their input.��

A list of all three workgroups is now available on the .��

Like the Faculty Senate before it, the Staff Senate reviewed a Values Statement that was created in the fall of 2017 under the Provost’s Budget Advisory Committee. The purpose of the statement is to ensure UofL’s values and principles drive budgetary decisions and not vice versa. The BAC has since been disbanded, but the senates have moved forward to approve the statement nonetheless to inform President Bendapudi about who we are as we go through the Strategic Planning process. The statement – – was approved by the Staff Senate.��

Carcyle Barrett led a discussion about the Staff Senate Bylaws. The document was originally created in 2016 and updates are currently under consideration. Beyond this initial discussion, the Bylaw changes will require three readings before a vote is held. The document as it exists now, with track changes, is .��

Brian Buford from HR provided an update on his new role aimed at leading new professional development opportunities for employees. He said this role aligns with the Great Places to Work objective and asked members of the senate to provide input on what they want to see to bring this goal to fruition. Senators provided feedback such as ensuring living wages are available for those who have been here the longest, supervisor training and offering professional development opportunities for employees across campus and not just those in departments that have bigger budgets.

“Professional development without an opportunity for advancement is hollow,” Chair John Smith said.

A kickoff to the new staff mentoring program will be held within the next week, Buford said.��

Bob Knaster and Gary Becker provided another update on parking and why rates are going up. Currently there are zero dollars in the budget for deferred maintenance budget, which is unsustainable. Becker said there should be about $1 million saved just for maintenance – not including surface lots. A discussion followed in which senators expressed their frustration over the rising costs of parking without getting a raise.

“I don’t care about the benchmark schools in the study. I care about UofL and effectively this is a pay cut,” one senator said.

“Leveraging employees out of parking spots is just wrong,” another senator said.

Knaster has previously noted that one of the worst decisions made was to not increase the cost of parking for six years. “Now we’re under water and playing catch up.” 

Other reports

The Student Government Association’s HSC lighting project is moving forward and the association has secured funding to further improvements across Preston Street downtown.

The Faculty Senate approved a distilled spirits certificate and endorsed the same values and principles statement as the Staff Senate. A new School of Music dean has been named, and a committee has been formed to update the university’s policy on consensual sexual relations. Both President Bendapudi and Provost Boehm provided updates to the Faculty Senate. .��

Chair John Smith is serving on the Strategic Planning executive committee, which oversees the three workgroups – learn, work, invest. The most recent meeting involved reports from each workgroup identifying themes that emerged in their first meetings, as well as a discussion about the most effective ways to use funds from the Gheens Foundation gift.

Smith also noted that the tuition and fees committee is meeting on an accelerated pace to complete all charges by its deadline. The committee has reviewed or scheduled reviews for 22 different requests.

In the spirit of transparency, the HR salary website will be restored at President Bendapudi’s request. However, there were a number of inaccuracies found and Bendapudi wants those fixed before it goes live. She has appointed a group with reviewing that information. .��

Secretary-treasurer Rhonda Gilliland’s . The senate spent just $17 last month on new name tags.

Marian Vasser’s Vice Chair report is . She also noted that information from the climate survey is being considered a part of the “Great Places to Work” committee.

Committee reports are . Of note, 2019 senate seats are expiring and interested senators need to re-apply if their seat is up. If their seat is not up for expiration, senators have been asked to re-apply anyway to ensure information is current. The application deadline is April 15. Officer nominations will be held at the May meeting, voting will be held at the June meeting and senators will be announced in July.

The next Staff Senate meeting is April 8 in Chao Auditorium.

UofL Faculty and Staff,

Health Fitness Corp., a third-party vendor that provides services through the Get Healthy Now program at UofL, has informed us of a data breach in their system that affected several institutions. The company has identified 247 University of Louisville employees, retirees or related individuals who enrolled in the program between 2007 and 2014 and whose information was exposed in the breach.

There is no evidence of the data having been seen by an individual or having been used for any illicit purposes. The university was notified of a breach on Aug. 24 and has worked with the company to verify the identities and contact information of those affected since that time.

The university has notified all affected current faculty and staff, as well as retirees and others for whom we have a current email address. Those affected who do not have current email on file with the university are being notified by U.S. mail. If you have not been notified, you were not affected by the breach.

What information is at risk?

• Get Healthy Now coaching program physical activity focus area forms (only)
• Participant’s name and in some cases employee ID
• Physician’s name (in less than one-third of cases)
• Small amount of medical information (in a single case)

What information is NOT at risk?

• Financial information
• Social security number
• Any other data that would likely lead to financial security concerns

What is being done for those affected by the breach?

• Health Fitness will provide one year of free credit monitoring.
• Health Fitness will provide a call center for the next 90 days for any questions you may have.
• Health Fitness will send letters to individuals with specific details on their information.
• We are working with Health Fitness to make sure this type of breach does not occur again.

While this breach did not involve any university systems and it does not appear that any individual actually accessed the information, we recognize that any compromised data causes stress and may raise many questions. For more information, call Get Healthy Now at 502-852-1907 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The university will continue to review policies and procedures, both on campus and among our various vendors, to protect your information now and in the future.

John Elliott

Chief Human Resources Officer

The department didn’t have to look far to find someone to lead the effort.

Brian Buford, assistant provost for diversity and executive director of UofL’s LGBT Center, has been selected to serve as director of employee development and success. He will take the reins of the new program beginning Dec. 3.��

“This is a remarkable opportunity for me to support Dr. Bendapudi’s vision for UofL as a great place to learn, a great place to work, and a great place to invest,” Buford said. “I’ve been focusing these last several years on the ‘great place to learn’ part of that vision, and now I can turn my attention to the ‘great place to work’ part.”

This won’t be Buford’s first foray into HR issues. A 30-year employee, he previously served as manager of organizational effectiveness.

Buford and John Elliott, interim associate vice president for human resources, already have begun planning for the new initiative. Focus areas will include:

• Leadership development and preparing managers to be great leaders
• Onboarding for new employees, both during their first day at UofL and ongoing to help ensure their successful integration at the department level as well
• Cultural competency skills that employees need to help foster and create a climate of belonging and inclusion
• Staff fellows, mentoring and succession planning strategies
• Fostering a climate that makes UofL a great place to work

“Leadership development, staff fellowships and development, and onboarding are key areas for us,” Elliott said. “We will work together with the campus community to ensure these are well-structured programs that address the needs and concerns raised across our campuses, and that will align very closely to Dr. Bendapudi’s vision. With Brian’s experience, credibility and leadership, I am confident the quality will be high and the results will be impressive.” 

Elliott said HR plans to build programs, curricula and infrastructure during the current fiscal year and expects to start deploying programs as soon as possible.��

“The University is committed to developing its people through these various strategies, and we will be working very hard to launch as soon as administratively possible,” he said.��      

Buford has led the LGBT Center since its creation in 2007, turning a one-person operation into a program that is consistently ranked among the nation’s best. Under his watch, UofL has earned a five-star rating on the Campus Pride Index, a key national ranking of inclusiveness; launched an LGBT-themed housing community, the first of its kind in the South; opened a satellite office at the Health Sciences Center; partnered with community leaders on strategic fundraising initiatives; and worked with UofL’s School of Medicine to develop a national model for improving care of LGBT patients.

Those efforts and others have led to numerous local and national honors including a UofL Outstanding Service Award and a seat on the American Red Cross National Diversity Advisory Council.

Mordean Taylor-Archer, vice provost for diversity and international affairs, stressed that Buford’s change of position will not diminish UofL’s commitment to the LGBT community.

“Much to the contrary, Brian has done such an extraordinary job in leading the way for UofL to become a five-star campus it benefits all of us for him to broaden the scope of his work,” she said.

Buford agreed.

“We have outstanding leadership in place, and this transition will enable the center to fill some additional roles that will take its efforts even farther,” he said. “I think I’m most proud of the fact that LGBT inclusion is now firmly part of the university’s fabric and that the center has incredible support across campus. Being inclusive and welcoming is who we are.”

Soon, though, his primary focus will shift to improving campus engagement and professional development across the university.

“I just can’t wait to get started,” he said.