For its dedication to empowering employees across the university, the Employee Success Center was given the from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR). The award honors transformative thinking in higher education human resources, recognizing a new and innovative HR team, project or program that resulted in significant and ongoing organizational change within an institution.

“Receiving this award is such an honor to the Employee Success Center team,” said Laura McDaniels, interim director of the Employee Success Center. “It highlights our dedication and the thoughtful work that we put into building programs that encourage connection and engagement across campus.”

The Employee Success Center fosters that engaged and growth-oriented culture at UofL with several forward-thinking initiatives, such as a year-long onboarding process designed to help new employees integrate more fully into university life, leadership development, mentoring and career guidance for all employee groups, along with new and innovative recognition programs.

The center also received recognition earlier this year from the for its efforts to support and recognize employees through its people-centered initiatives, including new staff awards and CARDGrams, university-themed e-cards designed to make daily employee recognition simple, accessible and meaningful. Over 7,500 e-cards have been sent in recognition of colleagues since CARDGrams launched. Additionally, 95% of employees who participated in career coaching sessions reported a stronger sense of belonging.

“These recognitions and successes inspire us to continue creating experiences that strengthen our university community,” McDaniels said.

As a President’s Senior Leadership Team member, Clark will lead all university human resources (HR) functions: employee recruitment, retention and engagement; performance management; employee development and education, which includes UofL’s Employee Success Center; and total rewards management, which includes compensation strategy and benefits administration.

Further, Clark and his HR team will provide strategic and operational guidance for human resources to university leadership and employees, advance a service-oriented HR strategy, ensure compliance with university policies and foster a university culture committed to the Cardinal Principles and achievement of UofL’s strategic plan.

“I am excited about the opportunity to lead the University of Louisville’s human resources initiatives,” said Clark, who brings more than 20 years of experience in human resources to the university. “I want UofL to be an employer of choice throughout the community; a place where its faculty and staff thrive professionally and personally.”

Clark currently serves as the associate vice president for people and culture at Ball State University, where he led and strengthened initiatives in professional development and employee well-being. Prior to that, he served as the chief human resources, learning and equity officer for Pasco-Hernando State College, which operates five campus locations across two Florida counties. He also served in HR leadership for the Pasco County School District (K-12) and FedEx Ground.

“I want to offer my appreciation to the VPHR search committee who made outstanding contributions to this most successful search and to Jacque Stepherson for serving as our interim VP of human resources for the past six months,” said UofL President Kim Schatzel. “Please join me in welcoming Darrell to this important leadership role and offering our full support to him and the HR team.”

The Worksite Wellness Award is based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Worksite Health Scorecard, a comprehensive assessment tool that evaluates organizations’ efforts to create a culture of health in the workplace. To qualify for this prestigious recognition, organizations must:

• Have established mission and vision statements, along with a defined plan for ongoing development and purposeful support.
• Implement sustainable worksite wellness programs that encourage healthy behaviors, such as physical activity, nutrition and stress management.
• Collaborate with community resources and healthcare providers to enhance employees’ access to health services.

According to the council, UofL’s Get Healthy Now program embodies these principles and goes above and beyond to promote employee well-being. The program is an integral part of the university’s comprehensive benefits package and offers a wide range of wellness services, including but not limited to , nutrition counseling through , yoga, meditation, stress management workshops, educational resources on topics such as healthy eating, mental health and preventive care, and more. Regular workshops and seminars empower employees to make informed decisions about their well-being.

“I am so proud of this university, of our team and of all our wellness warriors. This award is not only a reflection of the Get Healthy Now program, but also a reflection of our colleagues and employees who come together to promote wellness,” said Tamara Iacono, wellness coordinator for UofL’s Get Healthy Now program. “Fostering a culture of wellness at the university ensures employees thrive both personally and professionally.”

Iacono adds that the university will continue to prioritize health and well-being and encourages employees to visit the to explore the programs and resources.

By Kristina Doan, UofL Human Resources

A new batch of students is joining the ranks of University of Louisville alumni. At its Dec. 15, 2022, committee meeting, the UofL Board of Trustees approved a measure to confer degrees to approximately 2,300 students at the December 2022 commencement exercises. Several graduate success stories have been published in UofL News. More details about December 2022 commencement are available on the .

Intentional wellness

Mary Elizabeth Miles, vice president for university human resources, provided an update on UofL’s many new and ongoing wellness initiatives. Among the 2022 successes are enhancements to the Get Healthy Now incentive program, Wellness Wednesday sessions, a new Wellness Resource Guide and health advocate services. Miles describes these and the other wellness initiatives as “intentional wellness” initiatives, which account for the physical, mental and emotional wellbeing of UofL’s more than 7,000 employees.

Compensation and Total Rewards Study

Miles also shared an update about the university’s . For the past two years, UofL has been conducting the study in partnership with Segal, an HR consulting firm with expertise in higher education, to provide fair and equitable faculty (nonclinical) and staff compensation programs as identified in the 2019 – 2022 strategic plan. The university will use the results of this study to provide opportunities for career development and advancement, provide a comprehensive and competitive compensation and benefits package, follow “best practice” philosophy and align the university’s job and pay structure with the market.

To date, committees of faculty, staff and senior administrators have established guiding principles for compensation and total rewards issues and assessed the university’s current job architecture, looking for opportunities to create synergy among professional titles and responsibilities. Efforts currently focus on a salary market assessment. Final results of the Compensation & Rewards Study will be presented in the second quarter of 2023.

Workday

Also about two years in the making is the university-wide transition from the PeopleSoft human resources (HR) management software to the new system. Workday will go live the week of Jan. 9, 2023, and will improve several university operations including payroll processing, employee management, hiring and benefits among others. More than 120 training sessions for university employees have been completed to date with several more scheduled after implementation.

Stable finances

Dan Durbin, vice president for finance and administration/CFO, reported that the university’s general fund is still performing well although fiscal year-to-date activity is approximately $25 million less compared to this time last year. Durbin said that the deficit can be attributed to such factors as revenue lost due to one less home football game and the ticket payment due date for men’s basketball tickets (ULAA); timing of the IGT match payment (ULRF); and lower than anticipated graduate level enrollments. Durbin said that mitigation plans are underway to counter shortfalls and is confident that trends will continue toward a balanced budget in the spring.

The next regular meeting of the University of Louisville Board of Trustees is Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. Meeting minutes and other information is available on the .

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 .

In regard to this necessary change, President Bendapudi stated, “a university can only be a great place to work if it is able to provide the resources necessary for its people to be most effective.”

PeopleSoft, an enterprise management system developed nearly 30 years ago, has several inefficiencies that contributed to increasing costs and a poor user experience. In addition to these problems, the parent platform service, Oracle, recently announced that they will stop supporting the PeopleSoft HR software by 2031. Given these challenges, the university began the search for a new and improved enterprise management system.  

When tasked to find a replacement for PeopleSoft, the Information Technology Services team worked diligently to identify the system that would best address the needs of employees, as well as the great place to work goals of the . After working with various members of the campus community and engaging over 77 stakeholders across 20 departments for feedback over the last year, the Workday software was selected as the best system for the university and its employees.

Workday is an industry leader that provides a unified system for Human Capital Management (HCM). The implementation of the modern cloud-based system will offer timely and cost-effective functionality to employees while simplifying and standardizing numerous HR processes across the university. The functionality of the software will improve hiring processes, reduce payroll calculation and processing errors, upgrade security and provide users with a more positive overall HR and payroll experience.

While introducing the Workday software to Staff Senators in November of 2020, Mary Alexander-Conte, director of disbursement services, stated, “it’s going to make our lives a lot easier, both internal to payroll and external to all of our departments.”

In addition to its user-friendly dashboards, Workday also includes mobile-friendly technology that will allow employees to access and change personal information, view paystubs, find business directories and access various HR polices and information all from their personal mobile devices. The intuitive mobile interface will provide users with immediate access to time entry and approvals, and Workday’s bi-annual system updates will ensure that employees always have access to the most efficient and reliable HCM system available.

Other leading educational institutions and organizations have already taken advantage of the host of benefits offered by Workday, and now UofL has begun the phased transition to the software. Over the next six years, Workday will be integrated across several areas of the university in phases. First, Workday’s HR software will be used to replace our Peoplesoft HR system. After Workday HR is implemented then the university will start the Workday Finance journey. 

Starting in July of 2022, all units and departments will utilize Workday HR. In the coming months, readiness and development sessions will be conducted along with the university’s software implementation partner, Huron. To get the campus ready for the Workday HR system, the project team will leverage the , training sessions, video guides and step-by-step aids to assist employees during the transition.

Employees are also encouraged to share questions and feedback with representatives of UofL’s . The Change Ambassador Network kicked off in April under the leadership of Melissa Shuter, executive director of operation support services. The 50 employees serving as change ambassadors in this network act as representatives for every unit and department across the university, and also include representatives from the Faculty and Staff Senates, Commissions, and lead fiscal officers. The feedback collected through the change ambassadors, as well as town halls, will be used to refine and improve the system moving forward. Additional information including the current implementation timeline, the list of change ambassadors and FAQS can be found on the website.

As part of the Great Place Journey campaign kicked off by President Bendapudi to keep the campus community informed about each of the major projects and initiatives happening in the university, regular updates about the implementation of Workday and other major university initiatives will be regularly provided to the campus community via UofL News, the UofL Today employee newsletter and the Student News and Events newsletter.

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.

Executive Vice President and University Provost Lori Gonzalez informed senators of plans to restore employee retirement benefits. Retirement benefits were moved back to 2% at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 and were recently raised to 6%. Gonzalez informed senators that retirement benefits are estimated to be returned to the original 7.5% by July 1, pending approval from the Board of Trustees.

Gonzalez also addressed plans for future health care costs stating, “the administration is committed to not passing any increases to health care costs. There will be no change in premiums for the second year in a row for employees at the university.”

Both Gonzalez and Faculty Senate Chair David Schultz reported that the mass COVID-19 vaccination site at Cardinal Stadium will stop taking first-dose patients in the coming weeks. Gonzalez cited low patient turn out as one contributing factor of the upcoming closure. Schultz informed senators that alternative vaccination site locations will be available.

Senators were presented with the second readings of the revised bylaws for the School of Nursing and the J.B. Speed School of Engineering — both of which were approved unanimously. Two academic certificate proposals, a graduate certificate in Health Care Ethics and an undergraduate certificate in Ethics both through the College of Arts and Sciences, were also unanimously approved by the senate.

Mary Elizabeth Miles, vice president for Human Resources, informed senators on two changes to employee flexible spending accounts. After reaching out to those affected, the decision was made to increase dependent care FSA to $10,500. In addition, there will be a roll over for FSA from 2020 to 2021 and then 2021 to 2022.

“What that means for our employees is that if you had any money left in your dependent care or in your medical FSA at the end of 2020, it will now it roll over into 2021. Whatever you have left this year, you will be able to use that money for 2022 through Dec. 31,” Miles stated.

Schultz later led a senate discussion on the proposed Faculty Accountability Policy, which was presented during last month’s Faculty Senate Meeting. In December 2019, former Provost Beth Boehm charged a committee to make recommendations regarding expectations of faculty behavior and appropriate disciplinary actions. The proposed policy is intended to add consistency and equity in disciplinary actions across departments.

The policy was shared with senators during last month’s meeting to allow time for feedback and suggestions. During the discussion, senators voiced concerns, suggested amendments and recommended changes to the proposed policy. The recommendations of the senate will be shared with the Office of the Executive Vice President and University Provost.

Committee reports and a of the virtual meeting can be accessed on the . The next Faculty Senate meeting is scheduled for June 2 via Microsoft Teams.

Miles spoke about the university’s efforts to file mass unemployment claims on behalf of employees for the first time in UofL’s history.

“We’ve never done it before and we’ve learned very quickly the ins and outs, in very interesting times,” she said. 

She explained that the state’s unemployment office has been inundated with requests and has struggled with an internal change of leadership and outdated filing systems.

“Apparently the individual process has been even more challenging. More systems have been just completely shut down where people have no way to get in. And the wait times, although they are long all over the place, are even worse,” Miles said. “So I just want you all to know that despite the frustration we have with the mass e-filing process, it’s still in the best interest of our university community and we’re glad that we did it.”

The Human Resources office has been writing daily to the state’s unemployment office on behalf of employees. HR staff have taken measures to stay in close contact with employees, including university text messages and personal phone calls, to ensure time-sensitive actions are completed. They also created a dedicated to all the questions that employees have brought forward during the process.

HR staff ensure every unemployment question submitted to their office gets answered or addressed on the same day. They have worked closer than usual with Staff Senate Chair John Smith and the SHARE committee to ensure employees having a difficult time with the unemployment process receive help.

Senators asked several clarifying questions and inquired about the options for continuing to work remotely when campus operations resume in the fall.

“We are looking at it, we recognize there are lots of people out there who need to possibly have some sort of modifications or need to be able to do things a little bit differently than we did before. And we also need to understand that the university, there’s going to be some things that it needs and we are going to try to balance that.”

President Bendapudi reported on the outcomes of her meeting with the Black Student Union, which can be found here, and she discussed why the university strongly supports the Black Lives Matter movement.

“When we say ‘Black Lives Matter’ what that means is not at all saying other people are unimportant,” she said. “When people say systemic racism, it doesn’t mean you are racist, or I am racist. It says there is something wrong with the system where over time this is happening, and we need to look at what are those barriers and how do we overcome that.”

Bendapudi emphasized that the university’s mission is part of the solution.

“There’s many ways I believe in higher education. I truly believe that higher education has the promise of transforming people’s lives. I would not be here if it weren’t for education. So we have to be true to our mission. I will always come back to ‘let’s educate, let’s do better education, better work, so that we make our local police better and the best practices make everybody better,’” she said.

Staff Senate Chair John Smith reported that the Senate body should put forth a statement of support for the Black Lives Matter movement, but that it should have input. Smith hopes for it to be more than words of support.

“We’d like to have a two-week window for [senators] to send us ideas for … changes that we can advocate for from our platform as the Senate as a whole. We would really like the Senate to be an action group in this arena,” he said. 

Smith briefly shared budget updates from the June Board of Trustees meeting. Based on three different scenarios—all in-person classes, hybrid classes, or all online classes— the university is planning for three various levels of impact to the FY 2021 budget.

“The enrollment and state revenue are the two wild cards that we just don’t know, that are going to drive a lot of which one of these three scenarios we fall in,” he said.

Senators expressed concern about furloughs potentially getting extended. Senators requested that data be made available on how many furloughs have been issued thus far and a campus breakdown of where those furloughs took place. Smith confirmed that he will present those concerns in his next meeting with the president. A formal update on the university’s financial situation is also forthcoming.

Chief Operating Officer Mark Watkins confirmed that $27,995.57 thus far has been reimbursed to remote-working employees who requested refunds. Additionally, $36,293.98 worth of parking fee deductions have stopped for all furloughed employees for the duration of their furlough.

Senator Angela Lewis-Klein reported that the Executive Committee of the Staff Senate recommends the 2020 Senate year be considered a “grace year” due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the operations of the Staff Senate. They also recommended the tabling of Senate seat elections, including the officers, until the 2021 Senate year. All recommendations passed.

Committee reports and a full video recording of the virtual meeting can be found on the .

The next Staff Senate meeting will be held July 14 via Microsoft Teams.

From March 2 to March 20, the Human Resources Employee Development and Success Office is taking applications for a pilot program in which staff members can spend time in a department or office different from the one in which they work. The short-term learning opportunity is similar to an internship or a practicum in which the staff member will get real-life experience in an area of interest and can learn from university colleagues.

The Staff Fellowship Program supports the goal of ensuring UofL is a great place to work “because it is a workplace dedicated to personal growth and professional development.”

“Being a great place to work means giving employees a way to explore their career interests, especially at a university where education and growth are such pillars of our mission,” said Brian Buford, director of the Development and Success Office. “The beauty of working at a university is that there are endless opportunities to test the waters and discover new paths. You don’t have to leave UofL to figure out your perfect fit.”

The Employee Development and Success team will choose up to 10 employees for the pilot and work with them to create their fellowship placements. A fellowship will generally consist of 30 to 60 onsite days that could be done all at once or incrementally, depending on the nature of the work to be done and the employee’s workload in their home department. Participants will develop agreements with their unit heads for temporary staff release and to discuss how the employee will cover work assignments for the duration of the fellowship appointment. 

“Giving employees the opportunity to consider other jobs might seem counterintuitive in some ways, because we don’t want to lose them. But I am confident the gains will far outweigh the risk of seeing good people leave,” Buford added. “When people work in departments where they feel valued, have opportunities to grow, and know that someone cares about their development, things like loyalty and engagement go way up.”

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