The development is being hailed as a key cog in the revitalization of west Louisville.

Check out scenes from the groundbreaking ceremony:��

According to , Postel’s term began with 19 top academic and administrative positions filled with interims. That number is down to eight, not including Postel’s own role or any athletics positions.��

Postel said UofL hopes to name a new AD by the end of March or early April, which is at least a month before a permanent president is expected to be chosen. Once an AD is in place, a search for a men’s basketball coach will take place.

Other roles expected to be filled soon include dean of the Speed School of Engineering, dean of the School of Nursing, the head of health affairs, research and innovation, HR, communications and marketing, and advancement.

Postel also provided an update on the campus climate survey. Both the 2014 and 2017 surveys have been released so employees can all see the issues that must be addressed. Dr. Mordean Taylor-Archer is undertaking the development of an Action Plan and will host a series of forums around the survey to gauge the work that needs to be done.

Finally, Postel discussed where we are in the budgeting process, noting that February’s budget forums provided an abundance of information on priorities and how to improve. The budget survey yielded 1,699 respondents and hundreds of narrative comments, he said.��

Other budget considerations include: CPE’s decision on tuition caps; recommendations from the Tuition and Fee-Setting Task Force; some kind of raise for employees; a matching pool of funds for deferred maintenance; and, the potential of another round of state appropriations cuts. All these pieces must come together by May to be presented to the Board of Trustees.

John Elliott, interim VP for HR, introduced Todd Kneale, director of Total Rewards. Kneale provided updates: an audit of the ��FLSA determinations will be conducted by an outside source, the JDF process is being reviewed, a committee is being constituted to oversee the administration of UofL’s retirement plan and his 2019 objective to launch a Total Rewards study.

Dr. Joseph Han, UofL’s new COO, was introduced to the senate. He began his role two weeks ago, and said the operations unit is working on a 5-year plan that includes making data-based decisions, improving communication within units and getting staff involved in decisions.

The Vice Chair’s report is .��

Credentials and Nominations provided a list of seats expiring in 2018, . Also, Senators John Smith and Marian Vasser were elected to the Presidential Search Committee. Senator Sandy Russell has been placed on the Retirement Committee.

The Policies and Economic Development Committee put the telecommuting policy up for a vote to present it to leadership and it was passed unanimously. The purpose of the policy is to meet the changing needs of a diverse workforce. The entire policy suggestion is .��

In other reports, no grievances were filed to the Staff Grievance Committee within the past month, and no applications for SHARE assistance have been submitted. An article highlighting the SHARE program was published in February on .��

According to the treasurer’s report, the Staff Senate SHARE account has an uncommitted balance of $16,910.27; the Staff Senate operating account has an uncommitted balance of $5,073.77. The Staff Morale and Community Outreach Committee reminded senators about the UofL Day of Service, which is April 13 and 14.

The next Staff Senate meeting is April 9, 2:30 p.m. at Ekstrom Library’s Chao Auditorium.

He noted that the budget itself has not yet been created, and he wants to get as much input from as many people as possible to ensure the process is collaborative.

In addition to today’s forum – and Monday’s on the HSC campus – he will seek input from the faculty and staff senates, the SGA, CAO, academic leadership team and Board of Trustees, as well as use the comprehensive data culled from the recent budget survey. Out of more than 10,500 employees, 1,699 responded to the survey, which is a statistically significant sample.

The surveys also included “hundreds and hundreds” of comments, Postel said: “We feel very good about the data.”

Survey insight

Survey respondents listed their top budget priorities as having a strong revenue growth plan, a tuition increase, assigned unit budget reductions, a reduction in the number of administrators, a reduction in low-enrollment courses, and downsizing the athletics program.

A reduction in the number of administrators was the most common cost-saving solution advocated in the survey. Postel showed a graph illustrating the $1.4 million reduction in expense associated with the administrative staff, including the elimination of 34 positions.

“I agree with you. I think we were administratively heavy and we have been working on that. We’re not finished,” he said.

Personal priorities for employees, according to the survey, include position protection, performance-based compensation, unit budget restoration and salary increases. Postel said he is particularly concerned about the lack of salary increases at UofL.

“That’s not fair. The University of Kentucky has done a much better job with this. This is something that affects morale,” he said.

Another discussion that surfaced from the survey’s narratives is how to increase enrollment. Nearly 90 percent of employees believe we should grow our enrollment both at the graduate and undergraduate levels.

Strategies on how to do so include the creation of new, high-demand programs (our degree program mix has not changed much, Postel said), online programs and completer degrees.

“In my belief, improving retention also needs to be on this list,” Postel said. “Enrollment is an important conversation and it has to include the preservation of quality (not lowering admissions standards).”

Sixty percent of employees believe we should increase tuition, but Postel cautioned against accomplishing our goals on the backs of students.

Other cost-savings suggestions included creative class scheduling so buildings don’t sit idle, and energy conservation efforts. Fundraising efforts should be focused on scholarships, capital/deferred maintenance projects and research, according to the survey.

Discussion

An audience member asked Postel to explain his understanding about performance-based compensation, noting that it is a problem in Arts & Sciences.

“Don’t assume the status quo next year. We’re doing research and looking at various performance-based compensation mechanisms,” he said.

A few students asked Postel about the status of the Cultural Center and how UofL is prioritizing diversity.

Postel said a job posting is now live to recruit a dedicated fundraiser for diversity initiatives. UofL has a $6.7 million budget for diversity and community engagement programs and that is not going to take any cuts, he said.

“But it’s not enough. This is an area that needs a dedicated fundraiser and we are going to get that done,” he said.

He also noted that the Cultural Center does need to be torn down, but his preference is for the money to be in place for a replacement first.

“The building needs to be razed. This plan has been in place for 8 years. Why didn’t anybody raise money for it? I don’t know. But we’re going to do it now. We can’t change the past, but we can work on this now,” Postel said.

Professor Avery Kolers asked Postel for assurance that the $600,000 NCAA penalty won’t come out of academics and questioned whether a firewall still exists between the academic and athletics budgets.

“Nobody needs to worry about the penalty coming from the academic budget. There is not a firewall between the university and athletics; athletics is a part of the university and the budget is the budget. Now, if something bad happened with athletics, we could get hit with it,” Postel said. “So there has to be a real cooperative relationship between the leadership of athletics and the rest of the university. I’m happy to say that today there is. That has not always been the case. Everyone has to have the same objectives and that is for the university to do well.”

A student asked how recent scandals have affected enrollment numbers and what is being done to rebrand UofL.

Postel said he hasn’t seen much, if any, effect on enrollment, noting that applications are actually up 3,000 this year.

“I think it’s hurt morale more than recruitment,” he said, adding that UofL has contracted a new agency to help with a campaign to “drown out the noise.”

“This university seems to be pretty resilient.”

As the budget process continues, there remain some unanswered questions:

1. State appropriations: Governor Matt Bevin has recommended a 6.25 percent cut. The final decision will be made in mid-April. “What I can tell you is that all state universities in Kentucky are actively inserting ourselves into this conversation and we are vigorously contesting the governor’s proposals,” Postel said.
2. Raises: This, Postel said, is a decision that’s in our control.
3. “We have the ability to decide within limits how we will set our tuition,” he said.
4. Asset preservation or deferred maintenance. State universities have a staggering number of buildings in various states of disrepair. This year, the governor has proposed a $300 million fund for the bonding capacity to service the debt to use toward deferred maintenance. UofL’s share is about $51 million. But, Postel said, there’s a catch: “In order for us to be eligible to receive the bonding capacity, we have to raise or put up $63 million of our own. So we will have $114 million to address about 20 to 25 percent of deferred maintenance, which would make a real dent on this campus,” he said. “But if we don’t come up with the match, we lose it. This is both an opportunity and a challenge. We have to figure out how to do this.”

‘A multi-year exercise’

There are a number of steps involved in the budget process and that will include the appointment of a new budgeting concept steering committee, work on refining unit-based revenue targets, decisions on salary adjustments and more.

Postel said it is important to view the budget as a multi-year exercise.

“It makes no sense to create budgets annually in a vacuum. If that’s all an institution does, it’s purely being reactive and that is no way to run a university,” he said. “A plan is how faculty, staff and students engage and making plans come to fruition make take longer than a year. One of the things that can erode morale is not feeling as though the organization has a direction. People want to come to work and say ‘we have a strategy and I’m part of that.’”

Postel will host another budget forum on Monday, Feb. 26 at 11:30 a.m. in the HSC auditorium.

Today the NCAA Infractions Appeals Committee upheld earlier penalties imposed on the University of Louisville, including vacation of victories from 2011 to 2015. That includes the 2013 national championship and the 2012 Final Four appearance.

I cannot say this strongly enough: We believe the NCAA is simply wrong.

We disagree with the NCAA ruling for reasons we clearly stated in our appeal. And we made a strong case – based on NCAA precedent – that supported our argument. ��

From Day One, the university has admitted that the actions of the former operations director and any others involved under previous leadership were offensive and inexcusable. That is why we apologized immediately, cooperated fully with the NCAA, self-imposed penalties that were appropriate to the offenses and made significant changes to ensure incidents like this never happen again. Under the NCAA’s own rules, this cooperation should have been a factor in the severity of the punishment. Instead, it was ignored.

Like you, I believe the university needed to appeal the decision as strongly as possible. We brought in some of the best legal minds in the country, including the nation’s top litigator, who helped develop and argue our case. This effort was costly both financially and in the time commitment. We felt, and still feel, that the young men who earned those victories and the thousands of fans who supported them deserved our best effort. The pain caused for our fans and the players who were not involved is perhaps the most regretful result of this decision.

This dark cloud has hung over our heads for more than two years, and it has had a negative impact on our athletics program, our fans and the entire university family. While we disagree with the NCAA’s decision, it is time for the university to close this chapter and move forward with a stronger commitment to excellence on and off the court.

First and foremost, we are a university. However painful, this situation gives us the opportunity to turn the corner. We will move forward in an open, transparent and collaborative way. We will need your help to do so.

The NCAA’s ruling cannot change the accomplishments or the excitement generated by our Cardinals basketball team. It cannot change the feeling many of us shared as we experienced the victories those teams earned. And it cannot change the love so many of us have for this great university.

I hope you will join me in continuing to remember those teams and their contributions. And I hope you will join me as the university looks to brighter days in athletics and as an academic institution.

Greg Postel, M.D.

Interim President

See Postel’s comments from Tuesday’s press conference below:��

The campus climate survey received about 1,900 responses, while the budget survey received about 1,7000 responses, both of which he called “statistically significant response rates.”

“For the campus climate survey, what’s important is that we correct some of the problems we initially discovered in the 2014 survey. We will have forums to drill down the biggest, most persistent concerns,” he said. “For the budget survey, we will also hold two forums to figure out where we go from here.”

The budget forums are planned for Feb. 22 at noon on the Belknap Campus, and Feb. 26 on the HSC Campus. More information will be shared in UofL Today.

Postel concluded by mentioning that the NCAA has not yet reached out to UofL with its punishment about the prostitution scandal.

“We want to get this over with. We have no desire to prolong these issues. We have to be fair and protect our interests, but prolonging this issue is a no-win. We’re hoping to get closure as fast as we can,” he said.

Postel took a few questions from the senators, including UofL’s “new budget model.”

“What we’re trying to do is set revenue targets for each unit and have a budget where if you don’t meet those targets, there will be withholds,” he said. This approach was both recommended by a consultant and is in keeping with the CPE’s new performance-based funding model.

Other business

The meeting opening up the meeting with an in memoriam statement for Dr. Ruth Huber. Huber passed away on Jan. 23.

She was a professor emeritus in the Kent School of Social Work and was the inaugural director of Kent’s doctoral program. Huber, who was also active in the community, was named the Trustee Award winner in 2002.

The Student Government Association submitted a letter to faculty advocating for midterm academic evaluations. Studies have shown that this type of communication helps with retention rates. .��

Staff Senate did not meet in January, but reported concerns about the ongoing budget issues and employee morale.

Chair Enid Trucios-Haynes provided the chair’s report, which included a summation of the listening tour meetings that provided Board of Trustee members with a better understanding of the opportunities at UofL. Two additional faculty representatives for the presidential search process have been added – Krista Wallace-Boaz and Diane Chlebowy.

The presidential nomination period closes Feb. 15. Trucios-Haynes said there are 55 to 60 candidates expected by that date. All candidates will be reviewed and the pool of applicants will be whittled down to “10 or so” who will continue through the process.

Two budget forums are planned for this month, including one on Feb. 22 at noon on the Belknap Campus, and the other on Feb. 26 on the HSC Campus. More information will be available soon.

.��

Trucios-Haynes invited a deeper discussion about the budget survey, as well as the presidential forum pillars presented earlier in the fall semester. Senators suggested more details about the “aggressive cultural assessment” goal and redefining “overview of recruitment policies” to “enhancement of recruitment policies” or something similar. Also, they noted there is nothing referencing service in the community engagement pillar, and the “advocacy in health care” description is too vague.

Finally, one senator noted that the pillars are presented as being equal and he believes “educational excellence” should hold more weight than the others since it’s the “primary purpose” of our institution.

Provost Dale Billingsley

Provost Dale Billingsley discussed the objectives of the enrollment growth steering committee. Discussion of the university’s enrollment growth has used 30,000 students as a placeholder for a more considered goal throughout the next five years. This number is based on the typical enrollment of a public research 1 university.

The provost’s office plans to organize this committee to address four questions in detail:

• What is the university’s optimum size?
• What distribution of enrollments will the university support?
• How will the university provide for the students’ educational experience and support?
• Assuming that the new plan aims to provide ongoing long-term support, what resources will fund immediate development?

.��

The next Faculty Senate meeting is March 7 at 3 p.m. in Chao Auditorium.

Postel opened his report with a story from his time in Florida for the TaxSlayer Bowl game, where the chairman of the game said the UofL team was “the most courteous, focused and team-like team – hands down – of any bowl game in his memory.”

“This was a very welcome unsolicited comment and it shows that we’re more than just teaching our students in the classroom and on the field, but also teaching good citizens,” Postel said.

Postel said the Campus Climate Survey results will be released soon, as will the results from the 2014 survey, which were not previously released because “the results weren’t good.”

“We’re releasing both surveys so we can then have a wholesome conversation about what’s wrong and what’s not – the good and the bad. This will be a very useful tool for us,” he said.

Postel discussed the university’s goal of increasing the graduation rate, which is currently around 53 percent. He said one of the major reasons our rate is lower than both UK and other ACC schools is because of student preparedness.

“We’re proud that we have a lot of first-generation students, but they need a lot of mentoring,” he said. “The answer to that is related to the resources we have in place to help the students we admit, whether financial, counseling, career needs or something else. We need to understand their issues. It’s a worthy but expensive goal.”

Postel pointed to UofL’s student-athlete graduation numbers, which are about 20 percent higher, and noted that the success can be attributed to the comprehensive resources in place for this specific demographic.

“Their lives are closely managed. They have dedicated advisers. The resources are poured onto these students and it works. We look at it kind of like a test kitchen,” he said. “The challenge is resources.”

Postel brought this issue up during the Board of Overseers meeting last week and said the response was positive. Members of the board expressed interest in raising money specifically for the purpose of getting more resources earmarked for students.

“It’s an early report and some of these projects are three-to-four-year projects, but we have to start somewhere,” he said.

Postel provided an update on the sale of Jewish and Frazier hospitals. Blue Mountain Capital, a New York City investment group, has moved into the negotiation phase to purchase the properties. The partnership will allow the group to work with UofL to revitalize UofL’s programmatic engagement on those properties.

“This is the kind of partner that is the best case for us. They take the financial risk, but we’d still have a say in governance,” Postel said. The purchasing process is still underway, but he expects completion by the end of February.

Postel brought up the latest on the budget, shifting gears from UofL’s specific deficit to the state of Kentucky’s issues that are expected to affect the university.

“The state of Kentucky is in trouble. A lot of issues have been kicked down the road. Kentucky’s revenue is about $11 billion, but the amount of deferred funding for the state pension program is between $40 and $80 billion,” Postel said. “This program goes back decades and it has to be incrementally fixed.”

Since 2008, there has been a 26-percent drop in UofL’s state appropriations to help remedy this issue.

There has been discussion about the state’s budget and UofL is preparing for the worst, which would be a 17-percent cut* (*Governor Matt Bevin has since provided his projections, which include a 6.6 percent budget cut). asking all employees for input on ideas to help with the budget preparation.��

“We’re going to have to be creative. The state of Kentucky is not going to solve our problems. The worst case scenario is wholesale cuts,” Postel said. “This place has always historically been resilient and to get through this, we’ll have to have a lot of conversations and a lot of buy in from the faculty, staff and community.”

There are two decanal searches underway, including the Speed School of Engineers and the School of Nursing. Speed is in the final phase, with four candidates remaining, and the School of Nursing is hoping to fill its leadership position by July.

UofL has also hired a COO and a VP of Enterprise and Risk Management. Bill Pierce, UofL’s EVP of Research and Innovation, announced his retirement. The role will be filled temporarily by Dr. Rob Keynton from the Speed School.

Postel also noted that the search for a new athletics director will be brisk to help with recruiting. He hopes to have the role filled by April 1.

Finally, the new CFO who was supposed to start this week, has backed out of the position due to family issues. Postel said we will start the search over again immediately.

Report: Dr. Dale Billingsley

Interim Provost Dale Billingsley provided a report, noting that the faculty and the students need to collaborate to come up with a new process for releasing midterm grades.

He also asked senators to pay attention to junior faculty who may be thinking about leaving.

“We really need to be worried about faculty retention. I’ve asked the deans to let me know if they see any signs of hemorrhaging. I’m very concerned about this, especially with our junior faculty,” he said.

Finally, Billingsley urged senators to attend the presidential search listening tour.

Action Item: Academic Programs Committee

The meeting opened with two action items from the Academic Programs Committee, including the approval of an MS in Health Data Analytics and an MS in Health Administration, both housed at the School of Public Health and Information Sciences. Presentations were delivered from SPHIS representatives, including Dean Craig Blakely.

The MS in Health Data Analytics is 41 total credit hours and there are no comparable programs at other schools of public health. The closest such program is at IU-Bloomington. Other similar programs are facilitated through colleges of business. Dean Blakely has discussed collaboration opportunities with College of Business Dean Todd Mooridian, including potential shared marketing initiatives.

The MS in Health Administration is both for students who have no or limited health care experience, and for those on an executive track, with an executive training component. The goal for the 56-credit-hour course is to have 20 students enrolled by 2022. The program will replace Population Health Management. Currently, there is only one accredited program in the area, at the University of Kentucky. Western Kentucky has an unaccredited program.

Both of these programs were approved by the Faculty Senate.

Reports

The Student Government Association report is .��

The Staff Senate approved a resolution on the presidential search process. The agenda also included reports from Mordean Taylor-Archer, Patty Payette, Keith Sherman and Lee Smith. More information is .

Enid Trucios-Haynes provided the Faculty Senate Chair report, including an update on the presidential search process. She expressed a need to include more input in the vetting process and reported there will be more representation in the search. The presidential search website is now live, including a portal for feedback. Trucios-Haynes encouraged senators to provide constructive feedback. .��

“This is an opportunity for you to engage the board,” she said.

A discussion was held about the level of openness in the search. The finalists will all be invited to campus for an open forum, but some senators expressed concern that some may choose not to come, which could skew the process.

Trucios-Haynes asked for feedback on the presidential forums that have been held sporadically, and a discussion ensued about whether or not UofL can take a fast-growth enrollment approach and improve academic excellence.

“I content that a larger student body goes against the educational excellence goal,” one senator stated.

Another stated concern about becoming “just a diploma mill,” while others opined that the concepts are not mutually exclusive.

The next Faculty Senate meeting is February 7 in Chao Auditorium.

The partnership, called the Hive, focuses on creating healthcare technology solutions for aging care, such as mobile applications that track compliance. By locating near campus, Kindred will get to work closely with students and faculty.

“This is an example of the ways in which companies and universities can work together for the benefit of the community, students, patients and companies such as Kindred,” Kindred President and Chief Executive Officer Benjamin A. Breier said in a statement.��

The 3,500-square-foot center is in former K-I Lumber & Building Materials office building at Floyd and Lee streets, near UofL’s Belknap Campus.

The space has a distinct “startup” vibe, with bee-themed decor and graphic design pieces from students at the UofL Hite Art Institute. There are also smartboards, computers and other technologies donated by California-based technology giant, Cisco Systems Inc.

The University of Louisville Foundation purchased that property two years ago. It’s in the heart of “the North Quad,” an area that’s increasingly drawing these kinds of university-industry partnerships.

“To see the amount of innovation that’s taking place at UofL, and especially in the North Quad, is a tremendous thing,” said Louisville mayor, Greg Fischer. “Not just for the university and for great companies like Kindred; it’s wonderful for our city, as well.”

Louisville-based manufacturer Advanced Energy Materials opened a new facility there . And, FirstBuild — an open-innovation makerspace and micro-factory —opened in 2014 in partnership with GE Appliances, a Haier company.

“This is all part of our plan to develop a series of partnerships between industry and academics,” said UofL interim president, Greg Postel. “The students actually contribute to the innovation that takes place here and at the same time, it enhances their education.”

For example, take Will Rigby, who worked with Kindred as a student at UofL’s the J.B. Speed School of Engineering, helping develop the company’s first mobile compliance app. He graduated in August and now works for Kindred as a programmer and analyst.

“[Working with Kindred] provided me with some real world experience working in the field of healthcare,” he said. “And there really is no substitute for work experience for a student.”

Kindred’s already working on another app that would allow nurses to assess a patient’s eligibility for hospice care. There are many other projects in the works.

“At Hive, students get real-world experiences, and in return, our technology professionals gain a fresh perspective from the students,” said Kindred Chief Information Officer, Charlie Wardrip. “Together, they bring the latest innovative ideas into the development of products that we can put into the hands of our patients, our customers and our team members.”

He said it’s also a pipeline as Kindred looks for new talent. Hive currently houses six UofL engineering students, working under supervision of faculty and Kindred staff.

Check out more from the ribbon-cutting ceremony:��

Fischer opened his comments by encouraging students to “really jump in and be a big part of our city,” which he noted is going through a renaissance right now, bolstered by $11 billion worth of construction projects.

“I encourage you to use bike share or to walk the city and see everything that’s going on … to see the wonderful transformation,” he said.

Fischer also encouraged students to choose to get involved during their time at UofL.��

“I got involved when I was in college and it changed my life,” he said. “You’re not going to learn as much if you play it safe.”

Fischer outlined three values that drive the city of Louisville: lifelong learning, health (mental, physical and environmental) and compassion.

“Compassion is when we respect our citizens so that their potential flourishes,” he said.

Fischer also acknowledged last weekend’s events at the University of Virginia, strongly condemning white supremacy, racism and bigotry. His statements elicited an enthusiastic applause from the crowd.

“You are entering college at an extraordinary and interesting time. We need your voice,” he said. “We need you to think of yourself as more than someone who is in their second day at the University of Louisville. How do you use your new platform as a UofL student to do good? … Do something for which you expect nothing in return.”

Interim president Greg Postel, who introduced Fischer, encouraged students to ensure their service is not just a one-time event.

“I hope this is the beginning for a lifetime of community service,” Postel said. “(Community engagement) is part of the fabric of what UofL is all about.”