Beth Boehm, outgoing executive vice president and university provost, provided senators with updates on COVID-19 vaccine availability. On the afternoon of March 2, invitations for the COVID-19 vaccination were sent via email to all faculty, staff and students between the ages of 60 and 69. Boehm encouraged those who fall within this age range and did not receive the email from Student Health Services to contact Phillip Bressoud, executive director of Campus Health Services.

Boehm introduced her successor to the executive vice president and university provost position, Lori Stewart Gonzalez. Boehm was thanked for her years of service by Faculty Senate Chair David Schultz and other members of the Faculty Senate. Gonzalez, a Kentucky native, will assume the role on April 1.

Boehm stated, “I just wanted to thank you all for welcoming me back to the senate these past three years. It’s been an honor to serve in the role of the provost and to work with all of you.”

Senators received information on student enrollment by Vice Provost of Enrollment Management and Student Success Jim Begany. Begany reported a peak in enrollment during the fall 2020 semester with over 23,000 students. While public 4-year universities nationwide saw an average 10.5% decrease in enrollment during the fall 2020 semester, UofL reported a 2.7% increase in student enrollment. The university also saw an increase in the 6-year graduation rate, which is the common measure among institutions. The current 6-year graduation rate is at 60.4%, an improvement from the 52.9% rate reported in 2015.

When addressing the current 6-year graduation rate, Begany stated, “this is what I’m most proud of. This is a university-wide effort. It’s our faculty working with students in the classroom, our advisors, our student affairs, our entire university. When we see numbers that are improving, it’s reflective of all the work that we’re all doing to get our students to graduate.”

Updates about the Canon printer policies were provided by Chief Procurement Officer Sally Molsberger.  

Under the updated Canon printer policy, existing single function and desktop printers can continue to be used until they are non-functioning, at which time they may not be repaired or replaced. Toner and ink for existing single function and desktop printers will not be provided through Canon and should be ordered through the contracted office supply vendor, Staples. All paper purchases should go through the university . The policy further states that university funds cannot be used to pay for desktop printers or personal printing. Those with questions or concerns about the updated printing policy were encouraged to contact either or with Procurement Services.

Vice Provost of Faculty Affairs Tracy Eells provided the current draft of the intimate relationships policy. In December 2019, Boehm charged a committee to review and make necessary changes to the policy on intimate relationships between students and members of faculty and staff. The policy will apply to all university employees.

Four types of intimate relationships will be prohibited under the policy:

• An instructor, staff or administrator and an undergraduate student
• An instructor, staff or administrator and a graduate or professional student, when the instructor, staff or administrator has a current or expected supervisory or instructional role with the student or when the instructor, staff or administrator and student are in the same academic school, college, program or department
• A graduate or professional student and an undergraduate, graduate, or professional student when there is a supervisory or instructional role
• A supervisor and the supervisor’s direct report.

Committee reports and a of the virtual meeting can be accessed on the . The next faculty meeting is scheduled for April 7 via Microsoft Teams.

Metrics for component areas support key state goals for secondary education, including increased retention and progression, increased degrees, more degrees that earn higher wages (e.g. STEM), and increased degrees by minority, low income and underprepared students.

Fiscal year 2018-19 funding distribution included $9.1 million for UK, $2.5 million for UofL and $3.4 million for Eastern Kentucky. Boehm laid out UofL’s opportunities to catch up, including:

• Enroll and retain greater numbers of academically qualified, degree-seeking students
• Encourage students to take full course loads (at least 15 hours) and provide services to help them
• Increase graduation rates and produce more degrees, especially among underserved student populations or in areas of pressing state need
• Beat sector averages while gaining share

There are five categories that UofL fell below sector averages weighted toward research universities – bachelor’s degrees, STEM and health bachelor’s degrees, low-income bachelor’s degrees, student progression at 30 hours and URM bachelor’s degrees. Also, Boehm noted some of the limitations and concerns, such as the facilities metric, which doesn’t promote increased efficiencies in maintenance and operation.

Though much work needs to be done, Boehm said many of the metrics are in line with UofL’s values, such as increasing STEM students. .

Boehm also provided a number of updates, noting that SACS will visit in December to reaffirm the university’s accreditation for another 10 years. UofL is not on probation, but the university is in the middle of completing the 10-year review process, which was delayed last year due to probationary status.

The revenue target steering committee is meeting again and Boehm and CFO Dan Durbin serve as “heavy handed” ex officios. The enrollment committee is also up and running.

Boehm mentioned that she now oversees the Technology Solutions department.

“This should be good. Academics have been absent from any tech plans that have come up and we want to change that,” she said.

The search for a chief information officer is underway, with three finalists identified.

Additionally, the executive vice president of health affairs position and the executive vice president of research and innovation position are both posted and are expected to be filled by July 1, 2019.

The administration is launching a committee to clean up/update the Redbook. Finally, Boehm has inquired about classes that have been canceled due to low enrollment and found that about 24 were canceled through Arts & Sciences, and nine were canceled in the School of Music.

“This might be a new reality, canceling low-enrollment classes,” she said.

Todd Kneale, director of Total Rewards, provided an update on benefits, noting that health insurance rates will be increased in 2019 for the first time in five years.

Those monthly increases are:

• EPO: 4% for employee only; 1% for employee/spouse/QA; 1.4% for employee/children; 1.2% for family. Employees covered in EPO represent 19%.
• HRA: 4.3% for employee only; 2% for employee/spouses/QA; 1.4% for employee/children; 1.7% for family. Employees covered in HRA represent 20.7%.
• PPO: 4.6% for employee only; 1.9% for employee/spouse/QA; 1.4% for employee/children; 1.9% for family. Employees covered in PPO represent 50.5%.
• HRA: 4.6% for employee only; 2.1% for employee/spouse/QA; 1.5% for employee/children; 1.9% for family. Employees covered in HRA represent 9.8%.

As a way to offset the pain of these increases, HR the department is working with finance to implement a $14.48 kickback for those who make $36,000 or less. This would affect about 1,040 people.

Also, effective Jan. 1, 2019, new employees will have to wait 30 days before they receive benefits, and the two-employee family rate will not continue after Jan. 1.

The special guest was Dean Emmanuel Collins of the Speed School of Engineering. Collins was named to that position in April.

He said the Speed School is two-thirds the way of having a national reputation as a Tier I national research program and his job is get us the rest of the way. His two main principles are emphasizing staff and specialized teachers (term faculty).

“You have to make your staff feel like part of your system. If they’re let out of the decision-making, it is not a good working environment. They have to feel integrated into that process,” he said. “Also, we want to make sure the track for faculty progression is very clear. We can no longer run a modern engineering program with just tenure-track faculty.”

In five years, he hopes to have a new engineering and science building, which will better enable the school to grow.

He also hopes to incorporate more accountability for teaching.

“K through 12 teachers require regular certification. My plan is to help our educators grow as well and to take advantage of our resources, like the Delphi Center, so that in five years, we are not only better researchers, but better teachers,” he said.

In other news, Redbook changes to the school of Dentistry personnel document and School of Medicine bylaws were approved.

Angela Lewis-Klein provided a report from the Staff Senate meeting in September, in which members were given a tour of the SAC’s renovations and informed of the extended (two-week) holiday break.

Krista Wallace-Boaz provided the chair’s report, which is . The board of trustees is now meeting quarterly and both the board and UofL Foundation board are scheduled to meet this month.

Wallace-Boaz also provided an update on the SACS accreditation. Finally, she provided an update on the Division of Operations reorganization. Operations, Business Operations and Planning, Design and Construction now report to CFO Dan Durbin. UofL Police and Technology Solutions now report to Provost Beth Boehm. Environmental Health and Safety now report to Ronda Bishop, VP of Enterprise Risk Management, Audit and Compliance.

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