Jim Begany, vice provost for Strategic Enrollment Management and Student Success, provided updates on current student enrollment and graduation rates. The student graduation rate at UofL has reported steady growth over the past six years, increasing from 52.9% in 2015 to 61.6% in 2021.

“Our graduation rate is the real highlight of this presentation. Last year we eclipsed 60% for the first time in the history of the university, and now we have surpassed it and we’ll continue to improve that number,” Begany said.

Total enrollment for fall 2021 was 21,754 students, a decrease of 227 from last year’s fall semester; these figures reflect the national downward trend in undergraduate enrollment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Enrollment figures nationwide are projected to decline significantly over the next five to 10 years. This is due to falling birthrates and a decrease in the population of high school students known as the demographic cliff.

According to Begany, Kentucky’s estimated drop is around 15-16%, which, he said, will be a significant challenge in our regional markets.

Begany informed senators that the Office of the Provost is exploring possible solutions to address this future obstacle, including the formation of the Demographic 25 Committee. This committee will confront the challenge of the projected 2025 demographic cliff by focusing institutional efforts in six areas: academic quality, institutional aid strategies, retention and graduation, academic programs, recruitment and partnerships.

Senators were also joined by M. Rehan Khan, vice president of Information Technology Services and chief information officer, and Katherine Stevenson, executive director of Enterprise Technology Services. Stevenson informed senators that Information Technology Services will start using , a form of multifactor authentication for Microsoft O365 software. Authorization will be a combination user and device identity, location signaling and if necessary, two-factor user verification.

“When we turn this on, what we’re doing is checking the reputation of the IP address that you’re logging on from and your normal login behavior. If we rank that as a high-risk login, we’re simply not going to allow that login to continue. If you were a medium risk login, you would be prompted to do two-factor verification,” Stevenson said.

Conditional Access for Microsoft O365 systems will provide increased security for the university, as well as improving the security of employees’ data and personal information. Conditional Access will go into effect for all staff and faculty Jan. 10, 2022, and will apply to all applications that utilize the Microsoft Single Sign-On system, such as Outlook and SharePoint.

Committee reports and a of the virtual meeting can be found on the . The next Staff Senate meeting will be held on Dec. 13 via Microsoft Teams.

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.

April’s minutes were approved by the body. Acting Parliamentarian Alex Williams announced officer nominations for three open positions, including secretary/treasurer, vice chair and chair. There are two nominees for the secretary/treasurer position: Wendy Metcalf and Sabrina Haug. Both nominees provided a 3-minute introduction to senators.

The other two positions are unopposed and include Vickie Tencer for vice chair and Will Armstrong for chair. Elections will be held at the next meeting, June 13.

Report:

Lee Smith, AVP for Performance Improvement & Business Analytics, provided the following updates:

1. A location for the proposed Business Operations Center will be announced soon, as will more town hall dates to discuss the Shared Services system currently being rolled out across the university. There are work groups testing the system and more are being formed. The current work group is focused on the onboarding process, including of students and staff. There are 63 people across campus participating as part of the work groups, and 27 others who have been recommended to be part of a work group or a focus group. The goal, Smith said, is to develop an “Amazon-esque” (intuitive) experience for people when they onboard.

Two student co-ops from the Speed School have been hired to help with the rollout this summer. The students are knowledgeable in process design.

“It is meaningful for us to engage students,” Smith said. “Anyone who has an interest in participating in this process, we will find a way to engage them.”

2. System updates are being implemented, including direct deposit through PeopleSoft, with a June 1 launch goal. Smith said the updates help with fraud prevention and simplicity.
3. Three pilot groups have gone live to work on payment request updates, including paperless RFDs. A July 1 launch is the goal for these updates.

Report:

Harlan Sands, CFO, provided an update on the new dining options coming to campus, courtesy of a new contract with Aramark. These options include Starbucks, Legends 1911 (sports café) and Mark’s Feed Store. On-campus restaurants will feature more open seating, including in the SAC, which will also have a “more active” storefront on Floyd Street than it does now. A concern was brought up about local vendors and Sands said the committee is sensitive to local vendors and is working hard to get them placed.

Report:

Jeanell Hughes, AVP for Administration and Operations, provided an update on leave policy revision proposals aimed to be clearer, protect income, encourage healthy and happy employees, encourage a work/life balance, and support recruitment and retention.

Revisions are recommended for educational leave: As it stands now, if you’re here for 10 years or more, you can get an approved six-month leave. It is recommended that the employee must also have satisfactory work performance.

Parental leave and temporary medical disability leave recommendations have also been made surrounding language clarification and health care provider certification, respectively.

Hughes also provided a brief overview of a Staff Market Compensation Study, which HR conducted in partnership with Aon Hewitt. A competitive market matrix was developed for the study, which yielded a 94-percent match in staff jobs. The study showed that 69 percent of UofL staff is below the 50^th percentile for salary based on job description and geography. Thirty-one percent is above the 50^th percentile benchmark.

Some recommendations include updating our classification system to be aligned with the external market. Recommended next steps include forming a staff salary compensation committee with a goal of defining UofL’s compensation philosophy and also of developing a strategy to address this philosophy.

Report:

Dr. Robert Staat submitted a written report for the Faculty Senate meeting, which included the election of Enid Trucios-Haynes’ election as chair. Her position starts in September.

A BA in Sustainability as part of Urban and Public Affairs was approved by the Faculty Senate. A poll of the Faculty Senate yielded 55 percent support for President James Ramsey’s leadership. The Executive Committee is working on budget priorities.

Report:

Lauren Greenwell, an English/Pre-Law major from Bagdad, Ky., introduced herself. She is the incoming representative for the SGA. 

Committee Reports:

Credentials & Nominations: Elections are coming up

Staff Morale & Community Outreach: The year-end report is due in June

Policy, Economics and Development: Working on the web policy

Staff Grievance Committee: Just finished up a second grievance

Services & Facilities: Met recently to remedy the HSC garage issue. A change in stoplight sequence seems to be helping thus far.

SHARE: Working on revisions for applications and procedures; asked for consensus to accept changes by June 1. Also, revisions to the application, with a goal of including easier, refined language, were approved. Carol Norton, from the SHARE committee, thanked everyone, as it was her last Staff Senate meeting.

Secretary/Treasurer report: There is $5,497 in the general fund and a total of $10,897.

Chair’s report: The AVP-HR search is ongoing and will hopefully be done by the fall.

The next meeting is June 13 in the Chao Auditorium and will include elections.