Interim President Lori Gonzalez provided senators with current student enrollment and retention figures. A decline in undergraduate enrollment compared to last year was reported. Gonzalez said that administration anticipated this decrease and despite the current dip in student enrollment, current figures for the fall 2022 term show promise. Figures for the fall 2022 semester include a 6% increase in student applications, 14% increase in admissions and 30% increase in deposits.

Gonzalez further reported an increase in student retention rate of 91% from the fall 2021 to spring 2022 semester, improving upon the 86% student retention rate reported the previous year.

“Our fall to spring retention for first-year students is back to pre-pandemic levels, which is pretty amazing,” Gonzalez said. “Getting back in class and having the right kind of experience, I think, has made a big difference.”

Dan Durbin, executive vice president for finance and administration, and Keith Sherman, executive director and chief operating officer of the , presented information on the university budget and available funding currently offered through the foundation. Durbin provided an overview of the university’s $1.3 billion budget for fiscal year 2022. General or unrestricted funds are used to cover the unrestricted operating expenses incurred by the university; this funding accounts for about 40% of the institution’s total budget.

“Our unrestricted funding is made up of tuition, fees and state appropriations. Tuition and fees are influenced by external and internal factors, so we have very limited latitude when it comes to increasing unrestricted operating funds from tuition and fees,” Durbin said. “Our state appropriation is about $130 million a year; $127 million of that is base, and we have to earn the other $3 million through the Performance Funding model, so that $3 million is always at risk.”

Performance funding is reallocated each year based on each university’s performance relative to other institutions in the state. UofL performed better than the sector average in seven of the 11 performance metrics used to determine state performance funding. Despite a slight increase in 2022, state funding for the university has generally declined over the past decade.

The university’s general fund budget will soon face several significant challenges, including inflation, employee compensation increases and the 2025 demographic cliff projected to impact higher education enrollment and institutional aide nationwide. As neither state allocation nor tuition increases can meet these financial obstacles fully, units have been encouraged to take advantage of the $82 million that is currently available through the University of Louisville Foundation.

Sherman reported the total foundation funding, which includes both endowment and current use funds, is available to each UofL school and college. Senators were also provided with a recommended order of spending for all funding, both restricted and nonrestricted, to reduce general fund spending and maximize UofL’s budgetary efficiency.

“Grant monies typically need to be returned to the grantor if you don’t spend them, so you should spend those funds first. Then go to your restricted endowments and your restricted non-endowed gifts [before spending] your unrestricted money. Your unrestricted money is gold because you can do anything you want with it. We recommend spending unrestricted gifts before your unrestricted endowments because non-endowed gifts don’t grow.” said Sherman.

Committee reports and a of the meeting can be accessed on the . The next Faculty Senate meeting is scheduled for Feb. 8 and will take place remotely via Microsoft Teams.

Executive Vice President and University Provost Lori Gonzalez provided senators with updated information on enrollment, endowments and the recent federal COVID-19 mandate. When compared to figures from fall 2020, enrollment is down 48 students. Although institutions nationwide are experiencing a drop in enrollment, the national average is a loss of only 2.3 students. Gonzalez reported that student retention was also down by 4.3%. Senators were informed that student enrollment and retention will be a targeted initiative for the university and administration for the foreseeable future.

Gonzalez also provided senators with information on the current state of the university’s endowment funding.

“So many of our endowments were previously underwater, but this past year they’re all above water,” Gonzalez said. “Our return on investment for our endowments was 33%. This means endowments will go up for the next fiscal year, since they are done on a three-year rolling average.”

A university-wide informed members of the Cardinal community of a recent federal mandate regarding COVID-19 response. The executive order requires all federal contractors and covered contractors to implement a COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Due to the numerous federal contracts that the university depends upon for operation, this federal ordnance will apply to UofL.

“The federal government allows medical and religious exemptions; however, the state-approved conscientious objector exemption is not allowed by the federal government. It’s my understanding that Kentucky’s attorney general may be challenging this rule, but we must wait for the outcome of that decision on conscientious objector exemptions,” Gonzalez said.

Executive Vice President of Research & Innovation Kevin Gardner gave a presentation on UofL’s impressive fiscal year 2021 research impact. The presentation highlighted the record-breaking $201.5 million in competitive research funding, which was over $30 million more than the previous record set in FY20. Gardner also featured several UofL research initiatives that addressed the three Grand Challenges of research and innovation outlined in the : empowering our communities, advancing our health and engineering our future economy.

Committee reports and a of the meeting can be accessed on the . The next Faculty Senate meeting is scheduled for Dec. 1 via a hybrid format with the option of remote attendance via Teams, or in-person attendance at Ekstrom Library’s Chao Auditorium.

Meade’s academic adviser suggested she consider UofL’s elective Personal and Academic Inquiry seminar, designed to help undecided second-year students identify their strengths and academic goals. Hopeful that it might point her in the direction of a potential career path, Meade decided to take the course during the fall semester of her sophomore year.

“I was consumed about which direction I needed to go in,” she said. “I was looking forward to getting time out of my week to sit down with people who could help me figure out what would be best for me. I went in hoping to move closer toward that goal.”

The seminar, first offered in spring 2018, is the central component of UofL’s Find Your Fit (FYF) program, an initiative launched in 2017 to address the specific needs of those undergraduates deemed “exploratory” (undecided on a major, or not yet admitted to the school or college of their choice), or those who are seeking to transition out of a major and struggling to find a good fit. FYF is the university’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), an experimental five-year initiative focused on improving student success that the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) requires all higher education institutions to develop as part of their reaccreditation process.

Students who participate in the FYF Personal and Academic Inquiry course meet for an hour and 15 minutes twice a week to make progress on academic inquiry projects that spring from the academic theme of each section. Alongside these projects, students work with closely with the designated advisor to engage with, and interpret, personal assessments, such as the StrengthsFinder inventory, and participate in an array of self-exploration exercises and activities.

The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the relevance of the Find Your Fit seminar. Some students are feeling uncertain about their major or career plans in this new landscape of the pandemic. Despite the changing environment, the team of campus instructors in the FYF program continues to support students in both virtual and face-to-face environments.

The seminar is led by a three-instructor team comprised of a UofL faculty member, an exploratory and transition advisor, and a librarian. Students use the library and other university resources to research areas of interest with ongoing support from the instructional team.

Each instructional team provides a good mix of perspectives, according to Kimcherie Lloyd, professor and School of Music director of orchestral studies, opera theater and undergraduate studies. Lloyd uses music in class to initiate discussions and pique students’ interest in learning more about various topics.

“Music has nothing to do with what their career choices should or might be; it’s just something to start a conversation about their interests,” she shared. “It’s immediately easier to have a discussion because everybody has likes and dislikes and opinions. The class uses music as a vehicle to help them develop questions and start on research.”

Robert Detmering, associate professor and information literacy coordinator at the University of Louisville Libraries, currently serves as a member of one of the instructional teams.

“The intent is to help exploratory students who are maybe having trouble finding out where they’re situated in the university, in terms of a major, but also in terms of the community and relationships they have on campus,” Detmering said. “Find Your Fit is designed to help students think through where they’re at in life, what their goals are, and help them go through a research process that’s personally meaningful to them.”

Tracking down answers to questions raised in class can help students grow comfortable with the research process.

“Sometimes people feel uncomfortable asking questions or feel like they should know how library research operates and maybe aren’t sure how to go about getting help,” Detmering said. “In a class like this, we’re able to work closely with students and show them resources that exist and how to use them.”

By the end of the course, instructors have found that a number of students are able to identify a few potential career choices, which UofL advisor Jessica Newton—who has served as an advisor on multiple instructional teams—views as a success.

“Everybody is at a different place,” she said. “Some have found a path and have a better idea where they’re going, while some are still unsure and are working on it. My goal is just for them to come away from the course at least knowing what resources are available. Really, my entire role is to facilitate the decision-making process. That starts with getting to know yourself really well and examining your values and strengths.

For Meade, the experience was transformative. An in-class exercise matching students’ values to corresponding jobs suggested clinical psychology might be a potential option for her; later reading about a storytelling-based method of therapy during a class research project inspired Meade to craft an individualized major involving psychology, creative writing, and women and gender studies.

“I just understood at that point what my strengths were and what that could do—what I wanted to do,” she says. “I really enjoy creative writing. English is something that’s my strong suit, and mental health has been something I’ve been passionate about. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to combine those things [before the class].”

Meade is now on track to graduate a semester early and plans to go to graduate school to become a clinical psychologist, with the ultimate goal of offering writing-based therapeutic services.

The Find Your Fit QEP initiative is an opportunity to foster a campus-wide conversation about student learning and success in the crucial second year of undergraduate studies. The FYF team is always looking for instructional members to join this unique experience and initiative at UofL. More information is .��

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McShan, who is the programming director and oversees the African American Male Initiative, has added a bevy of signature programs to the Cultural Center’s schedule, including the Civil Rights Bus Tour, performing arts night during Black History Month, diversity dialogue series and the Fall Fest Multicultural Expo.

“Signature programming was always my objective because it helps us serve a dual responsibility – to serve as an inclusive body on campus and to increase student success, retention and graduation rates,” McShan said. “Personally, I want to increase engagement on campus. There are silos here and that comes with higher education, but building networks and meeting people make a huge difference and I want to help our students learn how to do that.”

One of his mentors, Tierney Bates, UofL’s former Cultural Center director who is now the assistant vice chancellor for Student Affairs at North Carolina Central University, helped him network here once he arrived on campus. In fact, McShan said Bates is the reason he ended up at UofL to work toward his master’s degree. While he was an undergraduate student at LSU, McShan met Bates at a conference and the two hit it off.

“I saw a young man who needed the right environment to hone his skills and develop him into a rock star. During my first phone conversation with Dom I had a gut feeling that this guy is the right person for the Cultural Center and the right person students would be attracted to work with,” Bates said. “Dom is very engaging and understands student development theory, understands the needs of underrepresented students, can speak to programming impact, and has the ability to walk through many doors on a personal and professional level in relating to people.”

Once he settled in at the Cultural Center, McShan’s first line of business was to benchmark programs that were successful at other institutions, including LSU. He also leveraged his networking skills to take new programs to the next level; for example, the Anne Braden Institute pitched in resources for the successful Civil Rights Bus Tour, and the Native American Student Organization helped facilitate the first signature Native American heritage event organized by the Cultural Center last year.

“The goal is to expand and cover more identity groups, but everything comes down to resources, budget and student interest and participation. We need student buy-in. Last year, we had that with the Native American event, which brought in different nations with different traditions and it was a big deal and very successful,” McShan said. “We were able to do that because of our connections with the student organization.”

The event was not held again during the fall semester, but he hopes to bring it back next year. Transitions in student leadership of RSOs pose a challenge with programming, he admits.

“I want to make sure smaller groups are represented,” McShan said. “With manpower and financial resources, these goals have been challenging so we have to think about other ways to come together and support each other. Collaboration is a big goal of mine; I want to foster more collaboration among multicultural student organizations.”

Collaboration tends to yield impact, which is what motivates McShan.

“When I organize an event and I am personally impacted, or I hear folks saying ‘Wow, I didn’t know that’ – that is what drives me to do this work,” he said. “That Native American Heritage Event is a great example. I never knew there were different traditions within different tribes. On my own journey, I am still learning so much.”

African American Male Initiative

During the summer 2017, McShan’s roles increased to include overseeing the AAMI, which was created in 2011 with a specific objective of “increasing retention, persistence, graduation, engagement and overall success of African American males by addressing various scholastic and social challenges through academic engagement, mentoring, peer connection and student involvement.”

The “mentoring” part comes naturally for McShan, who is pursuing a master’s of education degree in counseling and personnel services with a concentration on college student personnel. The subject matter has taught him how to take a holistic and institutional approach to his AAMI work.

“The data shows that these students’ issues aren’t always about academic performance. A student could have a strong GPA and SAT score, but they still are at risk for dropping out or not graduating. We have to look at what else is going on – are there personal problems, financial problems, are they having a hard time getting through processes like FAFSA,” he said. “A lot of these students just don’t have guidance. They’re first generation students and sometimes they’re going through very significant things.”

Historically, African American male college completion rates are lowest among both sexes and all racial/ethnic groups in the U.S. To help with retention and success rates, the AAMI program includes a dedicated advisor who has a high-level view of the student’s grades and who helps the student get connected with the necessary campus resources.

“Being a first generation kid himself and navigating his higher education experience is part of the reason I wanted him to work for me,” Bates said about McShan. “Those who can share similar experiences with our students and work with them are the ones who get the most out of our students, become role models, parental figures and more.”

In April, McShan will lead a group of at least 10 students to a Students of Color Conference in Clemson. Some of them will even have the opportunity to speak. The Cultural Center is planning fundraisers to offset their costs, including an awards banquet and gala in February. Aside from this trip, McShan’s other major goal is fundraising for year-round programming.

“The New Year will be spent trying to figure out how to expand what we’re doing, but with reduced resources,” he said. “I don’t want to just expand, though. I want to ensure our programs are sustainable and we have a foundation that, even when I leave, they’ll be in place.”

That’s not to say he’s leaving anytime soon, however.

“I eventually want to get back to Texas, which is much closer to home. But for now I plan on staying here. I have to see these initiatives through,” McShan said.

Bates has big expectations for McShan, calling him the “next big talent to work in higher education.”

“He will be a VP or top faculty one day at an institution or my chief of staff,” he said. “Dom McShan is a gem and the University of Louisville better do all it can to keep him.”