Faculty senators discuss attributes of a 21st Century Provost

Faculty senators met on June 27, opening the meeting with a discussion about a proposal for a new Franchise Management Certificate program within the College of Business. The post-BAC, 9-credit-hour program focuses on skills needed to run a franchise, such as acquiring, running and growing franchise operations.

The objective is to serve a large, underserved market for franchise industry education, and to leverage existing resources within UofL and the community to develop an innovative program.

The debate revolved around whether or not approval was appropriate before a memorandum of understanding was shared, and how much influence the International Franchise Association would have. Language was amended to the proposal to address these concerns, and the proposal was approved.

A discussion was held about the impacts of the budget cuts. The Faculty Senate recommends that each unit have a budget advisory committee (or something similar) in place. The body also constructed a draft of guidelines for program closure or suspension, urging consultation with appropriate faculty committees before any action is taken.

“The idea is to create a process for the greatest possible input,” said Chair Enid Trucios-Haynes. “The hope is to share this with the administration. It’s not binding, but the statement can have some measure of authority.”

The draft was approved and is available here. 

Attributes of a university provost

Faculty senators discussed ideal attributes, experiences and skills sets of a university provost as that position is expected to be posted in the fall. Clear, prompt and direct communication was strongly suggested by the body. Additional attributes are outlined here. 

Interim provost Beth Boehm provided an update from her office, including two new hires – Dan Durbin, VP of finance/CFO, and Brad Shafer, interim VP for advancement.

Boehm said the 5-percent budget cuts are still being worked through across campus and will not affect money put aside for recruitment and retention.

“We have asked deans to work with faculty and chairs about what is critical and to have a plan for sustaining it,” she said.

The cut proposals are due by July 9, prior to the deans’ retreat. A committee will review those requests and the budget will be sent to Durbin at the end of July.

President Bendapudi has met with every dean to reassure UofL’s academic mission. She is also developing committees for enrollment, retention and persistence, and summer enrollment.

“Whatever we’ve tried for the summer before isn’t working and we need to figure that out,” Boehm said. Retention efforts focus on both underprepared students – offering them courses to get caught up without school-year distractions, for example – and well-prepared students – figuring out how to expedite their journeys and maybe save on tuition, for example.

“Both will require hands-on advising,” she said.

Committee reports

The Redbook committee will present a School of Medicine recommendation at the September meeting.

The Planning and Budget committee has received two new center proposals:

• A Center for Character-Based Leadership out of the College of Business
• A Center for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage out of A&S

Additional reports from the meeting are available online. The Faculty Senate will resume meetings in early September.