Report on legislative session highlights UofL trustees meeting

Several major University of Louisville projects received the green light for funding during the latest session of the Kentucky General Assembly. In her April 18 report to the UofL Board of Trustees, President Kim Schatzel said the state is investing more than $450 million in UofL during the 2024-25 fiscal year, along with an additional $302 million in agency bond authority, enabling the university to fund several capital projects.

Major allocations include $260 million in state funds (plus $20 million in agency bonds) for the construction of the new Health Sciences Simulation Center and Collaboration Hub. The facility will be the new location for the School of Public Health and Information Sciences and will serve UofL Health Science Center campus schools, as well as neighboring colleges and medical facilities. This is the largest amount of funding for a single project in UofL’s history. It also is the largest project being funded in Louisville and represents the most general fund support for any single project among Kentucky’s colleges and universities this session.

Also approved was $69.1 million over the two-year biennium for a second round of asset preservation. This allocation requires a $17.3 million university match. The funding will be used to upgrade educational learning spaces, make plumbing, electrical and rooftop renovations, as well as several other repairs and upgrades.

UofL Health will develop the Center for Rural Cancer Education and Research with $25 million in state funding. The center will serve as an extension of the Brown Cancer Center in Bullitt County to provide greater access to care for central and western Kentucky residents.

Several other programs and projects received state funding. Details about all the state-funded UofL projects, programs and initiatives are available on the president’s website.

“I want to thank the legislature and its leadership — Senate President Robert Stivers and Speaker of the House David Osborne — and Gov. Andy Beshear for their incredible support of UofL and higher education,” Schatzel said. “I also would like to thank all the members of our community who worked diligently over the past year and throughout the session to advocate for the university and make clear to everyone in Frankfort how much impact those investments in UofL would bring to our city, our region and Kentucky.”

Additional action taken at the Board of Trustees April meeting 

Trustees formally named Professor Jennifer Brueckner-Collins as the 2024 University of Louisville Trustees Award winner for the indelible mark she leaves on her students’ academic, personal and professional development and success. Brueckner-Collins joined UofL’s faculty in 2010 and is the vice chair for educational programs and a professor in the Department of Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology at UofL’s School of Medicine. During her time at UofL, she has played a key role in developing integrated anatomy curricula for the Schools of Medicine and Dentistry and co-founded the School of Medicine’s longitudinal Distinction in Medical Education track.

The University of Louisville Research Foundation Board of Directors elected its officers for 2024-25. The newly elected officers are: Larry Benz, chair; Diane Porter, vice chair; Diane Medley, treasurer; Jim Rogers, secretary; and Jake Beamer, assistant secretary.

The University of Louisville Board of Trustees’ next meeting is Thursday, May 23, at 1 p.m. Meeting minutes, schedules, committee descriptions and other information are available on the UofL Board of Trustees website.