Strategic Plan implementation update provided to faculty senators

The Faculty Senate met Wednesday in Chao Auditorium, where Speed School Professor Gail DePuy provided an update on the Strategic Plan implementation process. DePuy is leading that process, which includes an implementation committee and 10 subcommittees.

Those subcommittees include one to identify grand challenges, and nine (three each) for our strategy focus areas of making UofL a great place to learn, work and invest.

The grand challenges subcommittee has met its January 2020 timeline and has passed along recommendations for priority research areas in which UofL can make the biggest impact on local and global communities. These recommendations will be reviewed by the president, provost and EVPRI and announced in late February/early March.

The strategy subcommittees start meeting this month.

For the Learn strategy, the objectives are to attract and graduate the most talented, diverse student body through meaningful and structured commitment to student success; engage every undergraduate student in required meaningful experiential learning opportunities; and engage students in increasing research that will bolster our prominence.

For the Work strategy, objectives include becoming an employer of choice that intentionally attracts and retains the most talented and diverse faculty and staff; inspiring a culture of care, trust, accountability, equity and transparency by embedding the Cardinal Principles; and providing all faculty and staff fair and equitable compensation.

For the Invest strategy, objectives include increasing productivity and innovation in research, scholarship and creative activities addressing the grand challenges; improving the ease and impact of partnering with the university by building and stewarding mutually beneficial relationships that support student success, faculty productivity and staff development; and creating social, cultural and learning opportunities that bring people to campus or campus to people.

The implementation update is available online. Also, regular updates will be posted on the Strategic Plan website: my.louisville.edu/strategic-plan.  

Provost Beth Boehm provided an update to the Faculty Senate, noting that a budget planning and monitoring committee has been formed and includes three subcommittees – funding requests, budget model discretionary allocation, administrative activity. She said the goal is to make sure the campus community is better informed about the budget process.

The provost search committee has been created, co-chaired by Dentistry Dean Gerry Bradley and Kent Dean David Jenkins. The provost will replace Boehm, whose two-year term ends June 30. Airport interviews will be conducted in mid-March, with on-campus interviews taking place in April.

Boehm also reported that the search is also underway for a new Arts & Sciences dean and that UofL has suspended travel to China as the coronavirus proliferates.

Krista Wallace-Boaz provided the Faculty Senate Chair report, including the provost search timeline, and a call for faculty representation on the shared governance workgroup and the strategic plan implementation subcommittees.

Finally, Speed School Professor Olfa Nasraoui presented details on an Athena grant received from the National Science Foundation, which includes a Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) Faculty Satisfaction Survey.

There are two main objectives for this survey: to improve the recruitment, retention, promotion and advancement of faculty, particularly women in STEM fields; and to provide education on implicit bias.

Survey themes include research, teaching, service, resources and support, interdisciplinary work/collaboration/mentoring, tenure and promotion; institutional leadership; shared governance; department engagement/quality and collegiality; appreciation and recognition; and retention and negotiation.

More information about the COACHE Survey is available online. 

Additional committee reports are available online. The next Faculty Senate meeting is March 4 in Chao Auditorium.