Monday Memo, January 11, 2021

Special Opportunities & Awards

A&S 2020-21 Awards: Call for Nominations

Please take the time to nominate your faculty and staff colleagues for a 2020-21 A&S award. Awards will be given at the College’s virtual Celebration of A&S Excellence in late Spring. Date and time TBA. The winners of the A&S Distinguished Faculty Awards and Outstanding Performance Awards for staff will be forwarded to the President's Office as the College's nominations for the University-wide awards of the same name.

Submission deadline: February 28, 2020.
For more information and to nominate.

Call for Applications for the 2021-2022 Faculty Fellowships of the Commonwealth Center for the Humanities and Society

The theme for next year will be “Forms of Engagement: Scholarship and the Social Turn.” Applications are due Monday, January 18, 2021. Further details about the theme and application process (PDF).

A&S is committed to fostering a vibrant community of researchers, scholars, and artists. Beginning its sixth year, the CCHS Faculty Fellows Program creates a unique space where faculty can pursue thematically-organized research projects in dialogue with a cohort of colleagues.

UofL seeks student intern for sustainable purchasing 

Please share with your students that the UofL Sustainability Council seeks a paid intern to work up to 10 hours/week to support UofL's Anchor Mission initiative. UofL is proud to be an Anchor Institution supporting the kind of local economic & community vibrancy that is central to sustainability in our region. Internship duties will be focused on making it easier for University units, organizations & individuals to buy goods & services from diverse businesses and to buy local. Apply by 1/15 5pm. More information: louisville.edu/sustainability/education-research/internships.

Communication

COVID-19 related communication and information

Looking for the most up-to-date information regarding COVID-19 and UofL? Questions about instruction, travel, events, testing, etc.? Go to UofL's main coronavirus page at louisvlle.edu/coronavirus. Be sure to bookmark it in your web browser as it is updated frequently.

New A&S Internal Communications Archive

Looking for an email from the Dean's Office? Archived A&S internal communications are now housed online. The searchable archive, which contains emails dating back to August 2020, can be found here.

Social Media Circle

This social media circle is available to anyone who manages social media for their area. This circle includes university faculty and staff coming together to discuss innovative and effective social media practices. The group will meet from 1:00pm-2:00 pm virtually on the 4th Tuesday of each month in the spring semester. Join the Social Media Circle.

Community of Care

Anonymous Feedback

Interim Dean David Owen is committed to making A&S an inclusive and equitable work environment where the Cardinal Principal of “Respect” is valued and put into action. However, he needs your input in order to achieve that goal. Please submit your feedback using our anonymous feedback tool.

Growing Mindfulness Kickoff Tomorrow

Tuesday, January 12 at 1 p.m.
A campus-wide mindfulness initiative kicks off next week with President Bendapudi and guest! UofL Health Promotion, in partnership with the Employee Success Center in the Office of the President, is excited to announce the launch of the new Growing Mindfulness Initiative. This campus-wide collaborative effort is built around the Cardinal Principles to cultivate a Community of Care through mindfulness. Tomorrow’s kick off is a virtual event featuring special guests President Neeli Bendapudi and Owsley Brown, a filmmaker and thought leader whose family founded the university’s Envirome Institute. Participants will learn and practice various mindfulness techniques that will help decrease stress and anxiety, improve concentration and compassion, and promote well-being. The kickoff is open to all UofL faculty, staff and students.

Click here to register. Once you register, you will receive an email confirmation as well as a link to the virtual meeting.

Coping in the Time of COVID-19

Developed and delivered by the Center for Family & Community Well-Being in the Kent School of Social Work, this all new resiliency skills-building learning opportunity will provide a brief history and lessons learned from past pandemics – with a particular emphasis on short and long-term mental health impacts. Participants will also discuss the unique experiences and stressors of COVID-19 for the workplace, as well as challenges with managing work life balance between work and personal life. Join a circle to connect with and gain the support of your UofL colleagues and friends.

For more information and a link to register.

Community-Building Supervision Circle

UofL's Employee Success Center is offering a new pilot supervision circle focused on compassionate leadership and supervision. This is a 10-hour commitment over six weeks starting in February. Because the intention is to create a circle of trust, we ask that those who register commit to attending all six weeks. Please indicate your interest by Monday, January 25. This pilot circle is limited to 10 people. If we are unable to place you in the pilot, we will let you know and be sure to notify you when future opportunities arise. For more information and/or to register.

Business Operations

Telecommuting agreements due

Reminder that the completed and signed A&S Telecommuting Agreement for staff is due. If you have not completed it, please do so and email it to the A&S Human Resource Service Account. See and/or download the A&S Spring Staffing Plan and Telecommuting Agreement.

New JDF required for every staff member

As part of the Strategic Plan, a Compensation Study is now under way. All staff will be reviewed during this study. At this time, each supervisor should complete a JDF onto the new JDF form (PDF) and email to the A&S HR service account (ashumres@louisville.edu) no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, January 15, 2021. See instructions for how to do complete the new JDF (PDF).

After the Dean’s Office has reviewed the JDF, the supervisor will receive a PDF version of the JDF for signatures (Adobe signature instructions). Please review and both parties sign, and resend the final JDF to the A&S HR service account at ashumres@louisville.edu. The JDF process will then be complete.

Adobe Creative Cloud is free for everyone at UofL

All students, faculty, and staff have free access to the complete Adobe Creative Cloud suite of apps. All you need is a current UofL email address and password. Create your own multimedia to support your teaching. Have your students design and collaborate on digital class projects in print, with audio/video, and online.

Learn how to start creating and exploring today with your free access to Adobe Creative Cloud. For more information, please contact Jason Zahrndt, 852-3787, or visit the webpage.

Changes to A&S gift processing

University Advancement have made a couple of significant changes regarding how they process gifts effective January 1, 2021. Find a list of those changes here.

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to call Denise Bohn, Senior Director of Development at 502-852-8824.

Spotlights

UofL Quiz Bowl team dominates tournament

UofL’s Quiz Bowl team won their division at the Fall Kentucky Quick Recall League tournament in October. UofL's two teams earned the top two spots in the Division I tournament, and individual players took 5 of the top 10 slots overall: Dylan Boone, 3rd; Grace Goff, 4th; Parker Bannister, 5th; Emily Beltchev, 7th; and Travis Liebert, 9th. Great work, team!

Biology researchers go zero gravity

A team of Biology undergraduate and graduate researchers, led by Prof. Michael Menze, returned safe and sound from a zero-gravity mission in Florida. This NASA-sponsored flight campaign explored the feasibility of rehydrating volumes of desiccated red blood cells (RBCs) approaching the standard volume for a transfusion unit. Rehydration procedures conducted during periods of reduced gravity on 3 parabolic flights resulted in early indications that large volumes of desiccated RBCs can be rehydrated in microgravity. The recorded fluid-dynamics will be used to optimize methods that will improve the yield and viability of a standard transfusion unit. Shelf-stable desiccated RBCs that can be rehydrated in microgravity will greatly simplify blood transfusions during long-duration space flights.

Philosophy and Theatre Arts to partner on Plato production

The Departments of Philosophy and Theatre Arts secured a $10,000 grant from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation to develop Love Among the Ruins - a student production of the last three speeches (Aristophanes, Socrates/Diotima, and Alcibiades) of Plato's Symposium. Read more here.

Prof. Elpidorou asks does AI get bored? 

Andreas Elpidorou (Philosophy) is the author of an article featured in Scientific American entitled “What happens if an AI gets bored?” Scientific Americancovers the advances in research and discovery that lead to a better understanding of the world. Elpidorou specializes in the philosophical study of the mind and has published extensively on the nature of emotions, especially boredom, consciousness and cognition. His work on the nature and value of boredom has received worldwide media attention.

Comm professor studies influencing factors regarding COVID-19 behavior

Prof. Michael Cunningham (Communication) studies the link between personality and following coronavirus guidelines. Professor Cunningham is investigating what factors, including personality, influence individual decisions on whether to take preventative measures that could help stymie the spread of coronavirus. Working with colleagues at York College of Pennsylvania and assessment and survey company FifthTheory in Chicago, he’s developed a Coronavirus Behavioral Health Mindset surveythat measures three key dimensions: a person’s individual sense of responsibility to help prevent the spread of the virus, willingness to engage in protective measures and willingness to practice social distancing.

The English department goes Youtube

UofL’s Department of English recently created a YouTube channel that features faculty members sharing information about their respective focus areas. The series, “What I Teach,” was created by Frank Kelderman, assistant professor of English, and also includes a video from Professor Megan Poole. There is also a “Talking Books” series and a “Visiting Speakers” seriesas part of the page, with more content planned this semester. The objective of the content is to provide a resource for both current and prospective students.

Anti-Racism Agenda

Systemic Racism in Louisville & How We Move Forward

Tuesday, December 01, 2020, 6 PM on Facebook Live 
How does systemic racism impact the lives of Black people and others in Louisville? This panel discussion will explore systemic racism in our criminal justice, health, and business sectors. Moderated by Michelle Tyrene Johnson (89.3 WFPL News Louisville), and featuring Prof. Cherie Dawson-Edwards (UofL Dept. of Criminal Justice, Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), Prof. Steven Kniffley (Spalding University), and Cynthia Brown (Jewish Family and Career Services). Click here to learn more about the panelists.

Award-winning article co-authored by Prof. Dewey Clayton (Political Science)

Prof. Dewey M. Clayton (Political Science) and Prof. Sharon E. Moore (Kent School of Social Work) received the 8th Annual Florence W. Vigilante Award for Scholarly Excellence. “It was by far the most popular article of 2019!” remarked the journal’s assistant editor. The award is given annually in honor of the founding editor of the Journal of Teaching in Social Work. The article selected for its outstanding scholarship and creativity is titled "The Dehumanization of Black Males by Police: Teaching Social Justice -- Black Life Really Does Matter."