Monday Memo February 1, 2016

Message from the Assistant Dean for Finance

Dear Colleagues,

The Arts & Sciences Business Center began 2016 preparing to work collaboratively throughout the college for the changes coming in the next few months across campus. As we implement new procedures to meet Board of Trustees mandates, in Arts & Sciences we are working to communicate these new processes and team up with all of our departments to provide better service to our customers, faculty, staff, and students.

Many of you have requested it, and we are very excited to begin offering training to both Chairs and UBMs this month. The first training will be focused on distance education. Future trainings will include money management tips, human resources and related transactions, including authorization to hire and reclassifications, and more. Please let me know what other topics might be of interest.

This past July a reconciliation spreadsheet was rolled out. This spreadsheet was a process redesign worked on by many UBMs within Arts & Sciences. The spreadsheet now assures we are all successfully using with the same tool and resources. We learned many valuable lessons from redesign and rollout that will be instrumental for our continued growth.

I look forward to working with individual UBMs and department chairs, and collaborating with the A&S community, as we tackle challenges and celebrate successes.

Sincerely,
Bridget Burke
Assistant Dean for Finance
Lead Fiscal Officer

Announcements

‘Sustainability in curriculum’ workshop: Deadline Mar. 4
Are you interested in sustainability issues related to environmental, social, and economic stewardship? Are you thinking of adapting a course to incorporate such concerns or creating a new course to focus on issues of sustainability? If so, you can participate in Green Threads: Sustainability across the Curriculum. This faculty development workshop, sponsored by UofL’s Sustainability Council, will be held Friday, April 15, and is open to all faculty from any discipline. Participants will receive an honorarium of $500 (UofL Faculty only), information on local and regional sustainability issues, local sustainability tours, and resource materials. For more info, visit information and applications.

2016 (spring) Internal Grants Program Deadline Mar. 25
The Office of the EVPRI is accepting applications for the Internal Grants Program. The Internal Grants Program (Research I, Research II and URG) aims to assist faculty in new highly productive research projects. All grant categories are open to full-time faculty. For more info, visit information and applications.

Teaching, Research, Creative Activity, & Service

Prof. Rajack-Talley launching book at South-South symposium
Prof. Theresa Rajack-Talley (Associate Dean for International Diversity and Engagement Programs) will launch her book, Poverty is a Person, at a South-South symposium on "Strengthening Women and Youth Empowerment through Jobs and Entrepreneurship." The symposium is being organized by and for the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group (ACP) of countries, The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and others. It will be held in Brussels on Feb. 11 – 12 and the book launch is scheduled for Feb. 11.

Profs. Petry & Ziegler edit book on Grawemeyer Awards
Profs. Woody Petry and Charles Ziegler (Political Science) edited the book, The Legacy of the Grawemeyer Awards (Butler Books), in 2015.

Kudos & Congratulations

A&S students selected as Clinton Scholars
Four A&S students were recently selected as Clinton Global Initiatives Scholars: Sydney Gomes, Karen Udoh, Diana Lalata, and Emma Jacobs. They represent a diverse set of majors including English, Biology, and Political Science.

Quiz Bowl team nationally ranked
The Quiz Bowl team, coached by A&S Advisors Matt Church and Eddie Bobbit, is nationally ranked for the 2015-2016 season. The A team is ranked #19 nationally, one spot below Brown and ahead of Virginia, Dartmouth, McGill, North Carolina, Duke, William and Mary, and Texas. They are the second highest rated ACC team trailing only Georgia Tech.

Criminal Justice ranks on U.S. News & World Report
The Department of Criminal Justice’s online graduate degree program ranked number nine on the U.S. News & World Report’s list of Best Online Graduate Criminal Justice Programs.

Items of Note

Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon for Art+Feminism national event
Sarah Carter (Director of the Bridwell Art Library) set up the Hite’s Art+Feminism page for the Wikipedia Edit-a-thon! The Edit-A-Thon will take place Sat., Mar. 19 from noon – 4pm in the Belknap Gallery, Schneider Hall. No Wikipedia editing experience necessary; as needed throughout the event, tutoring will be provided for Wikipedia newcomers. Female editors are particularly encouraged to attend. For more info, check out the page.

CCHS announces 2016-2017 Faculty Fellows
The Commonwealth Center for the Humanities & Society Advisory Board is proud to present six faculty members that will serve as 2016-17 Faculty Fellows. This inaugural group includes: Profs. Lluís Baixauli-Olmos (Classical & Modern Languages), Andreas Elpidorou (Philosophy), Lauren Freeman (Philosophy), Lara Kelland (History), Daniel Krebs (History), and Kiki Petrosino (English). Beginning in Fall 2016, the Faculty Fellows will be organized around the 2016-17 theme “Mapping the Humanities.” This theme will provide the foundation for the academic year's scheduled events and for a Humanities Research Lab, involving a bimonthly colloquium. It is planned to stimulate wide interest and to cut across different disciplinary questions and diverse approaches. In keeping with its core mission, CCHS seeks to foreground forms of humanistic inquiry in research and advanced learning not only in humanities departments but also across the whole range of departments of the college. Learn more about the Faculty Fellows.

In the News

Cosby, Holland spar over West End investment (The Courier-Journal, 1/26/2016) and Race dominates forum about west Louisville development (Insider Louisville, 1/22/2016) – On the Yearlings Club panel held Jan. 21 on West End economic development.

Did the Arab uprising destroy the Muslim Brotherhood? (The Washington Post, 1/26/2016) – Prof. Steven Brooke (Political Science) on academic researchers, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Arab uprising in Egypt.

New patent on synthetic molecules brings researchers closer to new periodontitis treatment (Dentistry IQ, 1/26/2016) – Prof. Frederick Luzzio (Chemistry) and Prof. Donald Demuth (School of Dentistry) recently received a patent on a synthetic biochemical compound and its variants, moving science closer to a treatment for gum disease.

New U of L course links art and engineering for Industrial Design Co-Creation (Insider Louisville, 1/26/2016) – On a new course linking fine arts and engineering students for Industrial Design Co-Creation. The roster of 14 participants is around 75 percent students from the College of Arts and Sciences and 25 percent Speed Engineering School students, ranging from freshmen to doctoral candidates.

Devolving conversation on race (The Courier-Journal, 1/27/2016) – Prof. Ricky Jones (Chair, Pan-African Studies) on the need to address racial issues in Kentucky.

Power, race, class underlie drama of new play (The Courier-Journal, 1/29/2016) – On Prof. John Chenault’s (Pan-African Studies) play Bloodline Rumba, directed by Prof. Nefertiti Burton (Chair, Theatre Arts) and performed by the Department of Theatre Arts.

Kentucky LGBT Heritage Initiative looking for stories and artifacts before 1980 (Insider Louisville, 1/26/2016) – On the History Harvest project led by Prof. Cate Fosl (Director, Anne Braden Institute) that is documenting LGBT life in Kentucky before 1980. The “History Harvest Reception” was held Sun., Jan. 31, at U of L’s Ekstrom Library and encouraged anyone who was a part of that time period to come share their stories and help identify historic places relevant to our state’s LGBT heritage

Families of police shooting victims form bonds built on loss (The Chicago Reporter, 1/28/2016) – Prof. Monnica Williams (Psychological & Brain Sciences) on the families of victims of police shootings.

PTSD: On Trying to Drive and Breathe While Black (Huffington Post, 1/27/2016) – Prof. Monnica Williams (Psychological & Brain Sciences) on PTSD in ethnoracial minorities.

Quel dommage! (The Courier-Journal, 1/29/2016) – Prof. Aaron Jaffe (English) on Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin’s remarks about higher education and studying French literature, in particular.