Monday Memo February 20, 2017
Message from the Dean
Dear Colleagues,
We all received Interim President Postel’s message last week regarding our budget shortfall. It is very important that UofL end this academic year in good financial shape, so we all need to be especially diligent as good stewards of all our funds.
The deans met with President Postel and Provost Billingsley on Wednesday in order to be briefed on the current fiscal situation. On Friday, I received further word on the budget and employment practices that will guide us through at least the end of the present fiscal year. Below you can read those directions:
Budgets
Over the next three weeks, I will receive unit spending plans which will indicate the funding actually available for the remainder of the current fiscal year. We will have to manage our expenses so that we end the year at or below the funding indicated in the plan. The university will provide support to help us maintain the fiduciary discipline and focus that will be required of us for the next few years.
Despite the hardship this will no doubt be, there are a positive aspects to these new limits. We literally have to get creative. We need to increase revenue through growth in enrollment and programs, and alternative sources of revenue.
Central Administration has promised to soon provide guidelines and incentives for developing new ideas along these lines. The good news is that there is no shortage of creativity in Arts & Sciences. Among the ideas I suggested for strategic enrollment growth are (1) offering the full spectrum of general education requirements online so that students who will never set foot on campus can complete one of four or five majors that could be completed via DE offerings; (2) attracting new students to campus in the new programs of sustainability, and hopefully neuroscience soon. I welcome your ideas on enrollment and programmatic growth, as well as other alternative sources of revenue. Feel free to email your ideas to me. Additionally, as President Postel mentioned in his February 15th email, there will be formal opportunities to discuss university finances down the line. However, he encourages everyone to send their ideas for improving efficiency and growing revenue now. Please email them to provost@louisville.edu.
Employment
As of last Friday, the university is under a strict hiring freeze:
- Faculty and staff lines now vacant or being vacated for the rest of the fiscal year will be centrally held until reallocated.
- All current job postings have been suspended.
- Searches already in progress can continue only if a preferred candidate has been identified and negotiated with before the distribution of this notice.
- The university will honor employment offers already in a candidate’s hands. If the offer is declined, the search is suspended; no offer may be made to a second candidate.
Appeals from these conditions may be directed to me. Online waiver forms will be released next week. Once the appeals make their way to me, I will evaluate them, and if they are critical to our mission, forward them on to either Dr. Billingsley for faculty matters or to David Adams, Interim Chief Administrative Officer, for staff matters. The waiver will have to be granted by one of them. As for reclassification, promotion, x-pay and other matters, Central Administration promises to address those issues in the next two weeks.
This belt tightening is going to be hard on everyone, but the A&S community is committed, innovative and resilient. We will not only weather this storm, but we will come out stronger.
Sincerely,
Kimberly Kempf-Leonard
Dean
Announcements
Scholarly publishing info lunch March 3
Editors from the University Press of Kentucky will be on campus March 3 for a presentation on scholarly publishing. The presentation will be held in Shumaker Research Building 139 from 12-1:00pm. Pizza will be served. After the one hour presentation, there will be the opportunity to meet one-on-one with an editor to discuss specific projects. For more information, visit University Press of Kentucky.
Content Creation Courses for A&S Staff and Faculty
Two training sessions for A&S staff who are interested in creating written and photo content in order to promote your department, center, institute or program will be held in March. The sessions are from 2-3:30pm, on Wednesday, 3/8 and Thursday, 3/9 are the same, so pick the one that best suits your schedule. For more information and to register: attend.com/contentcreation. Location: Shumaker Research Bldg. RM 139
Kudos
Prof. Griner’s book selected for Yarmuth Book Award
Prof. Paul Griner’s (English) book Hurry Please I Want to Know was selected as the 2016-17 Yarmuth Book Award for high school juniors/rising seniors across KY and Southern Indiana (some even out-of-state)! For more info, visit Yarmuth Book Award program.
Prof. Stansel named a “Writer to Watch”
Prof. Ian Stansel (English) was picked as one of the Library Journal’s “Writers to Watch” for his new novel The Last Cowboys of San Geronimo, which comes out in July.
Prof. Storey’s dissertation one of top 50 nationally
Prof. Angela Storey (Anthropology) made the Top 50 dissertations in 2016 list compiled by the Culture in Global Affairs (CIGA) research and policy program of the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
Teaching, Service, Creative Activity, & Research
Prof. Chandler guest editor of special issue of Children’s Literature Association Quarterly
Prof. Karen Chandler (English) was the guest co-editor of the final 2016 issue of Children's Literature Association Quarterly, a special issue on African American Children’s Literature and Genre with Sara Austin (University of Connecticut).
Prof. Kelly co-editor of De Gruyter Open Cultural Studies: Special Issue
Prof. Baron Kelly (Theatre Arts) was named co-editor of a De Gruyter Open Cultural Studies: Special Issue on “B(l)ack Futures - Flat Time in Black Performance.” In addition, his article contribution "Early Modern to Postmodern Shakespeares: Three Approaches to the Staging of Romeo and Juliet" was just published in Stage Directors and Choreographers Journal.
Awards
A&S Award Opportunities
These award winners, along with others, will be honored at the A&S Celebration of Excellence on April 25.
- Olorunsola Award for full-time, tenure-track assistant professors in A&S
Deadline: March 10
A&S is soliciting applications for the Victor Olorunsola Endowed Research Award, which is awarded to faculty in their first four years of teaching. One award of $2,000 will be made this year. Guidelines and additional information
- A&S Research and Creative Activity Grant for Tenured/Tenure-track Faculty
Deadline: March 10
A&S announces funding opportunities to promote the research and creative activities of faculty members with the purpose of increasing the extramural research funding, and the number of scholarly publications, refereed exhibits, and artistic performances of the college. Guidelines and proposal template
- A&S Research and Creative Activity Grant for Graduate Students
Deadline: March 23 - 4PM
A&S announces funding opportunities to promote the research and creative activities of graduate students with the purpose of increasing the extramural research funding, the number of scholarly publications, refereed exhibits, and artistic performances of the college. Guidelines and proposal template
Items of Note
Inclusive Teaching Lunches Feb. 21 & 22
Come and join our Inclusive Teaching Community (ITC) monthly meetings, discuss teaching practices and enjoy a free lunch. Prof. Keith Lyle’s (Psychological & Brain Sciences) cohort will meet to discuss chapters from Pem Davison Buck’s book Worked to the Bone, Tues., Feb. 21 from 11:30 – 1pm in SRB 228. For more information contact keith.lyle@louisville.edu. Prof. Aaron Rollins’ (Urban & Public Affairs) cohort will meet to discuss chapters from Michelle Alexander’s book, The New Jim Crow, Wed., Feb. 22 from noon – 1:30pm. The meeting will be in SRB 228. For more information contact aaron.rollins@louisville.edu.
Faculty: Share with potential MA candidates
Do know of students thinking about graduate school? Invite them to join us for an information session on Thurs., Feb. 23rd, 12:30-1:00pm in Ford Hall, Room 407. Refreshments served! Also, beginning Fall 2017, we are offering a concentration in Digital Politics, combining politics with high-demand skills in information technology. Details on that and other MA opportunities will be shared on Thursday.
In the News
Fatally Shot Black Americans Twice as Likely as Whites to Be Unarmed: Study (NBC News, 2/11/17) – Prof. Justin Nix (Criminal Justice) on implicit bias among police officers.
University of Louisville GIS program creates app to help city’s immigrants find resources (Insider Louisville, 2/14/17) – On the Department of Geography & Geosciences app, the product of an eight-hour hackathon on International GIS Day in November, geared toward helping the city’s immigrant and refugee residents find services in and around the metro area, which was created by about 25 people, including students, professors, GIS professionals, UofL staff and Louisville Metro employees.
Here’s How You Can Help Address Louisville’s Legacy Of Racist Housing Policies (WFPL News, 2/14/17) – Director of the Anne Braden Institute for Social Justice Research professor Cate Fosl (Women’s & Gender Studies) on redlining in Louisville and its continued effects.
‘Does It Matter Who’s President?: Success & Failure in the White House’ (LEO Weekly, 2/15/17) – A&S alumna Barbara Perry on presidential history.
Shattering sports' color barrier (WHAS-11, 2/16/17) and
UofL Hall Of Famer Von Macklin On Basketball And Breaking The Color Barrier (WFPL News, 2/18/17) – The Yearlings Club’s talk "A Salute to African American Athletes," which was on Feb. 18.
Is this crazy Louisville winter a sign of things to come? (The Courier-Journal, 2/17/17) – Prof. Keith Mountain (Geography & Geosciences) and Prof. Margaret Carreiro (Biology) on the unusually warm winter in Kentucky.
Exploring the life of UofL’s first black educator and his family’s historic Louisville home (Insider Louisville, 2/17/17) – On the university first African-American professor Dr. Charles Parrish Jr., chair of the Department of Sociology.
Lebanese police learn tactics, leadership from A&S Southern Police Institute
Learn more about the SPI program, funded through a State Department grant, training Lebanese police officers.
