Monday Memo June 27, 2016

Message from the Dean

Dear Faculty and Staff,

The new fiscal year begins this week and with it there will be several changes. I know some of you are worrying about these changes and I write to reassure you that the goal is smoother, more effective university operations. If you have questions at any time in the process, please don’t hesitate to reach out to my staff.

The Belknap Service Center (a PowerPoint presentation on the BSC) is being set up to help us and other academic units. The tasks it is taking over will free up our time for other activities. The new fiscal reporting lines in the Arts & Sciences Business Center will enable us to expedite financial procedures in the same way as the rest of the university and also provide the crosschecking that was mandated by the Strothman report. There will now be a clear separation of staff who handle fiscal matters from staff whose duties are academic administration; I’m sure we all know that there is plenty of work is both spheres to keep us all busy.

Of course there will be challenges, as this is always true when any new system is implemented. However, I hope we can work together to assure that our college functions effectively, allowing us to further our mission to serve students, advance knowledge, and help our community. Change can be difficult, so let’s keep in mind that we pride ourselves in the liberal arts and sciences with being problem solvers, adaptable and innovative. These changes are coming to the whole university, so let’s be the leader that other colleges want to emulate!


Kimberly Kempf-Leonard
Dean

Teaching, Service, Research & Creative Activities

Prof. Edna Ross (Psychological & Brain Sciences), Prof. Michael Losavio (Criminal Justice), IL Barrow and Nisha Gupta (i2a/Delphi Center) presented via Skype: "Problems, Messy Problems, Wicked Problems: Issues of Intercultural Communication in Community Engagement and Community-Based Learning,” at the “Education. Language. Intercultural Communication” Conference June 17. The presentation was about the collaborative community-based learning project to teach computer skills to homeless residents at Wayside Christian Mission's Hotel Louisville.

Kudos & Congratulations

Prof. Kofman appointed fellow for Poland seminar
Prof. Michael Kofman (Sociology) has been appointed as a fellow to participate in the inaugural “Seminar on Wheels: Exploring Poland/Polin for young American academics, educators, curators, and activists or arts educators.” This eleven-day intensive program is funded by The Taube Center for the Renewal of Jewish Life in Poland Foundation and Senate of the Republic of Poland. The 2016 edition of the program is held under a media patronage of TVP Polonia. Prof. Kofman will generate both teaching and research in Jewish Studies from this program for his work at UofL.

Items of Note

Prof. Fosl’s book Subversive Southerner chosen for 2016 Yarmuth Book Award
Prof. Cate Fosl’s book, Subversive Southerner: Anne Braden and the Struggle for Racial Justice in the Cold War South, was chosen for the third consecutive year for the UofL Yarmuth Book Award. The program awards a copy of the book, chosen by a University of Louisville committee, to deserving high school juniors throughout the state of Kentucky and Southern Indiana.

Prof. Hale featured on PBS documentary
Prof. John Hale (Liberal Studies/Anthropology) is featured in a new three-part National Geographic series on the Greeks that first aired June 21 on PBS.

Prof. Johmann completes Triple Crown of swimming
Prof. Michael Johmann (Humanities) completed a successful solo crossing of the Catalina Channel in the unofficial time of 11:23:31 on June 22. Prof. Johmann became the first Kentucky resident to swim the English Channel in 2014. His Catalina Channel swim completes the third tier of his Triple Crown. He swam the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim in August 2015.

Webinar: ‘Research Misconduct: What's in a Name?’
This webinar on June 29, from 2-3 p.m., in room W104, Ekstrom Library will help you: Assess your current institutional definition in view of the historic U.S. definition of research misconduct; Understand what the advantages and disadvantages of aligning with the federal definition for research misconduct are; Compare and contrast different federal agency interpretations and enforcement of their definitions of misconduct; and Understand the implications of other countries' definitions of research misconduct. For more information, visit Research webinar.

Family Business Awards nomination deadline Aug. 1
Nominations are open for the third annual Brown-Forman Family Business Leadership Awards, which recognize an individual whose family business has multiple generations working in it and whose headquarters are in the greater Louisville-southern Indiana region. For more information, visit the Family Business Center.

In the News

Councilwoman: Residents come before immigrants (The Courier-Journal, 6/23/16) – Prof. Matt Ruther (Urban & Public Affairs) on the impact of Louisville’s immigrant population.

Noted historian to talk for Farmington's 200th (The Courier-Journal, 6/23/16) – Prof. Thomas Mackey (History) will emcee a talk given by historian Doris Kearns Goodwin at Farmington Historic Plantation in honor of its 200th anniversary.

Observers watch for ripple effect in U.S., Kentucky after United Kingdom's decision to split from European Union (My CN2, 6/26/16) – Prof. Jason Abbott (Political Science) on the decision by popular vote for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union.

STEAM | The arts root all that drives city forward (The Courier-Journal, 6/24/16) – Donald J. Biddle (GIS Specialist, Center for Geographic Information Sciences, Geography & Geosciences) mapped arts access in our community for the Courier-Journal.

Horner to conduct butterfly count (The Oldham Era, 6/23/16), Butterfly count nets science lesson for kids (The Courier-Journal, 6/25/16) and Butterfly nets fill the sky during annual butterfly count (The Courier-Journal, 6/25/16) – On the annual butterfly count led by Biology Prof. Emeritus Charles Covell at Horner Wildlife Sanctuary.

Gay in Louisville: A history of injustice, and a march toward acceptance (LEO Weekly, 6/15/16) – Prof. Cate Fosl (Women’s & Gender Studies) on the history of anti-gay prejudice in Louisville, and social progress.

Spotlight on Arts & Sciences Faculty and Students

Learn about A&S faculty and students featured on UofL Today with Mark Hebert.