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UofL engineering students producing 3-D printed face shields for healthcare professionals
COVID-19 has caused a sea change in day-to-day life. Work, school, recreation, retail, medical care, everything has been altered.
Many have expressed a sense of frustration or helplessness because they feel there is nothing they can actively do to help – this virus is unprecedented. But for Speed School engineers at the University of Louisville, creating innovative solutions for the most complex problems – and taking action – is what they do best.
The Additive Manufacturing Institute of Science and Technology (AMIST) facility at Speed School of Engineering has risen to this challenge by contributing something vital to the pandemic: protective face shields for healthcare workers, an item currently in a critical shortage due to tightening of hospital supply chain lines. The original impetus for the project was a request for 100 of the shields from the Internal Medicine Department at UofL Health.
Created with state of the art 3-D printing technology, the team has been printing face shields at their core facility, increasing their production output to 55 shields per day by running continuous shifts from 8 a.m. to midnight daily.
Ed Tackett, director of Workforce Development at AMIST, is coordinating the COVID-19 Speed School Response Team.
“We asked ourselves, ‘what can we do right now?’ How do we protect our most vulnerable citizens and how can the University play a positive role in making that happen?” said Tackett. “We have medical professionals literally on the front lines, and if we can help them be safer or keep them from getting sick, we’re going to do whatever we need to do to make that happen,” said Tackett.
What he needed was a dedicated and talented production team. He got that team with graduate assistant Kate Schneidau and four other Speed School students who wanted to help however they could with this health crisis. Schneidau is the production manager who helps manage the scheduling of shifts totaling 16 hours a day, and ensures that builds are continuously running so they can output as many face shields as possible in a day.
Schneidau said she feels a sense of pride knowing that she is contributing skills she learned at Speed School in such a direct way to benefit the community.
“It’s more than just helping produce a product that can be sold commercially. It’s a sense of camaraderie with the community knowing in tough times I can still help. I was taught all my life if somebody needs help, you step up and help as much as you can without expecting anything, because it’s the right thing to do.”
The first batch of 100 face shields have been picked up, and while the face shield production is filling the gap until the medical supply chain catches up, the Additive Manufacturing center is nimble and can adapt quickly to new 3-D printing needs that may arise due to COVID-19.
“We’re producing face shields now but that could change at any moment,” said Schneidau. “We are here as a tool to help in whatever way the medical community may need. We could shift production to ventilators if that is what is needed next.”
The community is doing their part to help, too. After a post on social media about the project, citizens with 3-D printers have stepped up, wanting to be part of the solution. Schneidau has helped to coordinate drop-off locations for the components being printed by people with their home printers, and these parts are picked up and put in the production stream at Speed School.
Schneidau said this experience is one she won’t forget and, in fact, it has solidified her interest in a career in building medical devices.
“I want to make an impact to help people better their lives – to make sure they live their best life possible,” she said.
Tackett said with all the bad news every day about COVID-19, it is great having the team of students and other people involved in this.
“They feel like they’re making a difference, and they actually are making a difference. Students involved in this will be better equipped to provide significant engineering changes in the world. It’s what we should be doing as an engineering school. We’re all going to come out of this, and we’re all going to be stronger when we come out of this,” he said.
As for Schneidau, she is a millennial leader ready to keep making a difference in her world.
“The fact that these students have these skills and are willing to step up to the plate to help – this has just reaffirmed my belief that the next generation – we got it covered,” she said. “The future is in good hands.”
Check out the team’s work:
UofL professor leading Louisville’s charge against coronavirus
If the person often standing next to Mayor Greg Fischer and providing regular updates on the city’s COVID-19 response looks familiar, that’s because she’s part of Card Nation.
Dr. Sarah Moyer is the director of the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness and the chief health strategist for the city of Louisville. She’s also an assistant professor of Health Management and Systems Sciences in UofL’s School of Public Health & Information Sciences.
Though the novel coronavirus pandemic is certainly on a different level than what she — or anyone in her field — is used to, Moyer is no stranger to leading the charge to affect better health outcomes for the city of Louisville. She’s a board-certified family physician who works with all sectors of the community to affect policy, systems and environmental changes. She spearheaded the creation of Louisville’s successful syringe exchange program in 2015, for example, to slow the transmission of HIV and hepatitis C cases in the state.
During the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak earlier this month, the Courier Journal published a feature about Moyer and her work as it pertains to this specific crisis. In that story, SPHIS Dean Craig Blakely praised her ability to “adapt to public health situations.”
“In these settings, like what’s happening now, quick movement is essential to being successful,” he said. “It’s the same as Ebola – some lost the war, others did really well. It has to do with quick responses.”
Moyer told the publication that she is learning what is working in other places and applying it to the COVID-19 response in Louisville.
“I have faults, but adaptability and solving complex problems are on my strength list,” she told the CJ. “When you’re a mom of four kids, you’ve got to be able to adapt, no matter what comes your way.”
Prior to joining UofL in 2015, Moyer earned degrees from Temple, Wake Forest, Dartmouth and Colorado College.
UofL researchers addressing urgent need for knowledge about COVID-19
If the SARS-CoV-2 virus is to be contained and cases of COVID-19 controlled, more knowledge is needed about how the virus is spread, who becomes ill and how the illness progresses. The University of Louisville is already at work to answer these urgent questions to reduce the impact of the global pandemic.
Infectious disease researchers at UofL are working with all 10 Louisville hospitals and two in southern Indiana, including UofL Health, Norton and Baptist, to process tests and study the illness in order to gather information needed to prevent transmission of COVID-19. Julio Ramirez, MD, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, and Ruth Carrico, PhD, RN, professor in the division, along with Donghoon Chung, PhD, and Kenneth Palmer, PhD, director of the Center for Predictive Medicine for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases (CPM), have developed a surveillance program to track the prevalence of the illness and which patients are most affected.
“I think the big issue is understanding the emergence of this illness and the pandemic response in terms of where the cases are, how many cases we’re seeing and among what types of patients,” Carrico said. “This study will help us better understand risk factors and how we need to approach it from a preventive perspective,” Carrico said.
Because this virus is so new, health professionals do not have as much information about how the disease presents initially and how it progresses as they do about other diseases that have been studied for decades. They also still need a better understanding of how the virus, SARS-CoV-2, is spread. The work being done at UofL will help provide that knowledge.
“With the information we are gathering, we will better understand how transmission occurs. When we understand how transmission occurs, that provides us the tools we need to develop some effective interventions,” Carrico said.
The development of testing for this research has been led by researchers at the CPM, where Chung worked to establish and refine procedures for high-throughput testing of more than 350 clinical samples per day for the research.
This information is needed not only to protect the community, but to protect health care workers from becoming ill. In China and elsewhere, doctors and nurses contracted COVID-19 at high rates, which affected their availability to care for ill patients. The information gained through the surveillance program will be used to generate guidelines for real-time hospital and community education and response activities, reducing spread in hospitals and protecting health care workers on the front lines.
Over time, the surveillance project will reveal not only the current scope of the pandemic in Louisville and beyond, but will monitor the epidemic over weeks and months, allowing the researchers to predict the impact of the virus in the future.
Notably, this research comes on the heels of UofL’s Division of Infectious Diseases having been selected by Pfizer as its first Global Center of Excellence.
The university is supporting this research with $500,000 in funding, but additional funds are needed to continue the research over time. Donations specifically for this research can be made online here.
UofL will finish the semester online; spring commencement ceremony postponed
An update from President Neeli Bendapudi regarding the coronavirus outbreak:
Dear Cardinal Family,
What a time of unpredictable and rapid change we are facing today, as individuals, as families, as businesses, as organizations, and as communities. Each day seems to bring with it new issues and new complications. And yet each day also brings some hope and confidence and resilience because it is clear we are working together, and working with one singular purpose: to keep everyone healthy and informed as we move forward.
To that end, and in response to updated recommendations from leading health experts and from local and state government leaders, we are moving forward with the next phase of our emergency response to the COVID-19 situation.
FOR STUDENTS
Instruction
- We are extending remote and online instruction through April 28, the end of the semester. Professional colleges are making decisions at the unit level to ensure the timely graduation of their students. Those students will receive additional guidance from their dean.
- Finals will be conducted remotely. You will receive more information from your professor on this in the coming weeks.
Housing and Dining
- By March 29, all students are asked to move out of our campus traditional and suite-style residence halls (Threlkeld, Miller, Unitas, Community Park, Kurz, Louisville and Billy Minardi). This is extremely important to increase social distance for health and safety. Students must complete the cancellation form (also located on the housing portal). Campus Housing will send you an email with further instructions.
- We understand that some students will have to stay on campus, because we are your home. If you are in this category and need an exception, please log into the UofL housing portal at louisville.edu/housing and complete the “Housing exception form for Spring 2020” located on the home page immediately, and we will work to accommodate your need before the March 29 deadline, pending space availability. For those students who do stay on campus, we will make sure there will be grab-and-go dining options and other services through the semester.
- Students who do move out of our campus residence halls and have no outstanding balances may have a pro-rated portion of their housing costs and meal plan dining dollars credited to the fall semester in the 2020-2021 school year. The credit may go toward housing, dining, or tuition and fees. Final credit amounts will be dependent upon the individual student’s financial aid situation and compliance.
- Students who are graduating this semester and have no outstanding balances will be refunded a pro-rated portion of their housing and unused dining dollars. We do sincerely request any student who is able to do so to waive their refund and donate it to UofL to help manage the significant financial impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the University.
Commencement
A particularly difficult decision is to postpone the Spring Commencement ceremony. We will invite all Spring graduates to our December 2020 Commencement ceremony to be honored for your achievements. We know this is a tremendous disappointment to our graduates and their families. And we share that disappointment as well. Nonetheless we hope you understand the complexities we face now. We will also be thinking of alternative ways to celebrate the tremendous accomplishments of students who will be graduating this semester. Professional schools with separate graduation celebrations will be also be exploring creative alternatives such as virtual events. Please note: the date for spring degree conferral remains May 9, 2020, and students approved to graduate this spring will be awarded the degrees and certificates they have earned then.
Recreation Facilities
The Health Sciences Fitness Center and the Student Recreational Center facilities have closed.
FOR FACULTY AND STAFF
- The remote work program will continue through the end of the semester, April 28th. Please go to our Working Remotely site for any help getting adjusted to working using our various virtual tools. If you have questions about your particular remote work situation, please speak to your vice president, dean, vice provost or their designee.
- International and domestic university-sponsored travel is suspended through the end of the fiscal year, June 30.
- Events hosted by any University of Louisville entity or at any University of Louisville facility are to be postponed or cancelled through at least April 28.
I know that you have been receiving numerous updates and messages from me and from our campus leadership on this topic. I understand that the pace of messaging might feel overwhelming to some, and not enough to others. Please know that we are constantly working to keep all of your needs top of mind and to pivot as quickly, and as thoughtfully, as we can when new information becomes available.
Remember to also frequently check UofL’s COVID-19 webpage for the latest updates and answers to the most Frequently Asked Questions that we hear from you.
Meanwhile I hope each of you takes care of your own physical and mental health. Despite all the busy-ness, I hope you will take a moment to pause. Slow down. Anchor yourself in what matters most to you. Reach out to someone for help. Whether it is your dean, supervisor or another leader on campus, let us know how we can support you best at this time. Reach out to see if someone else needs help. Let us be patient with one another. Together we will persevere through this tumultuous time and come out the other side a stronger, more unified university community.
Neeli
UofL Trager Institute leadership addresses pressing issues relating to COVID-19 for high-risk population
The University of Louisville Trager Institute has launched a comprehensive virtual information session that addresses pressing questions about COVID-19, with particular focus on older adults and individuals with chronic diseases.
The interactive info session can be viewed on the Zoom platform at: https://zoom.us/j/884298617. To learn how to access a Zoom meeting, click here.
“As most of us have heard by this point, older adults and individuals with serious chronic diseases such as respiratory conditions, heart disease and diabetes are at elevated risk for serious cases of COVID-19. Given the expertise of our leadership team in the areas of older adult health and chronic disease management, we want to provide practical advice and guidance for people who are scared and concerned for their safety and health,” said Anna Faul, PhD, executive director of the UofL Trager Institute.
This session addresses the following pressing questions:
- How best to protect yourself from getting the virus
- What to do if you think you have the virus
- How to prepare for quarantine
- How to address the anxiety that may arise because of the pandemic
- How to care for older adults who may be quarantined in nursing homes
- How to combat loneliness during quarantine and social distancing
- How to care for chronic illness during this pandemic
- How to maintain your weight and physical activity
- How to handle lost earnings
- How to prevent coronavirus-related scams
This session is recorded from the live March 17 event and available for distribution.
“Even though older adults and persons with chronic diseases face greater risk relating to COVID-19, there are simple precautions all of us can take to keep ourselves, our families and our communities as healthy and resilient as possible. If you are high-risk it is important to take proactive steps now to try to prevent the disease – such as washing your hands, avoid touching your face, avoiding crowds and non-essential travel – as well as developing safety plans in the event of quarantine or illness,” said Christian Davis Furman, MD, medical director of the UofL Trager Institute.
Important COVID-19 resources:
Teaching Community-based Learning Courses Online During the COVID-19 Outbreak
Teaching community-based learning (CBL) courses online may be challenging for many of us as it forces us to adapt and make changes to our courses. While we continue to grasp with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Office of Community Engagement would like to offer a few suggestions, Ideas, and resources to assist you as you shift your CBL courses online.
Here is what you need to do:
- Inform your students that all service to community service is suspended immediately. The suspension of service hours will not affect their grades. Explain the changes that will need to take place with the course, including revised assignments and activities.
- Reach out to community partners and explain the current situation to them.
- Explore ways you and your students may still be supportive during this social distancing period, when students cannot physically be on site.
- Are their ways for students to still be involved virtually, e.g. phone, or Internet?
- Think about what processes may community partners want to put in place for future service opportunities?
- When the University reverts to in-person classes, community partners may not be ready to accommodate students for various reasons so you may want to have a plan in place.
Here is the link to see a webinar on teaching CBL (service learning) courses online, presented by Jonathan H. Westover, Ph.D., MPA, SFHEA, AFCIPD, Associate Professor at Utah Valley University.
Critical Reflection
Use critical reflection as a means to involve students to think critically about current situations and our own values. It is a great way to involve students to think critically about issues impacting our community if they cannot physically engage with these issues. The Center for Civic Reflection has a wealth of information, activities, and videos that can be incorporated into your online teaching. These already developed plans can be used with your students in your online instructions. Here are a few examples on selected topics:
- Leadership and Responsibility
- Is crisis a destructive force or an opportunity for renewal?
- How should we respond to crisis?
- What are our responsibilities as citizens? Who or what are we responsible for?
- Use Online Civic-Minded Games
Here are links to additional resources from other organizations and engaged institutions
- International Association for Research on Service Learning and Community Engagement
- Portland State University
- Iowa Campus Compact
- Indiana University, Bloomington
- Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis IUPIU
Please note the Office of Community Engagement is open and available to consult with faculty virtually. We can schedule a phone call, a meeting through Microsoft 365 Team or some other medium. Please feel free to contact us via phone, 852-6026 or e-mail Henry Cunningham. We are here to assist you.
UofL will extend Spring Break and move classes online
An update from UofL President Neeli Bendapudi regarding COVID-19 is available below. Please note that COVID-19 updates will also be posted regularly online here.
“UofL Family,
As I shared with you yesterday, my leadership team and I are committed to keeping each of you informed and protected as we deal with the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. Our people are, and always will be, our greatest asset and highest priority.
After extensive and in-depth conversations with infectious disease experts at our university, and higher education peers in the state and the nation, I have made the following decisions.
- Spring Break is extended through March 17. Classes will be delivered remotely starting March 18 through April 5.
- International travel is suspended effective immediately.
- Non-essential domestic business travel is suspended effective immediately.
- On-campus events will continue, but are under review.
- UofL’s campuses remain open and operational.
Please read below for further detail on each of these important actions.
We understand that these restrictions will cause significant inconvenience for many of you. Please know that we do not make these restrictions and recommendations lightly. I am convinced that these measures are essential to preserve the health and well-being of all members of our University community and all citizens of the Commonwealth.
We also encourage you to visit our dedicated Coronavirus webpage for more information about the virus and our response. If you have a specific question about the virus, please direct it to hlthoff@louisville.edu.
The best thing you can do is follow the steps listed here to help prevent further spread of the coronavirus.
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
- Stay home when you are sick.
- Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
- If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. Always wash hands with soap and water if hands are visibly dirty.
We will continue to provide frequent updates on university activities and decisions in the days and weeks ahead. In the meantime, we ask that every member of our community stay true to our Cardinal Principles as we all do our part to stay ahead of this evolving situation. We are a family and we will get through this period of global uncertainty together.
Go Cards!
Neeli”
DETAILS OF UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE PREVENTATIVE ACTIONS
Spring Break is extended through March 17. Classes will be delivered remotely starting March 18 through April 5.
- There will be no classes on March 16 and 17.
- All classes will be offered remotely via online or other alternative learning options beginning Wednesday, March 18, through at least April 5. Classes already offered online will continue as originally scheduled. Students should anticipate direct correspondence from individual course instructors prior to March 18.
- Health Sciences students who are involved in clinical programs will receive further guidance from their academic deans. Information about labs, testing and other items will also be provided.
- Campus Housing will remain open. Students who are able to stay away from campus until April 5 are encouraged to do so.
- Training is available for all faculty on transitioning their classes to alternative or online instruction beginning March 12. Training will be offered in-person and online through March 17. Information on that training will be emailed to all faculty today.
International travel is suspended effective immediately
- Effective immediately, all incoming and outgoing international university-related travel is suspended through April 30, 2020. Similarly, no future international trips are permitted to be booked through June 30, 2020.
- This means that all previously scheduled study abroad trips, conferences, trainings, speaking engagements or other university-sponsored activities and programs that require travel to or from another country during the months of March and April are now cancelled. Contact your vice president, dean or unit administrator for more details.
- Students, faculty and staff already studying abroad may remain unless the country is declared a Level 3 country by the CDC. Students also have the choice to return earlier, but this should be coordinated through the International Center.
- In addition, we strongly discourage personal travel to international destinations.
- All students, staff and faculty who are already traveling internationally this week or are planning to take a personal trip outside of the country, are required to complete the Returning Traveler’s Report on our website prior to returning to campus. Upon review of the travel information submitted, you will receive confirmation of permission and a timeline for your return to campus.
- Please know that if you are returning from a Level 3 country, a Level 2 country with a COVID indication, or from France, Germany, Japan or Spain, you are required to self-isolate away from campus for 14 days upon your return to the country.
Non-essential domestic business travel is suspended effective immediately
- Also prohibited is any non-essential, incoming and outgoing travel within the United States during the months of March and April.
- An employee with an essential domestic travel request in March or April may request approval through their vice president, dean or unit administrator. These exceptions will be rare.
- Contact your vice president, dean or unit administrator if you have questions about the types of essential vs. non-essential activities that apply to your program, department or unit.
On-campus events will continue, but are under review
- At this time, we are not restricting large on-campus events. However, we continue to monitor the situation to determine if such a prohibition will be necessary in the near future.
- We are strongly discouraging scheduling any non-essential events through at least April 30. If you have questions about how essential an event is for your program, department or unit, you should reach out to your respective supervisors.
UofL’s campuses remain open and operational
- Faculty and staff are expected to follow their normal work schedules during this time, but continue to follow social distancing and preventative hygiene practices.
- Campus Housing will remain open, but students who are able to stay away from campus until April 5 are encouraged to do so. Student housing, food services, libraries, the food pantry and other campus and student services will be open. Check campus websites for further information on hours of operation.
- Research activities will continue at this time. Anyone involved in research will receive a separate communication from EVPRI Kevin Gardner in the coming days with specific guidance.
- Supervisors should begin making plans in preparation for a potential determination that remote work is necessary. We have no reason to believe that this step will be necessary in the short-term, but in an abundance of caution we ask our team leaders to begin preparations.
Nursing dedicates simulation lab, announces collaboration to strengthen health care workforce
Undergraduate nursing students learn together in the simulation lab.
Renovation and upgrades of a simulation lab at the University of Louisville School of Nursing give students more opportunities for hands-on clinical learning. The school dedicated the lab today with Trilogy Health Services, LLC, and The Bufford Family Foundation. Trilogy Management Services, manager of Trilogy Health Services, and The Bufford Family Foundation jointly committed $250,000 for the project.
Leaders of the UofL School of Nursing and Trilogy Health Services also announced an agreement to offer priority admission for Trilogy employees to attend the traditional bachelor of science in nursing program. Beginning in fall 2020, the school will work toward accepting 25 qualified applicants per semester, up to 50 annually. Trilogy Health Services will provide scholarship support and part-time, flexible hours to its employees who meet requirements for admission to the UofL School of Nursing.
The agreement between UofL and Trilogy Health Services is an extension of Trilogy’s recent $10-million work-based learning commitment to hire 200 Kentucky high school students into health care jobs as part of the Trilogy Scholar Program. The collaboration with UofL will create a pathway for these students to earn a four-year college degree.
“Community organization and foundation support are so important in our ability to prepare future health care providers, and we are pleased to be part of the visionary education pipeline of Trilogy Health Services,” said UofL President Neeli Bendapudi, PhD.
“We understand the importance of fostering high quality nurses to care for and about our residents to support the delivery of excellent care in our community,” said Barbara Dimercurio, Trilogy Health Services’ Chief Nursing Officer. “High caliber training and education, such as what will be offered in the updated simulation lab, is key to developing these nurses. We are proud to partner with the University of Louisville to create a clear pathway for Trilogy Scholars to become nurses.”
Simulation Lab Transformation
Funding from The Bufford Family Foundation and Trilogy Health Services allowed for a lab on the third floor of the nursing school to be transformed into a four-room simulation suite and home health care space. In addition to doubling the number of simulation rooms, the renovations created a separate observation room for instructors.
“Like UofL, we believe that when we invest in our community’s youth, we invest in our future,” said Susan Bufford. “That is why The Bufford Family Foundation is so passionate about supporting new technologies and resources for UofL students. We are honored to partner with UofL to grow the future leaders of the health care industry.”
The school also plans to purchase a fourth high-fidelity adult patient simulator. Prior to the lab upgrades, the school was restricted to using only two of its three adult mannequin simulators because of space constraints. The renovated lab allows for continuous use of all four adult simulators.
“On-campus patient simulation labs are essential to educating health care students,” said UofL School of Nursing Dean Sonya R. Hardin, PhD, MBA/MHA, APRN, NP-C, FAAN. “Simulators present numerous conditions that students respond to, including difficulty in breathing, seizures and heart attacks. Our students develop clinical judgment and learn how to respond in complex clinical situations.”
Cody Swift will graduate in May 2020 and says the simulation lab has helped him become more comfortable taking care of patients.
“This lab has given me the opportunity to not only build technical skills but also has helped me learn to better communicate with patients. We are blessed to have this simulation lab,” he said.
UofL, JCPS launch residency program to increase pool of diverse teachers
The University of Louisville and the Jefferson County Public Schools system have teamed up to launch the Louisville Teacher Residency program. The objective of the program, the first of its kind in Kentucky, is to increase the pool of diverse, highly-skilled teachers, particularly in low-performing, urban schools.
Nearly 37% of JCPS students are African-American, yet just over 12% of its full-time teachers are black.
“When students identify with a teacher in their classroom it fosters a sense of belonging, promotes engaging interactions, and improves student outcomes,” said JCPS Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio. “The Louisville Teacher Residency program strives to not just increase the number of minority and other high-needs teachers, but to make sure those teachers have the skills and experience they need to make a positive impact on our students.”
The LTR program offers college graduates who did not major in education the opportunity to obtain a master’s degree and teaching certification in one year, in exchange for their commitment to teach in a high-needs JCPS school. According to the Courier Journal, the program is modeled after similar programs in Chicago and St. Louis.
The program kicks off in June, with an inaugural class of 30 residents. Following a Thursday press conference, Pollio told WDRB that the goal is to expand the program to offer 100 slots. This would provide one solution to the district’s teacher shortage problem. The CJ reports that JCPS’ 155 schools had more than 100 vacant teaching positions midway through this school year.
Though there are benefits for the school district in bridging the teacher shortage gap, and for UofL students in gaining hands-on experience, Kaarmel Eaves, a third-grade teacher at Semple Elementary, told WDRB that the program should especially be beneficial for her students.
“Kids when they see somebody that looks like them and has the same life experiences as them, it just matters to them,” she said. “I think they relate better, and when you instruct them, they receive the information better.”
During the residency year, participants will spend four days a week in the classroom alongside JCPS master teachers, who will mentor them while the residents engage in hands-on teaching experiences. During the summer and on Fridays, residents will attend classes at UofL, and complete coursework co-designed by JCPS and the university.
Participants will earn $30,000 plus benefits from JCPS during their residency then commit to work for five years in an Accelerated Improvement School (AIS) within JCPS.
“The University of Louisville is honored to partner with Jefferson County Public Schools to implement the first teacher residency program in the commonwealth,” said UofL Provost Beth Boehm. “UofL is committed to preparing high quality educators to meet the district’s needs and to improving P-12 student achievement. The Louisville Teacher Residency program is a unique opportunity for UofL and JCPS to diversify the teacher workforce and is an extension of the university’s call to celebrate diversity, foster equity and strive for inclusion.”
In addition to experience, a salary and benefits, candidates in the program can also receive a boost from Class Act Credit Union, which is committing up to $300,000 over three years for $3,000 scholarships to participants, as well as funding assistance for faculty evaluations and programming.
Individuals interested in applying for the LTR program should visit the JCPS website. Candidates must have a bachelor’s degree and at least a 2.75 GPA. Participants need not be a minority to apply, though the district is prioritizing candidates in high-needs areas, including minority representation and math and science teachers.
New clinical site for the School of Dentistry expands reach to western Kentucky
A collaboration between the University of Louisville and West Kentucky Community and Technical College will allow students from both institutions to work together in a dental clinic while providing services to residents of the Jackson Purchase region, officials announced today.
Dr. T. Gerard Bradley, dean of the University of Louisville School of Dentistry, joined WKCTC President Anton Reece and Carrie Hopper, dean of WKCTC’s Allied Health and Personal Services and dental assisting program coordinator, for the announcement today in Paducah.
A memorandum of understanding between UofL and WKCTC allows the dental school to operate the mutually beneficial dental clinic on the second floor of the Anderson Technical Building on the WKCTC campus.
Partnerships like the one with WKCTC provide dental services to communities, an essential component of UofL’s dental curricula, Bradley said.
“Our goal is to develop a network of community-based partner clinics in a variety of locations across Kentucky. These externship sites enhance our clinical curriculum while meeting the oral health needs of underserved populations,” he said.
Reece said the UofL/WKCTC partnership is historic. “We are excited to partner and collaborate with the University of Louisville School of Dentistry to provide needed dental services to the community and our region.”
“Collaboration with WKCTC strengthens our community engagement in the western part of Kentucky and we are proud to join with the college to establish a dental clinic in Paducah,” said UofL President Neeli Bendapudi. “The important work of the university is not only educating future health care professionals, but also teaching students to become culturally competent providers.”
The clinic will have a full-time licensed dentist managed by ULSD, and will be a clinical learning site for fourth-year UofL dental students. WKCTC will provide dental assistants from its existing dental assisting program along with use of existing dental equipment and chairs.
“Having the opportunity for our dental assisting students to work with UofL dental students will provide valuable learning experiences,” said Hopper. “This collaboration will help serve the underinsured, underserved population in our service region. I am beyond excited to begin this partnership with UofL School of Dentistry.”
ULSD will provide expert dental oversight, supervision and management of the dental clinic operations, including the establishment of all dental fees, billing and collection.
UofL is engaged in a similar collaboration with the Red Bird Mission and Red Bird Clinic located in Beverly, Kentucky. Dental students work under the direction of a local dentist, providing the students an opportunity to treat patients in a rural community and culture. Students also rotate through similar externship sites in urban settings, including the Shawnee Dental Clinic located in an underserved area of Louisville.
“These experiences truly teach our students to become confident, compassionate dental providers,” Bradley said.
Engage Lead Serve Board's MLK Day of Service garnered 235 volunteers
The student-led Engage Lead Serve Board's MLK Day of Service garnered 235 volunteers Monday, a record turnout. They helped pack warm kits for the homeless, stocked shelves at a food pantry, assembled medical binders, and much more at 12 area nonprofits: Brooklawn and Bellewood, La Casita Center, Critically Loved, The Food Literacy Project, Americana Community Center, KY Science Center, Harbor House of Louisville, Dream Factory Inc, Lampton Baptist Church, UofL composting project, UofL Garden Commons and Dreams with Wings Inc.
UofL research about fighting human trafficking getting extra attention in January
From the state Capitol to Belknap Campus, University of Louisville research about and efforts to fight human trafficking are getting extra attention during National Human Trafficking Awareness Month.
UofL will have two new January campus events and offer its 10th annual Human Trafficking Awareness Conference to focus on the issue and to help victims receive aid.
And recent research by UofL’s Human Trafficking Research Institute, announced Jan. 7 in a Capitol Rotunda news conference with Governor Andy Beshear and Attorney General Daniel Cameron, indicates human trafficking, particularly of children and vulnerable youth, occurs at high rates across Kentucky, according to Jennifer Middleton, institute director and associate social work professor.
“These findings serve as a call to action and highlight the need for improved community education and awareness. To respond to this call, we are joining Gov. Andy Beshear, trafficking survivors and our university partners to elevate the conversation here on campus,” she said. “UofL students, staff and faculty can play an important role in preventing and addressing human trafficking in our community.”
The Frankfort announcement included initial results of Project PIVOT (Prevention and Intervention for Victims of Trafficking), which UofL did in partnership with Kentucky’s Department of Community Based Services and the Attorney General’s Office with two-year grant funding of $100,000 from the Kentucky Children’s Justice Act Task Force.
Researchers reviewed 698 reported cases of child trafficking over a five-year period between 2013 and 2018. The review was done primarily to answer the question of what happened to those cases in the child welfare system. Among the findings:
- A majority of the cases involved family-controlled trafficking, meaning a family member (most often a parent or primary caretaker), gave offenders sexual access to the child in exchange for money, drugs or something else of value.
- Children trafficked by family members were younger and more likely to have multiple perpetrators than those trafficked by nonfamily.
- Younger children, rural children and children with previous child welfare involvement were more likely to have multiple perpetrators.
- The involvement of drugs in child trafficking cases increased significantly during the five-year period.
Project PIVOT results will be used to ascertain gaps, systemic issues and opportunities for enhanced education, training and policy development.
“What we are finding is that the majority of the time, the crime of child trafficking isn’t being carried out by strangers passing through our towns,” Middleton said. “This has implications for how we educate our communities about child trafficking as well as how we prepare child welfare workers and first responders to identify and respond to potential child victims. Community awareness and enhanced training for professionals are key to preventing and addressing child trafficking in our state.”
Beshear invited state leaders, advocates and survivors to help draw awareness to the issue.
“By coercing victims into and profiting from forced labor and commercial sex, human traffickers represent some of the worst of humanity,” the governor said. “As attorney general I was honored to work with so many passionate advocates and survivors to help combat trafficking and as governor I commit to do the same. We will not stop until we end trafficking, and we must all work together to do so.”
Campus events
Here are details about the free, public campus events:
- A January 11 film screening and state premiere of “California’s Forgotten Children,” a documentary about child sex trafficking, and panel discussion afterward will be 5:30 p.m.-9 p.m. at Gheens Science Hall and Rauch Planetarium. Donations will be accepted to fight human trafficking in the community. Reservations are requested and can be made online. UofL’s Kent School of Social Work, UofL’s Women’s Center, Louisville Metro Human Trafficking Task Force and Louisville Metro Office for Women are sponsors.
- A January 14 Human Trafficking Awareness Resource Fair and discussion will be in the Student Activities Center Ballroom. Featuring numerous agencies, the fair will be 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; stickers and survivor-designed postcards will be provided as part of a national #EndIt campaign. The fair leads into a 1:30-2:30 p.m. Critical Cardinal Conversation on Trafficking and Missing Women of Color by panelists including a National Center for Missing and Exploited Children representative, a parent and former police officer. Sponsors are the Human Trafficking Research Initiative, Project STAAR, Women’s Center, Cultural Center, Office of Diversity Education and Inclusive Excellence and Women 4 Women Student Board.
- The 10th annual Human Trafficking Awareness Conference is 5:30-8 p.m. Feb. 11 in the Student Activities Center Ballroom. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. for a resource fair and light refreshments. Sponsors are the Women’s Center and the Women 4 Women Student Board.
UofL coordinating global education effort to bring kids together on climate change
Marion C. Moore middle school students are talking with students from different countries about a shared environmental project. UofL professor Mary Brydon Miller, from the College of Education and Human Development, is coordinating the global education effort to bring kids together on climate change.
“Part of what we want our children to understand is that climate change is happening everywhere, but it looks different in different parts of the world,“ Miller said.
Two of Moore teacher Ben Kolb’s science classes interacted with students from South Africa for more than an hour via Skype, asking about each other’s daily lives, the environment in their home countries and their shared project on climate change.
“We’re doing something called The DOT project and it stands for ‘do one thing,’” said Riley Burton, Moore middle school student. “Some of the ideas have been to take shorter showers and don’t use as much water. Reduce, reuse, and recycle, and use less plastic to help save the animals in the oceans.”
Sadie Dickinson, a Marion C. Moore student, was excited when she was able to interact with people from the country where she grew up.
“It was like a little taste of home, honestly. It’s a way to connect with them in a different way,” said Dickinson.
‘We are partnering with our schools here and in other parts of the world to try to bring the research and educational resources of the university out into the community to work together to address climate change,” said Miller.
Check out more from the program
UofL earns gold seal for excellence in voter engagement
The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge recently awarded UofL a gold seal for achieving student voting rates up to 49%.
“Our institution is proud to receive this national recognition for our efforts. Our faculty, staff, administrators and students are committed to working together to reduce apathy, increase engagement and graduate civic-minded students prepared to solve the most pressing challenges facing our country and the world,” said Pam Curtis, director of the Office of Student Involvement.
UofL won a silver award last year. This is UofL’s first year for a gold award. Data reveals a 9.7% increase in UofL’s voting engagement since 2014.
Student participation in elections nationwide has increased from the 2014 midterm election to the recent midterm election. According to Tufts University’s National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement, voter turnout at more than 1,000 institutions participating in the study increased by 21 points from 19% to 40%.
“We are excited to honor University of Louisville with an ALL IN Challenge gold seal in recognition of their intentional efforts to increase democratic engagement and full voter participation,” said Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, executive director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. “More institutions like UofL are changing the culture on campus by institutionalizing nonpartisan democratic engagement efforts that are resulting in the incredible student voter turnout rates that we’ve seen across the country.”
The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge is a nonpartisan, national initiative recognizing and supporting campuses as they work to increase nonpartisan democratic engagement and full student voter participation. The Challenge encourages higher education institutions to help students form the habits of active and informed citizenship, and make democratic participation a core value on their campus.
More than 560 campuses, enrolling more than 6.2 million students, have joined the Challenge since its launch in summer 2016.
Expungement clinic offers Louisville Law students hands-on opportunity
- by UofL School of Law News
- Louisville Law students volunteer at an expungement clinic on Oct. 26, 2019. Clockwise: Alana Johnson, Elias Kang-Bartlett, Seth Wiseman, Maggie Groot, Sofia Calleja.
Several Louisville Law students volunteered at an expungement clinic hosted by the Louisville Urban League last month.
The Reily Reentry Project Expungement Clinic, named for local lawyer and Urban League board member Stephen Reily, drew hundreds of people who wanted to clear their criminal records.
"In law, 'expungement' is the process by which a record of criminal conviction is destroyed or sealed from state or federal record. An expungement order directs the court to treat the criminal conviction as if it had never occurred, essentially removing it from a defendant’s criminal record as well as, ideally, the public record," according to the American Bar Association.
Having a criminal conviction can make it more difficult to find a job or rent an apartment. But expungements come with fees that can be a barrier to many people; in Kentucky, to expunge a misdemeanor costs $100 and to expunge a felony is $500. Reily committed $100,000 a year for three years to cover the fees from this clinic and clinics planned for the future. Louisville Law students also volunteered at a February 2019 expungement clinic.
"It was an absolute privilege to help the Louisville Urban League provide a service so desperately needed," says Sofia Calleja, Class of 2020. "An expungement of a record can help lift families out of poverty. It opens doors to better jobs with benefits and access to stable housing. It was an amazing learning experience."
Startup created by UofL alumni makes clean water accessible
Jarui Desai (’18) and UofL senior Praneeth Goli partnered for a project, called the Droplet Water Project, that is providing clean drinking water to those who need it most. After scoping different places and hiring on-site engineers to test the water in those locations, they are able to find the areas where they can make the biggest impact. After choosing a location, they work to secure funding, figure out the logistics and ensure legal compliance.
As of now, they have completed water projects in both India and Columbia. Desai believes very firmly in the mission of their organization and is rewarded by the smiles on young faces as they take that first drink of clean water.
“For the kids, it was exciting to have someone from a different country come in and play with them, but also provide them water,” she said. “But it’s not just the children; it’s the teachers, and their friends and families. The whole village now has access to clean water.”
The project hopes to expand globally, reaching as many underdeveloped communities as possible.
“There are other individuals that people can’t see right now that are in need,” Desai said. “We’ve been able to open other people’s minds up and get them to realize world topics.”
For the complete story visit uoflalumni.org.
UofL Trager Institute expands health transformation for care of older adults across Kentucky
Students participating in educational curriculum through GWEP funding
The renewal of a substantial grant will allow the University of Louisville Trager Institute to build on the success of programs aimed at care coordination, professional education, community building and Alzheimer’s and dementia awareness.
The Health Resources and Services Administration has renewed the institute’s $3.75 million grant to expand its Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) throughout Kentucky. The previous funding awarded in 2015 focused on areas in and around Louisville; the new funding will help the institute reach all 120 counties in the Commonwealth.
The UofL Schools of Law, Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing and the Kent School of Social Work will be part of this program to help individuals optimally age by intervening in multiple facets of care which include patients, their families and caregivers, interdisciplinary health professionals, practice models, health care systems and communities.
“This grant renewal speaks to the success of our Trager Institute, and we are deeply honored to be recognized at a federal level for our success and promise of future achievements to dramatically improve the health and well-being of older adults throughout Kentucky,” said UofL President Neeli Bendapudi.
“To date, we have helped more than 300 older adults move toward the goal of optimal aging and we have trained more than 3,500 learners,” said Anna Faul, PhD, executive director of the UofL Trager Institute. “Our outcomes include the development of our nationally recognized Flourish Index which assesses the degree to which a patient is flourishing in six determinants of health. We’ve also had numerous publications and have included our model of care at the Republic Bank Foundation Optimal Aging Clinic.”
During the next five years, the program seeks to address the following core health needs of older adults in Kentucky:
- High levels of chronic conditions and poor quality of life among older adults
- Lack of a robust rural primary care system, particularly the low number of geriatricians
- Lack of quality nursing home care in rural areas
- The need to create age-friendly emergency departments
- The need to coordinate coalitions and community stakeholders to maximize the potential of population health initiatives within rural environments
- The need to train a health care workforce that can deliver culturally appropriate services to the growing Hispanic populations
- Lack of knowledge among health care professionals about the need for alternative pain management strategies to address the risk of opioid misuse
- The need for dementia-friendly communities and compassionate care for people with Alzheimer’s and related dementia
Goals of the expanded efforts include strengthened partnerships, professional education for health care providers as well as students, community building and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias training using the institute’s own Compassionate Care curriculum.
Several hundred ‘Cards Come Together’ to serve community
Several hundred UofL faculty, staff, students and alumni flocked to several sites across the campus and city for the university’s inaugural week of service last week.
Cards Come Together service opportunities included a community cleanup in Old Louisville, a composting project, a beautification project with New Directions and volunteering at the Americana Community Center’s fall festival. In addition, daily on-campus donation drives benefited Dare to Care, Volunteers of America Shelby Men’s Recovery program, Jefferson County Public School students and Catholic Charities of Louisville.
President Neeli Bendapudi and Athletics Director Vince Tyra kicked off the week of service at the Red Barn during the Wear Red to be Fed cookout. Bendapudi asked the crowd to “…think of Cards Come Together as University of Louisville’s love letter to the city of Louisville.”
To show their passion, participants, including a slew of student-athletes, traveled to Old Louisville to begin the community cleanup by landscaping community green space.
Volunteers also painted faces and pumpkins at the Americana Community Center’s fall festival, painted and landscaped a Germantown house at the New Directions Housing Corporation beautification project and sifted worms in super soil and turned compost using pitchforks and shovels at the community composting project.
Niki King, communications and marketing specialist, participated in the community composting project and said the week of service fostered a sense of pride as part of the UofL family.
“I’m passionate about sustainability, so I was excited to have this opportunity to work on composting as part of Cards Come Together,” said King. “During the composting project, we learned that UofL has the only community compost in Metro Louisville, which made me appreciate just how vital UofL’s leadership is for the region’s sustainability efforts.”
King also pointed out that the service projects offered a rejuvenating change to the normal work day.
“I largely work at a desk all day. It was nice to have a change of pace and work with my hands in the outdoors for a bit,” she said. “It was refreshing.”
UofL Hite Art Institute and Louisville Visual Arts partner for OPEN STUDIO WEEKEND
Artists from all over Louisville will open their doors Nov. 2 and 3 for Open Studio Weekend 2019. The event, co-hosted by UofL’s Hite Art Institute and Louisville Visual Art, gives everyone the opportunity to step inside studios all over Louisville where they can meet artists and experience how and where local art is made.
This is the seventh annual Open Studio Weekend, featuring more than 100 artists in all visual media. Established professionals, exciting newcomers and students, alumni and faculty from Hite Art Institute will share their work in unique studio spaces.
This year, the public may visit inside the Hite Art Institute’s new MFA Studio facility, a renovated warehouse at 1606 Rowan St. in the historic Portland neighborhood. Hite faculty and MFA students operate studios there in a range of media, including ceramics, drawing, fiber, glass, painting, printmaking, sculpture, mixed media, book arts and design.
This year also continues a partnership with LouVelo Bike Share, which makes free bike rentals available to OSW attendees from noon to 6 p.m. Nov. 2 and 3.
In addition, a distinguished panel of curators from around the region will select works by participating artists to showcase in the Open Studio Weekend Juried Exhibition at Hite’s Cressman Center for Visual Arts, 100 N. Main St. All are welcome to a free opening reception during the First Friday Hop, 6-8 p.m., Nov. 1. The exhibition is on view through Dec. 14.
Open Studio Weekend is 12-6 p.m., Nov. 2 and 3. Tickets are $12, or $10 for students, art educators and LVA members. A ticket provides access to all participating studios and includes a 60-page publication with maps to studio locations, suggested routes, information, and images of participants’ artworks. Tickets are available on LVA’s website.
All proceeds from the weekend tour benefit the Mary Spencer Nay scholarship at UofL and Children’s Fine Art Classes through LVA.
Participating Hite students, alumni and faculty, with their studio numbers, include:
Betty Alvarez Painting 14, Britany Baker Drawing 37, Frank Baldwin Painting 29, Megan Bickel Painting 17, Lindsey Bishop Jewelry 36, Anne Borders Painting 29, Tiffany Calvert Painting 14, Rita Cameron Painting 39, Tom Cannady Painting 34, Geoff Carr Photography 20, Don Cartwright Painting 32, Dave Caudill Sculpture 27, Ying Kit Chan Mixed Media 14, Xin Chen Glass 13, Sandra Chu Painting 27, Andrew Cozzens Mixed Media 11, Sabra Crockett Painting 39, Katy Delahanty Mixed Media 12, Linda Erzinger Sculpture 38, Cassie Fischer Painting 36, Elizabeth Foley Printmaking 27, Jeanne Freibert Painting 35, Angie Reed Garner Painting 20, Will Garner Drawing 20, Terri Gilmore Sculpture 41, Johnny Gordon Glass 34, Jen Grove Calligraphy 23, Claudia Hammer Painting 19, Kaitlin Hennessy Mixed Media 23, Bryan Holden Sculpture 17, Noah Howard Mixed Media 12, Casey Hyland Glass 19, Dawn Johnston Painting 33, Joanna Jorgensen Jewelry 33, Kyle Keeney Mixed Media 35, Megan Kociscak Painting 40, Marti Kuehn Painting 34, Lisa Kurtz Ceramics 29, Lori Larusso Painting 11, Erica Lewis Drawing 16, Debra Lott Painting 44, Aaron Lubrick Painting 29, Scott Massey Sculpture 14, James Russell May Painting 37, Helen Merrick Painting 45, Melanie Miller Glass 19, Nancy Gordon Moore Painting 31, Deb Ogburn Mixed Media 34, Chris Owens Mixed Media 38, Peggy Peabody Painting 33, Amy Pender Glass 33, Tara Remington Mixed Media 11, Rosalie Rosenthal Photography 11, Catherine Rubin Painting 32, Debbie Shannon Printmaking 32, Danny Seim Mixed Media 12, Rachel Singel Printmaking 15, Stacy Staggs Painting 37, Debby Stratford Printmaking 31, Chuck Swanson Mixed Media 31, Victor Sweatt Painting 12, Rachid Tagoulla Photography 13, Maria Tinnell Fiber 40, Susan Tolliver Painting 44, Mark Traughber Drawing 19, Caroline Waite Mixed Media 31, Xuanyi Wang Painting 17, Katherine Watts Printmaking 15, Cletus Wilcox Mixed Media 23 and Jingshuo Yang Painting 16.
