Approval of Previous Minutes —

The minutes from the February 22, 2024, meeting were distributed prior to the meeting. Hearing no corrections, the minutes were approved.

Guest Speaker Presentation —

Victor Gonzalez welcomed the guest speaker, Jeff Stolz, KU mental health and wellbeing director. Jeff gave an overview of how this position came about. The Staff Fellows group had been looking at services for mental health for staff and faculty. The recommendation was the creation of Jeff’s position. There are some objectives in Jayhawk’s Rising.

Jeff reported on current projects. Jeff asked for feedback from faculty on activities which are not well attended by faculty. Jeff is chair of Staff Wellness which has now transferred to HR. The group hosts once a month activity that usually focuses on moving, such as walks.  There is a monthly lunch and learn about different wellness topics. There is an annual wellness event. This year’s attendance was up with 350 people attending. Free yoga is offered once a week. A fresh grocery initiative is starting in May. Jeff mentioned the referral service for concern about a student. This care referral program has expanded to faculty and staff. Another project is training for staff and faculty on suicide awareness. Jeff discussed a wellness ambassadors’ program. The goal is to have one person in each department who is familiar with the activities around wellness who can promote this to their department. Jeff is liaison to resources around mental wellness. Jeff discussed supervisory training and the importance of creating a positive workplace environment.

Question and Answer Session.

Q.  Is there a website for KU staff and faculty for emotional and wellbeing health?

A.  Yes. Wellness.ku.edu is for faculty and staff. There is a resource database for the 8 dimensions of wellness.  There is a wellness page on the HR website.

Q. Do you see the role of your position to create new programs or disseminate information on current resources?

A.  Both. There was a need first to understand what was available and then to see what was needed.

Q.  What are you doing to get the word out about the Wellness Ambassadors?

Comment. The School of Professional Studies has various programs for faculty, and they would welcome Jeff’s attendance at these events.

There is a listserv to reach those interested in wellness, meeting with deans, and trying to get the word out.

Jeff asked for feedback on programming that might be more relevant for faculty.

Comment. Work-life balance programs.

Faculty Senate Report

Victor reported on the following.

The KBOR award call for nominations was sent to chairs and directors. The due date is April 15.

The next faculty senate meeting will be an organizational meeting. If someone is interested in the President-elect position, let Victor know and he will be happy to discuss the position.

University Senate Report

Victor reported the following on behalf of Josh. There are two updates. The International Affairs committee update to the CODE was sent for a 21-day review. Elections are at the upcoming meeting, and we will need a President-elect.

Unfinished Business —

CORE 34 Ad hoc Committee

Sam gave a report for the Core 34 ad hoc committee. Sam shared a link to the letter the committee created to ask for feedback from faculty. FacEx has seen the letter. Members of the committee met with experts on campus who are knowledgeable about this and gathered information on this. The committee thought about faculty communicating directly with KBOR. In advance of this, the committee wants to ask for feedback from faculty.

The ad hoc committee will review the replies that will go to Governance. Some responses will be worked into the “ask” to the Regents to meet with them.

Roberta Schwartz moved to approve the letter. Brendan Mattingly seconded. A poll was launched. All were in favor.

Research Committee’s Recommendation on General Research Fund (GRF) Discussion.

A timeline was sent about the committee’s recommendations on the GRF. Victor opened this for discussion. There was the question of whether any negative comments were received. The Governance Office did not receive any other comments than what Victor reported. Josh Roundy, Chair, was present to answer questions. Josh reviewed the allocations based on PIs. Biosciences is being cut by 62%. There was discussion in that department, which is not happy with the cuts. Is there someone to analyze the number of faculty who have applied for external funding? If there are eligible people who are not actually doing research, this is concerning. Another concern is return on investment. Is there a way to make this more incremental if the cuts are made.

Josh Roundy replied to the comments. Regarding research active faculty--this is problematic as some do research but do not get funding. There are other programs in KU Research that focus on ROI. This program is not one of them. This is why the committee came up with PI eligible. 

Comment. If you look at ROI, you are rewarding people who have already received funding.

The wording of the research funds is to advance the mission of KU research. There are lots of ways to do this.

Josh addressed the comment of the productivity of activities that the research funds support. The committee reviews and does a report every three years on what the money was used for. This will still be needed.

Josh addressed the issue of taking a large hit to funding in one year. They will transition this over a three-year period.

If approved, this will be implemented not next year, but the following year.

Josh said that in the charges for next year, they suggest getting feedback from units so they can adjust going forward. There will be constant review and feedback.

Brendan Mattingly made a motion to accept the Research Committee’s recommendation on the General Research Fund allocation. Mugur Geana seconded the motion. A poll was launched. The motion passed with 13 in favor and one opposed.

The faculty will be notified that the faculty senate approved the committee’s recommendation. The due date for letting KU know Research is October 31.

New Business —

None.

Meeting adjourned.