LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- University of Louisville faculty, staff and students gathered on campus Monday to hear the university's new strategic plan.
In May of last year, President Dr. Neeli Bendapudi inherited a university in the middle of several scandals, but she believes things are moving in the right direction. She said the strategic plan was truly a collaboration
"It was hundreds upon hundreds of hours distilled into this," she said. "We had an executive committee. We had a steering committee. We had work groups, and under each work group, we had sub-groups that worked on it."
Bendapudi said there will be raises for the staff and she hopes that sends a message.
"We are still digging out of a hole because of what has happened in the past, but this year, we thought it was important to signal to the faculty and staff that we are turning the tide," she said.
Grawemeyer Hall on the University of Louisville's campus in Louisville, Ky. (Eric Crawford, WDRB)
Dr. Ricky Jones and Dr. Brandon McCormack, the chair and a professor of the Pan-African Studies Department, respectively, both like what they've heard so far. That includes plans to replace two older dorms.
"It speaks to the administration's investment in its faculty and wanting to keep talented folks here," McCormack said
"As a chair of a department, we always want to pay them well, make them feel welcomed, make them feel valued and the economic side is apart of that," Jones, Professor added.
And the strategic plan includes diversity, inclusion and improving the graduation rate, something McCormack said is a crucial part of the plan.
"We can get students in the door, but the challenges those students often face within the environment of higher education, as well as the lives they're living outside of it, often make it a challenge to keep those students here," he said.
U of L's Pan-African Studies Department is the oldest black studies department in the country. That's why Jones and McCormack are glad administrators are not shying away from talking about diversity and inclusion.
"You don't talk about diversity and inclusion without talking about us," Jones said. "We were talking about that a long time before others were, so we are happy to have an administration that is catching up with us on that."
To review the strategic plan, click here.
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