OCTOBER 2026

Greetings faculty colleagues,

Teaching excellence is central to the mission of KU. This fall, we've once again achieved record enrollment, and we know that high-quality, engaging instruction is one of the most important factors in student success. Whether you teach in the classroom, online, or hybrid, thank you for the dedication, expertise and care you bring to your students. Your work helps create a learning experience that inspires engagement and growth.  

The work of educating extends far beyond the classroom and involves hours of preparation. To support faculty in creating accessible learning experiences for all students, the Office of Faculty Affairs has partnered with Academic Success, CODL, and KU IT Academic Technology to develop numerous resources. These include a digital accessibility page and Faculty How to at KU sessions covering a range of topics from an introduction to accessibility to accessible tools in Microsoft products, Adobe, LaTeX, and other unique software programs. Many of these sessions are available online if you missed them or would like a refresher. 

Beyond the classroom, effective teaching also includes meaningful mentorship. Through our partnership with Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs, we continue to offer our Graduate Student Mentoring Workshops that provide guidance, resources, and strategies for supporting graduate students. Please visit the Graduate Student Mentoring Workshop Information, Resources, and Guides page and consider registering for an upcoming session. 

Last spring, 11 Lawrence faculty members were granted university teaching awards for their commitment to student learning, both inside and outside the classroom. These outstanding instructors will be recognized at the University Teaching Awards Ceremony on October 13. Please join us in celebrating their achievements and nominate an outstanding instructor now for our 2026-2027 University Teaching Awards! Recognizing excellence in teaching is one meaningful way we can celebrate our faculty who make a difference in the lives of our students.  

With gratitude,

Amy Mendenhall 
Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs 
Professor, Social Welfare 

Spotlight on Faculty Excellence

Lauren Ptomey, Physical Activity and Weight Management, KU Medical Center (Sept. 8)

Michael Wang, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Lawrence (Sept. 18)

Devin Koestler, Biostatistics and Data Science, KU Medical Center (Oct. 2)

We kicked off our Spotlight on Faculty Excellence celebrations this fall at several KU volleyball games. More spotlights are to come during upcoming men's and women's KU basketball games! Find our Spotlight recaps on our Instagram or LinkedIn accounts.

Contract reopeners and updated resources for policy alignment  

KU and UAKU have reopened negotiations on several contract elements: director titles, supplemental salary funding, intellectual property, and compensation. Once agreements are reached on these topics, the new side letters or contract amendments will be posted to the Academic Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining at KU website.    

On our policy alignment resources page, we have added a submission portal for Promotion & Tenure/Progress Towards Tenure policy changes as well as a guidance document and template for Unclassified Academic Staff reviews.  Continue to check this page often as additional submission links, guidance documents, and templates will be made available soon. 

This fall, stop by 145 Strong Hall if you have any questions regarding policy alignment during our Policy Alignment office hours. Office hours take place on: 

Course Materials Information for Spring Classes Due to KU Bookstore Before Oct. 20

KU Bookstore is accepting course materials submissions for spring semester classes.

The target date for all instructors to inform the bookstore of their course’s textbook and materials needs is Oct. 20, which helps ensure that information appears in the Schedule of Classes, as required by law, and can be fulfilled in time for the spring semester. Information must be submitted even if texts or materials are not required or recommended.

The Course Materials Resources page provides details and background about the Higher Education Opportunity Act’s legal requirement to submit course materials information and offers tips and best practices to help students address affordability. The page also provides background on Open Educational Resources options that provide access to freely accessible and open licensed content.

External activity requests  

Do you engage in professional activities outside of the university? If so, please familiarize yourself with the KU and KBOR policies related to commitment of time and conflict of interest. 

To help clarify processes for engaging in and reporting on professional activities outside of KU, please refer to the guidance on external activity requests found on our policy resources page. This resource outlines which external activities require completion of the External Activity Request Form, as outlined in the policy on Commitment of Time and Conflict of Interest. Additionally, frequently asked questions can be found for both submitters and reviewers involved in this process. 

Faculty How to at KU: Faculty Insight Walkthrough

The Office of Faculty Affairs invites all Faculty to attend our fall "How to at KU" series. We will feature the Faculty Insight experts from Analytics, Institutional Research & Effectiveness (AIRE). Faculty Insight is a portal that enables faculty to record their research, teaching, and service activities. It feeds to the searchable public-facing database, Experts at KU, which connects faculty to collaborators, potential graduate students, KU Communicators, and media outlets nationally. Join us for a session and learn more about Faculty Insight and ways to leverage this tool for your scholarship and collaboration needs.

Tuesday, October 13 | Tuesday, December 8 | Tuesday, January 26
3:30 - 4:30 p.m.

Virtual

Collective Bargaining Agreement Policy Alignment workshops

Join us for a two-hour session as we walk through progress toward promotion, promotion review, and post-promotion review for unclassified academic staff (UAS) policy revisions required to be in alignment with the collective bargaining agreement. During this session, you and your colleagues will have time to work through your plan and ask questions. Please invite those working on policy revisions with you to attend! 

Friday, October 23
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Watson Library, 3 West

Incorporating values, mission, and goals can strengthen the “why” behind policy and help align incentives with what is most important. Join this workshop to learn best practices and benefits of incorporating disciplinary values and the KU IRISE framework into unit-level policy.  

Tuesday, October 27 9:00 - 10:30 a.m. Watson Library, 3 West
Tuesday, November 3 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. Anschutz, 3 North

Distinguished Professor Lecture: Erik Perrins

Please join us for "Finding the Signal in the Noise: The Hidden Magic of Error Correcting Codes in Deep-Space Radios," an inaugural lecture presented by University Distinguished Professor Erik Perrins. Read more about Perrins' presentation and scholarship.

Wednesday, November 11
5:30 p.m.

Beren Petroleum Conference Center
Slawson Hall G192

October 7-9: Academic Analytics is visiting KU to highlight their faculty activity management tools, as well as peer analysis resources for faculty leaders. Sessions such as Activity Entry and Reporting in Faculty Insight are available to any faculty member who would like to walk through the faculty activity management process, learn how to create useful reports, and discover time saving tips.

Thursday, October 22: KU Libraries will celebrate International Open Access Week with a virtual webinar titled, Navigating Uncertainty: Open/Public Access in a Shifting Policy Landscape. The webinar takes place from 2:00-3:30 p.m. and will provide an overview of where federal public access policy stands right now, what's on the horizon, and practical strategies researchers and institutions can use today. Register on Zoom.

Monday, October 26: The Office of Research is excited to launch the One KU Training Grant Network, a university-wide community of practice for NIH T awards designed to connect faculty, training grant leaders, program coordinators, and prospective applicants involved in institutional training programs across campuses. Register to join the inaugural meeting from 10:30 a.m.- 12:00 p.m., which takes place on both the KUMC and Lawrence campuses. 

November 13-15: Global startup accelerator Techstars is bringing its Startup Weekend to KU this fall. Open to KU faculty, staff, students and alumni, the three-day event offers an opportunity to explore new ideas, collaborate across disciplines and experience the entrepreneurial process firsthand. Participants will work in teams to identify problems, validate opportunities, develop solutions and present their concepts to a panel of judges. No startup experience is required. Apply to participate by Nov. 4.

Monday, October 12: KU International Affairs has opened nominations for two competitive awards that recognize faculty who engage in internationalization across campus:

Visit International Affairs Faculty Awards for Internationalization for more information, criteria and nomination deadlines. Nominations and supporting materials should be submitted via email to whitneydenning@ku.edu  no later than Oct. 12. 

Friday, October 16: The Chancellor’s Office is now accepting nominations for the annual University Scholarly Achievement Award, which recognizes up to four mid-career faculty for outstanding scholarly or research work. For details about the nomination process, visit the awards website.

December 1, 2026: The Provost invites nominations of candidates for the University Faculty Service Awards. The Faculty Service Award recognizes faculty members who have provided outstanding service to the KU community via institutional service at the department, school/college, and/or university levels. Visit the Faculty Service Award website to learn more and nominate.

February 2, 2027: The Provost invites nominations of candidates for teaching awards of distinction, including the Chancellors Club Teaching Awards and the university-wide excellence in teaching awards. Departments and schools are encouraged to think broadly and inclusively when considering nominees. Visit the Faculty Teaching Awards section of the OFA's Awards and Recognition Opportunities page to learn more about each award and nominate.

Beginning with the 2025-2026 academic year, the Kansas Board of Regents requires each regents institution submit a faculty workload report, covering the two prior academic years. In order to accurately report faculty achievements, all tenure line faculty and librarians, teaching professors, professors of the practice, and unclassified academic staff (research professors, clinical professors, curators, specialists, scientists), are required to utilize KU Faculty Insight to enter, store and organize career achievements.  

 If you are not sure where to start, or you need a refresher on entering your activities, please join one of our upcoming Faculty Insight Activity Entry sessions. Join us in person this week for an Activity Entry and Reporting in Faculty Insight session. Or join us online next week or later in the semester during a How to at KU: Faculty Insight Walkthrough. Either option will walk faculty through managing and updating their activity within the Faculty Insight portal, as well as share tips and tricks on expediting the process and turning your activities into handy reports for promotion & tenure and annual evaluations. 

More resources on activity reporting can be found on our KU Faculty Insight for Activity Reporting website.   

Luciano Tosta

Dr. Luciano Tosta, was recently awarded the Woodyard International Educator Award, a recognition that reflects years of dedication to global education and expanding KU's global reach.

Congratulations! 

Dates to be aware of and share with students

All dates above apply to full-semester courses. Some deadlines may exclude certain schools and colleges. See the entire Fall 2026 and Spring 2027 calendars on the Registrar’s website.   

The Office of Emergency Management encourages participation in the National ShakeOut Earthquake Drill on Thursday, October 15, at 10:40 a.m.  The ShakeOut Drill focuses on earthquake preparedness, safety procedures, and the activation of campus emergency alert protocols.

At 10:40 a.m., for the Lawrence Campus, the Emergency Public Address System and Rave Alert notification system will be activated with simulated emergency messages that clearly indicate a drill is in progress. At 11:30 a.m., for the Edwards Campus, an Alert from the Rave Alert notification system will be sent to that campus.

Participation is strongly encouraged but is not mandatory. A follow-up “All Clear” alert will be sent five minutes after each scheduled time, concluding the drill.

How to Participate

Thank you in advance for supporting campus preparedness and helping build a safer KU community.

KU Bookstore is committed to helping make course materials, gifts and apparel, and school essentials more affordable and accessible for the Jayhawk Community. View the fiscal year 2026 annual review to learn more.

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The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability, status as a veteran, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, gender identity, gender expression, and genetic information in the university’s programs and activities. Retaliation is also prohibited by university policy. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies and procedures and is the Title IX Coordinator for all KU and KUMC campuses: Associate Vice Chancellor for the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX, civilrights@ku.edu, Room 1082, Dole Human Development Center, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045, 785-864-6414, 711 TTY. Reports can be submitted by contacting the Title IX Coordinator as provided herein or online and complaints can be submitted with the Title IX Coordinator or online.

© The University of Kansas. 2026.