On March 2, Arash Mafi will begin serving as the next provost and chief academic officer of KU and executive vice chancellor for the Lawrence and Edwards campuses. Mafi has served as the David B. Pittaway Executive Dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences since 2023. Jennifer Roberts, currently the senior vice provost of academic affairs and graduate studies, will step into the role of executive dean of the College.    

In an announcement to campus last week, Chancellor Douglas A. Girod cited Mafi’s work in navigating budget challenges, increasing student success, expanding research and strengthening partnerships across campus to support One KU initiatives as among the reasons Mafi is well suited for the position. Girod also noted that Roberts’ experience as a faculty member and range of leadership roles would bring stability and continuity to the College.  

In October, Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer announced she would step down from her role after nearly six years at KU. During that time, Bichelmeyer helped guide KU out of structural budget deficits, strengthened KU’s financial foundation and achieved record-high enrollment. 

A new branding policy has been published to the KU Policy Library to help ensure the KU community presents a clear, cohesive story of the university to the world. This policy provides expectations and rules for correct and consistent use of the university brand positioning, branding platform and visual identity standards across the enterprise.  

The policy establishes an expectation that the highest-profile marketing and communications collateral go through a branding alignment review process before publication. Extensive information and tools to help units align with institutional branding, as well as information about which items should be submitted for review and how, are available on the Brand Center site. Please contact KU Marketing at marketing@ku.edu with questions.  

Consistent branding — telling the world who KU is and what it values through actions, messages and design across the university enterprise — builds equity that benefits every part of KU. 

Beginning March 2, single sign-on access will be required to see instructor names and class locations on the Schedule of Classes website. The course title and description will still be visible to the public. For additional information, users will need to log in using their KU online ID and password. 

This update addresses safety and privacy concerns stemming from instances of targeted harassment and unsolicited contact toward faculty and students. While providing more privacy, the change still allows for transparency and preserves full access to the KU community. 

Those with questions can email Casey Wallace, university registrar, at caseywallace@ku.edu.

The KU community mourns the death of Rob Young, a senior research engineer and director of the Instrumentation Design Lab in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Young died on Feb. 5.  

Young had been at KU since 2007 and was the director of the IDL since 2020. During that time, Young designed instruments to support a range of research projects, detecting everything from fruit fly sounds to mouse footprints to cosmic ray particles. He held over 10 U.S. patents, and his work took him all over the world, from the South Pole to Greenland. 

Young’s ashes will be laid in Pioneer Cemetery, and a memorial service will be planned at a later date. Young’s obituary can be read online. 

Beginning today, KU staff members will have the opportunity to share their experiences through the Great Colleges to Work For survey, part of the newly expanded University Constituent Survey process.  

Staff at all KU campuses will receive a secure email invitation today from ModernThink to participate. Refer to the FAQs on the webpage to understand who is invited to participate in the survey.  

The survey, which closes March 9, is confidential and takes about 20 minutes to complete. Staff feedback plays a key role in shaping an environment where every KU employee feels valued and respected. 

A recording of Thursday’s town hall is available to view behind KU single sign-on. During the town hall, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Barbara Bichelmeyer shared information about the upcoming leadership transition for the next provost and the executive dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.  

Associate Vice Chancellor of Federal Relations Kyle Christian shared updates on the federal budget and changes to the McNair Scholars Program. Senior Vice Chancellor and Chief Research Officer Matthias Salathe discussed the recently announced public-private partnership to bring theranostics research and treatment to Kansas City. Corinne Bannon, chief strategy and data officer and vice chancellor, explained the constituent survey process and its benefits to the KU community.  

At the end of the town hall, Bichelmeyer shared information on what to do if an unexpected person visits a classroom, workspace or residence hall. For additional resources, the Office of the General Counsel provided guidance on law enforcement activity at university campuses in its latest newsletter. 

Geared toward faculty planning to apply for or currently working with grants from U.S. federal research funding agencies, the next “How to at KU” event will share information about important changes to public access requirements for publications and project data.  

The event, “Faculty How To at KU: Emerging Changes for Public Access Research and Navigating Requirements,” will be held virtually at 3:30 p.m. March 9. Registration is required. 

From requiring immediate public access to eliminating a previously allowed embargo period, numerous changes will impact researchers, institutions and publishers. Experts from KU Libraries and KU Office of Research will provide a current overview, share resources and answer faculty questions. 

KU employees considering retirement in the next few years or wanting to understand more about their retirement plan are encouraged to attend a seminar series from March 10-12 in the Big 12 Room at the Kansas Union.  

The seminars are designed to help faculty and staff plan for financial security and an enjoyable retirement. Topics include wills, trusts and estate planning; long-term care; Social Security benefits and health insurance after retirement. KPERS and TIAA representatives will also hold retirement planning information sessions.   

Reservations are not required. These seminars are free of charge and open to all faculty, staff and their families. These seminars are not intended to provide individual investment advice. 

The University Research Awards will be held at 6:30 p.m. April 14 at the Jayhawk Welcome Center. The annual event celebrates outstanding researchers across the Lawrence and Medical Center campuses. A complete list of award winners will be announced soon.    

The event is open to the entire KU community. Please RSVP. 

The next deadline for Employee of the Month nominations is March 2. The award is a great way to recognize exceptional university staff members and show appreciation for their contributions.

To nominate an employee, visit the Employee of the Month webpage and complete the online nomination form.  

Your KU email account is the official channel for important university communications.

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.

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