Greetings faculty colleagues,
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Campus is humming, and it is always exciting to see students and colleagues fill campus once again. Over the past few weeks, I have met with numerous faculty and faculty leaders who are excited for the semester to begin. At the same time, many have shared that this past summer felt busier than usual, making it more difficult to start this academic year with the usual level of energy and excitement. I deeply appreciate the time, effort, and dedication faculty and academic leaders invested in learning about the new faculty collective bargaining agreement, reviewing and revising unit policies, and developing plans to align unit practices with both the agreement and updated Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR) policies. It was an exceptionally busy summer.
Through training, workshops, and policy alignment resources, we hope we have helped you set your policy alignment work in motion. We continue to expand the resources available in our policy alignment page. Most recently, we added a workload guidance document, checklist, and policy template, along with a faculty and academic staff classification and job titles page, in recognition that many units do not currently have a formal workload policy in place. We hope these tools will be helpful as you revise existing policies and develop new ones. Please see additional resources in the Academic Labor Relations & Collective Bargaining section of this newsletter where you will find information on our upcoming workshops (including two focused on workload) as well as new office hours designed to help address policy alignment questions.
I also recently shared details on faculty activity reporting, as part of KBOR’s updated policy on workload. While we are fortunate to have a system in place to collect and manage faculty activity, we recognize the additional time and effort this process requires. Our goal is to help make reporting your achievements as smooth as possible while also highlighting the benefits of keeping your accomplishments in one place. More information in support of this requirement is below in the Faculty Activity Reporting Requirements section.
As we look ahead, I know there is much to accomplish in this academic year, beyond the important work of teaching, research, and service. I am grateful for the time, care, and thoughtfulness faculty and faculty leaders continue to devote to policy alignment, reporting, and other institutional priorities. By working collaboratively, we can develop policies that better represent and support our faculty, improve our systems and processes, and make reporting more efficient. Please let us know how we can partner with you and support your unit’s success in the year ahead.
With gratitude,
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| Amy Mendenhall
Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs
Professor, Social Welfare
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Academic labor relations & collective bargaining updates |
Updated resources for policy alignment
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The Office of Faculty Affairs has recently updated policy guidance documents and templates to reflect feedback received in collective bargaining agreement and policy alignment workshops. We appreciate your suggestions and hope these documents are helpful as you work on aligning your policies to the collective bargaining agreement.
On our policy alignment resources page, we have added a submission portal for Annual Evaluation policy revisions. We will make additional submission links, guidance documents, and templates available soon.
This fall, stop by 145 Strong Hall if you have any questions regarding policy alignment during our Policy Alignment office hours, hosted by Associate Vice Provost Meagan Patterson and Provost Fellow Allison Kirkpatrick. Office hours take place on:
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Mondays from 1:30-3:30 p.m.
- Tuesdays from 2-4 p.m.
- (beginning Sept. 25) Fridays from 10 a.m.-noon
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Faculty activity reporting requirements |
Last week, we shared updates to the Kansas Board of Regents workload policy and what this means for you. 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 achievement activity for the 2025 and 2026 calendar years. For this first reporting year, the deadline to enter activity is Monday, March 1 at 5 pm.
Please help us accurately share KU’s faculty impact by checking and reporting your faculty achievements in KU Faculty Insight.
Questions on where to start? Please take advantage of an upcoming workshop or request that we join your unit in learning more about reporting in KU Faculty Insight:
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Updates to the Syllabus Policy and Simple Syllabus
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Over the summer, revisions were added to the all-University Syllabus Policy that:
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Require a statement in all syllabi concerning expectations for the use of artificial intelligence in courses;
- Require a statement in syllabi for all KUL Core 34 courses indicating course work may be used in university assessment activities;
- Recommend all syllabi list honor code and/or academic misconduct info; and
- Recommend all distance education courses include in syllabi a statement of how the course meets Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI).
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As a reminder, Faculty should upload all fall 2026 course syllabi to Simple Syllabus by Sept. 8 to comply with the Syllabus Policy.
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New this fall: The Center for Undergraduate Research & Fellowships would like to track all research-focused undergraduate courses through Simple Syllabus. Recognizing research courses helps support accreditation data and provides ongoing services for research-focused undergraduate efforts. If you are teaching a research-focused course, please toggle on the “Undergraduate Research-Focused Course” component on Simple Syllabus to include the text below:
"This research-focused undergraduate course develops an understanding of research methodology applicable to the field; develops critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving, and intellectual independence; utilizes scaffolded assignments to familiarize students with the iterative process of the research/creative cycle; and culminates in the students’ presentation of research or creative artifact to further contribute to knowledge in the field."
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Faculty Writing Circle - Fall 2026
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The Office of Faculty Affairs invites you to join together with your colleagues for our fall 2026 Faculty Writing Circle. Whether you want to make progress on a longstanding writing project, conceptualize and plan out a new idea, design materials for a course, or finish a manuscript, our Faculty Writing Circle can help you commit time this fall. Bring any writing project, a laptop, and a charger – we’ll provide the snacks!
Tuesdays, October 6 | November 3
3:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Watson Library, 4th Floor, Graduate Student Study Space
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Faculty Learning Circle - Academic Productivity: Balancing Time to Get Things Done
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Over several sessions throughout the semester, we will explore a productivity framework that supports behaviors that allow us to engage more effectively with our tasks and commitments, create more mental space, and focus on what matters most. Join Dr. Marilu Goodyear, Associate Professor in the School of Public Affairs and Administration and Coach for David Allen's: Getting Things Done, who will facilitate each of the FLC sessions and provide optional coaching sessions that will support you in applying the framework and concepts.
Mondays, September 14 | October 12 | November 2
3:00 - 4:30 p.m.
Strong Hall, 36 Conference Room
Online Coaching Dates (optional)
Mondays, October 5 | October 26 | November 9
3:00 - 4:30 p.m.
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Monthly on Mondays, beginning September 14: Join CTE's Online Teaching Working Group to connect with instructors teaching online and exchange practical strategies for creating engaging, inclusive, and effective learning experiences.
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Calls you don't want to miss |
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Monday, September 14: KU faculty are invited to apply to participate in the “Character Development at the University of Kansas: The IRISE Virtues Initiative.” The goal of this grant-funded project is to increase faculty support for teaching IRISE virtues and thereby contribute to the character development of KU students. Learn more and apply on the Character Development at the University of Kansas site.
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Friday, October 2: The First-Year Seminar program is now accepting course proposals for Fall 2027. First-Year Seminar instructors introduce KU’s newest students to their discipline through innovative, relationship-based teaching practices. By teaching a First-Year Seminar, you’ll teach the topics you’re excited about and engage in a learning community with fellow instructors. To be eligible for the program, courses must satisfy the KU Core 34 US Culture or Global Culture goal. Questions? Register for an information session or contact fys@ku.edu.
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| Monday, October 12: KU International Affairs has opened nominations for two competitive awards that recognize faculty who engage in internationalization across campus:
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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.
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Academic Analytics to visit KU
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Academic Analytics will be visiting the Lawrence campus on October 7-9 to provide training and updates on their suite of tools, which includes KU Faculty Insight, Experts at KU, and Benchmarking. Faculty are invited to attend sessions that may pertain to them.
All faculty are welcome and encouraged to attend an Activity Entry and Reporting in Faculty Insight session. In this session, learn how to enter your faculty activity into KU Faculty Insight. Also learn time-saving tips and how to create reports for your career advancement.
Join us for Activity Entry and Reporting in Faculty Insight on October 7 from 2:30-3:30 p.m. or October 8 from 9-10 a.m.
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Faculty and administrators can now use Smart Import to quickly create activity records from existing content. Simply paste information from a CV, citation list, report, webpage, or other text source, and Smart Import will automatically generate structured activity records for review before import. This new AI-powered workflow reduces manual data entry, improves efficiency, and helps maintain consistent activity data across the institution.
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Dr. Subramaniam, Dan F. Servey Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering, was recently elected as a Fellow of the American Chemical Society, one of the highest honors in the chemical sciences. The recognition celebrates not only his research in sustainable chemistry and engineering but also his volunteer service advancing green chemistry and engineering.
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Dates to be aware of and share with students
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Monday, September 14: First period drop ends/last day to withdraw/drop without a “W”/last day to request a petition to late enroll form
- Monday, September 21: Census Day (20th day of classes)/last day to add or swap a class, last day to petition for late enrollment, last day for 50% refund
- Tuesday, September 22: Credit/No Credit period begins/0% refund begins
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Thursday, September 24: Spring 2027 advising begins/schedule of classes published to the web
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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.
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The Finance Shared Service Center will host monthly office hours throughout the fall semester. These drop-in, virtual sessions are available to KU faculty, staff and students.
The office hours provide a chance to ask questions about purchasing, requesting travel or non-travel reimbursements, submitting P-Card receipts, and navigating and submitting tickets on the Finance Service Portal.
Upcoming Office Hours: Sept. 17 at 3 p.m. | Oct. 20 at 3 p.m. | Nov. 17 at 9 a.m. | Dec. 16 at 3 p.m.
More information about office hours and how to join them is available on the SSC website.
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The university has announced the 12 faculty members selected for the 2026-27 Spotlight on Faculty Excellence program, which recognizes outstanding achievements in research, scholarship and creative activity across KU’s Lawrence, Edwards, and Medical Center campuses. Honorees are recognized at KU Athletics events. Read more about this year's honorees.
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To better align processes and advance One KU initiatives, the annual Conflict of Interest (COI) disclosure cycle for faculty and staff on the Lawrence and Edwards campuses will move from September to February beginning this academic year.
This change supports the integration of the myDisclosure system, used for Lawrence and Edwards campuses, with the Medical Center's myResearch suite, helping create a more consistent and streamlined disclosure process across all campuses.
Additional information and instructions will be provided prior to the launch. The Office of Audit, Risk and Compliance appreciates the cooperation of faculty and staff as it works to enhance and align KU’s compliance systems and processes. Individuals who have questions should contact coi@ku.edu.
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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.
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