Dear Colleague,



I am writing to share news of leadership changes. Mike Rounds, our Vice Provost for Human Resources, Public Safety, Facilities and Operations, has let me know he is retiring from his multi-faceted role at KU.

Mike has been an important leader for KU Lawrence and Edwards for nearly 10 years, and I deeply appreciate his dedication, vision and support of our people and places, particularly during COVID-19 as we made our way through remote work and operations. Mike has been adamant that we not hold a public reception to mark his departure, so I respectfully encourage you to send messages of thanks and well wishes to him directly. I know he is passionate about Warriors’ Ascent to help veterans and first-responders, and I will donate in his honor. Should you also be so inclined, I know the gesture would be appreciated.

Next Steps

With Mike’s retirement, we will be separating our Operations function and our Human Resource Management function into two separate organizations. I have asked Angie Loving to serve as Interim Vice Provost for Human Resources and Callie Long to serve as Interim Vice Provost for Operations. Mike has agreed to continue at KU through March to ensure support for interim leadership and successful transfer of key initiatives.

During this transition, we will continue to make progress on our KU People First initiative, as we reimagine our HR operations in support of our goal to be a best-in-class employer. Dozens of people from our Lawrence and Edwards campuses, as well as KU Medical Center, are helping to shape this transformation effort, and this process will help guide decisions on the nature of future leadership in human resources. We will also use this transition as an opportunity to make some changes in how we plan and monitor space utilization, so you will soon hear about the formation of new committees to provide greater campus involvement and participation in facilities and operations.  

Please join me in thanking Angie and Callie for their willingness to serve KU in these leadership roles during this important time. Both are well-respected leaders who have long-served KU. They have significant experience and expertise in their respective fields and have well-established and strong relationships across campus. Their leadership will be invaluable in these mission-critical service areas.

In the coming weeks, I will provide more information as we move forward with transition and transformation in these areas.

Thank you for all you do for KU.

Respectfully,

Barb

Barbara A. Bichelmeyer

Provost & Executive Vice Chancellor