Agenda and Meeting Notes

Council of Academic Leaders – April 10, 2026

  • Enrollment Management and Course Scheduling
  • One KU and Strategy Office
  • AIRE
  • IT Updates and Timing Over Breaks
  • Faculty Union Contract Updates

Meeting Notes

Enrollment Management and Course Scheduling

Nick Stevens, Vice Provost of Enrollment Management, Casey Wallace, University Registrar, and Stephen Hallmark, Assistant University Registrar, visited the Council for Academic Leaders to answer questions and get feedback on recent changes with course scheduling. The enrollment management team shared that since meeting times are now standardized, room utilization has increased by 8% and classes are fitting better within the right sizes of classrooms. Graduate level courses were discussed, related to evening schedules and planning on the hour compared to half-hour. Preferred start times were discussed and ways in which those start times could work best (i.e. pair a Tues/Thurs class with a Mon/Fri class at the same time, in the same space).

Rather than obtaining students’ permission for a class to change modalities, dates or times, the Registrar’s Office plans to move toward cancelling the class section that has changed and allowing the student to enroll in the updated course offering or best alternative for them.

The Office of Space Management will be convening a classroom committee to get additional input and feedback and further discuss 3-hour blocks of classes and utilizing the same spaces for Friday discussions. The Council mentioned that there is always a need for more active learning classrooms when thinking of space. OUR invites any unit to reach out so we can discuss concerns and create solutions to challenges.

One KU and Strategy Office

Corinne Bannon, chief strategy and data officer and vice chancellor presented information on progress of the One KU framework and the merge of offices at the KU Lawrence and Med Center campuses into a One KU Strategy Office. The Strategy Office sets strategy to meet outcomes and continuously reviews to make sure intended outcomes are being achieved. Goals for One KU and updates to One KU initiatives can be found at https://oneku.ku.edu/. 

A One KU Integrations working group has been established to work through and document the technical challenges of aligning KU and KUMC and as issues are resolved, updates will be communicated broadly.

Bannon and Emily Shipley, associate vice chancellor for data analytics and effectiveness, gave an overview of the Analytics, Institutional Research and Effectiveness office’s structure and service areas, which includes a newly formed Advanced Analytics team which can provide more predictive modeling to units and university leadership.

During the discussion, council members requested a better more comprehensive way of tracking their majors and their progress, Faculty Insight becoming a tool for annual evaluations, and future discussions on Academic Analytics and how data is compared among peer institutions.

IT Updates and Timing Over Breaks

It was requested that IT consider timing of large IT updates and to not plan for them right before a return from a break, to ensure classes can continue as soon as the break is over.

Faculty Union Contract Updates

Amy Mendenhall, vice provost for faculty affairs, shared that the KU administration and UAKU are finalizing a final version of the contract for review by KBOR and are hopeful that KBOR will review the contract in April. If KBOR can approve the contract soon, pay changes outlined in the contract can take place by the end of the month. Mendenhall thanked everyone involved in pay allocation update processes that are already taking place in anticipation of a finalized contract.