To meet their education needs, the University of Louisville ��recently worked with Beam Suntory to develop “Leading with Spirit,” a professional development program customized to the needs of the company and its employees. The program is built on UofL’s existing distilled spirits business certificate, with content added in project management and leading change. ��Beam Suntory employees will benefit from courses led by industry experts, and a compressed 16-week, non-credit curriculum, which can be completed regardless of previous educational background.

“Our employees are deeply knowledgeable in their specific areas of the business and want to apply their background to the nuances of the spirits industry,” said Nicki Clifton, senior HR director, Supply Chain at Beam Suntory. “We are proud to provide a learning opportunity to them through the UofL College of Business and are appreciative of this partnership which supports our employees and their development goals.”

A pilot cohort for Leading with Spirit was launched in October with 10 Beam Suntory employees. The new certificate program will add industry-specific leadership and strategic management education to the employees’ resumes in just a few months, a much faster and more cost-effective solution than traditional degree programs.

The UofL College of Business has expertise in developing customized, industry-specific programs such as the new certificate for Beam Suntory to meet the needs of Louisville industries.

“With the development of the graduate certificate programs in niche industries in Louisville such as distilled spirits, we can fine-tune the programs to fit the specific needs of the audience and company,” said Jeff Guan, interim dean of the UofL College of Business. “Creating a non-graduate-degree version of a program allows flexibility to meet the need where the need exists. In this case, it’s created a great partnership with Bean Suntory.”

The original is an online certificate offered to graduate students that provides credits toward completion of an MBA. Developed to meet the needs of Kentucky’s important distilled spirits industry, the certificate covers regulations, sales and distribution, operations and supply chain management, sustainability and brand marketing. It is believed to be the only distilled spirits business certificate in the U.S.

Virginia Denny, assistant dean for executive education in UofL’s College of Business, said programs like ��Leading with Spirit are becoming more important for both professionals and corporations.

“We are no longer in a world where we can think about education ending with a bachelor’s, master’s or even a PhD degree. We are living in a world of 60 years of curriculum. Technology is transforming so rapidly, we have to be there for students and companies in a different way,” Denny said. “That’s where the non-credit, executive education programs come into play. That is our future – the ability to play in the space between credit and non-credit and responding to the needs of corporate clients.”

Beam Suntory is a global premium spirits company headquartered in New York. They produce Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark bourbons in Kentucky, Hibiki Japanese whisky in Japan and more than 70 other spirits brands around the world. Its 5,700 employees are in more than 90 locations on five continents.

Through the program, University of Louisville users with registered university email addresses now have free access to Creative Cloud programs such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Adobe XD and Spark.

Creative Cloud connects Adobe users with their assets through Creative Cloud Libraries, enabling them to work effortlessly across desktop and mobile devices for connected creative workflows.

The Adobe Creative Campus program enables University of Louisville students to become fully trained on one of the most-used creative platforms in the world while they are still in college. Adobe reports that more than 90% of creative professionals worldwide use Photoshop, and Creative Cloud mobile apps have been downloaded 379 million times.

“Adobe Creative Cloud greatly enhances our students’ digital training and education at no extra cost,” said Katherine Stevenson, executive director of enterprise technology services at UofL. “As an Adobe Creative Campus, we’re driving the future of digital literacy within the global higher education community. We recognize the value of teaching creative and persuasive digital communication skills to help our students succeed in the classroom and improve their attractiveness to employers when they graduate.”

“As technology continues to play a central role in everything we do – from our lives to our jobs – it’s imperative that students become digitally literate and fluent early on in their academic careers,” said Karen Steele, Head of North America ������Ƶ Enterprise Sales, Adobe. “With frequent exposure and access to tools, such as Adobe Creative Cloud, students at the University of Louisville can build the critical digital and soft skills they will ultimately need to be successful in an ever-changing workforce.”

The Adobe Creative Campus program also allows users at University of Louisville to collaborate with other Adobe Creative Campuses to share ideas that expand digital literacy and help ensure student��success. “We look forward to all the creative ways our students, faculty and staff will work with their peers throughout the world in developing innovations that broaden the scope of learning,” Stevenson said.

Creative Cloud is now available to University of Louisville users. To get started, see the and a with directions on how to access the system. Additional assistance for the program can be found through the university’s and Adobe’s other digital support sites: , and .

One such student is Katie Davidson, who recently completed her second year at the Brandeis School of Law. The Louisville native is spending the summer interning with the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.

Second to the Supreme Court, the Sixth Circuit is the highest federal court for Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.

“When a case is being appealed from the federal district courts in these states, the Sixth Circuit has appellate jurisdiction. Margaret Lawrence and I, both rising third-year law students, are two of the four interns,” Davidson said. “We were told that UofL students had never worked in the Motions Unit before, which is interesting because this year there are two of us.”

Davidson said it was a shock when the pandemic spread in the U.S. and UofL classes moved online.

“Law school online was a challenge. I miss seeing my professors, friends and classmates in person. I miss the entire Brandeis community,” she said. “You would think that months into this, it would be easier, but some days are just as hard as the first.”��

Davidson’s internship initially shifted to remote work since the closing of the Sixth Circuit courthouse in late April. That resulted in at least some changes in court operations.��

“It [wasn’t] so much that the types of cases being heard are different, but the volume of litigants seeking release increased and has been complicated, especially for litigants sending materials from facilities that aren’t processing mail in a timely manner,” she said. Oral arguments were also held remotely in the early phases of the pandemic, following the lead of the Supreme Court.

Davidson’s internship has since moved to a hybrid model. She spends every other week working at the Cincinnati courthouse. The weeks she is not in Cincinnati, she works from home.��

Davidson, who earned her BA in philosophy and history at Centre College, admits to being a bit nervous about jobs that will be available when she graduates, given a post-pandemic economy. She is already in the process of applying for post-graduate clerkships with both federal and state courts for summer/fall of 2021. She hopes to eventually work in courtroom advocacy.

“I’m interested in many areas of the law, and I’ve been lucky enough to have worked in a number of areas of the law as an undergraduate student and now as a law student,” she said. “I know that, whatever field I end up in, public service needs to be part of my career…I want to work hard this summer so that I can work toward becoming the advocate this community needs and deserves.”

As Davidson completes her virtual internship with the federal court amid a global health crisis, she has realized something that extends far beyond knowledge of the law and her planned profession.

“The most important thing I’ve learned, or maybe re-learned, is to be kind to myself. This is an extraordinary time we’re living in, and the first step to having compassion for others is to have compassion for oneself,” she said. “It’s simple, but I am empowered by the idea that I can give more to others by first taking care of myself. In the context of a pandemic, this has manifested in awareness of the suffering around me while also tending to the stress and anxiety that accompanies these uncertain times.”�� ��

Davidson is grateful to the UofL School of Law for its support during the pandemic.

“The entire Brandeis community has just been exceptional throughout this entire ordeal. The administration has catered to so many concerns, and their hard work behind the curtain has allowed us students to carry on in spite of extraordinary circumstances,” she said.

In fact, Davidson attended UofL for law school because of that general sense of community and “extremely supportive alumni.”

“I fell in love with the school after my first visit and I knew it would provide me all the tools I need to have a happy, rewarding legal career,” she said. Davidson expects to graduate in May 2021.��

Story written by Stuart Esrock, associate professor in the Department of Communications. Contributions from Alicia Kelso, OCM.��

NACAC brings together secondary and post-secondary college admission counseling professors to exchange ideas, hear from experts and learn more about the products and services that will enable them to accomplish their goals. Worldwide, there are more than 15,000 NACAC members.

The conference schedule is full, with exhibits; sessions, seminars and forums; committee meetings; a tech lab; idea exchange meetings; a career hub; a town hall and more.��

“The NACAC National Conference is a vital time for college admissions professionals and school counselors from across the country and around the world to gather together to continue to develop,” said Ryan Barbauld, senior associate director of Admissions.

Barbauld adds that he is excited to leverage the professional development opportunity to bring back new ideas to UofL.��

“I always feel energized and walk away learning new strategies that we can implement at our institution. One of the best things about the conference each year that I look forward to is the opportunity to network with other colleagues who have the same passion and drive as myself in helping students achieve their dreams of going to college,” Barbauld said.

Although the conference takes place at the Kentucky International Convention Center, the University of Louisville will have some opportunities to take over the spotlight as well. Attendees will begin trickling into town on Sunday and will have the chance to tour UofL’s Belknap Campus from Sunday through Wednesday. Drop-in, self-guided tours are available, .

UofL will also host a reception at the SAC on Sept. 25 from 7-9 p.m. for attendees, with transportation provided to/from the convention center. Additionally, an event will be held Sept. 27 at the Speed Art Museum on campus.

The ability to showcase our city and campus to such a large group of college lead generators is not lost on Jenny Sawyer, UofL’s executive director of Admissions.

“Having NACAC in our backyard gives us an opportunity to give high school counselors a taste of what an amazing city Louisville is, particularly to feel our warmth and hospitality and encourage students to consider Louisville for their college home,” she said. “We are making it very easy for them to stop in and see why we are the most beautiful campus in Kentucky and a great place to learn.”

Kentucky’s eight public universities have collaborated as a silver sponsor of the event. Follow the conference on Twitter through the admissions handle, @UofLadm, or the event handle, @NACACConference.

UofL’s constituency includes Lars Smith, associate dean��and Samuel J. Stallings Professor of Law at the University of Louisville School of Law,��,��acting vice provost for Graduate Affairs and Acting Dean, School of��Interdisciplinary and Graduate Studies,��, vice provost for Faculty Affairs,��, chair, Political Science,��, assistant dean of Program Innovation and Strategic Initiatives at the College of Business, and��, assistant dean for Student Programs at the School of Music and Faculty Senate Chair.

The group joined other ACC leaders at Georgia Tech February 7-9. There, participants heard several presentations on topics such as courageous conversations and best practices in student mental health counseling.

Smith says he was interested in applying for the network because of his interest in academic leadership and interdisciplinary collaboration.

The department didn’t have to look far to find someone to lead the effort.

Brian Buford, assistant provost for diversity and executive director of UofL’s LGBT Center, has been selected to serve as director of employee development and success. He will take the reins of the new program beginning Dec. 3.��

“This is a remarkable opportunity for me to support Dr. Bendapudi’s vision for UofL as a great place to learn, a great place to work, and a great place to invest,” Buford said. “I’ve been focusing these last several years on the ‘great place to learn’ part of that vision, and now I can turn my attention to the ‘great place to work’ part.”

This won’t be Buford’s first foray into HR issues. A 30-year employee, he previously served as manager of organizational effectiveness.

Buford and John Elliott, interim associate vice president for human resources, already have begun planning for the new initiative. Focus areas will include:

• Leadership development and preparing managers to be great leaders
• Onboarding for new employees, both during their first day at UofL and ongoing to help ensure their successful integration at the department level as well
• Cultural competency skills that employees need to help foster and create a climate of belonging and inclusion
• Staff fellows, mentoring and succession planning strategies
• Fostering a climate that makes UofL a great place to work

“Leadership development, staff fellowships and development, and onboarding are key areas for us,” Elliott said. “We will work together with the campus community to ensure these are well-structured programs that address the needs and concerns raised across our campuses, and that will align very closely to Dr. Bendapudi’s vision. With Brian’s experience, credibility and leadership, I am confident the quality will be high and the results will be impressive.”��

Elliott said HR plans to build programs, curricula and infrastructure during the current fiscal year and expects to start deploying programs as soon as possible.��

“The University is committed to developing its people through these various strategies, and we will be working very hard to launch as soon as administratively possible,” he said.������ ������

Buford has led the LGBT Center since its creation in 2007, turning a one-person operation into a program that is consistently ranked among the nation’s best. Under his watch, UofL has earned a five-star rating on the Campus Pride Index, a key national ranking of inclusiveness; launched an LGBT-themed housing community, the first of its kind in the South; opened a satellite office at the Health Sciences Center; partnered with community leaders on strategic fundraising initiatives; and worked with UofL’s School of Medicine to develop a national model for improving care of LGBT patients.

Those efforts and others have led to numerous local and national honors including a UofL Outstanding Service Award and a seat on the American Red Cross National Diversity Advisory Council.

Mordean Taylor-Archer, vice provost for diversity and international affairs, stressed that Buford’s change of position will not diminish UofL’s commitment to the LGBT community.

“Much to the contrary, Brian has done such an extraordinary job in leading the way for UofL to become a five-star campus it benefits all of us for him to broaden the scope of his work,” she said.

Buford agreed.

“We have outstanding leadership in place, and this transition will enable the center to fill some additional roles that will take its efforts even farther,” he said. “I think I’m most proud of the fact that LGBT inclusion is now firmly part of the university’s fabric and that the center has incredible support across campus. Being inclusive and welcoming is who we are.”

Soon, though, his primary focus will shift to improving campus engagement and professional development across the university.

“I just can’t wait to get started,” he said.

“Leadership is more important than ever as the university prepares to deal with changes in our health care world. Our leaders need to have the resilience and creativity and the ability to be innovative and problem solve as challenges keep coming,” said Gerard Rabalais, MD, M.H.A., associate dean of faculty development, who created the program along with Staci Saner, MEd, program manager for faculty development.

“We need to deepen our bench here at the university,” said Tracy Eells, PhD, MBA, vice provost for faculty affairs, at the program’s final event on July 17. “We need to have a deep set of leaders that we can turn to because there are a lot of leadership positions at the university.”

The participants attended monthly meetings organized to introduce innovation and design thinking through understanding how to lead oneself, how to lead others and how to lead the organization.

Jeremy Clark, MD, assistant professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, most values the connections he made with other participants.

“The single most impactful aspect of LIAM is the��relationships I��built��with each of my peers and with our physician leaders in the School of Medicine. I now have 15 other young leaders that I can go to and ask for advice and counsel when I am struggling with leadership problems,” Clark said.

Hugh Shoff, MD, assistant professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine, expected the program to help him acquire tools for becoming a better leader and innovator in medicine. He was surprised by the value of the self-reflection aspect.

“We spent lot of time in the beginning learning to analyze yourself and make sure you as a person are in the right place to become a better leader. I didn’t expect to spend as much time on that, but I am glad we did,” Shoff said.

Eells said self-leadership is a critical aspect of the program’s three-stage approach.

“It has to start with yourself, with emotional intelligence, knowing how to keep your cool when you are in a tense situation since you are serving as a role model to many others around you when you are serving in a leadership capacity,” Eells said.

The self-reflection portion will be expanded for the second LIAM cohort, which will increase from 16 to 24 members.

At the program’s final meeting, teams of four participants presented projects to improve the school or health care in general and presented them to a panel of judges, leaders from the UofL School of Medicine, and members of the 2018-2019 cohort were announced.

2018-19 LIAM cohort

Pascale Alard, PhD�� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� ��Microbiology and Immunology
Thomas Altstadt, MD�� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� Neurosurgery
Laura Bishop, MD�� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� ��Medicine
Eric Burton, MD�� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� Neurology
Camilo Castillo, MD�� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� ��Neurosurgery
Priya Chandan, MD, MPH�� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� ��Neurosurgery
Brittany Chapman, MD�� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� Neurology
Lynzee Cornell, PhD�� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� Otolaryngology and Communicative Disorders
Russell Farmer, MD�� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� ��Surgery
Shahab Ghafghazi, MD�� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� ��Medicine
Josephine Gomes, MD�� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� Family and Geriatric Medicine
Sushil Gupta, MD�� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� ��Pediatrics
Ahmed Haddad, MD, PhD�� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� Urology
Jennifer Hamm, MD�� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health
David Haustein, MD�� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� Neurosurgery
Bridget Hittepole, MD�� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� ��Medicine
Deborah Kozik, MD�� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� ��Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery
Rana Latif, MD�� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� Anesthesiology
Jennifer Le, MD�� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� Pediatrics
Eli Pendleton, MD�� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� ��Family and Geriatric Medicine
Melissa Potts, MD�� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� ��Radiology
Vikas Singh, MD�� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� ��Medicine
Abigail Stocker, MD�� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� ��Medicine
Christina Terrell, MD�� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� ��Psychiatry

2017-2018 LIAM class projects

Increasing the Value of Academic Teaching��

Academic teaching is a core mission for UofL School of Medicine faculty that is difficult to quantify in terms of scholarly recognition. The definition and documentation of good teaching is lacking. Our project proposes a structured way of accounting for teaching in an easily accessible system, and ideas for a culture shift towards recognition of teaching excellence as a critical mission for the university. Team members:��Alexander Ovechkin, MD, PhD, Christine Brady, PhD, Elizabeth Cash, PhD, Kathrin LaFaver, MD.

A Better PICC Line

The project focuses on the creation of a PICC line that is tamper-evident for use in patients who have a history of IV drug use and require long-term antibiotic therapy for conditions such as bacterial endocarditis. The hope is that use of this PICC line will allow these patients to transition home for IV antibiotics in lieu of prolonged hospital stays to complete the antibiotics course. Team members:��Farid Kehdy, MD, Hugh Shoff, MD, Laura Workman, MD, Luz Fernandez, MD.

Mind the Gap: ��Using Generational Strengths to Create Faculty-Student Teaching Partnerships
Many University of Louisville Health Sciences Center faculty struggle to adapt their teaching to include new educational pedagogies due to lack of time, variable prioritization of teaching and difficulty using new technology. We propose the creation of student-faculty partnerships where the faculty – our content experts – can use the technical savvy and availability of students to modify and improve their teaching. We plan to pilot this initiative as part of the Medical Students as Teachers elective for fourth year medical students and measure change in course evaluations, student satisfaction and faculty well-being. Team members:��Leah Siskind, PhD, Sara Multerer, MD, Sara Petruska, MD, Tyler Sharpe, MD.

Financial Empowerment
Leaders in academic medicine are frequently ill prepared to make the financial decisions that are a necessary part of their jobs. There is currently a gap between finance officers��at senior levels and leaders at lower levels who lead clinical, research or education��teams. Our proposed innovation is to empower leaders across the University of Louisville School of Medicine to make financial decisions by providing local, focused financial training to leaders. Team members:��Carolyn Roberson, PhD, Adrienne Jordan, MD, Brian Holland, MD, Jeremy Clark, MD.

Vaughan’s supervisor worked with her to determine that project management training could help provide Vaughan with tools and knowledge necessary to put more structure in place in their organization.

When searching for project management programs, Vaughan sought a program that included practical application from a reputable organization.

“What attracted me to UofL is that I could come in and do an actual course, meet new people, and have practical application and experience … I’ve been through some other courses with UofL and I appreciated the content so I decided that this was the best place for me,” she said.

H. Ray Pait, Jr., a senior director for safety and security at Churchill Downs Racetrack, also decided to seek out additional project management training from UofL. One of the reasons he enrolled in the UofL’s project management program was to learn how to communicate better with construction vendors.

“The program helped me to be able to understand the formalized language I would hear when we’d bring vendors in,” Pait explained. “It made life easier for all of us to be able to talk on the same level. The program gave me a thorough understanding of the core values of what they did, from a project perspective.”

Since earning her certificate from UofL, Vaughan has begun to implement a new system at Insider Louisville that will streamline the way the organization approaches planning work.

“This program gave me the tools to be able to say, ‘This is the project that needs to take priority, this is the date we go live. Are we on schedule with our developers and our vendors?’ Implementing these project management processes has really helped the organization run more smoothly,” Vaughan said.

A universal application��

Project management isn’t limited to one position or field because anything that requires collaboration and coordination between different resources under the umbrella of a common goal can be considered a project. The principles used in project management can be used in virtually any business, according to Chuck Millhollan, author and lead instructor for the UofL’s project management certificate.

“The project management skillset is truly universal,” Millhollan said. “Anyone who leads a temporary endeavor undertaken to produce a unique product, service or result is functioning as a project manager. Project management can open up a whole world of professional opportunities for people; it’s a growing profession that’s used by every industry and almost every professional focus.”

Skilled project managers can be a vital asset to an organization. With the right training, they’re able to provide initiative-based leadership that can boost productivity, efficiency, financial performance, customer and employee satisfaction—and more.

A new world of opportunities��

After completing UofL’s program, Pait went on to earn his Project Management Professional Certification and was promoted to senior director of Churchill Downs’ Program Management Office.

“My professional life has changed immensely because of this program. After earning my certificate in 2006, I was promoted at Churchill Downs and began to teach project management for UofL.”

Project managers who become certified not only become more marketable, they may also see a financial benefit. According to the Project Management Institute, adding a PMP credential to your resume can result in a 20-percent higher salary than non-certified peers.

Vaughan hopes to work towards her PMP certification in the future. “With this program, I felt like I gained practical knowledge, things I can use, things that can help me get, my certification by taking the PMP test,” she said.

Building skills

Project management isn’t just a career path, it is a skill set. Although some program participants are project managers by title, others are in different positions and feel they could benefit from learning project management skills.

Professionals with strong technical skills may find themselves transitioning into a project leader role, which can be challenging as it often involves a very different skill set, according to Millhollan.

“If you look at a job description for any senior leader or practitioner, you’ll find some component of project management in that role,” Millhollan said. “A lot of folks responsible for leading projects find themselves project managers and never have any formal education or training in project management.”

Seeking training out can ensure that you — and the overall project — perform well.

“We’ve known for years what causes projects to fail,” Millhollan explained. “If you know that, doesn’t it make sense to train and learn to help you overcome those typical causes of project failures? Our curriculum is built to overcome those.”

“The program is laid out so that when you complete your certificate, you will have tools you can use on a daily basis,” shared Pait.

Making connections with practical application��

In addition to practical tools, students who participate in UofL’s project management program, which includes a Fundamentals of Project Management and Project Management: Practical Application seminar, gain beneficial industry connections through group work conducted during class.

“Our class has continued to talk; we text back and forth,” Vaughan said. “If I have a question, I know there are people I can reach out to. They’re learning at the same time I am but have different experiences, so we’re able to help each other.”

��

The Practical Application seminar focuses heavily on real-world project management problems. Participants are put into groups and are tasked with solving problems and implementing real projects. Perhaps the most valuable benefit of the program is that it enables participants to learn from one another’s experiences and to test out solutions.

“To be taught something, try it out, and the next week to come in and say ‘that worked’ or ‘that didn’t work’ and to have real time to discuss and learn about it instead of just getting a certification and figuring it out as you go, was really valuable,” Vaughan explained.

Some project management training programs may offer best practice tips, guides and digital tools to assist with planning — all of which are undoubtedly helpful.

The Project Management Certificate program and facilitated study offerings are two of UofL Professional Development’s most popular, according to Robbie Chitwood, director of professional development at UofL. The certificate program runs three times a year — 16-week sessions in spring and fall, and an eight-week summer intensive.

All courses, Chitwood says, are extremely collaborative, which provides program participants with hands-on experience that they’re able to immediately apply in the workplace.

“I receive a lot of feedback about our instructors and program in general, but most commonly it is about the projects [people] may be working on in the program that they’re able to further because of something they learned either from instructors or from the peer group that’s established in the program,” Chitwood says. “That shared learning experience is just as valuable to participants as what they’re taking away from instructors.”

��

“We are excited about the potential of this partnership,” said Dr.��, director of the McConnell Center.��“Economics is one of the areas in which teachers have asked us to provide professional development��opportunities for them. This partnership with will allow us to help Kentucky��teachers and��students better understand and discuss economic issues and principles.”��

This innovative program brings together Kentucky civics teachers with their peers from across the country to study topics such as “The American Experience,” “The Basics of Economics,” “Why Trade?” and “Understanding Taxation.”

A day-long tutorial held last month on the Belknap campus was led by Dr.��, director of academic programs at Strata, and Dr.��, associate professor of economics at Duquesne University. Harrigan said the chance to engage teachers and students alike through the McConnell Center was an opportunity too good to pass up.

“We are pleased to return to Kentucky this spring and to work with such an accomplished institution like the McConnell Center as we pilot new ways to reach teachers and students with economic education,” Harrigan said. ��

The at the University of Louisville helps family businesses in the region navigate the complexities of generational transition, strategy and growth. The center provides its 89 members with access to educational forums, advising services, and roundtables on a variety of topics.

Director Kathleen Hoye saw a need for a more intensive approach when it came to helping the next generation transition into leadership roles, so she partnered with to create a customized certificate program.

“It was a natural fit for us to partner with the Family Business Center,” UofL Professional Development Director Robbie Chitwood stated. “Being a part of one university, we are charged with serving the community. We help organizations solve challenges through learning and development. Our collaboration began with identification of the unique learning needs of family business leaders. From there, we customized our proven leadership development program to address the specific needs of working within family business. As a result, the Leading Within a Family Business certificate program created a peer network and equipped graduates with skills to lead effectively in family-owned organizations.”

Practical Tools for the Family Business��

Throughout the course of six months, the Leading Within a Family Business certificate program brought together 18 participants from a wide variety of industries. Two of these participants were Keith Burchette and his sister Andrea Kash, co-owners of HI-FLOAT. Started by their parents, HI-FLOAT produces an internationally distributed product that extends the floating life of latex balloons.

“Each class offered something unique that I can apply to both my career and my personal life,” Keith said, “I work with people all over the world, and at times communication and understanding of each other’s core values come into play. Navigating these moments is key to our success and this program offered that key.”

Topics covered in that program included “Understanding Self in the Context of Family,” “Leadership in the Family Business Workplace,” and “Business Acumen and Strategy.” UofL instructors led each session and gave participants practical tools they could put to work immediately.

The program was so successful that the teams are now planning future sessions.

Andrea stated that as a result of the program, she is more focused on understanding the people she works with at HI-FLOAT.��

“I can utilize the tools learned in the program to determine what motivates people, and what is getting in the way of progress,” she said …��“Hearing from other family businesses has helped us become more focused on our future and the proactive steps we can take to protect our family’s legacy.”