Collaboration and Partnerships through TEK

Dear Colleagues,

Recently, I was honored to speak with participants in a question-and-answer session hosted by the Transdisciplinary Educational approaches to advance Kentucky (TEK) team. This event connected our team and participants in the Faculty Fellows program with the community partners and experts we collaborate with to provide our students with the knowledge and skills required in Kentucky’s modern workforce.

The collaboration required in an initiative such as TEK is reflective of the teamwork we aim to see in our efforts across this campus — to effectively drive progress and continue our momentum in advancing our Commonwealth, we must work together.

The Faculty Fellows program leverages the combined knowledge of faculty and our TEK experts to prepare students with the transdisciplinary skills they will need beyond UK. The program helps to prepare faculty in both developing new courses focused on transdisciplinary skills or refreshing existing courses with transdisciplinary skills. The Faculty Fellows work as cohorts to help foster collaboration and innovation, and they are supported by the TEK team throughout the program.  

Together, our experiences, knowledge and resources provide our students with the education and understanding to succeed in their chosen fields. Combining our efforts allows us to transform the lives of our students and those we serve across our state. 

Much like the TEK community partners are able to equip our students with firsthand knowledge about Kentucky’s challenges, you are able to furnish our students with the tools and confidence they will use to address our communities’ future challenges. 

From you, our students learn how to communicate effectively and collaboratively. They learn how to work together as a cooperative unit, combining their individual skills to create solutions. They gain an appreciation for considering different perspectives when working jointly to solve complex problems.

TEK is a symbol of the importance of collaboration and how it drives our work — it demonstrates how our collaborative efforts and combined work inspires ingenuity and innovation. Through these partnerships and joint efforts, we advance our mission at UK to prepare the future leaders of Kentucky.  

Thank you for your continued efforts to serve our students. 

Robert S. DiPaola, M.D. 
Provost