New TEK Director Named

Campus Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce that Dr. Jennifer Osterhage is serving as our new director of the Office of Transdisciplinary Educational approaches to advance Kentucky and began on Nov. 1, 2024. As part of the university’s Quality Enhancement Plan, the director of the program plays a critical role in continuing to revolutionize education and learning at UK. 

Dr. Osterhage is an associate professor in the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Biology as well as the director of the S-STEM Program, an initiative funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to provide scholarships and support to low-income biology and neuroscience students at UK. 

She also has served as the director of undergraduate studies (DUS) in the Department of Biology. As DUS, Dr. Osterhage developed new courses to incorporate employability skills into student learning outcomes, and she led assessment efforts of the undergraduate curriculum, leading to a redesign of the student learning outcomes that has become a model for other units. 

I am confident in the leadership Dr. Osterhage has demonstrated and look forward to her role as director as we continue developing our students into Kentucky’s future leaders. This program is an important component of our efforts to transform education and how we prepare our students for success after graduation at UK — particularly using transdisciplinary approaches to combine multiple perspectives and areas of expertise. Dr. Osterhage brings extensive experience in learning and teaching across disciplines, and I am excited to see how it will continue to grow under her leadership.

I also want to extend a deep and sincere thank you to Dr. Susan Cantrell, who has served as the director since May 2023. Under her leadership, the program launched two cohorts of Faculty Fellows to support professional development and collaboration among faculty, as well as created various courses to develop essential skills in our students. Please join me in thanking Dr. Cantrell for her immense contributions and guidance.

I know you will also join me in congratulating Dr. Osterhage. I am deeply grateful for her dedication to and support of our mission to help our students and advance Kentucky.

Robert S. DiPaola, M.D. 
Provost