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My Gratitude for Our Meaningful Connections this Season

As we wind down the semester and enter a new holiday season, I want to express my deepest gratitude for all you have done and continue to do for our students, for our university and for each other.

Learning Together as One Community

Throughout the year, I have been honored and privileged to speak at events in your areas and colleges. These have ranged from ceremonies honoring your graduating students to orientations welcoming new faculty to the university. The highlight of all these events, though, is always the people — you.

New VP for Land-grant Engagement and Dean of the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment

We are very pleased to announce that Laura Stephenson has agreed to assume the critical leadership positions of vice president for land-grant engagement and dean of the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Martin-Gatton CAFE).

A Year of Gratitude

I am thankful that you continue to use your voices and your impact to help grow UK and its people. Our community of faculty, staff and students is central to our mission to advance Kentucky through teaching, research, service and care.

The Inaugural Faculty Senate

I want to thank all of our faculty for participating in the Faculty Senate elections in October — you are ensuring that your units, programs and colleges are given a voice at the university level with this important body of faculty representation.

Resources to Finish the Semester Successfully

What we achieve as an institution, our UK-PURPOSE, cannot be possible without your crucial efforts. And as we enter the latter half of the semester, I want to highlight the resources that support all that you do — and that support you as individuals — particularly during this time of year. In the weeks remaining of this fall semester, our schedules can often become crowded with competing deadlines and priorities. This is something we often tell students, but it can be true for faculty as well.

New TEK Director Named

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.

Our Focus on the People of Kentucky

During the Board retreat, I led a panel of some members of our health care colleges and health care partners to discuss health education for the Commonwealth. Discussions included our health care colleges’ current partnerships and future opportunities to partner, as well as the benefit of such partnerships to communities throughout Kentucky.  As the flagship institution for Kentucky, we are tasked with caring for the health and well-being of our people.

Faculty Senate Elections

The work of the Faculty Senate will be essential to continue the immense impact UK has on communities through teaching, research, service and care. Through the month of October, your colleges and units will continue sharing information about faculty senator elections — I encourage you to use this opportunity to learn more about these processes within your areas and to run for election. As a faculty senator, you can use your voice to represent both your college or unit and UK faculty as a whole.

Call for nominations: Faculty Senate

Campus Colleagues,I am pleased to open the call for nominations for the inaugural Faculty Senate, with elections to be held in accordance with college or unit policies. Elections for faculty senators should be completed by Oct. 31, 2024, and elected senators must be seated by Nov. 30, 2024. Once seated, the Faculty Senate will meet up to twice monthly on Mondays from 3-5 p.m.

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