The following message from the provost was sent to UK employees on Wednesday, June 30, 2021. 

Colleagues, 
 
I am pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Martha Peterson as Acting Associate Provost of Graduate and Professional Education and Acting Dean of The Graduate School. 
 
Dr. Peterson’s appointment takes effect July 6, 2021.
 
I am appointing Dr. Peterson to this critical post after receiving recommendations from the graduate faculty and a recommendations committee, as outlined in Governing Regulation VIII. 
 
Throughout an exemplary faculty career at UK of more than 30 years and in several administrative and research roles, Dr. Peterson has frequently worked closely with The Graduate School. She most recently served as the Senior Associate Vice President for Research (VPR), a role in which she advises the VPR on policy and program offerings, oversees several multidisciplinary research support programs that cross department and college boundaries, and facilitates the work of the Office of Research Communications and the Proposal Development Office. Dr. Peterson has stepped down from this role in the VPR office to assume her new responsibilities.  
 
In more than 14 years of administrative leadership roles at UK, Dr. Peterson has frequently interacted with The Graduate School and advocated for their interests, concerns, and needs, recognizing that success and growth in research requires success and growth of graduate and professional programs. Dr. Peterson is a professor of microbiology, immunology, and molecular genetics, where she continues to teach graduate courses, serves on graduate advisory committees, and has a long record of NSF-funded research and graduate student training.
 
Dr. Peterson will serve as acting dean and acting associate provost until June 30, 2022 or until the position is filled on a permanent basis. 
 
I greatly appreciate Dr. Peterson’s willingness to serve. Please join me in congratulating her and thanking her. Dr. DiPaola looks forward to working with her to begin the transformation of graduate and professional education at the University of Kentucky.
 
Dr. Brian Jackson has served tirelessly and selflessly as Interim Dean of the Graduate School since 2016. Please join me in thanking him and wishing him well as he returns to his full-time faculty role.
 
David W. Blackwell
Provost

Colleagues,

This email serves as a reminder of the changes that were made to the spring 2021 academic
calendar. All changes were vetted and approved by the UK Senate Council.

These changes include:

• • March 26: academic holiday (instead of a spring break week)
• • “Dead Week” (the week prior to final examinations):
  • May 3-5 (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday): classes will meet
  • May 6-7 (Thursday, Friday): classes will not meet (these are designated as reading days, a time for students to prepare for final exams)

A full overview of the spring 2021 academic calendar was recently published on UKNow.

Should you have any questions, please contact the Office of the Registrar.

Regards,
David W. Blackwell

Dear Colleagues,

We are in the midst of what is likely the most turbulent time in the recent history of higher education. The COVID-19 disease is challenging all of us on a number of fronts. I wish to sincerely thank all of you for your selfless service toward our missions of education, research and creative activity, patient care, and service to the Commonwealth under these challenging circumstances.

I write to reinforce elements of President Capilouto’s decision for the University of Kentucky to temporarily transition course delivery from face-to-face to online or other appropriate alternatives during the period of March 23 through April 3, with the goal of returning to normal
delivery on April 6. I emphasize that other than the transition from traditional to online course delivery, we intend and expect usual campus operations to continue.

The campus will remain open and functioning for our faculty, staff, students, and patients. While we will work toward providing remote services to our students who choose not to return to campus during this period, we will continue to offer services face-to-face to
students who remain on campus. Thus it is important that faculty and staff plan to work on campus according to our existing policies, with an understanding that those with compromising health issues may require accommodation.

Only the President can determine changes in our business hours or the opening or closing of our facilities. Deans, Associate Provosts, and other academic leaders were briefed on Wednesday about the specifics and I expect them to lead calmly, compassionately, and with
common sense. A robust flow of information across the institution is key to our success. This is an unprecedented and fluid situation and we can expect the need to be flexible.

The University’s Emergency Operation Center (EOC) is active and supporting the transition. There are teams in the EOC composed of faculty, staff, and administrative leaders working on 17 work streams that address every facet of implementation of our move to online delivery, including planning for delivery of services to students remaining off campus. As the work of these teams evolves, questions emerge. Below I clarify some key issues:

• Your health. In these circumstances, everyone should make the best decisions for their health. If you feel sick or begin to exhibit symptoms of flu or COVID-19 infection, it is in everyone’s best interest for you to remain home and to be evaluated by your health care provider. Remember that frequent hand washing and covering your mouth when you cough are effective measures to prevent infection.

If you believe you require alternative work arrangements because of a compromising health issue, those requests can be handled with your direct supervisor or department chair under existing policies for such arrangements.

For example, temporary remote work may be appropriate for many units or positions. We are strongly encouraging College and division leaders to be flexible with employees, understanding that the work of the institution must still be done, but that we must protect the health, safety and well-being of everyone who works in our special community.

To that end, supervisors must submit any temporary remote work requests for approval to Deans, Associate Provosts and Vice Presidents. The requests must be considered and approved prior to communicating any decision with employees. Our expectation is that a college and unit
will seek to maximize flexibility for employees who have real needs in terms of child care and other issues that make remote work options desirable on a temporary basis during this challenging period.

• Course delivery. Associate Provost Kathi Kern is leading the Academic Course Delivery work stream in the EOC. All courses need to be prepared for the initiation of online or alternative delivery by Monday, March 23. Among the most important reasons for announcing the transition on Wednesday was to provide faculty as much time as possible to work on transitioning their courses. While we are planning to resume traditional course delivery on April 6, we should be prepared to continue to deliver courses online after that date should circumstances change. We will keep you informed.
• Student support services. Yesterday we sent out a survey to all students to determine how many of them plan to be in Lexington post-Spring break and how many plan to return home. Having an estimate of the number of students residing in Lexington (onand off-campus) will help us determine how to allocate resources between in-person and online student support services (e.g., academic advising; career advising; dining; housing; student organizations and activities).

Do not close any office or modify hours of operation for your student support services. At this point, we remain fully operational, including our service and building hours. If your office has a compelling reason to modify service hours please notify your Dean or Associate Provost, who
will in turn submit the proposal to the Provost for consideration and discussion with the UK leadership team.

Of course, we must also serve students who will not be in Lexington. We have a Student Success work stream in the EOC, led by our Dean of Students Nick Kehrwald. This team is addressing nonacademic student services (led by Grace Hahn) and academic-based student
services (led by Marianne Young). If you have questions about College-based advising offices or providing advising services remotely, please contact Nick and Marianne (nkehrwald@uky.edu and m.young@uky.edu). We are planning to coordinate the way in which all academic advising offices offer their services. Nick and Marianne will be working with the Associate Deans’ Council to ensure consistency of advising delivery across the campus.

• Your ideas. We face a collective challenge that requires innovative approaches to the continuation of our missions. We welcome your ideas on how we best approach our work in the coming weeks. We want to share best practices and consider all good ideas. Please channel any suggestions through your supervisor to your Dean or Associate Provost, who will share them with me for consideration in the appropriate EOC work stream.

Other than changing to online course delivery, we strive to continue all operations, but we will also prepare for providing support services for our students who choose to remain off-campus through April 3. Office hours, student services, advising appointments, among other usual
business operations, should be offered in face-to-face and distance formats.

I expect all leaders in the Provost area to ensure that their units adhere to this guidance and I expect full cooperation from all faculty and staff. Only through focused, coordinated effort and strong communications will we come out on the other side of this challenge an even stronger
University of, for, and with Kentucky. Thanks again for your support and productive work.

Sincerely,

David W. Blackwell
Provost

Dear EM Colleagues,

I am excited to announce that Christine Harper has accepted our offer to become the next Associate Provost for Enrollment Management at the University of Kentucky. Christine will formally assume the new role on Monday, June 18.

Christine has nearly 20 years of higher education experience in different areas of student affairs and enrollment management, including direct experience with all areas of EM—registrar, financial aid, and admissions. She also has experience in athletics financial aid.

From 2001 to 2010, she progressed through a series of leadership roles of increasing responsibility in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and First-year Experience at The Ohio State University, where she ultimately served as the Senior Assistant Director of the office. She served during a period of unprecedented enrollment growth and increases in quality, retention, and diversity for Ohio State.

From 2011 to 2017, she served as Assistant Dean of Academic and Student Affairs in UK’s College of Dentistry. Her team’s portfolio included admissions, financial aid, registrar, and student success. She also served as the college’s diversity and inclusion officer. She holds an adjunct faculty position in the College of Dentistry.

Since fall 2017, Christine has served UK on special assignment to the Office of the Provost, assisting the Associate Provost of Academic Excellence Operations with various initiatives on enrollment management and retention. Christine is passionate about removing barriers to student success and opening the doors of access and equity. She also strongly believes in providing her team with opportunities to develop and grow professionally.

During the period of interim leadership, Nimmi Wiggins, Scott McDonald, Kim Taylor, and all of you have risen to the occasion. I greatly appreciate their leadership as well as your work in supporting student success at UK.

I also thank the members of the search committee – chaired by Associate Provost Greg Heileman – for their leadership in the search process.

Please join me in congratulating Christine and welcoming her to this new role.

Regards,

David W. Blackwell

Provost

Dear Colleagues,

I am very pleased to announce that Simon J. Sheather has accepted my offer to become the next dean of the Gatton College of Business and Economics.

Subject to approval by the Board of Trustees, Simon plans to begin his work with us July 1.

Simon currently is professor and interim director of Texas A&M University’s Institute of Data Science, as well as academic director of MS (Analytics) and Online Programs in the Department of Statistics. The news release, which is being distributed more widely tomorrow, provides more detail about his outstanding career.

As many of you know who interacted with Simon during his visits to campus, he is an accomplished scholar, teacher and academic leader. He has won numerous awards during a long career as a teacher and scholar. And during his nearly 15 years at Texas A&M, he has created new programs and continued important work with industry and government developing practical predictive models using “big data.”

I want to thank Interim Dean Skinner for his outstanding leadership during the past several months as well as the search committee, whose collective efforts have yielded such a positive result.

Simon is currently traveling abroad, but I know he is excited about joining such an outstanding academic home as the one at Gatton. I know you join me in welcoming him to our community and, like me, look forward to the incredible opportunities ahead for both Gatton and the University of Kentucky.

Thank you for all you do for Gatton and UK.

Regards,

David W. Blackwell

Provost

Dear UK Colleagues and Students,

I am excited to announce that Rudy Buchheit has accepted our offer to become the next dean of the University of Kentucky College of Engineering. Dr. Buchheit will begin his work with us on July 1. His appointment is subject to approval by the UK Board of Trustees.

For nearly five years, he has served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Administration in the College of Engineering at The Ohio State University, an academic unit comprising more than 350 faculty members, 400 staff members, 8,500 undergraduate students, and 2,200 graduate students.

During his tenure, he supervised the recruitment of a three-year faculty cohort, nearly half of whom came from underrepresented populations, and he oversaw an operating budget of $240 million, including $130 million in research expenditures. Rudy is passionate about student and faculty success and the prospect of building upon the College of Engineering’s considerable momentum.

I thank the members of the search committee – chaired by Associate Dean Kim Anderson and Dean Janie Heath – for their outstanding work. I also thank Larry Holloway for his steadfast leadership as interim dean of the college.

It is an exciting time at UK. As the semester comes to a close, announcements such as these remind us that our work toward the ambitious goals of our strategic plan continues. Please join me in congratulating and welcoming the newest member of the UK community who will join us in that pursuit.

Regards,

David W. Blackwell

Provost

Dear Colleagues and Students,

I wish to convey how honored, yet humbled, I am at being selected as Provost. I am grateful for the expressions of support and look forward to serving you and all of the University of Kentucky. I also greatly appreciate the opportunity to work closely with President Capilouto and his leadership team to continue implementing the vision he and the Board of Trustees have set forth for the University.

Over the holidays, I spent time learning as much as I could about ongoing initiatives and thinking about priorities, both short- and long-term. Since the beginning of the semester, I have continued to spend time listening, learning, and prioritizing with the academic deans, faculty, and staff from across campus. I am convinced that this campus possesses the richness of thought on how best to move forward and fulfill our mission. To that end, I am planning visits to each college to learn about priorities and challenges in each. I will also be reaching out to Provost-area units and those units with which our collective work intersects.

I also know that to achieve all that we want, we must be aware of what is happening throughout higher education. During my first week as Provost, I had the opportunity to spend a couple of days at a roundtable meeting for provosts at research institutions, which could not have occurred at a better time. We discussed mutual challenges in higher education and shared best practices on academic program development and diversity and inclusion.

In the near term, one issue on which I will be particularly focused, along with other members of the UK leadership team, is the Governor’s proposed budget bill that has come out of the current legislative session in Frankfort. As the President has communicated to you, Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Eric Monday and I, alongside the Deans, University Senate, Staff Senate, and our collective leadership teams, will be working on long-term financial sustainability through opportunities for program growth and operating effectiveness. Also in the immediate term, I will be analyzing the draft report from the Blue Ribbon Panel on Graduate Education and meeting with the leaders of that group to plan next steps.

I see this first message as the beginning of regular outreach to all faculty, staff, and students. Once I develop systematic plans for consistent communication, I will keep you informed. I greatly appreciate all that you do for the University of Kentucky. I wish you a very successful spring semester and a healthy, happy, and prosperous 2018.

Regards,

David W. Blackwell

Provost