Campus Colleagues,

Earlier this month, I informed you of a new role within the Office of the Provost: associate provost for academic operations. I am pleased to announce that Christine Harper has agreed to serve as acting associate provost for academic operations. 

Christine joined the University of Kentucky in 2010, where she served in the role of assistant dean of admissions and student affairs within the College of Dentistry, and she has since worked in multiple other areas of the university, including the Office for Student Success and the Office of the Provost, as an associate provost. 

As associate vice president of enrollment and chief enrollment officer for UK, Christine has helped shape our success in growing our first-year undergraduate cohorts and expand access for transfer students to join UK through mapped Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) pathways. Through these efforts, she has worked closely with college faculty and staff to support their individual enrollment goals. In addition, Christine served on the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) compliance review committee through UK’s last accreditation. 

Christine’s experience collaborating with individuals and groups across the university, including faculty, staff and senior leadership, will allow her to continue working with college leadership and faculty as acting associate provost for academic operations. She will help the Office of the Provost and our colleges and programs focus and collaborate more on academic operational efforts at UK.

I appreciate Christine’s willingness to step into this role, and I am confident that she will use her experience to continue UK’s forward momentum.

Please join me in thanking her — and thank you for your continued efforts supporting our mission to advance our Commonwealth. 

Robert S. DiPaola, M.D. 
Provost

Campus Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce that Paul E. Salamanca has agreed to serve as acting dean of the J. David Rosenberg College of Law, effective July 1, 2024.

Professor Salamanca joined the University of Kentucky in 1995 after graduating from Boston College Law School in 1989 and gaining invaluable practical experience in the field — first clerking for Justice David H. Souter on the U.S. Supreme Court, then practicing law with Debevoise & Plimpton in New York and serving as an assistant professor of law at Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans.

From 2019 to 2021, Professor Salamanca also served as a Senior Counsel and then a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he supervised the Natural Resources and Land Acquisition Sections of ENRD. 

At UK, Professor Salamanca teaches courses focusing on constitutional law, civil procedure and federal courts, among others. He is dedicated to his students’ success and uses his wide array of experiences to continuously challenge students and develop their practical skills. He is a recipient of the Duncan Teaching Award and is the Wendell H. Ford Professor of Law. 

His commitment to guiding students in their learning is a testament to the determination he will bring to advancing the J. David Rosenberg College of Law and its reputation as an outstanding law school with an even more outstanding community. I know that Professor Salamanca — along with exceptional faculty, staff and students — will help lead the college into another era of growth and excellence.

Please join me in congratulating and thanking Professor Salamanca.

Robert S. DiPaola, M.D. 
Provost

Dear Colleagues, 
  
With today’s passage of the President’s Recommendations to the Board of Trustees, I know that many of you will have questions regarding how we will move forward together in our shared mission to advance Kentucky through the work we do here. As we continue building momentum in our progress, there are two matters I would like to bring to your attention.

First, I am pleased to announce a new role within the Office of the Provost: associate provost for academic operations. This will be a staff position.

This position will help us focus even more on our academic operational efforts across our colleges. The full position description and call for a permanent search will be provided soon. In the meantime, below are highlights of the role, which will first be filled on an acting basis:

• Serve as lead provost liaison to the Faculty Senate and other university committees and offices related to academic operations;  
• Develop and implement institutional efficiencies in academic operations and related areas of administration; 
• Direct the flow of information regarding academic operations to and from the provost to colleges, University units and state agencies regarding academic operations, administration initiatives and policies.
• Collaborate closely with the provost, provost executive management team, deans, associate/assistant provosts, associate deans, vice presidents and associate vice presidents with the design and implementation of new programs and policy changes to meet the academic administration and student success mission of the University.

Prospective candidates for this role should have a terminal degree in their field of study and have senior administrative experience leading an academic unit for more than 10 years; or a master’s degree with more than 15 years of administrative experience.
 
Anyone in the campus community may suggest names of candidates to serve as acting associate provost for academic operations. Please submit your recommendation for an acting associate provost for academic operations, including a brief justification, to Matthew Sanger (matthew.sanger@uky.edu), senior executive director, Office of the Provost. All recommendations will be treated confidentially. To ensure full consideration of the recommendations for acting associate provost for academic operations, please submit your nominations no later than noon on Friday, June 21.

Until the acting associate provost for academic operations is named, I will continue to lead and work with my leadership team to address any items associated with academic operations.  

Second, during the transition from a University Senate to a Faculty Senate, I will lead a Provisional Faculty Senate Executive Committee until a new Faculty Senate is seated. In the interim, the University Senate website will continue to hold relevant information for the continuation of duties. Information on Curriculog, proposals and syllabi has permanently moved to the Office of the Provost website. If you have any questions regarding the transition, please email facultysenatetransition@uky.edu. 

As we continue our work to meet the needs of Kentucky, thank you for your continued diligence and dedication to UK’s mission and its people.  
  
Robert S. DiPaola, M.D. 
Provost

Campus Community,

I am pleased to inform you that Ned Crankshaw has accepted the position of dean of the College of Design, effective July 1, 2024, pending approval of the Board of Trustees. 

Professor Crankshaw has served as acting dean since August 2022. Under his leadership, the College of Design has seen sustained student enrollment growth as well as a move into the new home for the college in the Gray Design Building. In the new Gray Design Building, the possibilities for student learning and collaboration will reach new heights, and I am excited to see how the college grows into the space under his leadership.

With Professor Crankshaw’s guidance, the College of Design has continued supporting its scholars with funding programs and expanding research and the availability of fabrication equipment available to students and faculty. 

Professor Crankshaw also led the college as one of the recipients of the inaugural Provost IMPACT Awards that helped acquire soft goods lab equipment for the college’s Maker’s Suite to promote a new generation of innovation in students, faculty and all designers. The award also helped fund the hiring of new talent to the college and train faculty and students in research focusing on the intersection of design and textiles. 

Under his leadership, I am confident the College of Design will continue expanding opportunities for transdisciplinary collaboration efforts across campus. Professor Crankshaw will continue advocating for student success and growing our state’s capacity for design and forward-thinking innovation. 

Please join me in congratulating Professor Crankshaw on this new role. Thank you for all you do to advance UK. 

Robert S. DiPaola, M.D. 
Provost

Campus Colleagues, 

As you may be aware, UK’s Employee Benefits Committee is working to gather feedback regarding the future of employee benefits. The request for your input came from UK Human Resources last week, but the committee is looking for additional input from faculty on the feedback survey. Your voices are so important, and I want to be sure you have an opportunity to give input if you have not already.  

The Future of Benefits Feedback Exercise is an important tool for the university to help shape its long-term goal of recruiting and retaining the best faculty and staff possible. The survey is important for gauging what you find most beneficial in terms of benefits, and your feedback is crucial to guiding the committee’s work to support our employees.   

In an effort to give more time for your input, we are extending the deadline until May 31, 2024. The survey takes about 15 minutes to complete. 

You should have received an email from UK Human Resources last week with a link inviting you to participate. To help, I have included the link below: 

Future of Benefits Feedback Exercise

Thank you for all you do to advance our university.

Robert S. DiPaola, M.D. 
Provost

Campus Community, 

As you may know, Vice President and Dean Nancy Cox has notified us of her plans to retire from the university, upon the hiring of her replacement including transition time.  

We are deeply appreciative of Vice President and Dean Cox for her unwavering service, dedication and leadership to both the university and the Commonwealth of Kentucky. 

Dr. Cox held the roles of vice president for land-grant engagement and dean of the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. These are both vital roles to the University of Kentucky. They represent who we are and what we do for our state and beyond. 

The search process will begin soon with the goal of naming the next vice president for land-grant engagement and dean of the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment by early fall.  

As a land-grant institution, the role of the vice president for land-grant engagement is charged with suffusing the entire institution with the land-grant ethos — that commitment to service across our other missions of education, research and care as well as increasing the strength we have in transdisciplinary efforts. To that end, Dr. Cox has inaugurated the UK Engage effort with partners across campus to examine best practices and invest in pilot programs and initiatives around engagement. 

The Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment’s threefold land-grant mission — teaching, research and extension — serves the Commonwealth in diverse ways. They give students the skills to solve problems. They discover and deliver new knowledge and technologies through research and extension. Their goal is to improve the lives of residents across Kentucky. The Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment is continuing the outstanding tradition of discovery, outreach and education at the University of Kentucky. Together, the faculty, students, staff and alumni of the college “grow ideas” and solve problems. 

The first step in the selection process is to form a search advisory committee composed of faculty, staff, students and alumni. In accordance with Governing Regulation VIII, which states that a request be made for a recommendation on matters of appointments from a committee, and as part of our efforts to enhance communication, transparency, inclusion and shared governance, the Office of the Provost, on behalf of the Office of the President, is seeking nominations to the search advisory committee. All recommendations and justifications are confidential. 

To nominate yourself or someone else to serve on the search advisory committee, please click here. Nominations are due Wednesday, May 22, at 5 p.m.  

If you have any questions about the process, please contact Shavonna Ross, director of operations (shav.ross@uky.edu), Office of the Provost.  

Thank you in advance for your valuable input. We appreciate all that you do to advance Kentucky.

Eli Capilouto, President
Robert S. DiPaola, Provost

Dear Colleagues,

During this season at the University of Kentucky, I hope you share my overarching sense of hope and joy at the prospect of witnessing our students cross the stage during the commencement ceremonies at Rupp Arena this week. 

Much like we place importance on K Week, we place a similar emphasis on commencement. These two events are often the beginning and conclusion of our students’ journeys through the university — from an introduction to the campus and their peers to the moment their hard work and perseverance result in the conferring of degrees.

Between those two endpoints, you, as our faculty, play a substantial role in shaping how our students grow, both inside and outside of the classroom. For the students who you mentored, the students whose passions you helped uncover and the students who learned valuable skills in your classes — you occupy similar chapters of significance in their time at UK.

And now, we have arrived at commencement. It is a culmination of all the effort and dedication that a degree symbolizes. 

Commencement is a symbol of the end of a journey — not just for our students, for whom it marks the end of this chapter in their academic, professional and personal growth, but also for us, the ones who helped guide our students to this point. 

But it is not the end of all journeys — some students may turn to their professional careers and paths now, and some may choose to continue in academia with graduate or professional school. These next chapters are what fill me with hope and joy — seeing what critical issues our students will go on to solve, what boundaries they will continue to expand and the ways they will continue to advance Kentucky and the world.

More than 4,300 graduates are set to participate in the ceremonies on May 3 and 4. I hope you will join their family and friends in celebrating their accomplishments. For more information on attending, click here.

Thank you very much on behalf of our students for all these chapters you helped to write — and for all you continue to do for UK. 

Robert S. DiPaola, M.D. 
Provost

Dear Colleagues,

Each year, I am proud to announce the winners of the University of Kentucky’s Outstanding Teaching Awards — each one of whom is actively making a difference in the lives of our students through their passion and teaching. 

The Outstanding Teaching Awards, awarded by the Office for Faculty Advancement (OFA),acknowledge the distinguished individuals at UK whose dedication to student achievement is evident through their role in the classroom. The awards encourage the development of faculty and instructors as experts in teaching, and recipients are nominated through submissions from faculty, staff and/or students. 

Each winner’s contribution to student learning and student success cannot be overstated — their impacts are felt on all levels. Inside the classroom, students benefit from their teaching experience, allowing them to engage with a diverse range of learners. Outside of the classroom, their colleagues — whether other faculty, instructors or teaching assistants — benefit from their support and mentorship. And at our institution, we all benefit from their engagement and commitment to one of our core missions — to improve the lives of our communities through excellence in education.

Please join me in congratulating this year’s winners:

Category 1 (Regular and Special Title Series Faculty):

Jack Groppo, Department of Mining Engineering, Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering

Kristine Urschel, Department of Animal and Food Sciences, Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment

Martha Yip, Department of Mathematics, College of Arts & Sciences

Category 2 (Lecturers and Clinical Title Series Faculty):

Bradley Elliott, Department of Mathematics, College of Arts & Sciences

Anastasia Hauser, Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering

Thaddeus Salmon, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine 

Category 3 (Teaching Assistants):

Lukas Bullock, Department of Gender and Women's Studies, College of Arts & Sciences

Daria Goncharova, Department of English, College of Arts & Sciences

John "Jack" Swab, Department of Geography, College of Arts & Sciences

Throughout the summer, each of the winners will be highlighted on UKNow. Their diligence and hard work are a testament to the importance of teaching at UK, where we are preparing our students to be the future leaders of Kentucky and beyond. I know you join me and the rest of our community in celebrating these winners and their accomplishments.

Thank you for all you do to support our students and the entire UK community.

Robert S. DiPaola, M.D.

Provost

Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce that I have reappointed Dr. Alice Turkington as the University of Kentucky Academic Ombud for the 2024-25 academic year, effective July 1, 2024. The Academic Ombud is the university officer charged with facilitating the resolution of student academic issues that may arise, in a manner that is fair and equitable for all parties.

With more than 20 years of service at UK, Dr. Turkington has demonstrated outstanding leadership in this community. Dr. Turkington, an associate professor of geography, has served as director of undergraduate studies in the department of geography and is currently the director of the certificate in undergraduate research in social science.

I appreciate Dr. Turkington’s willingness to serve as Academic Ombud. Thanks to her numerous academic accomplishments and steadfast dedication to students, I know she will continue to be excellent in this role.

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Turkington on her reappointment.

Sincerely,

Robert DiPaola, M.D.
Provost

Dear Colleagues,

As we move closer to the end of the spring semester, I am reminded of what an exciting season it is for everyone across our campus. Our university continues its momentum to advance Kentucky in many ways across our campus and around the Commonwealth.  

First, I would like to recognize those propelling our institution forward in teaching, service, research and care — our faculty. 

Nearly 200 promotion letters have been sent to members of our faculty in all 16 degree-granting colleges, along with Libraries and the Lewis Honors College. I appreciate the long hours and hard work that have led each of these deserving faculty members to earn their promotions. 

Congratulations to each of you. Thank you for your dedication to the mission of our university.

Second, I want to acknowledge the work of another important group of our campus — working to help the University of Kentucky lead the way in the ever-changing field of artificial intelligence (AI). 

In January, we updated you on the faculty guidelines regarding generative AI in instructional settings from UK ADVANCE (Advancing Data utilization for Value in Academics ­for National and Campus-wide Excellence). The ADVANCE Team has worked diligently to provide these updates to you and the rest of campus so that we can understand how to optimize the use of generative AI in our work while remaining aware of potential cautions.

During the spring semester, the ADVANCE Team created guidelines for use of generative AI in clinical settingsafter seeking input from multiple stakeholders. These guidelines may be updated as the field of generative AI continues to evolve and change.

This week, UK ADVANCE also provided updated guidelines for research, scholarly and creative activity that you can find here. These guidelines represent the ADVANCE Team’s best understanding of the environment at the present time — the field of generative AI evolves quickly, and the guidelines must be similarly flexible. 

Additionally, we published Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on the ADVANCE website to assist in addressing questions that may arise as you navigate the fluid generative AI landscape and point you to more detailed information in the relevant guidelines.

The resources available on the ADVANCE website will help all campus community members, including faculty, staff and students, learn more about generative AI and its uses and applications in educational, research or clinical settings.

As we continue developing our understanding of generative AI and how it impacts our work at UK, the ADVANCE Team will update the guidelines and recommendations accordingly. 

Thank you to both our newly promoted faculty members and the ADVANCE team for their collective efforts to advance our institution and Kentucky. 

Robert S. DiPaola, M.D.

Provost