We have a deep responsibility to The Commonwealth in providing a twenty-first century education
to this next generation of students.
The changing economy we are living in, influenced by globalization, automation and technology
is transforming the kinds of jobs that are going to be awaiting our graduates in the
future.
And I do not know entirely what those jobs are going to look like, but I do know that
the best preparation for those jobs is a college education.
We want to be one of those elite universities that have a 70 percent six-year graduation
rate and there are only about 150 universities in the country of all universities that have
a 70 percent six year graduation rate.
But we've also set a goal of 90 percent first to second year retention.
We know we need to have higher levels of retention rate, we know we need higher levels of graduation
rate, so how do we build outside the classroom experiences in those administrative (those
academic administrative) areas to support more students crossing that stage and graduating
with a degree from the University of Kentucky.
So you ask yourself, "Gee, if you are not graduating as many students, as we should,
why is that?
"Do we have our support services, our curriculum, are they aligned in a way that is going to
advance student success.
So that is what the alignment means - do you have the right components, in the right places,
to support your overarching goals?
We're taking steps to build our support systems around the four primary reasons that students
may struggle, and those four things are first, certainly academic issues and those might
be the most obvious.
But making sure that our advisors are providing the timely information, are proactively working
with the students to help them when they may stumble, to get them there and certainly the
faculty in classroom play a role in that as well.
The second reason students struggle is financial issues.
And maybe its how we allocate our scholarships to reduce that unmet financial need, but also
its when those students do work or have some financial issues, how do we have financial
counseling for them?
The third reason students struggle is, you know, 'I'm along and away from home'.
And how do we create that sense of belonging for them, but not just belonging, but also
engagement?
So they not only feel like they're part of something here, but they engage with affinity
groups, people that have like interests with them.
And the fourth reason students struggle is wellness…particularly emotional wellness.
Our vision is that we provide outstanding service to students and the colleges in which
they resign.
Our role is a service organization, and providing service to those students and their colleges.
How do we do that?
Well its by aligning our resources around those four reasons, making sure that everything
we do is addressing one or more of those four issues.
We're joining two groups together, formerly called undergraduate education and students
affairs, to be student and academic life.
…and so if we're strategically reallocating we're doing that on a year-by-year basis.
In some cases some of our units look at it monthly or quarterly or semi-annually, right?
And so we're driving for opportunities to provide more resources to help us achieve
our goals.
And so the goal may be greater this year because of some other changes but at the same time
we're going to be focused on reallocating our resources administratively and academically
every year because that's how we're goanna be great is we have to focus in on doing things
differently in today's changing environment.
I hope everybody can wake up in the morning and remember that we are the University for
Kentucky and pause and think why we’re here and what contributions we have to make.
We’re going to have to ask ourselves how we are going to be more resourceful but we
have a deep responsibility to maintain our momentum and providing the very best of an
education to those students who come to us filled with hope and optimism.