How UK Cared for the Commonwealth and Beyond in 2020
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 5, 2021) — One way to look at the Fall 2020 semester at the University of Kentucky is by the numbers.
After all, they paint a compelling picture as we:
- Conducted nearly 50,000 COVID-19 tests among members of our campus community.
- Implemented, through a more than 50-member UK Health Corps team, tracing among some 6,300 individual contacts and daily screening among our entire campus community.
- Developed plans — from 19 work streams comprising some 500 UK community members — to ensure classrooms and facilities were safe … moved nearly 10,000 pieces of furniture out of campus facilities to allow space for physical distancing … installed almost 30,000 signs inside and outside to encourage healthy behaviors … a provided wellness kits to every student on our campus.
- Distributed nearly $9 million in federal relief funds — CARES money — to students who needed assistance.
- Opened a 400-bed field hospital in two weeks to prepare for a surge in COVID-19 patients.
- Provided thousands of free coronavirus tests to people throughout Lexington and the region at two community sites UK established.
- Helped test thousands of people in a phase III clinical trial for a COVID-19 vaccine.
- Invested resources to ensure that 90% of classrooms across campus had upgrades to technology that made it easier for faculty and students to teach and learn.
But more than the numbers was the question, the question we asked of ourselves — and that drove everything we did — every day:
Did we care?
Did we show that as a community we cared — about our students who completely changed how they learned and lived … about our faculty and staff who balanced the stress and strain of work and life … about all those we serve across the Commonwealth, who asked us to continue our efforts to help and heal in every community and county in Kentucky?
Did we care?
We found thousands of ways, each day and throughout the semester, to answer that question. Our faculty adjusted their methods of teaching, mentoring and researching. Our staff found new ways to support students and continue our crucial operations.
Together we are meeting this moment — as a community and as the Commonwealth’s University … the University of, for and with Kentucky.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.
In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.