‘Behind the Blue’: Looking at UK’s enterprise partnerships through the ‘Business of UK’
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 2, 2026) — As the University of Kentucky continues to grow, so does the need to coordinate the services that support its students, employees, patients and visitors. On this episode of “Behind the Blue,” another installment of “The Business of UK” explores the university’s new enterprise services partnership with Compass Group and how the collaboration aims to enhance services, invest in employees and create new opportunities to serve communities across the Commonwealth.
Eric Monday, UK’s executive vice president for finance and administration and co-executive vice president for health affairs, hosts the conversation with Gina Dugas, senior vice president for finance and administration, and Tim Slocum, senior vice president and chief operations officer for UK HealthCare. Together, they discuss the university's approach to bringing dining, athletics concessions, facilities management and healthcare support services into a more coordinated partnership. Dugas and Slocum explain how the 30-year agreement is designed to leverage additional expertise, technology and resources while maintaining a commitment to UK employees. Employees working in the affected service areas retained their university employment status and benefits, while the partnership introduces additional training, apprenticeship and career development opportunities.
“I think at its core, this has been about building a stronger foundation for our future while also taking care of our people,” Dugas said.
The conversation also highlights changes students and visitors can expect, including new dining options, a 5% reduction in meal plan pricing for incoming students, more affordable concessions options and plans to expand the use of student dining plans across university facilities. The guests also discuss improvements to facilities maintenance, custodial services and operational technology throughout the UK enterprise.
Beyond campus, the partnership includes initiatives supporting the Advancing Kentucky Together Network. Among them are plans for Food Force One, a mobile food resource designed to work with UK Cooperative Extension Service and UK HealthCare to address community needs, and the Advancing Kentucky Together Network Advantage, a purchasing initiative intended to help Kentucky businesses, farmers, schools and local governments access cost savings. Dugas and Slocum also discuss opportunities to expand partnerships with Kentucky growers and build upon the work of The Food Connection. Throughout the episode, the guests emphasize how the collaboration is intended to support UK’s mission of advancing Kentucky through education, healthcare, research and service.
“Behind the Blue” is available via a variety of podcast providers, including Apple Podcasts, YouTube and Spotify. Subscribe to receive new episodes each week, featuring UK’s latest medical breakthroughs, research, artists, writers and the most important news impacting the university.
“Behind the Blue” is a production of the University of Kentucky. Transcripts for most episodes are now embedded in the audio file and can be accessed in many podcast apps during playback. Transcripts for older episodes remain available on the show’s blog page.
Discover how the University of Kentucky is advancing the Commonwealth.
This interview has been edited for time and clarity.
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 healthcare. 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 $1.02 billion research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.