Supporting the academic success of our students
LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 17, 2023) — The following message was sent by University of Kentucky Provost Robert S. DiPaola, MD to all faculty.
Dear Colleagues,
As we approach the home stretch of the semester, I would like to thank you for everything you do to support the academic success of our students, especially as you prepare for the last several weeks of coursework.
According to our team in Institutional Research, Analytics and Decision Support (IRADS), last spring, particularly for our first-year students, we saw relatively strong year-over-year midterm GPA performance. At the same time, this performance was followed by a steep decrease in the second half of the semester, resulting in lower full-term spring grades. You may be seeing similar trends among your students this semester.
It may be the case that some students, particularly first-year students, lack awareness of the academic support resources available to them.
Thus, I would like to ask for your help.
Please consider taking a few moments in your classes to remind students of the academic resources and other key student success supports available on our campus. You can find those here. Resources for instructors also are available at the Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning.
Thank you for everything you do to support our educational mission to advance Kentucky.
Robert S. DiPaola, MD
Provost
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.