My Day

Long ago and many times repeated since the early 1800s, the leaders of state of Kentucky admitted publicly that their high school graduates didn't fare so well as did graduates from other states.  As national tests became the norm for comparing student performance, all could see that Kentuckians who made it past the 4th grade started to drift and fail.  Something clearly happened and continues to happen during the teen years to weaken the educational futures of so many of our children. 

 

UK has for many years taken on this historic issue -- agricultural research and community service in even the most rural areas of the state in the 19th century, adult classes via radio in Eastern Kentucky in the 1930s, a model high school (for white children) from World War I until desegregation, applied research in adult education and teacher professional development, specially crafted and funded programs for traditionally underserved UK students ... and many more. 

 

We launch this month an initiative for all those students who come to UK for their first-time, full-time, first year of college.  It is a multi-pronged effort by the Office of Undergraduate Education, partnering closely with Student Affairs, Enrollment Management and the colleges.  Along the way, it will be carefully evaluated by the Office of Institutional Research and improvements crafted based on discussions of the evidence.  Every attempt will be made to try and not rely on assumptions or traditional prescriptive activities. 

 

For all incoming first-year students, we will offer a by-invitation-only social networking environment called NetworkBlue - moderated by our new Online Community Manager, Dr. Chris Rice.  We will start up the initial part of the NetworkBlue with a UK-only Ning.com platform, but Chris promises he will branch out with other social media platforms such as the UK Second Life island and with micro-blogging to provide access via mobile technologies.  The NetworkBlue will be pre-populated with peer mentors, TAs, and student leaders from the colleges - and only those first-year students coming to UK in Fall09 will be invited to join.  The main goal here is to start interacting with our incoming cohort even before they choose their first classes - explore common expectations and those culture clashes that are so important to the learning curve in that vulnerable first year experience. Here also, we hope that students will come to better understand their own concepts of what their stated major is or can be at the University of Kentucky -- and what it takes from them to be successful at it and graduate in a timely fashion. 

 

Another part of the initiative is the Academic Readiness Program.  This offering, coordinated by the Office of Undergraduate Educationserves and depending on the leadership of the academic deans and advising staff in the colleges, will target those students whose incoming test scores are below Kentucky's state-wide placement standards.  We will offer these students a second chance at providing higher standardized test scores (via an ACT product called COMPASS) and then -- if the scores are still low for college readiness purposes -- the University will offer a variety of supplemental instruction opportunities.  The only remedial course the University currently offers, MA108R Intermediate Algebra, will remain as a choice for the student needing to prepare for College Algebra - but there is at this time no plan to return to the UK of the 1960s-70s with a whole series of development education courses.  Instead, we will work with the colleges' academic advising staff to craft personalized and strategic interventions based on the diagnostic evidence provided to us by the student as they finish high school, attend summer orientation activities and start up their first semester here at the University.

 

Exciting work - and I look forward to chronicling the creative and constructive activities that will come out of this new initiative