UK names new assistant provost for faculty professional development By Johnson Lam
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 13, 2024) — After a comprehensive internal search, Kenneth R. Jones, Ph.D., has been selected as the assistant provost for faculty professional development, effective March 1, 2024.
The assistant provost role was created to oversee and support faculty professional development as well as expand strategies to increase faculty belonging, engagement and retention. In this role, Jones will serve as the primary liaison between colleges and programs and the Office for Faculty Advancement to develop and enhance initiatives aimed at faculty development.
He will also oversee the majority of current faculty professional development programs within the Office for Faculty Development. This includes designing and implementing new initiatives as well as overseeing current ones. He will partner with units across campus to design and implement ways to improve the professional development experiences of faculty.
Jones is a professor in the Department of Community and Leadership Development in the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. As a faculty member, he has conducted extensive research in issues affecting youth-serving practitioners and other community-based organizations.
His research includes assessing youth-adult relationships within community contexts, aspects of mentoring and program development efforts in communities and institutions of higher learning. Jones has also conducted a national study on best practices for college administrators to set succession plans for the preparation of future administrative leaders.
Jones has extensive experience working with faculty professional development and advancement initiatives. He currently serves as the director of the Engagement Academy within the UK Office of Land-grant Engagement. In addition, he helps to provide statewide coordination of professional development for staff and faculty in the UK Cooperative Extension Service. He also has led various workshops and seminars geared toward career development, covering topics such as leadership, professionalism and career advancement opportunities.
“I am excited for the opportunity to partner with Dr. Jones to expand the faculty development programs we offer,” says Lisa Tannock, M.D., associate provost for faculty advancement. “Dr. Jones and I will continually assess opportunities for programs to jointly support both faculty and staff development where feasible.”
For more information about the UK Office for Faculty Advancement and its role in promoting faculty professional development, visit ofa.uky.edu.
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.