Community Partners

"[Community] partners were excited by the prospect of working with students...As students have offered feedback and identified their own growth in learning, they have all stated that they feel more confident in research, with many also noting that they feel more career ready having collaborated with students from other disciplines, community partners, and worked with real organizations to better understand Kentucky and its communities."

-Winter Phong, Associate Professor

TEK capitalizes on UK’s unique position by intentionally engaging students in transdisciplinary approaches to education through coursework and interaction with faculty, staff, and community partners to address Kentucky’s needs. In turn, students build transferrable skills that prepare them for the workforce.

Community partners are an essential component of the success of TEK. Community partners support TEK initiatives through three different pathways:

1. As members of the TEK Advisory Committee, community partners provide input on faculty development, curriculum, and assessment of TEK programming. Their contributions ensure that TEK initiatives incorporate a real-world perspective. 
2. The involvement of community partners in TEK courses provide students practical experiences vital to encouraging the development of essential employability skills such as identifying multiple viewpoints, teamwork, communication, and reflection.
3. Community partners also participate in TEK events designed to bring the community and the university together through conversation around transdisciplinary education and the ways in which it can support the needs of students and employers. 

The following community partners participated in TEK programming during the 2023-2024 academic year:

CivicLex

Commerce Lexington

Food Chain

Forcht Bank 

International Coaching Federation

Kentucky American Water 

Leeds Center for the Arts

The Nest

Valvoline

YMCA of Central Kentucky