U. Kentucky trustees approve research structure changes

The University of Kentucky's research organization, currently ranked No. 34 among public universities, is undergoing major organizational changes that UK President Lee Todd said will benefit the community.

The Board of Trustees approved plans to restructure the organization of the research side of the university to the provost model at yesterday's meeting. Todd announced the plans in an e-mail to faculty and staff about two weeks ago.

"This is an organizational structure that I've been implementing since I first took my job at UK," Todd said. "It is a plan that I think best benefits everyone, and it creates clearer and more defined reporting lines throughout the organization. In addition, 60 percent of our benchmark universities are aligned this way."

Accompanying this change is the development of an Office for Economic Development and Commercialization that will further emphasize the role UK plays in local and state economic development efforts, Todd said.

The main purpose of this office will be to help bring research conducted in the university labs to the marketplace.

"Bringing the findings of our research into the community is a passion that I have, and I have not spent enough time with it," Todd said.

The office will report directly to him.

UK ranks No. 23 among public universities in technology transfer and commercialization efforts, according to a report by the Milken Institute, which ranks the success of universities in the processes of economic development.

"We're already a leader in translating research from the university to the marketplace," Todd said. "The formation of this office demonstrates the commitment we have to ensuring that a top-20 public research institution helps create a state that's in the top 20 for the quality of life and economy afforded its citizens."

The new office will serve as a portal for technology transfer based on university research and as a portal for accessing UK assets by business and government organizations, according to the act passed by the board.

It will also oversee all the resources the university uses in commercialization efforts.

"This new structure is a design established at many of our benchmark institutions," Todd said. "I firmly believe it will facilitate the alignment of research priorities across the entire academic enterprise and help us move our research endeavors to the next level."

(C) 2006 Kentucky Kernel via U-WIRE