A Plan for the New Century

A CONTEXT FOR PLANNING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE

Mission Statement

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is the state’s flagship research institution, a campus of choice for outstanding undergraduates, and a premier graduate institution. As a land-grant university, it is committed to excellence in learning, scholarship, and engagement with society. In all its activities, the university aims to advance the frontiers of human knowledge and enrich and elevate society. The university welcomes and honors people of all races, creeds, cultures, and sexual orientations, and values intellectual curiosity, pursuit of knowledge, and academic freedom and integrity. The university intends that its graduates will promote the values and institutions of representative democracy, and be prepared to lead lives of personal integrity and civic responsibility.

Values: A Distinctive Learning Community in the Land-Grant Tradition

Historical Milestones

Founded on September 10, 1794, as Blount College, the institution was initially a classical academy for the sons of the well-to-do and was headed for the first 75 years by clergymen. The state granted public lands for the support of the institution in 1806 and redesignated it East Tennessee College. In 1840, the state legislature designated the school a university.

The Civil War nearly obliterated the college, as students left to join both the Union and Confederate armies, and conflict raged over the campus grounds. In the midst of war, in 1862, the U.S. Congress passed the Morrill Act which provided grants of public lands to states that would establish public agricultural and mechanical colleges. Land-grant schools became engines of democracy by combining mechanical arts and agriculture with liberal education.

The state legislature designated East Tennessee University (now UT) the state’s land-grant institution in 1869 and required that no citizen be disqualified from the benefits of higher education because of race. The legacy of discrimination, however, remained in force, and the university admitted no African-American students during the 19th century. This pattern continued into the 20th century. In 1912, the state established Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial College (now Tennessee State University) in Nashville as an African-American institution with land-grant status.

In 1879, the state legislature changed the name of the institution to the University of Tennessee. Significant development occurred under the presidency of Dr. Charles Dabney, 1887-1904. The university rapidly improved, adding graduate programs in engineering and law, enlarging the physical plant, and growing to an enrollment of about 450. The Morrill legislation was supplemented by the Hatch and Smith-Lever Acts (1887 and 1914), which created agricultural research and outreach functions.

The early 20th century saw the emergence of a comprehensive University of Tennessee, with the addition of professional schools, the development of doctoral programs, the expansion of the campus, and growth in enrollment. Although state appropriations provided the foundation of financial support, funds provided by student fees, auxiliary enterprises, grants, and gifts from alumni and friends were essential then, as now, to sustaining the quality of the institution.

After World War II, land-grant universities such as Tennessee grew explosively in response to the GI Bill, the challenge of the USSR, and economic growth that demanded a highly educated citizenry. Unprecedented growth from 1960 to 1990 resulted in highly sophisticated institutions with complex research and instructional missions. The university’s Space Institute, Institute for Public Service and Oak Ridge National Laboratory partnerships illustrate UT’s expanded mission.

Planning at the state level resulted in designation of the university as Tennessee’s flagship research university with primary responsibility for graduate and advanced professional education. Flagship status enabled UT to establish national and international reputations in a number of academic and professional disciplines and produce graduates who have gone on to distinguished careers in public and private life.

Desegregation of the institution began in 1952 when the first African-Americans were admitted to the graduate and law schools by order of a Federal District Court. The first African-American undergraduates were admitted in 1961, and the first African-American faculty member was appointed in 1964. The university is redoubling its efforts to diversify its faculty, students, and staff.

Today, land-grant universities are renewing themselves to meet the demands of the new millennium. The University of Tennessee, the state’s flagship research institution, adheres to its land-grant heritage and seeks to advance the frontiers of knowledge, provide intellectual and cultural leadership, prepare students to be productive citizens, and improve the human condition. It aims to provide equitable educational access to Tennessee citizens; create, critique, and apply new technologies; sustain and nourish higher culture; meet the challenges posed to food, energy, and the environment by population growth; preserve and enhance democracy through civic education and civic renewal; and address the globalization of cultures.

Institutional Values

The primary goals of a contemporary research-extensive university are to create and disseminate knowledge and prepare students to be thoughtful, productive citizens in a representative democracy. The values described below guide the specific activities the institution takes to realize these goals.

• Excellence: The University of Tennessee aspires to the top rank of public research universities. To that end, it insists on excellence in teaching, research, creative activities, and outreach.
• Honesty and Integrity: The unfettered pursuit of knowledge and wisdom depends upon integrity, honesty, and full disclosure. Members of the university community pursue truth freely and openly. They have the freedom to question established beliefs, explore complex social issues, and advance the frontiers of the arts, humanities, and natural and social sciences.
• Integration of Knowledge: The 20th century “multiversity” prospered by advanced research into increasingly specialized areas of investigation. This led inevitably to compartmentalization of knowledge. The 21st century requires integration and synthesis to solve the complex, interrelated problems of science and society. The university intends to be a leader in the development of this new knowledge.
• Liberal Education and Professional Practice: Liberal education in all the great branches of knowledge remains the foundation of higher education for all students and is valuable in and of itself. It opens minds to new ideas, experiences, and perspectives. Broad-based education in the humanities, arts, and sciences is an indispensable prerequisite for professional practice at the highest level. Technical expertise must be complemented by sensitivity to the needs of society.
• Research, Scholarship, and Artistry: The university community pursues the life of the mind in all its aspects (discovery, integration, teaching, application) and imparts these discoveries to new generations of scholars. The pursuit and dissemination of advanced knowledge is essential to the mission of research-extensive universities.
• Undergraduate Education: Great universities are based upon outstanding undergraduate programs that give priority not only to what and how faculty teach, but to what and how students learn in and out of the classroom. The university seeks to offer the finest possible undergraduate experience for all students.
• Graduate Education: Research universities invest heavily in graduate education, where distinguished senior scholars at the forefront of their disciplines work closely with beginning and advanced graduate student scholars to extend the frontiers of knowledge and maintain the historic knowledge that underpins new discoveries. Graduate education enriches culture and stimulates economic development by creating and applying new knowledge and technologies.
• Engagement: The land-grant university is an agent of change and an engine of democracy, educating students from all sectors of society and extending new knowledge to the people of Tennessee and beyond. In turn, the university community learns from the community as it advances solutions for social and economic issues. By interacting with the broader community, the university improves the quality of life.
• Global and Cultural Diversity: The world is now highly integrated economically and politically, but within nations and among nations the “clash of civilizations” conditions much of life. The university is devoted to cultural pluralism and seeks to ameliorate political conflicts and economic inequalities. On campus, differences are celebrated and respected within a community of broadly shared beliefs and values.
• Civic Education and Civic Renewal: A flourishing democratic society depends upon individuals who honestly, openly, and critically promote its values and institutions. The university is committed to fostering individuals who promote the ideals of representative democracy.
• Shared Governance: The university seeks to create a learning community in which all members fully participate. To that end, members of the university community participate in a collaborative decision-making process to set and implement goals for the institution.

Goals: Defining a Compelling Future for the University of Tennessee in the New Century

Goal 1: The university will enhance its national reputation for creation and dissemination of knowledge and enter the top tier of public research universities.

The university will provide a superior experience for every undergraduate student. High quality undergraduate education is marked by a curriculum that addresses both historic and contemporary knowledge; emphasizes critical thinking, communication, and problem solving skills; enables mastery of the fundamentals of a single discipline, and facilitates understanding of pluralistic perspectives. As a consequence of both curricular and co-curricular activities, all graduates of the university will be fully prepared to live rich, fulfilling, and responsible lives in the complex international environment of the 21st century.

The university will offer nationally competitive graduate and advanced professional programs in order to achieve membership in the top tier of public research universities. Leading the effort are outstanding faculty who excel in research and creative achievement and recruit and train highly qualified students from throughout the nation and world. While pursuing graduate and advanced professional studies, students work in laboratories and classrooms to acquire the skills needed to become scholars who are able to use and add to the specialized knowledge that is the core of graduate education. Graduates who leave the university with advanced degrees are expected to take their places nationally and internationally in the world of research, scholarship, and service. The quality of graduate and advanced professional programs is measured by the judgment of peers through professional organizations, national institutions such as the National Research Council, and the professional achievements of individual faculty.

The university will produce research and creative activity to enlarge the store of human knowledge and enhance the lives of the people of Tennessee and beyond. The hallmarks of innovative research are critical, exhaustive investigation and experimentation that seek to revise conventional wisdom in light of newly discovered information. Thus, the foremost aim of the University’s research and creative activity centers on the creation, dissemination, and application of new knowledge. The new discoveries enrich undergraduate and graduate teaching and learning across all academic disciplines. All faculty will engage in peer-reviewed scholarly research and creative activity and contribute to the common store of knowledge.

1.1 Identify programs of scholarly and instructional excellence to be preserved in times of fiscal scarcity and enhanced as funds are available.
1.2 Develop and communicate a shared vision of the institution’s academic excellence.
1.3 Enhance cultural programming and investment in the creative and performing arts.

Undergraduate Objectives

1.4 Revise and improve the university-wide general education program, ensuring consistency of requirements across colleges, clear expression of progression requirements, timely access to required courses, and articulation of the relationship between general education requirements and disciplinary majors.
1.5 Enhance the quality of all undergraduate major programs, incorporating distinctive undergraduate research and public service opportunities in all branches of knowledge.
1.6 Improve advising and student support services.
1.7 Develop and appropriately fund an all-university honors program for Tennessee’s highest achieving and most creative students.

Graduate Objectives

1.8 Develop graduate programs that compete nationally and internationally for the most highly qualified students.
1.9 Nurture graduate and advanced professional students in all aspects of academic and professional career preparation (teaching, research, and service).

Research Objectives

1.10 Articulate and communicate the expectation that all regular faculty must engage in peer-reviewed scholarly research and creative activity.
1.11 Provide the technical, academic support and library resources necessary for the university to achieve its research mission.
1.12 Promote interdisciplinary research.
1.13 Enhance support for areas of research, scholarship, and artistry that demonstrate excellence or significant potential for addressing critical state, national, and international issues and needs.
1.14 Recognize and reward excellence in all fields of scholarship and creative activity.

Goal 2: The university will expand its services to the people of Tennessee and beyond and forge partnerships to enhance the quality and effectiveness of the institution.

As befits a land-grant institution, the university’s faculty, staff, and students will collaborate with community leaders to improve the quality of life. Through volunteerism and service learning, students combine academic study with community service. Faculty and staff collaborate with community educators, businesses, and institutions to facilitate life-long learning, enhance economic development, build social and human capital, and encourage collaboration and/or adaptation of new practices. Key indicators of success for engagement are responsiveness, accessibility, integration, coordination, environmental quality, educational level and economic sustainability. Through effective engagement, the university will address significant issues facing society and create better communities for the 21st century.

The university will forge strategic partnerships with civic, business and political entities. The University’s advanced research facilities facilitate partnerships with such organizations as the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The Institute for Public Service, the Agricultural Extension Service, and the Agricultural Experiment Station have multiple partnerships with cities and counties that magnify their impact on the state and beyond. Placement of students in cooperative education and internships creates situations of mutual advantage. The partnership with ORNL, a premier science laboratory operated by UT-Battelle, a joint venture between the university and Battelle Memorial Institute, provides the potential for the university to become recognized as a top ten research university in physical science, biological science, and computational science.

2.1 Increase and reward the involvement of faculty, staff, and students in outreach activities, thereby fulfilling the 21st century land-grant mission.
2.2 Develop internal and external partnerships that are mutually beneficial and enhance the stature of the university as a top tier institution.
2.3 Cultivate community partnerships that enrich the quality of life in the city and region.
2.4 Deepen the university’s collaboration with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory through the productive UT-Battelle partnership.
2.5 Strengthen alliances with P-16 schools to expand the quantity and quality of educational opportunities in Tennessee.
2.6 Strengthen the transfer of technology and knowledge resulting from the university’s research and scholarly activities.
2.7 Become the university of choice for businesses and industries in Tennessee and beyond.
2.8 Develop and distribute courses, degrees, and training modules through distance learning technologies.

Goal 3: The university will recruit and retain outstanding students, faculty, and staff.

The stature of the university stems from the quality of its students, faculty and staff. Excellence in research and creative activity, teaching, and service is the goal of every faculty member and affirms the university’s status as a top research-extensive public university. Sustaining a high level of productivity and excellence in the creation, dissemination, and sharing of knowledge by the faculty requires a functional and supportive infrastructure, outstanding undergraduate and graduate students, superior libraries, state-of-the-art technology, competitive salaries, meaningful shared governance, and opportunities for professional development. A highly qualified, well-compensated support staff working collaboratively with the faculty is crucial if the university is to sustain its national and international prominence. The university’s enrollment management plan will guide the recruitment of excellent students and will address the rising demand for higher education in the state.

3.1 Adopt and implement an enrollment management plan for graduate and undergraduate programs, including strategies to recruit the most highly qualified Tennessee students.
3.2 Develop and implement a plan to improve the retention and graduation rates of undergraduate students, matching the median of peer institutions.
3.3 Improve the effectiveness and job satisfaction of all university personnel by means of enhanced training, professional development, mentoring, and support services.
3.4 Improve the environment for staff by developing appropriate classifications and career advancement opportunities.
3.5 Provide fair, competitive compensation and benefits for all employees (including graduate assistants).
3.6 Reaffirm the active engagement of faculty in recruiting, retaining, and evaluating faculty.
3.7 Clarify and improve the processes used to define faculty and staff responsibilities, effort distribution, performance expectations, and evaluation criteria.

Goal 4: The university will build a diverse, inclusive campus community by fostering demographic and intellectual diversity within a common institutional purpose.

The university will recruit and retain students, faculty, and staff who are broadly representative of the intellectual and demographic diversity of the larger community. The university will serve all qualified students without regard to individual differences. It will foster a campus climate marked by intellectual curiosity, generosity of spirit, understanding of other people and cultures, and celebration of cultural pluralism. The university will support a rich array of disciplinary and interdisciplinary programs and encourage students to explore the life of the mind. The institution will match its commitment to specialized academic units with increased attention to a common purpose. As an important member of the international scholarly community, the university will prepare its students for the increasingly global society by welcoming international students and scholars, exchanging scholarly information with international colleagues, and sending its faculty and students abroad for study and research.

4.1 Develop and implement a university-wide plan to increase the diversity of the university by recruiting students from throughout the state, and by emphasizing the recruitment of students, faculty, and staff who have been historically under-represented.
4.2 Maintain and strengthen policies and procedures protecting freedom of inquiry and expression.
4.3 Encourage interdisciplinary programs focusing on historically under-represented groups, regions, and domains of inquiry.
4.4 Internationalize the campus by enhancing study abroad opportunities, with an initial objective of 20 percent of all students studying abroad, and enrolling larger numbers of international students.
4.5 Foster an improved understanding and appreciation of cultural pluralism in courses, curricula, co-curricular activities, student support services, and research projects.
4.6 Develop and implement professional development programs designed to improve sensitivity to cultural differences.
4.7 Support research, scholarship, and artistry that is inclusive of all viewpoints, especially those of historically under-represented groups.
4.8 Design and implement civic education programs to improve civility on the campus and in the community.

Goal 5: The university will upgrade the infrastructure to support extraordinary student learning and faculty scholarship.

The university will provide appropriate information resources to support the needs of the learning community. The university’s information capability will take advantage of the collective human intellect and the scholarly record so that students, faculty, and staff can create, critique, and apply new information and communication technologies. The university will promote the sharing of information resources, the application of sound business practices, and the creation of new knowledge. High quality support for computing, networking, educational and classroom technology, electronic information resources, and administrative systems is required.

The university will provide modern, safe and accessible facilities. The quantity and quality of physical facilities and administrative systems are critical to the recruitment of outstanding faculty, staff, and students and to the quality of life they experience at the University. Attractive and functional space must be maintained and equipped with state-of-the-art tools for high quality instruction and research and creativity. All facilities must be commensurate with the university’s high expectations for student learning and faculty scholarship. A Campus Master Plan provides a framework for high-quality space and infrastructure. The plan defines current and future faculty needs, promotes a sense of community by providing both indoor and outdoor spaces for interaction of students and faculty, integrates curricular and co-curricular spaces, upgrades student living facilities, and enhances the relationship of the campus with the city of Knoxville.

5.1 Engage faculty, staff, and students in setting priorities and policies to guide the development and implementation of a comprehensive information technology plan, including the provision of technical support for teaching, research, and service.
5.2 Enhance the physical and virtual library resources necessary to support teaching and research.
5.3 Improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the university’s administrative and shared governance systems.
5.4 Ensure the efficient and effective management of space by engaging representatives from all segments of the campus.
5.5 Implement the Campus Master Plan by beautifying the campus grounds, creating outdoor and indoor spaces to promote community, renovating existing buildings, and constructing new academic and research facilities.
5.6 Provide high quality campus maintenance and custodial services.
5.7 Develop a campus culture that encourages recycling and environmentally friendly business practices.
5.8 Ensure that all campus facilities are physically accessible and environmentally safe.

Goal 6: The university will enhance its resources to realize its institutional mission.

The university will work with its public and private partners to secure the resources necessary to achieve excellence. To improve public understanding of its land-grant mission, The university will develop and deliver an integrated marketing, communications, and public relations plan. The university will reallocate existing funds to its highest priorities, seek improved state support, charge appropriate fees for services, levy tuition and fees at affordable levels, and enhance funded research. The university will seek to expand private support by enhancing relations with alumni and cultivating relationships with individuals, corporations, and foundations.

6.1 Create an integrated marketing, communications and public relations plan that is focused on institutional priorities and improves communication of the university’s mission, goals, and accomplishments to internal and external constituents.
6.2 Increase funding from private, public, and self-generated sources and ensure alignment with campus priorities.
6.3 Develop support for institutional priorities by capitalizing on opportunities with the University of Tennessee Foundation.
6.4 Mobilize institutional constituencies to promote the value of the university to the state.
6.5 Articulate and implement a comprehensive federal relations strategy on behalf of university priorities.
6.6 Develop polices and procedures to encourage entrepreneurship and the commercialization of intellectual property.
6.7 Recommend setting tuition and fees at levels that ensure adequate institutional funding and maintain access to the university.

Adopted March 2002