Welcome back, Vols!

I hope you returned to campus refreshed and ready to achieve your goals for the new year.

Last semester, the cabinet and I spent a lot of time talking about the kind of leaders we want to be at UT. We developed a set of principles of engagement to which we have committed. I want to share those with you:

• Work daily for the well-being, ethical treatment, and success of each person
• Establish relationships of trust
• Advance a spirit of courage and imagination
• Transform failure into opportunities for growth and the means to success
• Respect individuals’ rights to self-determination and confidentiality
• Foster true collaboration
• Treat each other with courtesy, openness, understanding, and forgiveness, especially when we disagree
• Use our influence to actively address issues of equity and inclusion
• Value personal integrity, self-reflection, and continuous improvement as pathways to recognizing the worth of each person

You can find our signed commitment here. I want you to hold us to these principles.

Let’s all commit to being the best we can be as a campus community in this new year. A good way to start is by thinking about how we relate to one another. When our actions align with our values and trust provides the basis for our relationships, UT will be a campus where everyone matters and everyone belongs.

Happy new year!

Donde Plowman
Chancellor