Spring Update: Expanding Opportunity
Seven months ago, at the Flagship Address, I invited every Volunteer to join me in moving our university to the next level.
Since then, I have been amazed at how enthusiastically our campus has embraced these goals and how much progress we have made toward achieving them.
UT isn’t just growing; we are thriving. Together, we are taking bold steps toward our priorities of cultivating an unparalleled Volunteer experience, conducting high-impact research that improves lives, and serving as a beacon for athletics leadership on and off the field. These bold steps have enabled us to reach new heights and expand opportunities for our students and our state.
Providing an unparalleled student experience
More students want to come here than ever before, and that speaks to the quality of the Volunteer experience. Our honors program—ranked No. 8 in the nation—has been enhanced with a first-of-its-kind curriculum designed specifically for today’s entering students. We also intend to enlarge the program so that we can keep more of Tennessee’s top talent in the state.
We’re also improving outcomes for Pell-eligible students and narrowing the gaps that too often persist between them and their peers. Through the Rocky Top Scholars program, every Pell-eligible student will gain access to intentional academic support that meets their specific needs.
At the same time, we’re focused on graduating career-ready students and creating academic programs that provide pathways to real jobs. In the College of Emerging and Collaborative Studies, stackable certificates allow students to customize their education with skills like cyber security, data science, and applied AI. Partnerships like the Nursing Scholars Program teach and train students at UT Medical Center to prepare them with the real clinical experience needed for their future profession. And Vol Edge, a comprehensive career-preparation program, equips students with confidence and professional skills for success after graduation.
These are just a few of the ways we’re doing things differently here. All the while, our students are building community and finding a sense of belonging at rates higher than ever before. A record number of students are getting involved on campus through our 500-plus student organizations. That kind of engagement doesn’t happen by accident. It’s a product of a campus culture shaped by the teams across UT who support our students.
Winning the right way
We’re committed to having the best athletics department in the country, a goal that relies on putting the needs of our student-athletes first in training and in the classroom. We’re prioritizing academic success and well-being, and the results speak for themselves. Our student-athletes have reached a record-high cumulative GPA across all sports, with 283 making the Dean’s List. A record number of student athletes also made the 2025 fall SEC academic-honor roll, earning one of the top spots in the conference.
We’re also helping shape the future of college athletics. Others are looking to our leadership in driving the conversations to solve complex problems in college sports. Both in the SEC and across the broader landscape, we have built trust with our peers and our fans to navigate the evolving nature of college athletics the right way. We’re dedicated to creating an environment that is fair to student-athletes, upholds our values, and produces an unmatched fan experience.
Building more capacity for high-impact research
We are taking big swings by investing in the people, infrastructure, and partnerships to accelerate our ability to produce life-changing research.
Our expertise is already globally sought after. UT is leading a team of researchers responsible for creating the safest and most consistent playing surfaces for FIFA World Cup 26. Six of our faculty members were named to Clarivate’s 2025 list of the world’s most highly cited researchers—placing them in the top 1 percent of researchers in their respective fields. And two faculty members were named National Academy of Inventors Fellows, the highest professional distinction awarded solely to inventors.
We’re determined to maintain that standard of excellence and raise our standing even further, with a goal to become a top research institution among public universities without a medical school.
To get there, we are recruiting preeminent scholars to bring their renowned research to UT. Over the last six months we have reviewed more than 100 proposals, identified preeminent faculty targets, and started recruiting them to join us at UT.
We have focused our recruitment on scholars whose research compliments our strengths and meets the needs of our state. We expect to announce our first cohort of hires soon, and the initiative will continue over the next few years. We’re also growing the spaces where discovery happens. We have two existing innovation districts—advanced energy in the Oak Ridge Innovation Corridor and precision health and advanced manufacturing in the Peninsula Innovation District, which includes the UT Research Park. Plans for a third district focused on next-generation computing and AI are already underway. Building out these districts will enable us to add 495,000 square feet of research space over the next five years.
Increasing our capacity is the next big step to broadening our impact and elevating our position as a leading research institution.
Accepting the challenge
We are moving forward with a clear sense of purpose and an ambitious vision for what UT can become. We have audacious goals. But we also have the strength and the will to make them a reality, accepting the challenge to be even better.
That is the responsibility of a great university—to push boundaries, work collaboratively, and find solutions to the problems that matter most to the people we serve.
Together, there are no limits to what we can achieve.