MEMPHIS — The long-term future of the University of Tennessee and streamlining administration will be the chief topics of discussion at the UT board of trustees meeting here Feb. 3.
The trustees will meet at 2 p.m. in 305 Randolph Student Center at UT-Memphis. Gov. Don Sundquist will chair the meeting.
The board’s session will precede the governor’s Forum on Tennessee Higher Education Thursday evening at the Peabody Hotel.
The trustees will hear reports on UT President J. Wade Gilley’s committees on the future and on streamlining. The board also will consider changes in its committee structure. The trustees’ finance committee will meet at 11 a.m. in 214 Randolph Center.
Sundquist and Dr. Stanley Ikenberry, president of the American Council on Education, will speak at the forum.
All members of the state legislature, the UT board, the State Board of Regents, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, and Memphis business and civic leaders have been invited.
“Higher education is an especially timely topic as the General Assembly prepares to debate next year’s budget,” Sundquist said. “I want Tennessee colleges and universities to be among the top-tiered schools in the country.
“I am confident we can make that happen, but we must do what is necessary to invest in the future of higher education.”
High on Gilley’s list is moving UT to the ranks of the nation’s top public universities.
“We have specific plans to dramatically raise the university-s national research profile, and this board meeting is the first official step toward that goal,” Gilley said. “We are very happy that Gov. Sundquist, the legislative leadership and many others interested in higher education will be in Memphis for the forum.”