December 2006

A UT economist says with a little more jingle in their pockets — thanks to cheaper gasoline and home heating costs — consumers might be spending a bit more this holiday season.

As a boy growing up in Alaska, Bill Oefelein’s sense of adventure was more about exploring the woods than exploring the stars. After a time, though, he was drawn to the skies. Oefelein, 41, who earned his master’s in Aviation Systems at the UT Space Institute, will get his chance to explore the final frontier

University of Tennessee interior design students will soon travel to an orphanage in El Salvador with the hope of playing a key role in building its children a new home.

About 60 faculty and students from the University of Tennessee’s Colleges of Social Work, Nursing and Veterinary Medicine will reach out to Knoxville’s homeless community on Friday, Dec. 8.

The audit committee of the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet Dec. 12 in Nashville. The meeting is set for noon CT in Suite 212 of the Capitol Boulevard Bldg., 6th Avenue.

To accommodate its growing staff and increased program offerings, UT’s Law Enforcement Innovation Center will move to a larger space in a donated building in Oak Ridge.

A group of area government officials completed a leadership program at the University of Tennessee’s Institute for Public Service on Nov. 17.

Rita Sanders Geier, a civil rights pioneer who helped to redefine higher education in Tennessee, will speak to University of Tennessee graduates during the fall 2006 commencement ceremony Sunday, Dec. 17 at Thompson-Boling Assembly Center and Arena.