KNOXVILLE — University of Tennessee President John Petersen begins an annual series of campus visits with a stop in Chattanooga today.
In the next four weeks, Petersen will make day-long stops at each of the UT System’s five campuses, and he will meet with employees of UT’s statewide Institute of Agriculture, Institute for Public Service, and those with varied UT entities in the Nashville area. Campus and institute leadership will outline strategic priorities and needs for the coming fiscal year, and faculty and staff will discuss issues and concerns at informal question-and-answer sessions with the president.
“The University of Tennessee has a presence in all 95 Tennessee counties — a statewide campus — and critically important obligations as the state’s land-grant institution to develop an educated workforce, to drive economic development and to enhance quality-of-life opportunities for all Tennesseans,” Petersen said.
“It takes all of us in the UT family throughout the state to fulfill our obligations, and these visits will offer key opportunities for meeting face-to-face, listening to each other, and working together on sometimes tough decisions for moving the University forward despite a challenging economic climate.”
At several sites, including an additional stop in Kingsport, Petersen also will meet with elected officials, business leaders, educators and UT trustees. He will discuss priorities for partnering to achieve the University’s mission for the good of the state.
This campus tour is the fourth annual swing across the state for Petersen, who has been president of the UT System since 2004.
Additional scheduled stops include:
Sept. 22: UT Martin
Sept. 23: UT Health Science Center, Memphis
Sept. 25: UT Space Institute
Sept. 29: Northeast Tennessee community leaders, Kingsport
Oct. 1: UT Institute for Public Service
Oct. 2: UT Institute of Agriculture
Oct. 7: UT Knoxville (rescheduled from Sept. 30)
Oct. 10: Nashville-area UT faculty and staff
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Contact: Gina Stafford, 865-974-074, stafford@tennessee.edu
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