The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Campus Advisory Board met remotely Tuesday to consider a proposed new strategic vision for the institution. The board provided feedback on the new vision, mission, and goals statements, which were presented to the board following a year-long process to gather input across campus and beyond.
The advisory board voted unanimously to send the draft statement to the UT Board of Trustees for approval at its annual meeting in June. If adopted, the new strategic vision will succeed the university’s most recent strategic plan, Vol Vision 2020, which was developed in 2010.
The draft includes vision and mission statements that went through multiple revisions throughout the year, reflecting the university’s commitment to its role as the state’s flagship land-grant institution.
“This was an opportunity to put a stake in the ground around who we are and who we want to be,” Chancellor Donde Plowman said after the meeting. “We wanted to use the strategic vision to define what it means to be a land-grant institution, to be a Volunteer, and to be guided by the Volunteer spirit.”
The document also includes five goals that center on the university’s pursuit of high-quality accessible education, research and creativity, diversity and inclusion, collaboration and innovation, and connecting with Tennesseans and communities around the world. Once the document is finalized, the university will establish implementation committees for each goal, chaired by one or more vice chancellors, to begin looking at specific action items, timelines, and metrics.
Meeting materials and the archived webcast are available on the chancellor’s website.
The board was created in 2018 when the Tennessee General Assembly passed the UT FOCUS Act, restructuring the Board of Trustees and creating an advisory board for each campus in the UT System.
The board is charged with making campus-level recommendations to the Board of Trustees on strategic planning, operating budgets, and tuition, as well as advising the chancellor.
In addition to the faculty and student representatives, the members of the advisory board are Alexia Poe and Tom Smith of Nashville, John Tickle of Bristol, and Syreeta Vaughn of Knoxville.
The next meeting of the advisory board is Friday, April 30 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. EST. The meeting will be virtual.
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CONTACT
Tyra Haag (865-974-5460, tyra.haag@tennessee.edu)