The University of Tennessee Board of Trustees Friday unanimously approved a new strategic vision for the Knoxville campus, marking the culmination of a nearly two-year collaborative effort to envision a bold future for the state’s flagship land-grant institution.
“The vote was an endorsement of the tremendous care, thought, and innovation that people across this campus invested in crafting a shared vision for our future,” said Chancellor Donde Plowman. “I am looking forward to working with everyone across campus to bring this vision to life and usher our university into its next great chapter.”
The process of creating a new vision began in December 2019, and although the process was briefly paused at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, it resumed in the late spring of 2020. The work was led by Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor John Zomchick and Chancellor’s Professor Suzie Allard and included contributions from at least 800 people across the campus who served on committees, attended feedback sessions, and provided suggestion to drafts.
The vision includes five goals, each with a series of objectives, priorities, and metrics. Both an overview of these goals and a detailed document can be found on the strategic vision web page.
The trustees on Friday approved several other measures impacting the Knoxville campus:
- A voluntary retirement incentive program for faculty who meet criteria previously laid out in a message from Zomchick.
- The naming of the College of Nursing Building, with its planned renovation and expansion, the Croley Nursing Building after donor and alumna Sara Croley and her husband, Ross, honoring their transformational gift to the college.
- The creation of the Department of Africana Studies, which has a 50-plus-year history as a storied program within the College of Arts and Sciences.
CONTACT:
Tyra Haag (865-974-5460, tyra.haag@tennessee.edu)