November 19-25, 2024

Updates and news for the week of November 19-25, 2024

The UTC Campus Weekly newsletter is distributed every Tuesday morning. If you have news, events or announcements you would like shared with campus, please submit your information to peyton-l-schultz@utc.edu or chuck-wasserstrom@utc.edu in the Division of Communications and Marketing by 3 p.m. on Friday for placement in the following Tuesday’s newsletter.

UTC News  |  UTC Events Calendar  |  Campus Updates

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Highlights

Spring 2025 Dual Enrollment Options

High school juniors and seniors can now experience college-level learning through UTC’s newly announced spring 2025 dual-enrollment courses. Ten general education courses—chosen for their strong transferability to most four-year institutions—will be available in various formats: on the UTC campus after the high school day, online with set schedules and online with flexible options.

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International Education Week

Join the Center for Global Education for International Education Week (IEW), a joint initiative of the U.S. Departments of State and Education, which recognizes the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide.

Each fall, the Center for Global Education celebrates IEW through special events related to international learning, leadership and exchange at UTC. IEW events celebrate cultural diversity, global awareness and the value that international scholars and students bring to campus communities. Attend events listed below for a chance to win a T-shirt.

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Outstanding People of UTC

Dr. DeAnna Beasley and Terrence Banks

UTC’s Dr. DeAnna Beasley and Terrence Banks have been selected to the prestigious 2024-2025 All-Southern Conference Faculty and Staff Team. Beasley, a UC Foundation associate professor in the Department of Biology, Geology and Environmental Science, and Banks, associate director of recruitment in Undergraduate Admissions, were chosen to represent UTC alongside faculty and staff members from each of the 10 SoCon institutions.

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Dr. Kristi Wick

Congratulations to UTC faculty and staff who received awards or submitted proposals for sponsored programs in October. The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs announced that faculty and staff attracted $1,037,054 in external grant and contract awards and submitted proposals for the potential to generate over $4,647,257 in external funding if awarded.

Among those receiving awards in October was a group led by Dr. Kristina Wick (School of Nursing), who received $1,000,000 from the Tennessee Department of Health for the project titled “National Initiative to Address COVID-19 Health Disparities Among Populations at High-Risk and Underserved, Including Racial and Ethnic Minority Populations and Rural Communities.”

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Dr. Tian Li, UTC assistant professor of physics and chief technology officer for the Quantum Center, left, and Vice Chancellor for Research Reinhold Mann

Advancing quantum science is a national priority of the federal government, and a proposal to establish the UTC Quantum Center has been awarded $3.5 million from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The funding from NIST, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, will be awarded over a four-year period in support of four distinct focus areas.

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Check out these Mocs in the news:

• Lesley Boyd earned a bid to the NCAA National Cross Country Championships to be held Saturday, Nov. 23, in Madison, Wisconsin. Boyd finished 10th in the NCAA South Region Championship last Friday.
• Local 3 News and News 12 Now spoke with Dr. John Harbison and Robert Dorsett at the Veterans Day Luncheon.
• Theatre students Katie Forrester and Cody Robinson went on NewsChannel 9’s “The Daily Refresh” to promote this week’s UTC Theatre Co. production of “Bus Stop.”
• Dr. Chad Harriss‘ “A Moc’s First Year” class visit to a concert at Cherry Street Tavern was chronicled by the Chattanoogan and Chattanooga Music Guide.
• Associate Professor of Educational Leadership Barry Kamrath discussed Bridge to Service—a local nonprofit that helps remove the poverty barrier when enlisting in the U.S. Military—on NewChannel 9’s “The Daily Refresh.”
• Director and Chief Economist of the Center for Regional Economic Research Howard Wall was interviewed by NewsChannel 9 about a proposed bill that could eliminate grocery tax.
• Dr. Bento Lobo joined a segment of NewsChannel 9’s ARC Chattanooga to discuss stocks and bitcoin surges following the presidential election.
• NewsChannel 9 spoke with Brett Fuchs about the decrease of Title IX complaints among UTC and other Tennessee universities.
• Criminal justice professor Katelyn Hancock spoke to News 12 Now about her “Ethics in Criminal Justice” course and its annual “Pouring for Purpose” event.

Mark Your Calendar

Dayne Dalrymple (photo courtesy of Ray Soldano/GoMocs.com)

This week’s Mocs home athletics calendar:

• Wednesday, 11/20: Women’s basketball vs. King University (Tenn.), McKenzie Arena, 6 p.m.
• Thursday, 11/21: Men’s basketball vs. Johnson (Tenn.), McKenzie Arena, 7 p.m.
• Saturday, 11/23: Wrestling vs. Princeton, Maclellan Gym, noon
• Saturday, 11/23: Wrestling vs. Purdue, Maclellan Gym, 2 p.m.
• Monday, 11/25: Women’s basketball vs. Lipscomb, McKenzie Arena, 11 a.m.
• Monday, 11/25: Men’s basketball vs. Tennessee State (Coke Classic), McKenzie Arena, 7 p.m.

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The Gary W. Rollins College of Business will hold virtual information sessions about UTC’s Master of Business Administration, MS Management, MS Data Analytics, Master of Accountancy, and Business Analytics Certificate graduate programs. The Rollins College of Business graduate degree programs provide flexible course options and career advancement resources to advance your education and elevate your career!

MSM Information Sessions

• Tuesday, Nov. 19: Noon: Register Here … 5 p.m.: Register Here

MSDA Information Sessions

• Wednesday, Nov. 20: Noon: Register Here … 5 p.m.: Register Here

Business Analytics Certificate Information Session

• Thursday, Nov. 21: Noon: Register Here … 5 p.m.: Register Here

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Katie Forrester, left, and Ellen Rich in “Bus Stop,” performing at the UTC Fine Arts Center’s Dorothy Hackett Ward Theatre from Nov. 19-23.

The UTC Theatre Co. continues its 2024-2025 season with “Bus Stop,” taking place at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 19-23 at the UTC Fine Arts Center’s Dorothy Hackett Ward Theatre—with a 2 p.m. matinee performance on Saturday, Nov. 23. William Inge’s “Bus Stop” is a quintessentially American story about bus passengers stranded by a blizzard in a diner.

Tickets can be purchased online by clicking here and through the UTC Box Office—in person or by phone (423-425-4369). Tickets are $20 for general admission and $15 for students (with proof of student ID) and seniors.

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Come celebrate GIS day on Wednesday, Nov. 20, with UTC’s Interdisciplinary Geospatial Technologies Lab.

To celebrate GIS Day, the IGTLab will offer a free cartography workshop from 9-11:30 a.m., followed by two guest speakers from noon-1 p.m. who are leaders in remote sensing and imagery analysis:

• Biology, Geology and Environmental Science Associate Professor Azad Hossain will speak about his NASA-funded research using remote sensing of water quality in the Tennessee River.
• Paul Dudley, location intelligence analyst with the State of Tennessee, will speak about the work services that his office provides.

GIS Day events are open to the campus and the public. To register, click here. For more information, click here.

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The Office of Planning, Evaluation and Institutional Research (OPEIR) will host another faculty workshop regarding the process for creating and implementing new academic programs. An overview will be provided on the required procedural steps and potential research used to support the proposal of new degree majors, degree concentrations and certificate programs.

RSVP is not required to attend but will help with planning communication. RSVP here.

• Wednesday, Nov. 20: Program feasibility studies, 9 a.m., UTC Library Room 118A. This session will dive into the analysis of program and labor market data used to determine the feasibility and support for developing a new academic program. Attendance at the previous session is not required but suggested.

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The campus community is invited to join bi-weekly sessions of a forum to discuss select topics in Quantum Information Science and Engineering in which important developments are underway at UTC or elsewhere. All sessions are from 4-5 p.m. in Lupton Hall Room 389. For more information, visit utc.edu/research/quantum-center.

Upcoming discussion dates and topics:

• Thursday, Nov. 21: Chris Cox, “Summary of Proceedings of recent SIAM workshop on Quantum Information Sciences“
• Thursday, Dec. 5: Tam Bang, “Quantum Computing in Intelligent Transportation Systems”

The series resumes in 2025 on these dates: Jan. 9, Jan. 23, Feb. 6 and Feb. 20. Details on topics will be shared as soon as they are finalized.

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The Department of Chemistry and Physics continues its fall semester seminar series from 3-4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 22, in Grote Room 411, with a talk presented by Professor Charles M. Garner from the University of Memphis.

The discussion, titled “Prospecting for new organic reactions: New ways to use GC instruments in heterogeneous catalysis discovery,” explores cost-effective methods from the Garner Lab that use gas chromatography to uncover new chemical reactions by testing different catalysts and materials, making cutting-edge research more accessible to a wide range of labs.

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Mark you calendars for Chamique Holdsclaw, a mental health advocate, Olympic gold medalist and WNBA Hall of Famer, who will be holding a conversation at 1 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 25, in the UC Auditorium.

Hailed as the “female Michael Jordan,” Chamique Holdsclaw was a basketball superstar. From leading the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers to three straight NCAA national championships with her team and legendary Coach Pat Summitt to the Olympics to the WNBA, nearly no one has had more focus or drive on the court. And yet underneath, she was pushing down mental health issues that eventually led to a total mental and physical breakdown.

The event is free and open to the public. Please reach out with any questions at mcc@utc.edu.

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The UTC Department of Physical Therapy class of 2026 is hosting a gift-wrapping fundraiser to help cover expenses for students to attend the APTA CSM in Houston, Texas. Bring your gifts to be wrapped on Thursday, Dec. 5, and Friday, Dec. 6, at the James R. Mapp Building.

Drop off: 8-10 a.m.
Pick up: 12:30-3 p.m.

Pricing:

• $5 per gift
• $40 for 10 gifts
• 10% discount if you provide your own wrapping paper.

Please bring boxes if needed for your items. If you are interested, reach out to Holly Harris at 615-947-7303 or hhw894@mocs.utc.edu to schedule times and fill out a form.

Campus Updates

University Center Renovations Update

The renovation of the University Center has officially begun and some temporary walls have been built to separate the early phase construction area from the rest of the UC. With these walls come changes to how campus will access certain departments and rooms in the UC.

• The Admissions Office and Orientation Office are only accessible via the exterior admissions entrance on Terrell Owens Way. The entire first floor, except for these offices, is now offline.
• The Financial Aid Office, Mosaic Coaching Lounge and UC Auditorium are only available via the exterior entrance from Mocs Alumni Drive. You cannot access these areas from the gallery area of the second floor.
• Access to the Mocs One Center and Career Connections will continue to be via the doors on the Vine St. side of their temporary locations in the Chattanooga Rooms.

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We are still seeking submissions for poster and birds-of-a-feather sessions for the 2025 UT Innovative Technologies Symposium, taking place Jan. 28-29, 2025, at the Knoxville Convention Center. The deadline to submit within these presentation formats has been extended to Wednesday, Nov. 27.

To submit a proposal, visit https://oit.utk.edu/news/proposals-extended-ut-it-symposium/.

Thank you to those who submitted presentation proposals. Decisions on all presentation formats will be made in early December.

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UTC Newsroom

UT System President Randy Boyd has appointed Dr. Robert Dooley as interim chancellor of the UTC. Dooley, dean of the Gary W. Rollins College of Business, will assume the role Jan. 1.

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Less than a mile from the UTC campus, a village of moms bond through one shared experience: managing single parenthood in college. Founded by Chattanooga local Cara Hicks in 2014, the MOMentum Network was created to bring together single student moms at UTC and Chattanooga State Community College and provide them with the resources and support they need to be successful.

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Here are some other recent UTC stories featured in the Newsroom:

• Andrew Gaddis, a criminal justice major at UTC, received the Secretary’s Meritorious Service Silver Medal at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary’s Award Ceremony. The medal—the second-highest award presented by the Secretary—recognizes outstanding leadership, superior public service or unusually significant contributions to strengthening homeland security. Gaddis medically retired in March after eight years in the U.S. Coast Guard.
• UTC nickelback Reuben Lowery III is one of two Mocs named to the prestigious Senior Bowl Watchlist, but he is better known off the football field for his academics, including a 3.78 GPA and a degree in engineering.
• At 21 years of age, John Harbison was leading a team of 20 soldiers and was responsible for $2 million in equipment—a responsibility he hadn’t fully anticipated. Now a professor of practice for the Learning and Leadership programs at UTC, Harbison shared his journey from U.S. Army officer to educator as the keynote speaker at the Chancellor’s Annual Veterans Day Luncheon.
• The third annual UTC Power C Tour returned home last Wednesday, making its last stop at the ARC—where prospective students got the chance to learn about academic programs, admissions, housing, financial aid and campus life at UTC.

WUTC

Garry Posey, founder of the Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga and a Wolf Trap teaching artist at the Arts-Based Collaborative on UTC’s campus, was recently featured on WUTC’s “Scenic Roots.”