A Call to UTC Faculty and Staff for Innovative Ideas.  To build on your ideas and the culture of innovation UTC already has, we have established the Chancellor’s Innovation Fund and need your ideas and energy!  Please visit the Chancellor’s Innovation Fund webpage for details about how to submit a proposal to address a challenge or opportunity with an innovative solution you’ve identified.  The deadline for submission of proposals is 5 p.m. today, Feb. 15, but it only takes a few minutes to submit your concepts and thoughts!  A successful proposal may be awarded up to a maximum of $15,000 in one-time funding.

VW Day is February 22.  We are hosting our first VW Drive Your Career Day on Thursday, Feb. 22, an event for students to explore internship and career opportunities while meeting with VW personnel.  This is a very exciting time as we grow our relationship with VW.

UTC – UTHSC – Erlanger Partnership.  You will soon hear about a new collaboration between UTC’s pre-health advising program, Erlanger Hospital and the UT Health Science Center’s School of Medicine, Chattanooga.  This semester, 76 UTC students spanning 11 majors will get the opportunity to job shadow in the Erlanger Emergency Department, gaining valuable experience watching doctors in action.  This is a great opportunity for our students.

Spring 2024 Enrollment.  The official 14th-day spring enrollment numbers for 2024 show UTC with a 3.0% increase (headcount) from spring 2023.  Undergraduate headcount went up 2.7% to 9,073, and graduate student headcount was up 5.0% to 1,414.  Thank you to everyone for their outstanding work in retention and recruitment.

Celebration of Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities.  Many of our students are engaged in research, scholarship, and creative activities.  For many students, this is a life-changing experience – I know it was for me.  The Office for Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavor (URaCE) organizes a conference each year that highlights and celebrates the research carried out by all members of our campus community.  The UTC Spring Research and Arts Conference will be held on Wednesday, April 10, in the University Center.  The event showcases the research and creative works of UTC undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty and staff.  Presentation formats include posters, oral presentations, panel discussions, and performances.  The submission deadline is Feb. 25.

NSF Career Award.  Congratulations to Dr. Hamdy Ibrahim, assistant professor in mechanical engineering, on receiving a prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER award for the project titled “Hybrid Surface Coating Toward Corrosion-Controlled Magnesium-Based Implants.”  Every year since the program’s inception in 1994, the NSF Faculty Early Career Development Program has presented CAREER awards of substantial research funding to a select few early-career faculty considered to have the potential to serve as academic role models in their fields and advance their institutions’ missions.  This is a huge honor for Dr. Ibrahim and speaks to the high quality of his research program.

Blue and Gold Memorial.  Each year we gather together at the Blue and Gold Memorial Ceremony to honor UTC students, faculty, staff and alumni who have passed away over the last year.  This year’s event occurs at 6 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 26, at Patten Chapel.  The names of those we have lost are recited in a ceremony signifying that they will always be members of our MOC family.  This tribute is our way of symbolizing that, while they are no longer physically with us, they are permanently among us.  Please join us.