Next Tuesday, September 15th, UTC will observe Founders Day. As part of the celebration, I will be offering a State of the University address in the University Center’s Auditorium at 12:30 p.m. The Student Alumni Council will also be serving birthday cake in the Chamberlain Pavilion from 11a.m. to noon and 1:15 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Please join me for this important event and celebrate all of the achievements of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
A huge crowd attended Saturday’s Mocs game against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. Before the game we recognized our high achieving student-athletes for their academic accomplishments. This past spring Mocs athletes had a school record average GPA of 3.11. We can all be proud of their success.
With the dip in enrollment this fall of 164 student FTE, we are reexamining everything we are doing related to student recruitment and student success. The creation of an Enrollment Management Advisory Committee (EMAC) was approved by the Executive Leadership Team on August 26, 2015. The goal of the committee is to provide the campus with best and high impact practices to maximize return on investment in all aspects of recruiting and retaining students. The committee will be chaired by Yancy Freeman, Assistant Provost for Enrollment Services and their first meeting will be on September 25th.
EMAC members include a wide range of individuals from all aspects of our campus: Assistant Provost for Complete College, Student Success and Integrated Planning, Dr. Stuart Benkert; Associate Vice Chancellor for Marketing and Communications, Mr. Chuck Cantrelll; Dean of the College of Business, Dr. Robert Dooley; Interim Dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science, Dr. Neslihan Alp; Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Jeff Elwell; Dean of the College of Health, Education and Professional Studies, Dr. Valerie Rutledge; Dean of the Graduate School, Dr. Joanne Romagni; Dean of the Honors College, Dr. Linda Frost; Dean of the Library, Ms. Theresa Liedtka; Executive Director of International Programs, Mr. Takeo Suzuki; Director of Continuing Education, Mr. John Freeze; Assistant Vice Chancellor for Housing and Residence Life, Mr. Tim Johnson; Director of Budget and Finance, Mr. Tyler Forest; Space Management Coordinator, Ms. Kelli Flood; Project Manager, Mr. Danny West; Director of Undergraduate Admissions, Ms. Lee Pierce; Interim Assistant Director, Center for Advisement and Student Success, Stacie Grisham; Associate Vice Chancellor of Student Development, Dr. Dee Dee Anderson; Assistant Provost, Dr. Karen Adsit; Chair of the Council of Academic Department Heads, Dr. Pam Ashmore; Faculty Senate President, Dr. Susan Davidson; Associate Athletic Director for Student Support Services, Dr. Emily Blackman; Student Government Association President, Ms. Hannah Turcotte; a Graduate Student Association representative; and Chancellor’s Chief of Staff, Ms. Terry Denniston. Thank you to the committee for all of the important work you will do this year. Recruiting students is everyone’s job and we must all be ready to step up and help.
As you know, all campuses and institutes in the UT system completed an Employee Engagement Survey (EES) in November of 2014 as a follow up to the original survey distribution in November of 2011. In addition to the overall results summarized by Modern Think during spring 2015, we requested further detailed reports in order to provide a deeper and more robust analysis of the responses given by our faculty and staff here at UTC. The Employee Engagement Survey Task Force will review these new reports this fall to assist our campus in identifying challenges, leverage opportunities, relationships and potential initiatives to align our engagement efforts with the campus Strategic Plan. Later this semester we will report out to the campus with ways we can utilize these data and findings. Please stay tuned for specific information on how you can continue to contribute to this employee engagement process. Let’s all work together to make UTC an even better place.
Lastly, please join us to pack the stadium this Saturday, September 12th when the Mocs take on the Mars Hill University Lions. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. Go Mocs!