Chancellor’s Update

The search committee for the new vice chancellor for finance and administration has been hard at work, and three candidates have been invited to campus for interviews.  The names of each of the candidates will be announced one business day prior to their arrival on campus.  Candidate materials and open forum information will be posted on the VCFA search page.  The campus community is invited to attend open forums with the candidates; I encourage everyone to participate and provide feedback to the committee.  Thank you to search committee chair Vicki Farnsworth and the entire committee for their hard work.  We have three outstanding candidates.

Tuesday’s third annual Mocs Give Day was a record-setting success!!  We raised more than $1.2 million from over 1,000 donors.  Thank you to all our donors – alumni, friends, faculty, staff and especially students.  Congratulations to our advancement staff and volunteers who worked so hard to make Mocs Give Day such a HUGE success.

This year, 25 UTC minority engineering students have benefited from Moreland Scholarships; the scholarship program impacted 21 students during the 2021-2022 academic year.  We held a celebration event last week to thank UTC alum and Tennessee Senator Todd Gardenhire for securing funding from the State and former Chattanooga City Councilman James Moreland for recruiting prospective scholarship recipients.  Special thanks to UT System President Randy Boyd for coming to campus to speak at the event.

Last Thursday morning, we had our first in-person Coffee with the Chancellor since early 2020.  Thank you to those who attended.  The newly renovated Lupton Hall is such a great space to hold events.  I am already looking forward to our next Coffee with the Chancellor gathering on October 19 at 8:30 a.m. in the Military Science Building.

Congratulations to everyone involved in the grand reopening of the UTC Fine Arts Center; the completely renovated Roland Hayes Concert Hall and Dorothy Ward Theatre are back in business.  It is a privilege to welcome the Kyiv City Ballet to UTC, Chattanooga and the Hayes Concert Hall.  UTC is one of 15 sites selected for the dance company’s first U.S. tour.  Next Tuesday (October 11), the UTC Theatre Company’s “Feathers and Teeth” begins a five-day run in the Ward Theatre; you can purchase tickets here.

I recently had the opportunity to meet with Arsen Martyshchuk and Nina Klimenkova, the first recipients of the UTC Global Response Assistantship.  The two began master’s programs at UTC this semester, having made their way from their hometowns in Ukraine with help from UTC, the U.S. State Department and several other organizations, including the Ukrainian government.  Kudos to Takeo Suzuki, executive director for the Center for Global Education, and the UTC Student Government Association for working together to create this program.

Hispanic Heritage Month continues through October 15, and the Office of Multicultural Affairs has several more festivities planned as part of “Unidos: Inclusivity for a Stronger Nation.” Please visit the Hispanic Heritage Month page for event details.

The Mocs’ soccer team has started Southern Conference play 4-0 for the first time since 2004 to sit atop the league standings.  The squad returns to the pitch tomorrow (October 7) for a 6 p.m. “Pink Out” match against Samford at the UTC Sports Complex.  I hope you can come out and support your Mocs!

We are closing in on the semester’s midpoint, with fall break occurring October 17-18.  If you leave Chattanooga for the extended weekend, please stay safe!