Interim UT System President Randy Boyd visited UTC today, meeting with university administrators, students and faculty as well as local media. During his time on campus, he discussed the six system-wide priorities he shared this week in a news release. They are:
- Succession planning and recruitment. We will launch a search for the next chancellor of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville soon with a search for a new president set to begin in 2020.
- Increase talent development. The University of Tennessee is the talent development engine of the state, producing 11,806 graduates last year. Together, we will focus on strategies that improve graduation rates, improve recruitment of both in-state and out-of-state students and grow online education programs.
- Enhance the relationship with Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The long-term relationship between UT and ORNL, the geographic proximity of the two institutions and UT’s co-management of the lab makes this partnership unique and provides the University an opportunity that allows development of these distinctive programs. We will plan to explore opportunities for all UT campuses and institutes to expand our engagement with ORNL and explore ways to implement a system-wide strategy.
- Advance Engagement. Engaging directly in the community is a primary mission of the University of Tennessee. We will work together across the system to bring greater visibility to ongoing programs across all 95 counties and explore organizing engagement efforts at the system level to ensure maximum benefit for the state.
- Strengthen and clarify the relationship between UT System Administration and its campuses and institutes. We are stronger together, and we will work across the system to create a culture of collaborating and coordinating on initiatives, leveraging partnerships and developing bold new strategies and exciting opportunities.
- Build the brand. We will launch efforts to enhance the University of Tennessee brand by providing greater transparency and accountability supported by data analytics to give the university meaningful reports with actionable data to make informed decisions.
