Dr. Lisa Piazza came to UTC in 2018 with a goal to help more students see themselves as researchers. As a first-generation college student, Piazza learned much of higher education as she went, often with the help of mentors who took the time to guide her. That perspective carries over into her work at UTC, where she aims to make research feel approachable rather than intimidating.
Start spreading the news: UTC wind ensemble to perform at Carnegie Hall
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Wind Ensemble has been invited to perform a full concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City on Wednesday, March 18, an invitation that marks a milestone opportunity for student musicians to perform on one of the world’s most iconic stages.
UTC’s RAIL System delivers early cost savings for rural school districts
In its first 3½ months of operation, the RAIL System, housed within the UTC School Psychology program, served 19 school districts across Tennessee and provided access to 186 assessment tools and related resources—saving participating districts more than $22,000 in costs they would otherwise have incurred purchasing the materials themselves.
Winter Welcome: Explore the student clubs and organizations at UTC
As part of Winter Welcome Week, UTC hosted the Winter Organization Fair on Thursday, Jan. 15, to connect students to both new and existing organizations that could align with their interests.
UTC anthropologist examines how power shapes global food systems
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Assistant Professor of Anthropology Emma McDonell’s central question this past summer: Who controls the food on people’s tables?
7,529 miles and counting: UTC’s MobileMOC delivers care in rural communities
Since launching in spring 2025, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga College of Nursing’s MobileMOC medical outreach clinic has delivered preventive care, screenings, education and referrals to older adults and caregivers across rural counties, logging thousands of miles, thousands of patient touch points and hundreds of student learning hours through an interprofessional team spanning nursing, occupational therapy, social work, nutrition and advanced practice providers.
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and former U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey to speak at UTC
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and two-term U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey will deliver a free, public lecture titled “The Role of the Humanities in Our Personal and Civic Lives” at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 5, in the University Center Tennessee Room. The event is presented as part of the O’Dea Lecture in the Humanities series.
Artificial intelligence in nursing
Laurel Rhyne remembers the very first time she heard about generative artificial intelligence. It was December 18, 2022. She was listening to a National Public Radio story in her car while crossing the Market Street Bridge. “The focus was all on plagiarism and what it was going to do for higher ed,” explained Rhyne, an associate lecturer in the UTC College of Nursing. “What I saw was so much more. “Our whole world is going to change.”
UTC invited to join Southeastern Quantum Collaborative
This week, UTC accepted an invitation to join the Southeastern Quantum Collaborative (SQC), created by the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). Founding members of the SQC include IBM, Davidson Technologies and Alabama A&M University. Additional organizations—including UTC, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, IonQ and Leidos—have committed to join as inaugural members.
How students use Canvas: Grad student maps attention and engagement
If you’re a student or faculty member at the UTC, you have most likely used Canvas. Menekse Adar, a graduate student in engineering management at UTC’s College of Engineering and Computer Science, is working to understand how different Canvas course layouts shape students’ engagement in their classes.