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, Erlanger celebrate first Acute Care Physical Therapy Residency graduate
UTC and Erlanger marked a milestone with the graduation of the first resident from their jointly developed Acute Care Physical Therapy Residency during a ceremony at Erlanger Baroness Hospital. The event recognized the completion of the yearlong program by Dr. Cheryl Self, a licensed physical therapist at Erlanger who received her Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree from UTC in 2020.
Master’s student April (A.P.) Horn turns undergraduate research into a future in teaching
With the start of the spring semester, December 2025 UTC graduate April Horn is now enrolled in Graduate School thanks to the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship, a competitive National Science Foundation-funded fellowship that provides STEM graduates with a fully funded pathway to earn a master’s degree in secondary education from UTC in just 14 months.
Mocs Flight Plan takes flight: UTC enrollment strategy moves from planning to action
UTC leaders, faculty and staff gathered Monday, Jan. 12, for the kickoff meeting of the Mocs Flight Plan, marking the start of a coordinated, campuswide effort to implement the University’s Strategic Enrollment Plan approved in fall 2025. The Mocs Flight Plan establishes UTC’s roadmap for reaching 15,000 students by 2030 while strengthening retention, student outcomes and the overall student experience.
UTC earns national recognition for community engagement
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has been nationally recognized for its long-standing commitment to community engagement, earning the 2026 Carnegie Community Engagement Classification—awarded by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in collaboration with the American Council on Education.
Winter Welcome Week rings in the new semester
New and returning students at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga are heading back to campus for the spring semester with opportunities to connect during the 2026 Winter Welcome Week. The week of festivities will begin Monday, Jan. 12—when students start classes—and continue through Friday, Jan. 16.
UTC officially launches College of Nursing
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has officially launched the College of Nursing, elevating one of the University’s longest-standing and most impactful academic programs to college status. With nearly 1,000 students enrolled across undergraduate and doctoral programs, the College of Nursing becomes UTC’s fifth academic college.
Sisters saving lives
Sisters Amber Honea and Alexis Murray have found their place helping others. The UTC alums are working as nurses for their respective hospitals in Chattanooga. Honea, who received a BSN from UTC in 2014 and an MSN in 2021, is an acute care nurse practitioner with the pulmonology and critical care department at Erlanger Hospital. Murray, who earned a BSN in 2019, is currently enrolled in the DNP program and works at CommonSpirit Memorial Hospital Chattanooga as an ICU floating nurse.
Top 20 of ’25: A year’s worth of cheers
A lot of great things happened at UTC during the 2025 calendar year. We celebrated student and faculty research, welcomed new faces (including Chancellor Lori Bruce), broke ground on new buildings and commemorated big wins. With so much happening across campus, the UTC newsroom published 427 stories over the course of the year. Here are our top 20 personal favorites in chronological order of website publication.
Dr. Mina Sartipi named interim vice chancellor for research at UTC
Dr. Mina Sartipi has been appointed interim vice chancellor for research, effective January 2026. Sartipi currently serves as the executive director of the UTC Research Institute and as the founding director of the Center for Urban Informatics and Progress (CUIP). She is a Guerry Professor and UC Foundation Professor in UTC’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering and holds a joint faculty appointment with Oak Ridge National Laboratory.