Community
At UT, our research and knowledge is not destined for just academic journals and textbooks; we strive to incorporate our achievements into programs that benefit our local community, the state of Tennessee, and individuals all over the world.
In the Knoxville community, faculty and graduate students in sports psychology help local girls develop good exercise habits and healthy self-images; our College of Law performs pro bono work for underserved clients; and nursing faculty and students help provide medical services to the homeless in the Knoxville area.
Students also lead the way in giving back to the community by volunteering with organizations such as the Boys & Girls Club, Habitat for Humanity, the Special Olympics of Greater Knoxville, the Knox County Read With Me children’s literacy program, and the East Tennessee Children’s Hospital.
But our interaction with the community does not simply flow outward; members of the public have free access to many of UT’s cultural and academic resources, including the Frank H. McClung Museum, the UT Gardens, music recitals, and public lectures.
Our Center for Business and Economic Impact recently estimated that UT has an economic impact of more than $800 million on the state, accounting not only for direct expenditures by the university, but also the multiplied impact of things like spending by employees, jobs created by research funding, and more. The university’s partnership with Battelle Memorial Institute to manage Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) will continue to attract leading researchers in the sciences to conduct their work in Tennessee.
UT contributes to every aspect of life, from theatre to biochemistry, and we continue to move forward in our mission to be the preeminent public research and teaching university linking the people of Tennessee to the community, the nation, and the world.
Community News
UT Granted Approval to Purchase White Avenue Houses
UT has been granted state approval to purchase properties on White Avenue in Fort Sanders to build a new classroom/laboratory facility on Cumberland Avenue. The proposal to the State Building Commission helps UT address a significant shortfall of academic space. The Commission’s approval authorizes the purchase of three large houses. The new four-to-five story building will provide approximately 200,000 gross square feet of new academic space along Cumberland Avenue between the Jessie Harris Building and Hoskins Library.
UT Welcomes Destination Imagination Global Finals
More than 1,200 student teams from forty-two states and fourteen countries will travel to UT next week for the Destination Imagination Global Finals. The competition will be held May 22 through 25. Destination Imagination, a nonprofit organization that provides learning opportunities to enrich the global community, will celebrate its thirtieth anniversary at Global Finals. This is the fourteenth year Knoxville has hosted the creative thinking and problem-solving competition for kindergarten through university-level students.
UT to Offer Summer Tutoring for Struggling Readers in Grades 3-5
East Tennessee third through fifth graders who are struggling in reading will have the chance to improve their skills through a free summer tutoring program offered by UT. The program, which is also a research project, is geared toward children who have completed grades three through five but are reading below grade level. To be eligible, children must have received free or reduced-price lunch during the 2012-2013 school year.
Birds in Art Exhibit Opens at McClung Museum May 25
Paintings, sculptures, and graphics celebrating the timeless appeal of birds are the focus of a new exhibit that opens Saturday, May 25, at the McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture. The touring exhibit, Birds in Art, runs through August 18. It features sixty works created in the past two years by artists from around the world.
UTPD Hosts Multiagency Training Exercise on Campus
On Monday, May 13, the University of Tennessee Police Department hosted a multiagency active shooter training exercise held at the Stokely Athletic Center on campus. Nearly 100 people from UTPD, the Knoxville Police Department, Knox County Sheriff’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation participated. UTPD hosts exercises like these to prepare a response to a potentially violent situation on campus.
The "Building and Strengthening Community Partnerships to Empower Student Success" community forum will feature a panel from the UT community will engage in a dialogue with community members to build and strengthen relationships between individuals on the UT campus and within the Knoxville community.
Service-Learning at UT
The Office of Service-Learning facilitates meaningful and reciprocal service-learning partnerships between faculty and community organizations. We strongly encourage community partners to contact us and begin the steps toward partnership.
Cone Zone
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Follow Smokey as construction transforms our campus
Cone Zone is designed to help you navigate our campus—through conezone.utk.edu and signs around campus—as constructions project continue to transform our landscape.
Events
Volunteers in Action
