Safety—To help students, and their parents, feel more at ease with the move to campus, UT's security efforts have been enhanced. UT ALERT, an "opt-in" text-messaging emergency alert system, is now in place to quickly inform students, faculty and staff should an emergency arise. Messages can be sent to a designated cell phone, e-mail address, PDA or pager. For more information, as well as registration information for students, faculty and staff, see https://www.utk.edu/utalert/
Welcome Week and Retention—The start of school debuts a number of special programs and courses designed to help all freshmen feel welcome and get them quickly assimilated into academic life. These programs—which include college open houses, a "Passport to Success" program to help students find their way around campus, "How to Succeed" sessions and a variety of small-enrollment freshmen seminars—also are intended to boost the likelihood that freshmen stay in college to complete their academic careers. Find out more.
Scholarships —To further enhance its accessibility to all students, the Knoxville campus has added $1 million to support its new Tennessee Pledge and Promise scholarship programs. The Pledge Scholarship, started in the fall of 2005, provides for the cost of attendance, including tuition and fees and room and board, for any admitted student whose income level is at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level (about $27,000 for a family of four). The Promise Scholarship, being offered this fall for the first time, is intended to increase enrollments from high schools around Tennessee that historically have not sent many students to the flagship institution.
UT Lead—To help students who receive the Pledge and Promise scholarships to achieve academic success and fulfill the grade requirements of the scholarships, the university has created the UT Lead Program. The program will provide students with academic counseling, first-year seminars, leadership development programs, academic success workshops and other learning opportunities.
Hess—Students moving into Hess Hall will see changes. The main entrance, courtyard and lobby have been renovated. Rooms in the "H" section have new walls, wiring, doors, floor tile and furniture. The fire alarm system also was upgraded. Renovations in the other two sections of Hess are slated for the future.
Baker Center—The Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy will see the opening its new building on the corner of Melrose and Cumberland avenues in the spring of 2008. The new $16 million facility will include a museum that will tell the story of Baker's life, explore modern Tennessee politics and engage students in interactive civic instruction. The building also will house the Modern Political Archives collections as well as a 200-seat auditorium with a rotunda for programs and classrooms with break-out rooms for instruction and conferences.
The Commons—Renovations at The Commons in Hodges Library continue as the fall semester begins. Some of the services will be available when classes start, and a formal ribbon cutting has been scheduled for later in September.
Dining —Three national chains were added to campus dining services. McAlister's Deli is new in the Café at the Arena in Thompson-Boling Arena. An Einstein Bros. Bagels outlet was added in the Art and Architecture Building to replace the A&A Cafe, and the Apartment Residence Hall got a Quiznos inside Andy's Pantry.
Morrill Dining—The serving and seating areas in Morrill Hall's dining facility were remodeled, and an Asian stir-fry area also was added.
Bailey Complex—The Claxton Addition building in the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences has been renamed the Jane and David Bailey Education Complex in honor of the Knoxville couple's generosity to the UT teacher training program. The Baileys created the Top Teachers for Tennessee fund with a $1 million commitment to teacher internship scholarships. They issued a challenge to other Tennesseans to help support students through the fund.
Engineering Merger—This summer, the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science was created within the College of Engineering. This merger of the former Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science will allow students interested in computational science to have a full array of classes available to them, from the fundamentals of how computers are built and engineered to the complex theoretical issues that govern how they work. Currently under construction, the new $37.5 million Min Kao Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Building will be the new department's home.
New Minor—A new graduate program beginning this fall—the Interdisciplinary Graduate Minor in Computational Science—is open to students in any academic field who have an interest in computational studies. Through the program, students will conduct cutting edge computational research in their major field. More information on the program is available at http://igmcs.utk.edu.
Landscape Architecture—Approved this summer, the Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) program—the state's first master's degree program in landscape architecture—is now accepting applicants for its first class in fall 2008. Students will take courses in both the College of Architecture and Design and the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.
Global Leadership Scholars—The College of Business Administration has launched the Global Leadership Scholars Program. A new honors program, which will require students to study abroad, will have a strong leadership component and offer students numerous enrichment opportunities and cultural activities.
