Cheek will be addressing UT’s economic development goals and initiatives as part of the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities panel moderated by APLU President Peter McPherson. Cheek is one of three top campus leaders asked to contribute to the discussion.

More than 200 education and business leaders are expected to attend the conference, “Transforming Economies: The Role of University Innovation in Economic Growth.” The sessions will focus on innovation, job growth, and collaboration between academia and the business sector, among other pertinent topics. North Carolina State is hosting the conference to culminate its 125th anniversary and the 150th anniversary of the Morrill Act.

Cheek serves on the board of directors for the APLU; as chair of the group’s Commission on Food, Environment, and Renewable Resources; and as a member of the APLU Presidential Advisory Committee on Energy.

We are making a few administrative changes to continue our focus on becoming a Top 25 public research university and to prepare us for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools re-accreditation review in 2015.

Albrecht

Mary Albrecht, associate vice chancellor, has been overseeing the Top 25 initiative and the SACS process since August 2010. Mary will begin working on SACS full-time as her full attention is needed to meet several of the university’s reporting and assessment deadlines. Site visits will occur in 2015.

Shivers

Melissa Shivers, assistant vice chancellor for student life, will begin leading our Top 25 effort for the university and report directly to me on the initiative. She will monitor our progress and keep people engaged and informed about our work to improve undergraduate and graduate education, research and engagement, faculty and staff priorities, and goals for enhancing infrastructure and resources.

We have made great progress in the last three years and we appreciate Mary’s diligence and commitment to our goals. We will continue to benefit from her knowledge and close attention to detail.

Melissa will be adding the Top 25 role to her Student Life responsibilities. Her new title will be assistant vice chancellor for student life and strategic initiatives. She is an enthusiastic leader with a great passion for our students and for helping the university reach its full potential.

For the next three years, the money the athletics department has contributed to the campus will be reinvested in the athletics department. Relieving athletics of this commitment will allow the department to add an average of $6 million per year to its bottom line for a total of $18 million over three years.

The money was committed under different circumstances and we now need to allow athletics to use these dollars to attain financial stability and invest in the future.

Most of this money has been used for scholarships and fellowships. We will continue to honor these commitments, primarily through private gifts. Let me emphasize, we will not reduce our commitment to students.

I know that winning championships and competing at the highest level lifts the national profile of the University of Tennessee. As chancellor, I am committed to winning both on the field and in the classroom.

It has been three years since UT received then-Governor Phil Bredesen’s challenge to become a Top 25 public research university. Since then, UT System President Joe DiPietro, the UT Board of Trustees, Governor Bill Haslam, and the legislature have supported the effort in many ways.

“We never said it was going to be easy. But we did say that we would pursue our goal with abandon,” Cheek told the board. See a video of his presentation to the board below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuFJ_Qak7jc

US News and World Report ranked UT at forty-sixth among all public universities in 2013, the same position it held for 2012. UT has moved six positions since 2010.

Click to enlarge.

Cheek said many people ask why the metrics of the Top 25 initiative are not the same as US News uses to compile its rankings. A chart with all twelve metrics is pictured at right. 

“US News focuses solely on undergraduate education. Our goals for this university are broader and include research and graduate education which are core to making us a better university overall,” Cheek said. “They are also critical to the state’s economy, job growth, and are needed for a more educated workforce.”

Cheek said the emphasis in the first two years of implementation has been on improving undergraduate education.

“We’ve made the most progress in this area and the changes we’re making are significantly improving the experience for our students,” he explained.

UT’s graduation rate is now 63 percent and Cheek said he expects to improve that metric to 66 percent by next year. Retention—the percentage of freshman who return for their second year—has improved to 85 percent.

Several changes have contributed to the improvements. These include changing the drop policy to limit students’ ability to drop no more than four classes after the no-penalty deadline during their undergraduate years.

A significant amount of effort has been focused on eliminating bottlenecks students encounter when registering for high-demand, required courses. Twenty new lecturers were hired this fall to teach additional course sections, and new technology is being used to monitor registration in real time to help avoid overflows and improve classroom scheduling.

“We have added nineteen full-time advisors and have expanded our tutoring staff and locations. We’ve added a new tutoring location in Hess Hall and will soon add seven more tutors to the Student Success Center office in the Commons in Hodges Library,” Cheek said.

In June, the board approved a new 15-4 tuition model that will take effect for undergraduate students who enter next fall. The model requires students to pay for 15 credit hours each semester—the number they must take in order to graduate in four years—regardless of how many they take.

“We think it will be a game changer. It will give us more resources to reinvest in undergraduate programs, and it will give students a financial incentive to graduate in four years,” Cheek said.

The new UTracK system will pilot this spring and go live this fall. The system pairs students’ academic plans with registration to ensure they are taking the classes they need to keep them on track with earning a degree.

Graduate Education

Graduate enrollment is down across the nation, and UT is following that trend. The university lost some ground in the number of degrees awarded at the master’s and doctorate levels.

The graduate admissions process has been greatly improved, and $12 million has been committed over the next five years to expand the number of fellowships. Seventy-five new fellowships have been added in the last three years. New interdisciplinary doctorates and two new degree programs—a Doctor of Nursing Practice and a Doctor of Social Work—have been added to UT’s offerings.

“The only way to produce more degrees is to recruit more students,” Cheek said. “The best way to do that is to offer more competitive stipends to attract the best students.”

Research

Cheek explained that research is “the core of what we do and what distinguishes us from all the other universities in the state.”

Both federal and total research expenditures have improved and many changes have made UT more competitive.

“As energy challenges for our nation continue to grow, we are working even more closely with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to find solutions. We have also expanded our relationship with Y-12 National Security Complex and it now involves every college on campus—from Communications to Vet Med to Architecture,” the chancellor said.

The Office of Research is working very closely with development to create new relationships and to broaden our existing partnerships. Several new centers have been created to foster collaboration and multi-disciplinary work, including the UT Humanities Center and the Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education. A new National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center called CURENT has been a great addition to the campus.

Nine of the ten UT/ORNL Governor’s Chairs have built their research enterprises at UT. Three new researchers have helped expand capabilities in nuclear safety, nuclear radiation, and environmental biotechnology.

Research is a primary consideration in our building plans and “core facility” plans, which help bring more large-scale technology and equipment to laboratories through cost-sharing arrangements.

Cheek emphasized the need to build and expand partnerships with agencies and corporations, such as TVA, ORNL, and Eastman Chemical.

“More corporate engagement is key to taking our research to market,” he said. “We have talented faculty and have only scratched the surface on how we can expand our research base.”

Faculty and Staff

The average faculty salary has improved through the last two years of raises.

“Being able to provide merit raises to our best performers has made a big difference,” Cheek noted.

The faculty-to-student ratio remains unchanged. More than $5 million has been raised to provide faculty awards to high-achieving professors. These funds help create the first two endowed chairs in social work and the first one in architecture.

A career path is now in place for lecturers who are critical to delivering core courses.

Cheek said that faculty and staff pay will continue to be a high priority, and a career path for full professors is on the horizon.

Infrastructure and Resources

Our per-student expenditure metric has improved and our endowment has increased, Cheek explained, but so have others schools, so the gap that measures us against our peer average has widened.

“Development is focused on more scholarships, fellowship, faculty funding, and what our colleges need to be Top 25 programs,” Cheek said.

The Campaign for Tennessee ended in 2011, UT experienced record fundraising in fiscal year 2012, and 2013 is projected to be even better. Engaging alumni in the campus and our goals is critical to the journey, he added.

Cheek said UT buildings should be those of a Top 25 university.

“Some are and some aren’t, but we are working on that,” he said. “We have opened several state-of-the-art buildings. And thanks to the Governor and the legislature, more buildings will be coming on line in the future.”

More than $20 million has been invested in deferred maintenance and to improve energy efficiency throughout campus.

A Final Note

Metrics are vital to tracking progress, but other great changes can’t be measured.

“But there are also changes you can’t summarize in a graph. There has been an incredible culture change all across our campus,” Cheek said. “Our campus community believes in our potential and departments across campus are all talking about how to make their program a Top 25 operation.”

—

C O N T A C T :

Karen Simsen (865-974-5186, Karen.simsen@tennessee.edu)

The first fifty faculty or staff members to register will receive a free boxed lunch. Chancellor Cheek will begin the hour with an update about the university, but will save most of the time for answering your questions. Space is limited.

Next Thursday’s event is one of several sessions planned for faculty and staff throughout the academic year.

An RSVP is required in advance to keep track of the first fifty registrants. Please RSVP by e-mailing Ashley Cole at acole7@utk.edu, or call her at 974-3011.

One of their move-in helpers was Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek, who wasn’t afraid to break a sweat lifting large boxes and bins.

“It’s really great to be here with all our new students,” he said. “We like to have this opportunity for them and their families to come here and get established in the residence halls.”

Members of the Class of 2016 were polled about the most important items they packed for college. They listed peanut butter, clothes, a mattress pad, computers, and a rug—because freshman Aaron Gamble detests “waking up and putting his feet on a cold floor.”

An army of volunteers from various campus and community organizations were on hand to help freshmen check-in, get carts, load-up, and find their rooms.

Parents were also there to lift heavy objects and lend advice.

“This is my fifth of five students and I suggested to each one to pack light but you can tell that didn’t happen,” said one parent pointing to a pile of materials.

When the chancellor moved into his freshmen residence hall at Texas A&M, he does not remember the move-in process being so organized.

“We had to park a long way from the dorm,” he laughed. “No one was there to help us. And there were no carts so you had to carry everything yourself. And my room was on top floor so we had to go four floors up. And it was hot.”

Freshmen said they are most looking forward to the freedom of being on their own, meeting people, and just being a Vol.

The Class of 2016 arrived at UT with an average ACT score of 27 and an average GPA of 3.89. About 44 percent had average GPAs of 4.0 or higher. UT received about 14,400 applications for seats in this year’s freshman class, a 5 percent increase over last year.

Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek announced the university will remove “interim” from before Cronan’s title of vice chancellor and director of athletics, the position she held from June 9 to September 5, 2011, prior to Dave Hart’s appointment. The move makes Cronan the first person in UT history to hold that position.

Cronan has spent more than twenty-eight years with Tennessee Athletics. In that time, the Lady Vols have become one of the most visible and well-respected programs in the country, amassing ten NCAA national championship titles, forty-six top-five NCAA finishes, and twenty-nine Southeastern Conference regular-season championships.

“She has led with humility and grace and demands excellence from everybody that works with her,” said Cheek. “She’s built a powerhouse of a program that also graduates and educates young ladies.”

Cronan will retire at the end of this month and will serve as women’s athletics director emeritus effective July 1. She will spend two years working with the university and community through speaking engagements and other activities.

“When you work with coaches, they’re always focused on the championships,” Cronan told the board. “I’ve always preached, ‘enjoy the journey.’ I want to tell you how much I have enjoyed the journey at the University of Tennessee. And I look forward to the two years in representing the university and I hope I will always represent the university.”

Cheek presented Cronan with a plaque commemorating her service to UT and listing her among all the athletics directors in the university’s history. A larger plaque will be displayed in the athletic director’s suite in the new Football Training Center.

Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek posed the question during overview sessions for the 2011 Employee Engagement Survey held on Tuesday.

“Our faculty and staff carry out our mission. Making our campus an even better place to work strengthens our entire university,” Cheek said. “We will use the survey results to work on particular areas. We also need to hear more from our faculty and staff on how we can make improvements.”

Last spring, 43 percent of the Knoxville campus faculty and exempt staff responded to the survey. In the fall, 57 percent of all non-exempt employees participated. The survey asked about job satisfaction, work culture, leadership, and professional development, among other topics.

The Knoxville campus results revealed several overarching themes, including:

• a strong sense of community and a friendly, collegial environment;
• a general appreciation for employee benefits, but a need for improvement of compensation;
• awareness of efforts to improve diversity, community, and civility and a need for continued focus in these areas;
• optimism about goals for becoming a Top 25 public research university; and
• the need to address training to build managers’ skills, improve employee orientation, overall performance management systems, accountability, and communication at all levels.

ModernThink, a human resources and business consulting firm, administered the survey across the UT system. The company helped analyze the data to benchmark results and advise on critical areas.

Rich Boyer, of ModernThink, led an overview of key findings and noted a strong sense of employee pride.

“There is a tremendous sense of pride here at the University of Tennessee and particularly on this campus. It is one of the nation’s iconic universities, and people are proud to be a part of it.”

Boyer said the results show a need to improve the overall dialogue so that people feel engaged and informed.

“Communication is foundational to any great workplace. It’s not just about communication from our senior leadership; it needs to happen at the department level throughout the campus,” Boyer said.

Several initiatives are already under way to address areas of concern. These include improving HR service delivery, employee raises, and aligning overall compensation to comparable market rates.

Cheek said he plans to involve the Employee Relations Council and other groups in improving the orientation process for new employees and will solicit input from faculty and staff on how to broaden internal communication and employee engagement in campus planning.

A record-high 7,100 UT employees statewide participated in the survey. It will be administered every three years.

To view the presentation Chancellor Cheek shared with employees, click here (pdf). View the Modern Think presentation here (pdf).

For more information about the survey, visit the HR website.

University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek is part of a conference being held this week at The Ohio State University (OSU) to explore that question.

Sponsored by OSU, Colorado State University, and the Association for Public and Land-grant Universities, the three-day event has brought together public university, industry, and government leaders from around the country to discuss the evolving role of the university in solving substantial questions about energy in the twenty-first century.

Cheek is part of the university president and chancellor’s panel exploring the challenges of the next fifty years.

The university has established a key role in tackling the world’s energy challenges. It is home to Center for Ultra-wide-area Resilient Electric Energy Transmission Networks (CURENT), a one-of-a-kind center developing smart grid technologies to overhaul our nation’s chronically overstretched electric power grid.

UT also offers one of the country’s first interdisciplinary doctoral degrees in energy science and engineering, which is educating students in transformational energy-related fields. The university also breeds ideas like Professor Barry Bruce’s to use plant’s photosynthetic power to make efficient and inexpensive energy and architecture students’ unique designs for an award-winning energy-efficient and solar-powered house.

UT also offers one of the country’s first interdisciplinary doctoral degrees in energy science and engineering, which is educating students in transformational energy-related fields. The university helps support ideas like Professor Barry Bruce’s to use plant photosynthetic power to make efficient and inexpensive energy and architecture students’ unique designs for an award-winning energy-efficient and solar-powered house. The chancellor can also offer insight into how the university has cut energy costs. This past year, the campus community helped to save more than $900,000 in electricity costs. UT is nationally recognized for its efforts to become climate-neutral.

The conference is being held in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Morrill Act, which established the nation’s land-grant universities and transformed the United States to make college education a reality for millions of Americans. Other sessions being held will focus on wind, solar and renewable energy, biomass and biofuels, shale energy, smart grid, transportation innovations, and building efficiencies. For more information, visit http://energyinnovation2012.osu.edu/.

It is important that the individuals on the presidential search advisory and primary search committees hear from faculty, staff and students about the candidates and there are several ways to share your thoughts.

Each candidate will participate in a public forum in the Shiloh Room in the University Center on Oct. 12 and 13. You can also view the sessions via live webcast. Archives of the interviews will also be on the same site, www.tennessee.edu.

Tuesday, Oct. 12

• Craig Fitzhugh, chairman and CEO of the Bank of Ripley and state representative, 10:15 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.

• Jerry Askew, senior vice president for external relations, Mercy Health Partners, 2:15 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.

• Joe DiPietro, chancellor, UT Institute of Agriculture 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Oct. 13

• Robert McGrath, consultant for Battelle Memorial Institute 10:15 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.

• Brian Noland, chancellor, West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The Search Advisory Council is appointed by the Presidential Search Committee to provide advice and guidance. Our campus representatives are:

Tommy Jervis, student and president of Student Government Association, sga1@utk.edu.

Joan Heminway, law professor and Faculty Senate president, jheminwa@tennessee.edu.

Vern Granger, assistant dean and director of undergraduate admissions, lgrange3@utk.edu.

The Presidential Search Committee will recommend finalists to the Board of Trustees. Matt Murray, professor of economics and associate director of the Center for Business & Economic Research, mmurray1@utk.edu, represents the campus.

You can also share your thoughts with both committees at http://president.tennessee.edu/search/feedback.html.

Interviews will continue next week, leading up the UT Board of Trustees meeting set for Oct. 21 and Oct. 22 in Knoxville. Trustees will consider the finalists at the full board meeting.

For more information go to http://president.tennessee.edu/search.