UT Board of Trustees Meets on New UT Southern Campus

PULASKI—Meeting for the first time at the new UT Southern campus, the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees approved a zero percent tuition increase for the UT Health Science Center (UTHSC) for FY 2022-23.

Because its academic year begins on July 1, UTHSC presented its proposed FY 2022-23 tuition levels early rather than waiting until the June Board of Trustees meeting so that students could have ample time to financially plan for their upcoming academic year.

UT President Randy Boyd also presented to the board the 2022 goals and objectives within the framework of the five pillars of the UT System strategic plan. Among the highlights, UT plans to:

• Select a new leader for the UT Institute of Agriculture (UTIA) in collaboration with UT Knoxville Chancellor Donde Plowman;
• Increase number of eligible students, year-to-year retention of current recipients and number of eligible student applications for UT Promise. Last October, the UT System announced plans to extend the household income level for UT Promise scholarship recipients from $50,000 to $60,000, allowing an even greater opportunity for students to obtain an undergraduate degree.
• Expand UT’s educational footprint by growing enrollment by 2,000 learners systemwide
• Increase fall-to-fall retention of first-year undergraduates;
• Create a statewide mobility innovation collaborative in partnership with Tennessee Economic and Community Development to facilitate the development of a statewide mobility innovation collaborative that leverages all of Tennessee’s research talent and workforce development resources;
• Support UTHSC’s work with the Tennessee Department of Health to develop a statewide dental health clinic network;
• Increase the impact of the Substance Misuse and Addiction Resource of Tennessee (SMART) program by transitioning the initiative to the UT Institute for Public Service (IPS) to provide statewide assistance to mitigate the consequences of the opioid crisis and substance misuse in Tennessee; and
• Grow partnerships with state agencies to address the state’s grand challenges.

“We are entering year three of the greatest decade in the history of the University of Tennessee,” Boyd said. “While 2021 was an incredible year, I’m looking forward to experiencing all our students, faculty and staff will accomplish in 2022.”

In other business, trustees approved:

• UT Knoxville campus master plan amendments, which include two new residence halls
• Appointment of Luke Lybrand to treasurer of the UT System
• Resolutions honoring the service of Steve Schwab, former chancellor of UTHSC and Mark Paganelli, former treasurer of the UT System

Archived video of the committee and full board meetings can be accessed at https://trustees.tennessee.edu/.

The University of Tennessee is a statewide system of higher education with campuses in Knoxville, Chattanooga, Martin, Memphis and Pulaski; the UT Space Institute in Tullahoma; the UT Institute of Agriculture with a presence in every Tennessee county; and the statewide Institute for Public Service. The UT system manages Oak Ridge National Laboratory through its UT-Battelle partnership; enrolls about 54,000 students statewide; produces about 13,000 new graduates every year; and represents more than 422,000 alumni around the world.