by Webb Wright
posted August 1, 2006
University of Tennessee President Dr. John Petersen presented the University system’s strategic plan for the future to local Chattanooga civic leaders and members of UTC’s faculty and staff at a meeting Tuesday morning on the University of Chattanooga campus.
The plan emphasized three areas of growth over the next 10 years, focusing specifically on Student Access and Success, Research and Economic Development, and Outreach and Globalization. The larger goal of the plan includes maximizing the graduation rates of those within the University system, while also reaching out to system dropouts to encourage them to return to finish their degrees.
Tennessee currently ranks 44th in the nation in percentage of the population that graduate from college with bachelor’s degrees. Under the proposed 21/30 plan, the system would work to increase the percentage of the state’s population with bachelor’s degrees from 21% to 30%, a number which would put the state of Tennessee in the top 10 nationally.
“We’re working extensively with K through 12 as well as our 95 extensions throughout the state to achieve this goal,” said Dr. Petersen, who also wants to see the 60% of Tennesseans that graduate from high school to enroll in college. “We want to increase desire and preparedness in students, by finding ways to enhance both student and teacher success in K through 12, especially in areas where we have fallen behind, such as science and math.”
UTC Chancellor Roger Brown gave the plan his support, adding that the university will have the flexibility to implement the plan as it sees fit. “We support the systems strategic goals and feel like they overlap the goals of our University,” Chancellor Brown said afterward.
He added, "We will be doing our own strategic plan and find our own ways to work hard and meet the same goals. We have a very specialized program at UTC and Dr. Petersen has been very supportive in allowing us to receive more support from the system or more freedom from it as we see fit.”
Mayor Ron Littlefield also endorsed the plan, that stresses better education leads to better, higher paying jobs and a more skilled diverse workforce. “The University of Chattanooga is an institution that is a keystone in the area’s economic efforts, and we want to see these goals realized. UTC is a regional resource not only for East Tennessee, but for Northwest Georgia as well, and in a major economic region such as this, the quality of the workforce is always a prime issue," he said.
Other goals of the plan include increasing funding for academic research from $285 million to $400 million, increasing the economic impact of the university system to one billion dollars, increasing the system’s number of patients or clients from 5.1 to 7.5 million, and increasing the international experience of its students from 8% to 25%; all by the target year of 2012.
Dr. Petersen said there will be another system-wide meeting on Aug. 15 that will address further specifics of the plan.
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