UTC seeks input on strategic plan
Friday, September 28, 2007
By Angie Herrington
Staff Writer
UTC wants feedback from students, faculty, staff and the community on a draft of a new strategic plan that will help define the future of the university through 2013.
The draft, released this week, calls for creating partnerships and continuing existing ones that will benefit students, education, research and diversity at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Chancellor Roger Brown said about 120 faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members were involved in the planning process to create the draft that began in the spring.
"I believe this is going to be an important document," he said. "It will give us a framework around which we are going to continue to build for the future."
The draft outlines several specific steps for the university to take to create partnerships for students. They include expanding student internships, national and international exchanges and off-campus clinical experiences. Another step is to create a faculty and student mentoring program to facilitate students' career planning.
Sophomore Julien Loeffler, 19, of Chattanooga, said he likes the idea of the university expanding international exchange programs.
"I want to get a business degree and then a master's in international business, so that would help a lot," he said.
Among the many recommendations the draft lists in the area of education and research partnerships are:
* To identify and create undergraduate and graduate programs that are tied to the region's established and growing industries, such as biofuels and tourism.
* Increase the number of graduate student assistant positions to competitive national levels.
The draft calls on UTC to develop partnerships that celebrate and enrich "diversity in all its forms."
It recommends reactivating, renaming and refocusing the Minority Affairs Committee, promoting the existing UTC office of multicultural affairs and implementing several other initiatives.
Dr. Charles Nelson, co-chairman of the strategic planning steering committee and acting dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said focus groups and town hall meetings will be held in October to get feedback on the draft.
"(This) next step in the process we see as vital," he said.
The committee hopes to have a final draft done in November, he said.
E-mail Angie Herrington at aherrington@timesfreepress.com