KNOXVILLE — Although clouded by the state’s bleak economic outlook, UT board of trustees saw a bright spot Friday — and part of that light came from Chattanooga.

University of Tennessee System President John Petersen told the board that technological advances in research occurring in Chattanooga and Knoxville will move the system forward.

“Our outlook is positive even though it is difficult,” Dr. Petersen said. “Even though we talk about issues surrounding our difficult financial (situation), there is no better time to be at the University of Tennessee. ... We have world-class futures.”

Dr. Petersen said the Volkswagen plant coming to Chattanooga will open up many opportunities for the UT system to partner in research and training, especially in the area of alternative fuels.

“(Volkswagen) was positive news for all of us,” he said. “We are actively involved in that recruitment.”

Along with the Volkswagen plant, Dr. Petersen mentioned the efforts of the SimCenter at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the biorefinery planned for Vonore, Tenn., and the $65 million National Science Foundation grant awarded to UT for supercomputer research.

But at the same meeting, Dr. Petersen cited a report card that said the system is performing poorly when it comes to recruiting students for science, technology, engineering and math majors.

“They are our future,” he said. “We really got to get that moving forward.”

Earlier this year, Gov. Phil Bredesen cut $21.2 million from the UT system’s budget, and this month another $17 million was slashed. University employees are withstanding salary freezes, and administrators and faculty have been asked to comb through existing programs and services to see what can be trimmed or cut.

A new board committee on efficiency and effectiveness launched a systemwide savings campaign this week and is calling for students, faculty and staff to send ideas, said Doug Horne, a trustee and member of the board’s finance committee.

While he offered positive words to the trustees about the future of the system, Dr. Petersen said faculty and staff pay is still an issue and a great concern on campuses.

“We are behind our peers,” he said. “It is still our priority to make sure that we are taking care of our people.”

In addition to discussing the state of UT, the board named a new chancellor for the UT campus in Knoxville.

Dr. Jimmy G. Cheek, senior vice president for agriculture and natural resources at the University of Florida, was one of 12 candidates for the position, and Dr. Petersen said he “came enormously, highly recommended.”

“I am delighted to be chosen as chancellor of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville,” said Dr. Cheek in a statement. “This is one of the best public institutions in America with many unique assets and a very bright academic future.”

Dr. Cheek, who begins his work as chancellor on Feb. 1 and will receive a base salary of $345,000 a year, a $10,000 expense account, a $20,000 housing allowance, a $20,000 moving allowance and a university vehicle.

Before working as vice president for agriculture and natural resources at Florida, Dr. Cheek was an assistant professor of agricultural education and communications, assistant dean and dean of the university’s college of agricultural and life sciences.

As a vice president at the University of Florida, Dr. Cheek manages the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, which last year had expenditures totaling $300 million, resources similar to those of the Knoxville campus, Dr. Petersen said.

In other business, the board voted to phase out the undergraduate audiology and speech pathology program at the Knoxville campus over the next six years and to add a bachelor’s degree in natural resources and environment economics and a master’s degree in athletic training at UTC.

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