Skip to content Skip to main navigation Report an accessibility issue

Introducing Our Experience Learning Initiative

Dear colleagues,

This fall, we will launch Experience Learning. This new initiative will transform the educational experience for undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Tennessee by giving them more opportunities to be involved in civic engagement, to solve complex real-world problems, and to contribute to the welfare of their communities as part of their regular course work.

Grounded in the pedagogical concept of experiential learning, this new initiative will enrich the academic experience in every discipline. It will help our students develop lifelong skills in learning and problem solving and prepare them for the ever-changing global environment.

A team of faculty, staff, and students spent the past two years developing Experience Learning as part of our Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges reaccreditation process. Throughout the process, the team solicited feedback from the campus community and found great enthusiasm for the idea.

Many of you already incorporate Experience Learning concepts in your courses. In fact, our ongoing Smart Communities Initiative will be a major component of Experience Learning. The Tennessee Teaching and Learning Center will assist faculty who want to incorporate experiential learning into their course work.

Matthew Theriot, associate provost for teaching and learning innovation, is leading the implementation of Experience Learning and oversees the Tennessee Teaching and Learning Center. We recently began searching for an Experience Learning director to work closely with Matthew in support of this new initiative.

We will promote Experience Learning to the campus community via a series of informational ads in the Daily Beacon, videos and stories in Tennessee Today and Vol Update, and our new Experience Learning website.

I invite you to get involved and see how you and your students will Experience Learning.

Sincerely,

Susan D. Martin
Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor