The Commission for Blacks helps black and African American students, faculty, and staff find opportunities for growth, advises administrators, and strives to enhance the campus’s racial climate.

The Commission for LGBT People takes on projects aimed at making our campus a more welcoming place for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people on campus.

From improving parental leave policies to advocating for women to hold more leadership roles on campus, the Commission for Women advises administration on programs, policies, and services to improve the status of women on campus.

The Council for Diversity and Interculturalism advises campus administration on creating and sustaining a welcoming, supportive, and inclusive campus climate.

I’ve spent much of my first three months on Rocky Top asking questions and listening. Drawing from that, I’ve determined an initial set of priorities.

As we trumpet the virtues of our new class of freshmen each fall, we hear from some Tennesseans who question whether our growing academic profile has made UT unattainable for many of our state’s students. We are working hard to provide access—and here’s how.

Based on the report from an outside consulting firm, Parthenon, and feedback from the Academic Leadership Retreat, we are looking for the best way to proceed in strategically harnessing the benefits of e-learning.

The Graduate School has launched a new dashboard that provides faculty and staff data about our graduate student population. Also, reduced fees for online courses and higher graduate stipends should help increase enrollment.

The Faculty Mentoring and Support program was created last year to foster a sense of community and support for tenure-line and full-time nontenure-track faculty, especially those from historically underrepresented groups—those who identify as people of color, women, or LGBTQ. Here, three participants talk about how the program helped them.

Our Quality Enhancement Plan, Experience Learning, is now beyond the mid-way point. But it has introduced a new way of teaching and learning and—after being reorganized to become part of Teaching and Learning Innovation last year—it is well-positioned to have lasting impact long after the QEP timeline ends in Spring 2020.