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Enrollment Management Busy Building Fall Class

Having received more than 17,890 applications so far, Vice Provost for Enrollment Management Kari Alldredge and her team are preparing to welcome another large and high-achieving new class of Volunteers.

Although deadlines for scholarships have passed, we will continue to accept and evaluate applications for the incoming fall 2017 class.

Enrollment Management uses holistic review—looking at academic preparation but also other aspects of a student’s life and resume—as it continues to invite applicants to enroll.

“In addition to a variety of holistic factors, we also consider things like legacy and student support systems on campus,” Alldredge said. “We love students who are the children of faculty and staff because we know they will have added support systems on campus.”

To ensure we get the state’s best and brightest, we have teams of recruiters in Memphis, Nashville, and here in Knoxville. We also have regional recruiters seeking future Vols in 10 locales around the country—Washington, DC; Chicago; Cincinnati; Charlotte, NC; Atlanta; California; Florida; two locations in Texas; and the New York–New Jersey–Pennsylvania area.

Transfer students

The first students to take advantage of the Tennessee Promise are now completing their community college studies and looking at transfer options for the fall. Realizing the opportunity to recruit these students, we’ve been trying to improve our services and programs for transfer students.

We now have a website specifically for transfer students that includes information about campus resources and how transfer students can meet other transfer students. We’ve created transfer pathways and plans and we’ve added more transfer admissions representatives across the state. The website includes an equivalency table for courses from schools all over the country. Later this spring we’ll begin using Hyland OnBase software to streamline the evaluation of courses for transfer credit.

Volunteer Bridge

Our goal is to enroll 200 students in Volunteer Bridge this fall. That would be the program’s largest class ever.

Volunteer Bridge is an invitation-only program that allows students to complete their freshman year at Pellissippi State Community College and transfer seamlessly to UT for their sophomore year. The program is designed for students who would benefit from the combined academic support and opportunities of UT and Pellissippi.

Students enrolled in the program are invited to live in Clement Hall as part of the Volunteer Bridge Living and Learning Community. They have both UT and Pellissippi student IDs and can access most facilities and activities on both campuses.

Innovative approaches

One of the reasons that Alldredge and her team have been so successful in recruiting strong freshman classes is that they’ve used innovative outreach efforts to engage prospects and welcome new students into the Volunteer family.

Over the winter break, Enrollment Management hosted an event in Nashville before the Music City Bowl. Prospective students, current students, and alumni were invited to the event, which featured remarks by alum (and father of a recent UT graduate) Mike Keith, known as the voice of the Tennessee Titans, and Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek.

Prospective and new students also get to network with the Volunteer family at events like New Vol Roll Call and Volunteering with the Vols.

Along the way, students receive special messages to mark the big moments in their admissions journey. They receive a musical “Welcome to Rocky Top” card when they are invited to attend UT. And, starting this year, students who enroll will receive a UT flag.