Chancellor Donde Plowman wants the University of Tennessee to be better: 'We choose great'
Chancellor Donde Plowman has a new addition to her mission statement for the University of Tennessee at Knoxville: Be great.
Enrollment continues to break records, three new colleges were added and new buildings are being built on campus. And Vols athletics are excelling, including the university's best finish ever in the all-sports Director's Cup standings for Division 1 programs.
In her fifth flagship address, Plowman discussed the ways the Knoxville campus is meeting goals as a university on the rise. She listed several ways the university has improved or grown since she became chancellor in 2019.
Here are five key takeaways from her Sept. 14 address, as well as additional comments Plowman made afterward.
The University of Tennessee won't settle for good enough
During her speech, Plowman referred to a meeting she had when she was a candidate for chancellor. The decision-makers wanted the university to be great.
She talked about a book titled "Good to Great" by Jim Collins, and how it encapsulates her motivations to boost UT above just good.
"To be great, you must refuse being just good enough," Plowman said. "The University of Tennessee refuses good enough. We choose great."
New Online Learning Infrastructure for Tennesseans
Plowman discussed a new program to help Tennesseans who have college credits, but not a degree, to complete their studies. A UT team is developing the Online Learning Infrastructure and Plowman hopes to have it ready to enroll people by September 2024.
She said there are about a million Tennesseans with some college credits – typically 30 – who haven't completed their degrees. This is designed to give those Tennesseans an online option.
"Tennessee is one of the lower states in percentage of people with college degrees," Plowman said. "This is a part of our land grant mission, if you will, to say, 'Let's see if we can't can't put together some degree programs (and we're already working on it) that we're going to market to those 990,000 plus people who have some credit. … Let's get them a college degree and help them get a better job and improve their life.'"
National Science Foundation and academic recognition
Plowman touted a visit by the director of the National Science Foundation and an $18 million grant for the quantum science facility cluster as big wins. She said the director considers the research and facilities in Tennessee as a model of innovation for the country.
"In June, the director of the National Science Foundation visited this campus for the kickoff of TEAM Tennessee. We are leading a coalition of more than 100 organizations across the state, including industry partners and every technical school, community college and university. TEAM Tennessee is focused on making our state a global leader in the $2 trillion transportation industry," Plowman said during her address.
Other areas of research and academic accomplishments Plowman highlighted:
Adding three new colleges in July
Producing Fulbright Scholars at a high level
Achieving a 91% student retention rate
Serving as home to faculty members named to the National Academies and the Royal Society
Deepening innovation-driven relationships between the Tickle College of Engineering and partners including AT&T, Eastman, Nissan, Oak Ridge National Lab, the Tennessee Valley Authority and Volkswagen.
Continuing to build enrollment at UT Knoxville
Since she became chancellor, Plowman said enrollment at UT has risen 20%. Applications have risen 200%.
She said after the address the university admitted a smaller first-year class this fall so the university can meet needs such as housing. Two dormitories are scheduled to open by fall 2025.
Additionally, the UT Board of Trustees approved a new initiative that will allow guaranteed admissions for top high school seniors. The criteria for the Knoxville campus:
Finish in the top 10% of their graduating high school class.
Achieve a 4.0 grade-point average.
Other UT System schools including UT Chattanooga, UT Martin and UT Southern have an additional way to qualify:
Achieve a 3.2 GPA and a composite ACT score of 23 or higher (or an SAT score of 1130-1150 or higher).
Plowman wants University of Tennessee to be storytellers
She began her address talking about a visit she recently made to a high school in Nashville. She talked with seniors about their future, and she told them about the university. She used that experience to urge people in her address to become storytellers about the work being done in Knoxville.
"Every person on this campus should take credit for our momentum. Every single one. The list of accomplishments I shared and so many more, those successes belong to all of us," Plowman said.
"So when you're at a neighborhood block party, or you're at your kid's soccer games; when you're at conferences or community events, tell people about what you are helping achieve at our university. Tell them about our important research, our bright students, our talented faculty, our dedicated staff, our strong partnerships and our growing momentum. Tell them that we have chosen great. Tell them that the University of Tennessee is on the rise."
On graduate pay and campus parking
Recently, UT increased the minimum stipend pay for graduate students assistants and associates. Plowman said she worked with the Graduate Student Senate and the United Campus Workers.
"There was frustration here – just frustration around the country really about how we compensate graduate students," Plowman said. "I promised them in the spring, 'We're going to do something by fall.'"
"We did raise the minimum stipend, and we will raise it again next year to get it to – it's still probably not what some would call a living wage – but it is closer and I'm really glad we were able to do it."
She said it was a great experience hearing from students about their needs and to work with them on a solution. She wants to continue building those relationships with student groups on campus.
"It's important that I get interaction with groups like the Graduate Students Senate. That made a difference in hearing their stories and how we think about what exactly is the status of the situation," Plowman said.
She also discussed the parking problem on campus. She's been monitoring the capacity of the parking lots and has seen that there are spaces open at various times each day, but those lots are more on the outskirts. Plowman said UT "has plans for all of them" but it's "not in place" yet.
"We've got to rethink how we do this. It means getting here early, getting on a shuttle. It's changing our behaviors, but there are other things that we're going to put in place in the coming year, because it's an issue we need to figure out a solution to," Plowman said.
Keenan Thomas is a higher education reporter. Email keenan.thomas@knoxnews.com. Twitter @specialk2real.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Chancellor Donde Plowman wants the University of Tennessee to be great
