Best-Ever Freshmen Begin Fall Semester
This promises to be an enormously exciting Fall 2008 semester at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville!
Once again, we’re in a very strong position academically. In terms of academic performance, the 2008 freshman class of about 4,200 students is the best in the university's history. The average ACT score for the group was 26.5 and the average high school GPA for the incoming freshmen was 3.74.
The Ready for the World initiative, now in its fourth year, is preparing our students, faculty and staff for a global society. This year’s theme – Children and War – is particularly timely. RFTW exerts a positive effect on classroom instruction, study abroad, and cultural offerings. It also strengthens UT’s Diversity Action Plan, which requires all departments to improve recruitment and retention efforts to enhance diversity among all faculty and staff.
We can point with pride to the Chancellor’s Honors Programs, the first group of Haslam Scholars this year, and the successes of the Pledge and Promise scholarships. We’ve just graduated our first class of HOPE scholarship recipients. UT matched Harvard, MIT, Princeton, and Duke in this year's Goldwater scholarship competition for high-quality undergraduate science education. And a new undergraduate education fee will provide more merit and need-based study- abroad scholarships.
Several long-term construction and remodeling projects coming online this year – including the new Baker Center, the business building, and two dorms – will improve the campus.
UT continues to demonstrate environmental leadership. Soon, we will unveil a major initiative here on campus aimed at saving UT money while doing the right thing environmentally.
As many people know, UTK has been affected by the state budget crunch, which has led, among other things, to administrative cuts and a proposal under consideration by the Board of Trustees that would phase out three academic units. These are painful measures, but ones that protect the educational experience of large numbers of students.
