The University of Tennessee Vision Statement:

The University intends to be the preeminent public research and teaching university linking the people of Tennessee to the nation and the world.

Mission Statements:

The University of Tennessee Mission Statement

As the state’s flagship comprehensive research institution, the University of Tennessee’s primary purpose is to move forward the frontiers of human knowledge and enrich and elevate society. The mission of the University of Tennessee is to:

• Advance the community of learning by engaging in scientific research, humanistic scholarship, and artistic creation;
  
• Provide a high quality educational experience to undergraduate students in a diverse learning environment--promoting the values and institutions of democracy that prepare students to lead lives of personal integrity and civic responsibility in a global society;
  
• Prepare the next generations of skilled and ethical professionals by providing excellent graduate and professional education that prepares graduates to compete in a diverse world market;
  
• Promote a campus environment that welcomes and honors women and men of all races, creeds, and cultures and an atmosphere that values intellectual curiosity, pursuit of knowledge, and academic freedom and integrity;
  
• Conduct research, teaching, and outreach to improve human and animal medicine and health;
  
• Contribute to improving the quality of life, increasing agricultural productivity, protecting the environment, promoting the well-being of families, and conserving natural resources;
  
• Offer a wide variety of off-campus educational and training programs, including the use of information technologies, to individual and groups;
  
• Partner with communities to provide educational, technical and cultural support to increase the livability of those communities; and
  
• Partner with industry and government to improve the quality of the workplace and to serve as an engine for economic and cultural development.

Knoxville Campus

The Knoxville campus serves the state, nation, and international community through a broad spectrum of undergraduate and graduate studies, research and creative activity, and public service and outreach.

Faculty members are skilled teachers and scholars who encourage full student participation in the intellectual life that such a faculty makes possible. The total campus enrollment of about 25,000 is an appropriate mix of undergraduate and post-baccalaureate students.

Undergraduate students are admitted competitively, and each first-year class comprises the best-prepared students from Tennessee and around the world. Articulation agreements with Tennessee community colleges insure that transfer students enroll properly. All undergraduate curricula encourage creative thought, ethical behavior, respect for diversity, and intellectual development.

Graduate and professional degrees are offered in the colleges of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources; Architecture and Design; Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; Communication and Information; Education, Health & Human Sciences; Engineering; Law; Nursing; Social Work; and Veterinary Medicine. Endowed faculty chairs, research Centers of Excellence, and the alliance with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory create graduate and professional scholarship opportunities unique to the Knoxville campus.

The campus environment promotes student success: advisement and academic support enhance student development; student government, leadership, and cultural programming encourage extracurricular growth. Students and faculty have access to the most current library and information technology resources.

Institute of Agriculture

The Institute of Agriculture provides instruction, research, and veterinary clinical and extension services to serve the needs of students, clients, farmers, families and other citizens—in Tennessee and around the world.

Undergraduate, graduate and professional classroom instruction takes place in Knoxville in the facilities of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and the College of Veterinary Medicine. Veterinary clinical services are offered in the Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Knoxville and in selected counties throughout Tennessee. Extension
services are offered in every Tennessee county. Basic and applied research is conducted in Knoxville and at Research Stations statewide. The Institute's statewide presence improves the quality of life, enhances well-being of livestock, pets and wildlife, increases agricultural productivity and income, protects the environment, promotes the economic well-being of families, and conserves natural resources.

Extension

The University of Tennessee Extension is an off-campus division of the UT Institute of Agriculture. It is a statewide educational organization, funded by federal, state and local governments, that brings research-based information about agriculture, family and consumer sciences, and resource development to the people of Tennessee where they live and work.

Because Extension emphasizes helping people improve their livelihood where they are located, most Tennesseans have contact with UT Extension through their local county Extension agents found in each of the 95 counties. Extension agents are supported by area and state faculty as well as by the educational and research resources and activities of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 74 land-grant universities, and 3,150 county units throughout the nation. The stated mission of the system is to help people improve their lives through an educational process that uses scientific knowledge to address issues and needs.

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