I want to update you on some good news for our campus.

During the Faculty/Staff Town on Oct. 21, Mike Krause, executive director of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, announced that THEC will recommend that UT Martin receive $393,000 in additional quality assurance funding for our 2021-2022 budget. This reflects improvement in numerous areas related to recruitment and retention, especially in the marked improvement of our six-year graduation rate.

THEC will also recommend placing the UT Martin Innovation and Product Realization Facility on the commission’s Capital Projects Recommendation list. This facility is a $17.5 milllion, 50,000-square foot structure that will bring UT Martin, Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology (TCAT) and Dyersburg State Community College programs under one roof on the UT Martin campus. This multi-purpose initiative will help answer workforce needs and provide economic development assistance across West Tennessee and beyond. Best of all, our students, faculty and staff will have increased research and instruction opportunities right here at home.

University of Tennessee President Randy Boyd then made this good news public Friday morning, Oct. 23, at the fall 2020 meeting of the UT Board of Trustees. He mentioned these as points of pride during his opening remarks.

None of this could have happened without your help. You’re mentoring and educating our students, advancing our incredible academic programs and connecting our campus with our region. And now, the state of Tennessee is taking notice.

It’s a great day for the UT Martin family.

And it’s a great day to be a Skyhawk.