Last week was exciting for Skyhawks everywhere.

Thursday was a landmark day for our campus as we announced the <em>single largest gift in university history</em>. Melanie Smith Taylor and her family have pledged that Wildwood Farm in Germantown, Tennessee will be gifted to UT Martin. We will immediately begin our work at Wildwood, as programs in veterinary science, animal science and other agriculture programs develop on this site. We are excited to extend our academic programs into Shelby County. For a video on the UT Martin/Wildwood Farm partnership, click here. (hyperlink)

The annual Board of Trustees meeting took place on Thursday and Friday in Memphis, Tennessee. UT Martin was able to modify our Bachelor of Science in Cell and Molecular Biology program, as well as successfully propose new Bachelors programs in Veterinary Science &amp; Technology and Cybersecurity.   We also moved ahead with the approval of a new Master of Science in Criminal Justice.  All of these curricular efforts were a part of our Strategic Enrollment Management Plan. (hyperlink)

Perhaps our greatest achievement last week was in celebrating our people.  Anthony Prewitt and Dr. Ray Witmer were honored as President’s Award winners. Prewitt was honored in the Diversity category and Whitmer received recognition for in the Educate category.  Only six employees were chosen from a system-wide pool of candidates for President’s Awards this year.  We are honored to have two of them on our campus.  You can view the awards presentation here. (hyperlink)

Our university is moving forward in bold new directions in both our physical footprint across the region and in our curricular offerings.  And with great people like Anthony Prewitt and Ray Whitmer leading the charge, our best days are truly ahead of us.

It’s a great day (or week) to be a Skyhawk!

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All the best,

Keith