University Of Tennessee Mission Statement

University of Tennessee

Introduction

According to the University of Tennessee’s mission statement, the university is to move forward the frontiers of human knowledge and enrich and evaluate the citizens of the state of Tennessee, the nation, and the world (2015). The University of Tennessee is research-based, land grant university found in Knoxville, Tennessee. Based on the Carnegie Classification, the University of Tennessee is a research university. Most undergraduates are full-time and transfer rates are low. Admission to graduate and professional programs is very competitive. The university offers graduate degrees the masters and professional levels. Nationally ranked programs as well as partnerships with Oak Ridge National Laboratory are among U.T.’s unique characteristics (2015).

History/Governance/Background

University of Tennessee began in 1794 as Blount College, two years before Tennessee became a state. In the early years, the University of Tennessee was located in downtown Knoxville, today the university is still located in downtown, but has moved onto an area known as the “hill” (2015). The University of Tennessee was founded as a nonsectarian college, which was very rare for a higher education institution. After the death of U.T’s first president, Samuel Carrick in 1809, the university struggled to gain funding and new leadership. This struggle resulted in the closure of the university for almost a decade. In 1820, a partnership with Knoxville’s Hampden-Sydney Academy resulted in the University of Tennessee opening its doors again under the name East Tennessee College. Six years later, the university dissolved its partnership with the academy and became independently funded. At this time in the university’s history, the college had six faculty members, ninety-five students and a simple curriculum of science, mathematics, and