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For release September 22, 2006
UTSI EXCEEDING GOALS, DANIEL SAYS
DURING SYSTEM-WIDE UT CELEBRATION
The University of Tennessee Space Institute
is “significantly exceeding goals” of its revitalization plan,
Dr. Donald C. Daniel told the UTSI family in reporting on his
first 100 days at the Institute.
Enrollments are holding steady, research funding is increasing
significantly, a new recruiting plan is in place, and metrics
are being tracked in evaluating the Institute’s overall program,
said Daniel, UT associate vice president and UTSI chief
operating officer.
UTSI’s staff, students, and faculty assembled in the auditorium
Sept. 19 to participate in a university wide celebration that
featured a simulcast to all six UT campuses of an address by UT
President Dr. John Petersen.
Daniel said that while enrollment of part-time and full-time
graduate students and students in the year-around short course
program is holding steady, his goal is to increase full-time
students by 50 percent.
Stressing the need to raise the level of education in Tennessee,
Daniel said more emphasis is being placed on recruiting graduate
students from top engineering school and recruiting highest
quality faculty. He emphasized the Institute’s tie with UT’s
strategic plan for UTSI, which focuses on student access and
student success, research and economic development, outreach and
globalization, organization, resources and communication.
Dr. Brendan Godfrey, director of the Air Force Office of
Scientific Research, made his first visit to UTSI in early
September, and Daniel is inviting other national research
leaders to visit the Institute each month.
Godfrey’s office has “from 400 to 500 million dollars a year to
spend on research, and 80 percent of this goes to universities,”
Daniel noted. “I don’t want them to give it to us, but I want us
to compete.”
Daniel praised the work of lead research professors and of Dr.
Joel W. Muehlhauser, UT assistant vice president and UTSI dean
of research in increasing UTSI’s research funding.
Advertisements to recruit eight new faculty members will begin
right away, Daniel said, including two new professors in
Engineering Management, and six in materials processing and
propulsion. He also hopes to find an assistant vice president
for research and development before Muehlhauser retires on Dec.
31.
“You can’t be a great university unless you are a research
university,” he declared.
Daniel’s report came just before Petersen addressed an estimated
3,500 people from all six campuses via a simulcast. He gave an
overview of UT’s revitalization plan and unveiled a new image
campaign that highlights UT’s future. The statewide celebration
featured pep bands, prize giveaways, mascots, and multi-media
shows. UT employs more than 16,000 people who work in all 95
counties of the state, and Petersen emphasized their vital role
as spokespersons.
At the Space Institute, numerous door prizes were awarded, and
hot dogs with all the trimmings were served afterwards on the
patio next to Woods Reservoir.
The statewide celebration drew 2,500 participants from
Knoxville, 125 from UTSI, 300 each from Martin and Chattanooga,
250 from Memphis, and an estimated 100 from Nashville.
Praising the UTSI Support Council, Daniel said he had challenged
Chairman Dick Farrar of Fayetteville to “grow the Council’s
membership” even more to strengthen “UT’s flag ship in Middle
Tennessee.” He also has suggested that the Council help to
“enhance the beauty of UTSI” by financing landscaping, and to
provide monetary awards to Institute employees from time to
time.
“We have an exciting future,” Daniel concluded. “Let’s go for
it.”
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UTSI graduate students at the
lunch on the patio are, from left Sean Fischbach,
Mark Olles, SGA president, Josh Batterson, and Esam
Abu-Irshaid.
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Dr. Joel W. Muehlhauser of
Blanton’s Chapel visits with Dallas Manning,
left, and Dean Northcutt, both from the UT
Extension Service in Coffee County and residents
of Manchester.
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Dr. Lloyd
Davis visits with Dr. Yelena
White, both are with UTSI’s
Center for Laser Applications
and live in Tullahoma
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Dr. Donald C. Daniel visits with
Professors Lloyd Davis and Bill Hofmeister (right).
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Staffers visiting over lunch
are from left Betty Bright, Winchester, Vicki
Carr, Belvidere, Brenda Brown, Decherd, and
Librarian Emily Moore, Estill Springs.
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Enjoying hot dogs on
UTSI’s patio are, from left, Kathy Hice,
Tullahoma, Charlotte Campbell, Estill
Springs, Clara Ferguson, Belvidere,
Susan Murphy, Manchester, and Charlotte
Henley, Tullahoma.
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Writer: Weldon Payne (931) 393-7222
wpayne@utsi.edu
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