{"id":1130,"date":"2021-08-05T09:39:01","date_gmt":"2021-08-05T13:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/chancellor\/?post_type=utcblogs_newsletter&p=1130"},"modified":"2021-08-05T10:58:02","modified_gmt":"2021-08-05T14:58:02","slug":"chancellors-update-107","status":"publish","type":"utcblogs_newsletter","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/chancellor\/newsletters\/chancellors-update-107\/","title":{"rendered":"Chancellor’s Update"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back MOCS!!\u00a0 I am so excited that the start of the 2021-2022 academic year is nearly here.\u00a0 I want to wish our new students, faculty and staff a special welcome to UTC; we are delighted to have you join our Mocs family.\u00a0 During the academic year, I like to share UTC happenings with a C-Note newsletter on the first and third Thursday of the month.<\/p>\n

As I shared with campus earlier this week<\/a>, while we were hopeful of transitioning to more normal pre-COVID conditions, the spread of the Delta variant means that the fall semester will begin with limited mask requirements.\u00a0 Students, faculty and staff are required to wear face coverings in classrooms, labs and required indoor academic spaces.\u00a0 We will continue to place the health and wellbeing of our campus community and the quality of our student experience at the forefront of our decision-making.<\/p>\n

Our campus policies are aligned with the UT System guidelines, and we will continuously be monitoring the situation for everyone\u2019s safety.\u00a0 I strongly encourage everyone to get vaccinated for COVID-19.\u00a0 Vaccines are the most effective strategy in preventing this virus.\u00a0 University Health Services will be offering ongoing vaccine clinics.\u00a0 Please watch for information regarding those opportunities.<\/p>\n

For those of you new to UTC, I would like to introduce our Executive Leadership Team<\/a> (ELT), which is comprised of my Chief of Staff and the Vice Chancellors.\u00a0 I am honored to work with such an exceptional group of higher education leaders who do their very best each day to provide a high-quality educational experience for our students.\u00a0 A big welcome goes out to the newest members of the ELT, Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Engagement Stacy Lightfoot and Interim Vice Chancellor for Communications and Marketing Gina Stafford.<\/p>\n

This fall\u2019s freshmen make up the inaugural class of Cohort 2025, a comprehensive new approach to building community through cohort groups of incoming students around their main interests\u2014whether academic, professional or extracurricular.<\/p>\n

As we welcome all of our students back to campus, a big round of applause goes out to Val Sample, executive director for residential education and campus life, on receiving a 2021 University of Tennessee President\u2019s Award<\/a>.\u00a0 Val was this year\u2019s recipient in the \u201csupport\u201d category during the annual systemwide awards ceremony that recognizes exceptional contributions by faculty and staff in education, research, outreach and advancing diversity, and support for the institutional mission.\u00a0 Please join me in congratulating Val on this exceptional and well-deserved honor.<\/p>\n

Since the end of the spring semester, there have been a multitude of honors for UTC students and personnel.\u00a0 A few of those highlights include:<\/p>\n