{"id":65279,"date":"2025-01-27T07:44:31","date_gmt":"2025-01-27T12:44:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=65279"},"modified":"2025-01-31T12:42:41","modified_gmt":"2025-01-31T17:42:41","slug":"taking-care-of-business-probasco-chair-claudia-kramer-is-bringing-economics-to-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/taking-care-of-business-probasco-chair-claudia-kramer-is-bringing-economics-to-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking care of business: Probasco Chair Claudia Kramer is bringing economics to life\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Probasco

Probasco Chair Claudia Kramer came to UTC in 2020. Photo by Angela Foster.<\/p><\/div>\n

Dr. Claudia Kramer was caught off guard when she asked her first-year business students, \u201cWhat is free enterprise?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Most of them did not have an answer.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really fascinating,\u201d Kramer recalled. \u201cI realized we needed to go back to the basics.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Moments like this are what have shaped Kramer\u2019s mission as the Scott L. Probasco Jr. Distinguished Chair of Free Enterprise at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. For the past five years, she has helped students see economics as a part of everyday life.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not an ideology,\u201d she said. \u201cAt the heart of it, it\u2019s the economic way of thinking. It\u2019s about cost-benefit analysis and understanding how you achieve your goals.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Probasco Chair of Free Enterprise was established in 1977 by an initial bequest from the estate of Burkett Miller and is among the largest endowed chairs of free enterprise in the nation. The chair <\/span>focuses on advancing the study and understanding of the American free enterprise system through research, education and public engagement\u2014including hosting international conferences and directing the Center for Economic Education\u2014while serving as a tenured faculty member in the Gary W. Rollins College of Business.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Probasco Chair also hosts events during the academic year open to the community, including a pair of panel discussions in February.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On Thursday, Feb. 6<\/strong>, \u201cThe Economics of Sports\u201d<\/a><\/strong> will explore economic topics shaping today\u2019s sports industry\u2014from the impacts of name, image and likeness (NIL) publicity rights to taxes, subsidies and market trends. The panelists include UT System President Randy Boyd, the owner\/operator of five minor league baseball teams; sports economist Brad R. Humphreys; and Times Free Press sportswriter Jay Greeson.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, on Thursday, Feb. 27<\/strong>, an \u201cEconomics and Etiquette\u201d<\/a><\/strong> presentation will feature Nobel Laureate Vernon Smith and his wife, Candace.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Prior to joining UTC, Kramer served for eight years as an associate professor of economics and the Drew Allen Endowed Fellow at Mississippi State University, where she established and directed the Institute for Market Studies.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Taking on her role at UTC in 2020, she had to navigate moving to and starting a job in a new city during a global pandemic.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI had not stepped foot on campus when I accepted my position,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was a little bit weird to move during COVID and start a new job, especially as faculty and in an endowed chair position. It was an interesting time, but since then, everything has exceeded my expectations. The campus is beautiful and has a lot of resources.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kramer said her time at UTC has taught her valuable lessons about the impact of the Probasco Chair. She found that the position has allowed her to blend teaching, research and outreach in ways that can help both students and the community.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She also highlighted how working at UTC has deepened her appreciation for its students, many of whom are first-generation like herself.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI hear other professors at other schools talking about how entitled their students are,\u201d she said. \u201cWe definitely don\u2019t get that a lot here. Students are excited to be on campus, interacting with other students and with faculty.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Seeing this, Kramer wanted to help students to engage with economics in a deeper, more personal way. This led to the establishment of the Phillips Scholarship in Free Enterprise at UTC during the 2024-2025 academic year.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to its webpage, the <\/span>Phillips Scholars program<\/span><\/b><\/a> \u201cis designed for students who possess a spirit and aptitude for understanding and appreciating the free enterprise system\u201d by providing participants mentorship, financial support and professional development opportunities.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just been really exciting to be able to do that in a much more informal but intimate way,\u201d Kramer said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She said the program has resulted in unexpected outcomes\u2014including a few students who switched to economics majors or minors\u2014and forming friendships.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we found is the students come (to class) and they talk to each other,\u201d she said. \u201cI see them sharing more personal stories and talking about what they did over break.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey only came together as a group because of the scholarship. A lot of them did not know each other before.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Click here to apply to the Phillips Scholarship in Free Enterprise program<\/span><\/b><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Kramer\u2019s work as Probasco Chair extends beyond the UTC community. Through the UTC Center for Economic Education (CEE), she supports K-12 students, educators and local citizens with programs in economics and personal finance, maintains an educator database, hosts workshops to share teaching tools, and builds relationships with local educators and stakeholders.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn Tennessee, the state curriculum doesn\u2019t require that students take an economics course to graduate,\u201d she explained. \u201cMany high school teachers are asked to teach economics and history or government, often without having formal training in the subject. I started thinking about, \u2018How can we aid the teachers?\u2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe other part was, \u2018How can we develop programs that influence and impact the community at large?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Kim

Kim Holder<\/p><\/div>\n

To accomplish this, Kramer knew she needed an extra set of hands, which is why she hired Kim Holder in 2024 as the managing director of the CEE.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since starting her role on Aug. 1, Holder has worked with Kramer to host public events, including the two upcoming panel discussions in February.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think that experiencing econ is a really important piece of taking research, making it relevant and showing the vastness of economics,\u201d Holder said. \u201cI think it\u2019s something that Claudia and I are pretty passionate about. Econ can be applied to any person at any time in any place.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is Kramer\u2019s exact mission\u2013\u2013to bring economics outside of the classroom to show its usefulness in various contexts.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re stepping outside the academic view of economics or any discipline when you have more of a public forum or have a public lecture so that it\u2019s presented in a way that you can take out all the technical jargon,\u201d she said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As Kramer grows in her role, her goals are to expand the UTC CEE and the Phillips Scholar program.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBy gearing up the scholarship program and doing extra events outside that classroom is what allows us to get to know students better and interact with them better,\u201d she said. \u201cThen we really get to communicate the benefit of economics in a way that\u2019s directly helpful for their lives.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Upcoming Probasco Chair of Free Enterprise events:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n