Strategic Plan Overview

The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture (UTIA) is at the core of the land-grant mission of educating, discovering, and connecting. We fulfill that mission through the excellent and innovative work of outstanding faculty, staff, and students. 

The institute’s four major units—the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, the College of Veterinary Medicine, UT AgResearch, and UT Extension—contribute to improving quality of life and enhancing the agricultural economics, environment and health of Tennesseans, our nation, and the world. Our clientele includes students, families, farmers, 4-H’ers, agribusinesses, and the general public. 

 

The challenges ahead of us are significant as we look to find real-life solutions for our state and the world’s most pressing agricultural issues. We know that audiences outside of our agricultural community are not as aware of the critical role agriculture plays in their daily lives from the food they eat, to the clothes they wear, to the homes in which they live. Our role is to educate and assist the public with this understanding.

 

We have brought together a group of faculty, staff, students, and constituents to assist UTIA in developing our 10-year strategic plan. Governor Bill Haslam has laid out a vision for advancing the agricultural community with the 10-year Governor’s Rural Challenge. This, along with the priorities of food, economic development and the environment, recently developed by our faculty, will help guide our process.

 

Our strategic planning process will be completed by March 2018 and will be shared with our constituents. The end result will be a framework that crosses all units of UTIA, and connects with each of the current or future unit plans. In the meantime, you can learn more about our four units and our priorities by clicking on the links below.

 

UT AgResearch: https://taes.tennessee.edu/upload/AgRsch/UnitReviewSelfStudyReport.pdf 

UT Extension:  https://extension.tennessee.edu/StrategicPlan/Pages/default.aspx

UT CASNR: https://ag.tennessee.edu/casnr/Documents/CASNR%202020%20Strategic%20Plan.pdf

UT CVM:  https://vetmed.tennessee.edu/home/Pages/strategic_plan.aspx

UTIA Priorities: https://ag.tennessee.edu/utiapriorities/Documents/Overview12.1.16.pdf​

Dr. David Anderson, Professor and Head, Large Animal Clinical Sciences
Barbara Berry, Agent and Director, UT-TSU Extension Gibson County Office
Max Cheng, Professor, Department of Plant Sciences
Chris Clark, Professor, Agricultural and Resource Economics*
Lisa Ford, Manager of Strategic Research, UTIA Institutional Advancement
David Golden, Executive Assistant to the President, UT President's Office
Bob Hayes, Director, West Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center
Dr. Diane Hendrix, Professor, Small Animal Clinical Sciences
Frank Loeffler, Governor’s Chair Professor, Department of Microbiology
April Moore Massengill, Editor, UTIA Marketing and Communications
Bonnie Ownley, Professor, Entomology and Plant Pathology
Mr. Kyle Hensley, Program Coordinator for Recruitment, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
Justin Rhinehart, Associate Professor, Department of Animal Science
Rhedona Rose, Tennessee Farm Bureau and UT Board of Trustees
Mike Stanley, Systems and Video Conferencing Administrator, UTIA Information Technology Services
Carrie Stephens, Professor, 4-H/Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications
Julia Wells, The Pictsweet Company and UT Board of Trustees
Leslie Wereszczak, Senior Veterinary Technician, Small Animal Clinical Sciences
Charles Wharton, UT Board of Trustees