Funding Priorities
The $75 million goal for the College of Engineering is part of The Campaign for Tennessee, a $1 billion endeavor involving all campuses and institutes. Our broad campaign goals, updated to reflect emerging opportunities, include support for faculty, programs, facilities, and student aid.
For gift recognition opportunities, click here.
» Faculty Support
» Student Support
» Program Support
» Facilities Support
Faculty Support $24 million
Although great engineers may be genetically predisposed to this field from birth it is without a doubt a great education that prepares them and gives them problem-solving discipline. And it is great professors who provide that preparation. In the classroom, faculty serve as teachers. In research laboratories those same faculty are mentors and co-learners, instructing in research methodology and becoming discoverers together with their students.
Endowed Chairs at $3 million or more provide annual income to create new faculty positions and will enable the College of Engineering to grow, better serving our students and our state.
Endowed Professorships at $1 million or more provide salary supplements and funding that enable us to recruit and keep the best faculty.
Faculty Excellence Endowments recognize faculty who have done an extraordinary job, support faculty travel to conferences to present new research, or help the college’s leadership keep the best from being lured by other institutions.
Student Support $10 million
Endowed scholarships for undergraduate students and endowed fellowships for graduate students help the college support students, encouraging them to pursue the rigorous coursework in engineering. In today’s market, competition for the best students is intense. Scholarship dollars often make the difference.
Program Support $21 million
Engage Program
Designed to provide practical experience, the Jerry E. Stoneking Engage Program was created as a direct response to the demands of industry with integrated project- and team-oriented coursework. It is a success-oriented curriculum that forms the foundation for every engineering major, covering topics of mechanics, physics, computer tools, and engineering as a profession. A recent study comparing the traditional engineering curriculum with the Engineering Fundamentals Engage approach demonstrated a 6% increase in retention.
Gifts to the Engage Endowment provide funding that will keep the program innovative, helping us retain the excellent students who enroll.
Engineering Office of Diversity
Established in 1973, the Minority Engineering Program expanded a number of years ago to include a broader definition of diversity. Due in large part to the success of the Minority/Diversity Engineering Programs, the UT College of Engineering has graduated one of the largest groups of African-American engineering students in the nation. Summer programs bring middle and high school students to the UT Knoxville engineering campus to discover academic and career options in the Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) areas.
Support for recruiting students through program endowments is key to introducing next generations of minority students to explore engineering.
Engineering Honors Program
The Engineering Honors Program offers an enriched academic experience for our top students. A new leadership minor offers a combination of coursework and projects designed to develop students’ leadership styles and skills to become effective and influential engineers. Global study is an important component of the honors program and especially challenging for engineering students with their carefully prescribed curricular demands. The Honors Program staff are developing exchanges that will give our students an international engineering perspective.
Scholarships for study abroad and endowments to build honors program components are crucial priorities.
Office of Professional Practice
Co-op and internship experiences are a hallmark of engineering education for many students. A dedicated professional staff works with companies around the country to place students in paid positions that offer professional experiences related to their academic and career goals.
Gifts to sponsor student programs and special events could offer companies opportunities to interact with some of the college’s outstanding students.
Facilities Support - $20 million
The college has proven the benefits of strategic leverage. In 2004, Dr. Min H. Kao and Fan C. Kao provided leverage when they challenged the Governor of Tennessee to match their gift for a building 2 to 1. The resulting Min H. Kao Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Building is scheduled to be completed fall 2011 with exciting new construction visible every day. The John Tickle Building for the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering and the Department of Industrial & Information Engineering is moving forward because a major private gift from John and Ann Tickle provided the push that enabled previously appropriated state funding to be activated.
We invite donors to consider gifts to support these departments through gift recognition opportunities in each building. Having a donor’s name or an honoree’s name on classrooms, labs, conference space, or offices enables the university to express appreciation in a very visible way. It also inspires students to think about those who are supporting their education.
Kao Building Gift Recognition Link
Tickle Building Gift Recognition Link