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UT System president outlines 2030 strategic-plan targets: 85,000 students, $730 million research goal and $6 billion infrastructure plan
Summary
President Randy presented top-line 2030 KPIs to the executive committee, including an enrollment target of 85,000 students (17,000 online), a research spending goal of $730 million, workforce and credential initiatives, and a decade infrastructure investment target of $6 billion; trustees requested more detail on post-graduation outcome metrics and campus-level breakdowns.
Randy, president of the University of Tennessee System, briefed the executive committee on a condensed set of key performance indicators that will underpin the system's strategic plan through 2030 and asked trustees to reserve detailed questions for campus-level reports at the full board meeting in Memphis.
Randy said the system's current enrollment stands at about 64,000 students and outlined a 2030 target of 85,000 total students, including 17,000 online. He described aims to increase the share of students who graduate without debt from 55% to 64% and to reduce the count of students carrying debt from about 23,000 to 20,000. On research, Randy said system research expenditures were roughly $524 million (up from about $430 million in 2020) with a 2030 goal of $730 million; he also said federal funding for 2025 totaled $42 million and the system hopes to grow that to roughly $60 million per year.
Trustees pressed for measurement detail. DeCosta Jenkins asked how "positive post-graduation outcomes" would be defined and measured; Randy said the system is joining a national workforce database that will give more comprehensive wage data across states and promised to circulate definitions and a campus-level breakdown of retention and graduation targets. Jamie Woodson and other trustees questioned whether some retention and 4-year graduation targets felt aggressive and requested campus-by-campus baseline and projected-improvement numbers.
Workforce and credential strategy formed a separate emphasis: Randy described efforts to develop shorter "units of measure" (micro-credentials and compressed degree options) to accelerate workforce entry and lower student debt. He cited a systemwide target to raise internships and co-op participation from 23% to 35%. The University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) will pursue growth in clinical cohorts, with the president noting targets to increase MD cohorts from 175 to 225 and physician assistant cohorts from 30 to 60 by 2030.
On community engagement, Randy said a systemwide economic-impact baseline will be developed under Linda Martin; a vendor evaluation was scheduled for January 16 and staff expect about six months to produce an initial baseline. He reported IPS (internal/external service revenue) at $49 million with a goal of $80 million.
Administrative and implementation items included a large student information system rollout and continuation of ERP improvements. David reported that DASH ERP repair work is largely closed, W-2 issuance is underway with ADP contracted to ensure accuracy, and an Oracle roadmap of new functionalities will guide 2026 work.
Randy closed by saying dashboards and implementation teams are being formed and that the board will be asked to approve the strategic plan at the upcoming Memphis meeting; trustees were asked to review materials in advance and identify any final numeric refinements over the next several weeks.
Next procedural steps: staff will distribute metric definitions and campus breakdowns ahead of the full-board meeting in Memphis, where campuses will present concise updates and trustees plan to vote on the strategic plan.
