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President presents KPI dashboard showing rising enrollment, retention and research at Tennessee Tech
Summary
The university president presented a new KPI dashboard highlighting nearly 11,000 students, record first‑year retention just over 80% (goal 82%), research approaching $48–50 million, an average early‑career salary of about $68,000 and marketing efforts to amplify the campus story.
The university president briefed the board on a new dashboard intended as the board's primary view into enrollment, student success, finances and other key performance indicators. He said the dashboard shows enrollment gains after an earlier dip, with several of the largest freshman classes in recent years and incoming cohort metrics (average ACT about 24.2; average high school GPA 3.72). "You can see kind of track our progress in all these areas," the president said.
On student success, the president said first‑year retention reached an all‑time record just over 80% and that the board's working goal is 82%. He noted average time to degree is about 4.3 years and emphasized that reducing time‑to‑degree is a cost driver for students. "Increasing our retention rate to 80% gives us a far better chance of graduating students on time and saving them a lot of money in the long run," he said.
The president highlighted research growth, saying the university topped nearly $48 million in externally funded research for FY2025 and was on track to exceed $50 million. He called a recent $1.3 million U.S. Department of Energy award for nuclear science research "particularly exciting" and noted the grant included hands‑on opportunities in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Financially, the president described the institution's management as strong and cited an early‑career average salary of about $68,000 and comparatively low student debt as evidence of return on investment. He also discussed the flat‑rate tuition model introduced about five years earlier and suggested it has been a factor contributing to recent retention and graduation gains.
The presentation moved on to marketing and outreach: expanded media coverage for new academic offerings such as an artificial intelligence major, a surge in visibility tied to football success, new groundbreakings for campus facilities, and commercial spots including a "Wings up" campaign designed to amplify the university's message across the region.
Trustees asked about the data and comparisons to peer institutions; the president said the dashboard is intended to provide both high level and drill‑down data available to board members on request.
