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University of Tennessee cites enrollment growth, asks for targeted capital and specialized-unit funding
Summary
President Randy Boyd told the committee the University of Tennessee has grown to about 65,000 students and requested additional funds for specialized units, a replacement College of Medicine facility, and precision-agriculture research to expand health-professional production and support statewide economic needs.
Randy Boyd, president of the University of Tennessee system, told the committee the system has grown from about 52,000 students to 65,000 and set a goal of 84,000 by 2030. "We started off the decade with 52,000 students. We've grown to 65,000," he said when introducing the UT presentation.
Boyd listed several asks beyond formula increases, including additional funding to fully support specialized units (the UT Health Science Center, College of Veterinary Medicine and Extension), $6,000,000 for a new health clinic at UT Martin and roughly $3,000,000 for precision-agriculture research to improve farm productivity. He also described a proposal in the governor’s budget to fund a new College of Medicine at the UT Health Science Center, which Boyd said would increase the number of health-care professionals produced by the system and boost doctor and physician-assistant cohorts.
Boyd framed the requests around workforce and public health needs, saying the health-sciences investments would help raise the number of health professionals produced statewide and argued that targeted capital projects support both education and economic development. Committee members asked for additional detail on specialized-unit formulas, and Boyd said those units are not on the outcomes-based formula and requested predictability in funding for non-formula units.
