Dear Alumni and Friends:
The university’s new marketing message, What if you could?, challenges prospective students to consider how a UT Martin education can change their lives for the better. As a UT Martin graduate or friend of the university, you already know how our facilities, faculty, staff, and access through our regional centers and UT Martin Online are making it possible for individuals to make a positive difference.
Exciting things are happening at your university that encourage all of us for UT Martin’s future and the progress yet to be realized.
- Enrollment – The fall 2025 enrollment of 8,101 tied the second-highest in university history. The first-year class is the largest in 15 years. Retention remains high, which means that more students are persisting to graduation. The new Latimer- Smith Engineering and Science Building and future Business Administration Building are evidence of UT Martin’s commitment to high-quality educational programs and attracting more students who will change our community, state, nation, and world. What if you could attract and educate more outstanding students? UT Martin is answering the question through better facilities and growing enrollments.
- Leadership Searches – Drs. Laurie Couch and Matthew Bice have been named to key UT Martin academic leadership positions. Dr. Couch was named in December as the new provost and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs, and Dr. Bice was announced in January as the new dean for the College of Education, Health, and Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Couch previously served as provost and senior vice president of academic affairs at Salisbury University in Maryland. Dr. Bice was the provost and vice president for academic affairs at Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas. These are exemplary leaders who have the vision to guide our outstanding academic programs. What if you could attract the best people to join the journey with us? UT Martin is doing just that by engaging transformational people to lead the way.
- The 125th Anniversary Celebration – If our past is any predictor of the future, the best days lie ahead for UT Martin. We opened the 125th Anniversary Celebration on Oct. 10 to commemorate UT Martin’s founding in 1900 as Hall-Moody Institute. President Randy Boyd joined us in Watkins Auditorium as we talked about UT Martin’s past and looked into a promising future. It’s a future that includes more students like Ashlee Mallon of Dresden, student trustee for the UT Board of Trustees, and someone who exemplifies those who leverage their UT Martin experience to a successful future. What if you could see a future as bright as our past? It’s already happening at UT Martin.
Together, possibilities become realities as we move the university forward to better serve those who depend on UT Martin as a higher-education leader. Keep asking, “What if you could?” as we chart a course for the next 125 years.
