Research Council

Message from the Research Council Chair

Greetings from Ken Stephenson, Chair of the Research Council for 2009-2010.

The Research Council is a standing committee of the Faculty Senate intended to promote and support the research mission of the University -- and we interpret "research" in the broadest sense of research, both funded and unfunded, creative achievement, academic scholarship, and research dissemination.

We act as an advisory body to the chief university officer for research and we co-administer certain activities of the Office of Research, but our principal goal is to facilitate communication between those doing the research, the faculty and graduate students, and those who administer and set agendas for the research effort.

In these tough times, the University is engaged in considerable self-examination about roles and mission. This is appropriate for the Research Council as well, and we will undertake this Fall to streamline our structure and refine -- perhaps redefine – our role.

I commend the campus administration, and the Office of Research in particular, for a generally excellent job in guiding the University's research effort. In the competition for resources and the filtering of mission priorities, however, it is crucial that those actually conducting research be directly involved. This is where the Research Council can have an impact: we invite the input and participation of all those interested in advancing the research mission of the University.

Contact

Ken Stephenson, chair
Email: kstephe2@utk.edu