In 2009 the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) invited four universities—UT, Middle Tennessee State, UT at Chattanooga, and the University of Memphis—to submit proposals to institute a baccalaureate program leading to teacher certification in math and science fields, replicating the successful program (UTeach) begun at the University of Texas in 1997. THEC and the Department of Education had allocated funds for replication of UTeach. UT submitted an application with Dean Robert Rider of the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences and Dean Bruce Bursten of the College of Arts and Sciences being co-principal investigators. Dr. Susan Riechert and Dr. Susan Benner were the program directors. The successful proposer was to receive up to $1.8 million over five years to implement the program, and the institution was required to contribute a like amount.
UT’s proposal was chosen in November 2009, with THEC also deciding to fund a program at Middle Tennessee State, and, subsequently, at other institutions. UT named its program VolsTeach. The program provided for a four-year baccalaureate degree, rather than UT’s standard five-year program leading to a master’s degree, incorporated field experience into all four years of the program, and expanded in innovative ways both subject content and pedagogical training. The program had a goal of enrolling two hundred students in four years. At the time of the program’s initiation, UT graduated an average of 14 students a year who received licenses in the math or science disciplines. In its first year of operation (2010), the program enrolled 92 students—43 more than it had anticipated.
In 2011 the program was awarded a $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation’s Robert Noyce program. The award was in recognition of VolsTeach’s effectiveness and its emphasis on early and ongoing hands-on experience in the field. The NSF grant was to pay for scholarships and summer and academic-year internships. Juniors and seniors who agree to go into teaching for two years in high-need schools could receive $12,000 scholarships for their junior and senior years at UT Knoxville. Through the NSF grant, students could also receive $10,000 during their first year of teaching to set up a lab for their students or to use for professional development and could be paid $15 an hour during an internship in an outreach program. The grant also allowed for initiation, in spring 2012, of a collaboration with UT’s NSF-funded National Institute for Mathematical & Biological Synthesis (NIMBIOS), through which a monthly seminar series on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) issues was begun. The seminar series was opened to UT educators, students, and public school teachers.
The program moved into its permanent home—the fully renovated first floor of Greve Hall in August 2012.