UT President John Petersen released a mission statement for UT on August 6, 2007, which UT Knoxville Chancellor Loren Crabtree said would “diminish all [campuses] to mediocrity.” Petersen said that effective August 6 the mission of the institution was to “provide the people in Tennessee with access to quality higher education, economic development, and enhanced quality-of-life opportunities.” In an August 9th letter distributed to campus administrators, he further stated that the UT system managed the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Cherokee Farm, and athletics, among other organizations.
Campus reaction to the statement was swift (more than 350 responses were received by Crabtree to his request for comments) and almost uniformly in disagreement. The Faculty Senate Executive Committee sent Chancellor Crabtree a letter saying: “We encourage you as chancellor to request that the ‘Mission of the University’ statement be withdrawn until an opportunity has been provided for input that should have been requested before its promulgation.”
The mission statement was rescinded by Petersen by issuance of the document “The University of Tennessee Management and Reporting Responsibilities.”
On November 5, Petersen sent to faculty and staff a document, “A Spirit. A Vision. A Plan: Defining the Strategic Role and Mission of the University of Tennessee,” which he subsequently presented to the board of trustees at its November 9, 2007, meeting. Included was a “scorecard” through which progress would be measured. Faculty members criticized the plan’s statement of the organization of responsibilities between the UT system and the Knoxville campus, indicating that the document was meant to show progress but that key issues—such as the use of Cherokee Farm, oversight of athletics, and the structure of information technology—had not been satisfactorily resolved. Faculty were also critical of lack of communication on the part of Petersen and members of his staff with the faculty and other campus constituencies.