Connect:
On the Campus and in the Field

We’re fulfilling our unique outreach mission by offering expertise, enabling opportunity, and engaging volunteers in our service to the state.

UT Advocacy director Carey Whitworth addresses an audience  

UT Advocacy is fostering connections that drive change
UT’s Advocacy program connects people who are passionate about the University with policymakers. Since its inception in 2012, the program has annually doubled the number of advocates. UT Advocates have been key in building relationships with legislators that promote the University’s impact. One of a handful of higher education advocacy programs in the nation, UT Advocacy is on the forefront of a national trend to promote higher education.

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Children observe caterpillars and plants with magnifiers  

Learning through play in the KinderGarden
The newest addition to the UT Gardens is at the Plateau Discovery Gardens in Crossville. The “KinderGarden” is a fun, science-based feature designed to engage children ages 3 to 7. Children can explore nine areas to enhance cognition, social-emotional skills, language, literacy and physical development through play. KinderGarden was made possible by a group of Tennessee Master Gardeners, a volunteer program managed by UT Extension. Free and open to the public, local schools have already taken note and are booking field trips.

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Sheree Woodard and a UT IPS consultant look at a contract on an aluminum clipboard  

Building partnerships that pay with PTAC
Sheree Woodward is a U.S. Army veteran and Tennessee business owner who was able to secure a federal contract with help from UT’s Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC). Consultants with PTAC help more than 500 Tennessee companies, like Woodward’s, per year, bringing more than $5.8 billion in contract dollars to the state over the past 15 years.

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