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Strategy

The university’s strategic vision is a shared framework from which we make decisions and prioritize our work.

Our institution’s mission, vision, and values guide our brand strategy, which is expressed through our messages and visual identity. The principles below keep us true to ourselves and provide focus for the important work we all do to advance the university’s reputation.


students putting handprints on the rock

Energy

This is the organizing principle for all our communications. “Energy” provides the ultimate filter for telling our stories. No other university is more energetic than UT. No other institution does more to invigorate Tennessee than this university.



students working on a math problem with their professor

Position

UT embodies the best of our state’s character and potential, fostering unwavering pride, courageous optimism, and fiercely independent thinking in an intellectual community where ambition and civility are not mutually exclusive.


students talking on a bench on campus

Personality

UT is the tireless Volunteer, ready to stand up for what’s right. Every institution, like every person, possesses a distinctive personality. The qualities that the Tennessee Volunteer stands for—initiative, selflessness, compassion, collaboration, civic responsibility, leadership—reference our proud history as Tennessee’s institution of aspiration and opportunity.


students working with professors in the printmaking lab

Pledge

Together, we’re unstoppable. This is the promise we make to our audiences. UT offers the excitement of being associated with an institution that has incredible momentum. Keeping that momentum strong depends on everyone. We’re as dynamic as the people who invest in us emotionally, intellectually, and philanthropically.


students throwing mortar boards at commencement

Audiences’ Benefit

I am a force to be reckoned with. This is how people feel when they affiliate with our brand. Respect and competitiveness in the greater world is the key benefit that people seek from the UT brand. Our diplomas open doors; our ideas command attention.