Frequently Asked Questions
As the higher education experience continues to change for on-campus and online students alike, we’re committed to answering questions about team, technology, and our approach to excellence in online learning.
Definitions
The university uses the definitions below to denote the differences between online, hybrid, and flipped courses, and asynchronous and synchronous instruction.
Fully online, no live sessions.
Fully online with scheduled live sessions.
Fully online, mix of asynchronous and synchronous.
Mix of online and in-person instruction
A concentration is a specialized area of study within a degree program that allows students to focus on a specific discipline.
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General Information
The University has identified the growth and advancement of online programs as a strategic priority due to significant changes in student expectations and demands. Changes in the higher education experience, including an increasing desire for online and/or hybrid learning, will only grow quickly in the coming years.
As such, we have realigned personnel and resources, creating a new unit at the campus level, Digital Learning at UT, to support this priority. We have also begun adapting our campus financial and operational processes to ensure that academic and support units are strongly positioned to pursue this priority.
Learning – whether online or on-campus – is at the core of UT’s educational mission. The UT Knoxville vision has three major tenets:
- Empower all learners to achieve their dreams through accessible, affordable education and state-of-the-art research training opportunities.
- Advance the prosperity, well-being, and vitality of communities across Tennessee and worldwide through our research, teaching, service, and engagement.
Each of these speaks directly to the necessity for UT to offer a growing number of programs via an online modality, which has become a mainstream pathway to pursue education for some segments of learners. The number of students choosing to learn fully online will only continue to grow. We will only be successful in our vision with significant advancement in this area.
Various approaches to help build capability and scale were considered, including potential acquisitions such as those undertaken by other public universities. Ultimately, it was decided that we must make this capability internally to truly advance our standing and be consistent with the UT culture, quality, and governance structures.
However, recognizing that building this capability internally would be challenging and time-consuming, we began conversations with Arizona State University. This public institution, like ours, is committed to maintaining high standards of excellence and oversight. Moreover, it has a significant online presence. We can benefit and accelerate our progress by sharing their expertise and collaborating on innovative ways to scale education and programs.
This cooperation will accelerate our progress and allow academic units at UT more opportunities to offer programs in their fields of study. This means that our faculty and staff will have the chance to contribute even more to our academic offerings, enhancing our reputation and impact.
This relationship is not about relying on ASU to develop and/or operate UT programs. These crucial tasks will remain 100% under the control of our dedicated University of Tennessee faculty, staff, and professionals. As a campus, we will have the opportunity to lean in further and faster while maintaining our autonomy and control.
Have more questions?
Contact the Vols Online team https://volsonline-dev.utk.edu/contact/ so that we may provide additional information, both directly and within this page. We plan to continuously update this FAQ as questions or developments arise.
