Kimberly Eck, assistant vice chancellor for research development, has joined the executive committee of the National Organization of Research Development Professionals (NORDP) Board. Her new role will see her spend one year as vice president, one year as president, and the final year as a past president.

Eck has served as Chair of the Southeast NORDP Region (SE NORDP) in the past, leading the region to become an officially recognized affinity group, launching a regional meeting series, and creating a regional RD job shadow experience. Over the next four years, she hopes to help NORDP continue to grow and serve its members.

A high school student listens for a heartbeat as she tours lab spaces on Research Day 2018.

Saturday, March 30, is Research Day, an annual event co-hosted by the Office of Undergraduate Research and Undergraduate Admissions that invites high-achieving high school juniors and seniors to explore research opportunities at the University of Tennessee.

Students and parents will tour some of the most exciting research areas on campus, meet current undergraduate students participating in research, and view posters of research projects.

Approximately 150 students have registered for the event, representing significant growth from last year’s event, attended by 92 students and their families.

A new program designed to help Tennessee’s community college students better navigate the transition to UT has gained $1 million in support and recognition from the National Science Foundation.

Following the establishment of the Tennessee Promise program, which provides two years of free community college to the state’s students, faculty members in the Tickle College of Engineering met to come up with a plan to accommodate transfer students and position them for success in the college.

The team focused on the five-year graduation rate for engineering transfer students—71 percent, compared to 85 percent for traditional students who enter as freshmen.

“Transfer students face a unique set of challenges compared to traditional students,” said materials science and engineering Professor David Keffer, leader on the project. “We sought to develop a program, based on input from many directions, to create an experience for transfer students which addresses well-identified academic and social obstacles to successful completion of their degree.”

Tim Ezzell, research scientist in the Department of Political Science, and Rachel Chen, professor in the Department of Retail, Hospitality, and Tourism Management, have received a $200,000 competitive grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission—a federal economic development agency—to conduct the one-year study to better understand Appalachian tourism and identify opportunities to grow tourism activities and encourage business development.

It is the largest and most comprehensive study of tourism ever conducted by the commission, which covers 205,000 square miles across 420 counties in 13 states.