Tennessee Collaborators

Summary

The US onAir Network will be working with volunteers from Tennessee universities, colleges, and nonprofit organizations to oversee the curation and moderation of posts, aircasts (online discussions), and in person events for the Tennessee onAir Hub … related to federal, state, and local elections and government.

Our first outreach will be to University of Tennessee partly because of its proximity to the state capital. We have identified many of University of Tennessee’s civic engagement, academic, internship and research programs related to making democracy and civic responsibility a focus of higher learning on their campus … for students, faculty, staff, and local community. This post, over time, will have similar information on other collaborating organizations in the state.

Contact ben.murphy@onair.cc for more information on how to involve your organization.

About

The University of Tennessee’s onAir chapter will initially focus on training interested undergrad and graduate students on how to curate Tennessee onAir content especially submitting Top News articles, events, videos, and information and moderating forums in each post they curate.

Student curators will also work with state senate and house committee chairs to produce aircasts on issues being discussed and bills being proposed in their committees.

During election season, students with other other organizations like the League of Women Voters, will coordinate and produce aircasted debates with candidates.

University of Tennessee

Source: About

What began in 1794 as a small college in the Southwest Territory has grown into Tennessee’s flagship university and premier public research institution. For more than 225 years, Volunteers have been lighting the way for others, across Tennessee and throughout the world.

UT Knoxville, which includes the UT Space Institute and the UT Institute of Agriculture, serves the state by educating its citizens, enhancing its culture, and making a difference in people’s lives through research and service.

We embody excellence in teaching, research, scholarship, creative activity, outreach, and engagement.

Civic Engagement Programs

Source: Office of Community Engagemen

About the Office

The Office of Community Engagement and Outreach (OCEO) provides resources and support to more deeply integrate community engagement with its land-grant mission of teaching, research, and public engagement. We facilitate hundreds of connections between faculty, staff, students, and community partners.

OCEO fosters UT’s land-grant mission by connecting university and community knowledge to create lasting solutions for all Tennesseans. We provide resources to assist UT administration, academic departments, faculty and staff to address complex issues and support external partnerships that co-generate, apply, transmit and preserve knowledge.

UT is one of 119 universities to be designated by the Carnegie Foundation as “Community Engaged” with “Very High Research Activity.”

In all of our work, we emphasize these essential principles of community engagement: collaboration, equal participation, community empowerment, reciprocity, and sustainability.

Student Government

Source: Student Government Association

Mission

The Student Government Association exists to provide the student body with a means to deal with the affairs of students and as a forum for the expression of student views concerning student life within the university.

Vision

The Student Government Association comprises students pursuing the betterment of this institution so that all members of the university community are beneficiaries of the opportunities and advantages available in an environment conducive to growth.

In an effort to create such an institution, SGA presents our vision for the University of Tennessee…

Academics

That UT seeks the recruitment of students, faculty, and staff who will be academic assets to this institution.

Education

That UT provide a climate conducive to the attainment of personal academic goals and an environment offering both challenge and motivation for the individual.

Prosperity

That this university seek the recruitment of students, faculty, and staff who will be assets to this institution.

Student Life

That UT work to improve the quality of student life, including residence halls, health care, dining, recreation, and transportation. That the university seeks to understand and meet the needs of students, faculty, and staff.

Social Involvement

That UT continue to be an instrument of social change by providing opportunities for students to be active citizens of the world community and by extending the vast resources of this institution for community use.

Values and Beliefs

That UT accept all values and beliefs, welcoming a diversity of opinions and perspectives. In so doing, that students are empowered to formulate their own beliefs and values while respecting those of others.

Campus Safety

That the university make the personal safety of students, faculty, and staff a priority, seeking to free UT activities from the threats of crime and injury.

University Service

That the University of Tennessee strive to meet the needs of students and parents through prompt, polite, and excellent service.

Respect and Fairness

That UT show all students and employees respect and fairness, making this a humane place to live, work, and grow.

Equality

That UT create an environment in which inequality and injustice cannot exist. That UT students, faculty, and staff receive equal treatment on all levels.

Diversity

That UT provide a climate where a diversity of individuals can share knowledge and experiences for the benefit of education.

Historical

That UT provide an accurate historical record of the traditions and realities of this university’s past in order to step into the future with an understanding of its rich heritage and a commitment to positive change.

Internships

Source: Department of Political Science

Guidelines for Internships
An internship is a temporary supervised work experience designed to help you learn more about the field or industry and gain an introduction into skills utilized in this field. An Internship is an important way to gain job experience, earn college credit, and learn about different fields of interest. To learn more about the internship program, please review the Political Science Internship Guidelines.

Political Science students can find more information about internships by visiting the useful resource links and using the internship database (the database requires you to be a declared Political Science major). Click here to access to the Political Science internship database.

For student interested in receiving college credit for their internships, they must consult the Guideline for Internships form and fill out the Political Science Application form. Be aware that not all internships meet the criteria for earning college credit.

Last, many internships are highly competitive and selective. To make yourself a better applicant, students should use career services to help with resumes and interview skills.

Political Science Programs

Source: Department of Political Science

The UT Department of Political Science provides a comprehensive program of instruction and research across the traditional areas of the discipline: Public Administration, American Government and Politics, Comparative Government and Politics, International Relations, Normative and Traditional Theory, and Empirical Theory and Methods.

Political Science Service-Learning Students are spending this semester helping to register voters and answer their questions. Click here to learn more.
The Department strives to offer undergraduate students a balanced curriculum designed to lead to a broad understanding of politics with the flexibility to provide a foundation for careers in government, law, business, and education. Graduate programs provide advanced training that prepares graduates for careers in academia or the public service. The Department believes that it is essential to provide all students with a solid grounding in institutions, theory, and political processes. Students are equipped with the tools to analyze policy issues and to conduct and evaluate research.

The teaching and research of the faculty are unified by a concern for the development, maintenance, and dynamics of democracy as well as the policy problems facing democratic institutions. This policy focus is enhanced by teaching and research relationships with faculty in other departments and institutes across campus.

At the undergraduate level, the Department offers the BA in Political Science as well as a BA with a concentration in Public Administration. For undergraduates looking for an extra challenge, the Department offers an honors program that requires the completion of a thesis based on original research.

At the graduate level, the Department offers the MA and PhD in Political Science as well as a Master of Public Policy and Administration (MPPA).

The PhD program offers primary fields in American government, international relations and comparative politics and cross-field concentrations in public policy, political economy and research methods.

The MPPA program is designed to prepare students for careers in public service and is administered through a partnership with the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy.

Research Initiatives

Source: Research Centers, Institutes & Initiatives

Collaborative, interdisciplinary research initiatives harness the creativity and ingenuity of faculty, staff and students in all 11 colleges, two university-level research centers—the Baker Center for Public Policy and the UT Humanities Center—and four university-level research institutes—the UT Institute of Agriculture, the UT Oak Ridge Innovation Institute, the UT Space Institute and the National Institute for STEM Evaluation and Research.

In 2021, we will add a fifth institute to harness the talent and deepen the impact of our advanced materials and manufacturing community. The OneHealth Initiative, pioneered by our Institute for Agriculture and now engaging scores of faculty across three colleges, may evolve into a sixth institute over time.

Consider joining one or more of our multidisciplinary centers, institutes and initiatives—all are welcome. Contact the DRII team at avcrd@utk.edu for more information.