UT Martin’s new chancellor, Dr. Yancy Freeman, is adjusting to his current role, creating goals for himself and the university to achieve under his leadership.
Freeman started his professional career as an admissions counselor for UT Chattanooga. He then worked his way up through multiple job positions in admissions, provost roles and finally as the vice chancellor for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs. He says his role as vice chancellor prepared him the most to take on the top position at UT Martin. As a vice chancellor, Freeman managed different areas of UT Chattanooga such as admissions and financial aid, residence halls, the Health and Counseling Center and UTC Global. His new job in Martin adds responsibilities in budgeting, academic areas and much more.
Freeman, while being a new member of the UT Martin community, has been connected to the campus community for years. When he worked in admissions for UT Chattanooga in 1992, he was in charge of recruiting from the West Tennessee area. Through this he became familiar with the area and the culture surrounding it. Freeman’s wife, Rafielle Boone Freeman, is an alumnus of the UT Martin nursing program. Because of this, the Freeman family has visited campus many times over the years for Homecoming events.
During an interview with The Pacer on Aug. 11, Freeman discussed his goals as the new chancellor, including what he aspires to be known for within the UT Martin community.
“I want to be known as someone who cares deeply about people,” Freeman said. “At the core of my being I want to treat everyone with respect and civility, and so hopefully that’s what people say about me.”
Above all, Freeman says he aims to be fair to all, listening to and engaging with students, faculty and staff, and the institution when making decisions that will affect the campus community. In a press release from University Relations, Freeman outlined his plans to engage and listen to as many people as he can within his first few months on the job.
“I am living my dream by coming to UTM and having the opportunity to work with faculty and staff to help our students reach every single professional goal in their lives,” Freeman said in the press release.
Despite having the position for less than a month, Freeman has already had the opportunity to be involved in celebrating the largest fundraising effort in UT Martin history, the RISE Campaign. Beginning during the leadership of former chancellor Dr. Keith Carver in 2021, the RISE Campaign raised $178.2 million for university improvements and expenses, with a total of 14,751 donors contributing. As his first major event as UT Martin chancellor, Freeman was invited to the dinner and celebration of the campaign Aug. 11 at the Discovery Park of America. While he accepted no credit for the campaign’s success, Freeman did speak on the success of the campaign, specifically noting the $55 million of the campaign total designated for student scholarships, and thanking contributors for their giving.
As part of his dedication toward improving the university as a community, Freeman announced in a campuswide faculty and staff meeting Aug. 14 his “6 for 6” proposal, which consists of six things he wants to focus on in the first six months of being chancellor. They are:
- Listening comes before leadership
- Focus attention on enrollment
- Employee climate survey and ensuring transparency when making decisions
- Focus on increasing and prioritizing diversity, equity and inclusion – access is key
- Visit all five regional centers
- Find ways to streamline capital projects and get things done.
“We’re trying to help folks think critically about, you know, issues that are impacting our world today and impacting this community,” Freeman said during The Pacer interview.
Freeman’s ultimate goal, he said, is to create a safe space within the Martin community, a place where people have a chance to get in a room and talk to each other and understand one another.
When answering Pacer questions about diversity on campus, Freeman talked about what diversity means on the UT Martin campus.
“All of us come with different and varying experiences, have had different opportunities and different access to opportunities. But, as a community, we ought to be able to come together and learn from it,” he said.
Freeman explained that these learning moments will also carry over to future careers for students as they will be interacting with people from backgrounds different from their own. He also clarified that diversity is not just about how the topic is usually seen, through race, ethnicity, religion and gender identity, but also includes the wide variety of backgrounds students come from including community landscapes.
Pacer Viewpoints Editor Trenton Michon conducted the in-person interview with Freeman on Aug. 11.
