Message from Retiring Program Director Jeffrey Kovac
When I was appointed director of College Scholars in the fall 2011, my predecessor, Professor Christopher Craig, told me it was the best job at the University of Tennessee. After nine years as director, I think that was an understatement. Working with the most talented and creative undergraduates at UT and interacting with the amazing alumni of the program is challenging, stimulating, and rewarding. Building on the solid foundation laid down by Chris Craig and the other previous directors, we have had quite a few successes over the past several years.
In 2013, we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the founding of College Scholars with a reunion event in Knoxville, a publication celebrating
40 years of the program (Van-Griner Publishing), and the printing of a beautiful College Scholars poster by alumna Kelsey Roy.
Following a discussion at the reunion, we created a searchable, password-protected online alumni directory on the College Scholars website that allows alumni to reconnect with each other and with the program. To add your profile, please visit scholars.utk.edu/alumni_form.php. We created a College Scholars Facebook page where we regularly post news about current scholars and alumni. We welcome all our alumni to follow us.
In 2014, we established the alumni advisory board, which meets annually to review the program and assist the director. Board members are eight of our distinguished alumni.
We relocated the College Scholars office to a large room in Alumni Memorial Building where we have records of the program and a gallery of photos, posters, and art that illustrate the history of the program.
Three new scholarship endowments have been established since 2011: the Andrew Hoover Scholarship, the Jay and Cindy St. Clair Scholarship, and the Harry C. Jacobson College Scholars Scholarship. The first awards from the Hoover and St. Clair endowments were made in 2018-2019.
As part of the Jacobson Endowment, the top graduate in College Scholars is given the Professor Harry C. Jacobson Memorial Award for Academic Excellence. A special medallion has been created that the winner wears at commencement. The first three winners were Kimberly Bress (’18), Patrick Sonnenberg (’19) and Natalie J. Campbell (’20).
Alumni have been very generous in contributing to the College Scholars Excellence Fund. Since 2014, the average annual contribution has
been more than $13,000, which has allowed us to support senior projects, internships, and travel to conferences. All of these are important experiences and the Excellence Fund allows more students to take advantage of them.
College Scholars continue to excel, winning prestigious national awards including Goldwater Scholarships, Fulbright Scholarships, Critical Language Scholarships, and the Torchbearer Award. Two Scholars, Morgan Hartgrove and Natalie Campbell, have been elected as SGA President.
My last year as director, 2019-2020, was eventful. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the university shut down after spring break and all activities were conducted online. We had to adapt. The usual interviews of applicants were conducted via Zoom, as were the last few meetings of the seminar and senior project defenses. Sadly, the usual end-of-semester celebrations, including
the graduation reception for seniors and their families, had to be cancelled. One bright spot was that we invited
14 new Scholars to join the program during the spring semester, bringing the annual total to 18. At least two new Scholars have been added this summer. Discussions with prospective students continue using email and Zoom.
In February, Todd Freeberg, professor of psychology, was appointed as the next director of College Scholars. He and I have been able to work together since then, both in person and remotely, to help him learn how the program works. He will bring both enthusiasm and new ideas to College Scholars.
In my letter of application in 2011, I said that I thought that being the director of College Scholars would be the capstone of my career and it certainly has been. It has been a pleasure to work with both talented students and faculty mentors. As noted on page 11 in this newsletter, as my retirement gift to the program, my wife and I are establishing a new endowment to fund an annual visit by a visiting scholar whose research or creative activity epitomizes the mission of College Scholars. This endowment is a way to say thank you for all that the program has given me.