Only on Rocky Top: Tennessee Tailored

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Following an extraordinary and unprecedented run in 2023-24 for Tennessee Athletics athletically and academically, the university has announced Tennessee Tailored, a more refined approach to how the school will continue to elevate the student-athlete experience on Rocky Top.

Tennessee Tailored intends to continuously advance the experience for Vols and Lady Vols by offering a more intensive focus on each student-athlete and allowing them to become the best version of themselves academically and athletically.

"We are in the midst of the greatest run of academic success in the history of Tennessee Athletics," said Senior Associate Athletics Director and Associate Provost Marshall Steward. "Alongside back-to-back-to-back SEC All-Sports titles and the best LEARFIELD Directors' Cup finish ever, our student-athletes have posted record GPAs, graduation rates, and are impacting their local and global communities in powerful ways. Tennessee Tailored is designed to amplify those stories and create synergies that will continue to raise the bar in the student-athlete experience space for years to come."

"Within Tennessee Athletics, we talk about leading the way in college sports. Within Tennessee Tailored, it is no different," said Executive Director of Student-Athlete Development Jessica Wildfire. "We know that our student-athletes come to the University of Tennessee from lots of backgrounds and from really all over the world. To build out a program that is unique to each one of them provides an opportunity to have them make the most of their experience here at Tennessee and also help them reach their fullest potential."

Under Tennessee Tailored, students will first be assessed on factors that include all scopes of life and may reach outside of their GPA and test scores, allowing each student to receive a more individualized approach to their academic, personal, and professional development.

"Above all else, it's important for us to meet students where they are, understand that each one is going to have a unique journey, each one is going to come in with different goals and aspirations both academically and athletically," Assistant Athletics Director and Assistant Provost Chris Johnson said. "It's important that we understand that from day one, we meet the needs that they have and we meet our students where they are."

One of the unique experiences that various student-athletes get to participate in here at Tennessee, the VOLeaders Academy will be a huge emphasis and continue to flourish under Tennessee Tailored. The goal of VOLeaders, a best-in-class student-athlete leadership development program, is to educate, engage and empower UT student-athletes to be change agents on their teams and in their communities. By using their passion for sport and their influence, VOLeaders learn to enact change that transcends their athletic success.

Recognized in 2023 by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) as the model practice in student-athlete leadership development, the VOLeaders Academy was developed to cultivate student-athlete leaders through sport to create positive social change. The most recent VOLeaders cohort embarked on an excursion to South Africa and Botswana, which engaged students in experiential and service-learning activities, alongside non-profits, National Sport Commissions and Universities in the host countries. These experiences provided them with unique opportunities to apply leadership principles learned throughout the year-long curriculum to empower the population through sport.

Tennessee Athletics had an extraordinary year of athletic and academic success in 2023-24, and the launch of Tennessee Tailored will harness that momentum to maximize the student-athlete experience on Rocky Top. "National and conference championships are even sweeter when you know our student-athletes are carrying that same fight in the classroom and in their communities," said Steward.

"I know we're at just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the success that we're going to see here at the University of Tennessee, and I'm very proud that athletics and academics are working in the same direction."

University of Tennessee Athletics

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