Today held another full day of being re-oriented at UT, but it was extremely productive, I thought.

The best talk by far was that by Tim Rogers, Vice-Chancellor of student affairs. He explained pretty succinctly the way that the “millennials” (the current freshmen’s generation) differ from their parents (“Baby Boomers” or “Gen X” — I fall somewhere in between), along with the three stages they go through.

These kids, he said, are much more techologically adept than their parents, and tend to work well in groups; teamwork comes naturally. Where they fall short is in having confidence in their one-on-one social skills: to introduce themselves to their professor, a prospective employer, or other adults with whom it would be beneficial to make a good first impression.

I’m sure there are exceptions, but for the most part, he hit the nail on the head. Although my daughter can work independently, she prefers working in pairs or small groups. And, she is decidedly timid about approaching adults in authority outside the family.

The maturation process was described as the first half of the freshman year being one where they will want parental intervention for roommate issues, for an instructor they don’t like, for a grade they don’t think is fair. Rogers’ advice: listen patiently, and direct them to resolve their own problems through the channels provided at the University.

He also said that if they’re coming home every weekend, there’s probably a problem.

By Sophomore year, he told us to be prepared for them to swing to the opposite — wanting no advice, since they must know it all (having survived freshman year), and stumbling from time to time.

Junior year brings self reliance and responsibility, accompanied by apprehension and self doubt: am I living up to my parents’ expectations? Will anyone hire me? Am I really in the right major?

He didn’t say anything about Senior year, so I’m hoping that means they all turn out relatively normal.

The rest of the day held sessions on when fees are due, academic matters, student safety, and such. Unlike yesterday, it really was very informative.

Day 1 was a barrage of marketing ploys, from the UT Parents’ Association, advance Book reservations, the ALLSTAR card (like a debit card, but UT is the bank and keeps all the interest on the funds deposited) which is the only way to pay for doing laundry, printing or making copies, as well as purchasing incidentals and food at the many campus eateries outside the meal plan. I felt like I could have skipped the first day and just read some ads instead.

Am I ready to send my firstborn to the Big Orange? Sure.

Yesterday was an awakening of memories for me, as I attended freshman orientation at UT — this time, as a parent.

I was struck by how proudly the University touts their partnership with, or management of (depending on who was speaking) Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and what fabulous research opportunities this affords their students — even undergraduates. The undergraduates part seemed like it might be a bit of a stretch, but the truth is that I don’t know. Maybe they’re counting Co-Op opportunities.

One could not miss, however, their new emphasis on globalism. In a session for parents of engineering majors, it was noted that foreign language is not required for a degree but that they strongly encourage it as an elective. One mother asked which language would be best, and I whispered to a friend next to me (jokingly, I hoped), “Mandarin.”

I know that I probably have a skewed perspective, having grown up in Oak Ridge in a family of engineers, then married into another family of engineers, but I have to admit feeling a bit of apprehension about the slightly competing interests of global commercialism and US national security.

Then this morning, the News Sentinel reports the following:

A retired University of Tennessee professor is under investigation of potentially violating a federal law barring the transfer of sensitive technology to other countries, according to interviews and documents obtained by the News Sentinel.

J. Reece Roth, 68, an electrical and computer engineering professor who still teaches and does research at UT, had his laptop computer seized by agents from the FBI, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and Department of Commerce when he arrived in Knoxville from China on May 26.

I do not know whether Prof. Roth did anything wrong (intentionally or inadvertantly), or whether homeland security got overzealous in a big way. Neither one is good. Still, having a Chinese national working on the project, and having inquired about the possibility of including an Iranian grad student, doesn’t strike me as an idea worthy of a brilliant plasma engineering researcher.

Yes, it’s forward-thinking for the University to move students toward interacting with people from other parts of the world; there’s no question that the marketplace of goods and ideas has greatly expanded since I wandered around UT as a 17-year old, trying to find my schedule, books and classes without getting too lost. At the same time though, the security challenges we face have also shifted and broadened; instead of worrying only about the Russians, we now have to be concerned with a much larger spectrum of people who might want to learn more about our technologies in order to use them against us.

I’m sending my firstborn into the very department affected by this incident. Truthfully, I know she’ll be fine, and my biggest worries are that she will lose her student ID card (which now works like a meal card and debit card as well), get lost trying to find her classes, and the usual Freshman concerns.

My other observation from yesterday was that there’s a marketing genius hard at work inside the Big Orange, with all kinds of extra “stuff” for parents to buy — fundraising mechanisms disguised as services or necessities. That’s a whole other entry though, and I want to be fair and finish my part of orientation before drawing my conclusion.