On Monday night, UT's Community Partnership Center and members of the campus community discussed topics such as the National Register eligibility and preservation of historic buildings and sites on campus.

They also talked about the results of a recent historic survey done by Middle Tennessee State University's Center for Historic Preservation and various preservation issues occurring at UT.

"There seems to be a lack of a systematic approach to preservation here on campus," Tim Ezzell, director of UT's Community Partnership Center said. "We don't have a really thorough or a really transparent review process in place."

Many campuses face the problem of trying to maintain a traditional campus environment while meeting the constantly changing educational demands. The presentation noted that well-defined policies can help guide the decision-making process.

Currently, the university has no formal policies, standards or guidelines for identifying or documenting campus historical properties. Instead, the current policy ignores benefits beyond monetary consideration and ensures that historic properties are never likely to be recognized, according to the presentation.

"One of the things we've noticed is there's not a lot of recognition of historic resources on campus," Ezzell said. "There's no signage, there's no discussion, there's nothing really that denotes what's historic here or not."

One of the things we've noticed is there's not a lot of recognition of historic resources on campus. There's no signage, there's no discussion, there's nothing really that denotes what's historic here or not. Tim Ezzell, director of UT's Community Partnership Center

Of the 76 buildings assessed in the survey, 13 are potentially eligible for the National Register, which is the U.S. government's official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation. They can be viewed in the sidebar.

"To be eligible for the National Register you have to meet certain thresholds," Ezzell said. "What we've found is that a lot of buildings on campus have been modified over the years through remodeling or additions, that they really no longer have the integrity architecturally or historically to qualify."

He also said the university needs to check if a structure is eligible when it does renovations. If it is, we should consider renovating in a way that will ensure it maintains eligibility.

Ezzell also stressed the importance of getting buildings and sites on the National Register. The presentation noted that 62 percent of students cite campus image as a selection factor.

"It adds a lot to the prestige of the campus, it adds a lot to the status of the campus, which then makes our degrees worth more and helps bring in other resources," Ezzell said.