Application forms for the Tennessee Governor’s School for Agricultural Sciences and the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Humanities – both hosted by the University of Tennessee at Martin – are now available online and should be submitted by Friday, Dec. 5.
Applications can be found at the Tennessee Department of Education website at this site.
Students wanting to apply to Tennessee Governor’s Schools would go to that site and fill out the general information, including name, address and parents’ names. Parents will be asked to provide permission for the student to apply.
Students then rank their preference among the 11 available Tennessee Governor’s Schools to attend, ranking as many schools as they wish. Students will be contacted if they have been selected to take part in the program.
Participating students will live in a residence hall on campus, and a parents’ weekend is planned, enabling parents to visit their student on campus.
The Tennessee Governor’s School for the Humanities (TGSH) is among the oldest Governor’s Schools in the state, opening in 1986. The program will run from May 31 to June 26 and is open to students who will be high school juniors or seniors in the 2026-27 school year.
This program is for students who are interested in learning about or studying a humanities-based subject, including the arts, writing, history, media, music, political science and the visual and theatrical arts.
Each participating student will have one college-credit course in the morning, followed by another academic class that is not graded. In the afternoon, there is a creative activity, such as newspaper, theater activity or yearbook. Students choose which activity they want to take part in.
After that activity is completed for the day, students may study, take part in activities provided at the Student Recreation Center and have dinner. Students will attend one night class per week.
Dr. Jerald Ogg, professor of mass media and strategic communication, is in his 25th year as director of the TGSH.
“We’re trying to give them a college preview experience,” he said. “That includes making decisions: What time do I set my alarm to make it to class? Do I study or have fun? They have to be in the dorm by 10 p.m. during the week and 11 p.m. on weekends.
“We want them leaving here confident that they can handle college. Even though they’re smart, they’ve never had to do the kind of things they’ll have to do here on their own.”
The Tennessee Governor’s School for the Agricultural Sciences (TGSAS) began in 2004, and Dr. Philip Smartt, professor of natural resources management, is in his second year as its director. The TGSAS is open to students who will be high school seniors in the 2026-27 school year, and will also take place from May 31 to June 26.
This program is for students who are interested in learning about areas within the agricultural sciences, which include agricultural business, veterinary science, meteorology, crop and soil management, agricultural engineering, farm and ranch management and natural resources management.
“To me, the most valuable part of Governor’s Schools is the field trips and the interaction with the different career opportunities,” Smartt said. “We’ll have quite a few students who are very high-performing and interested in science. We actually like getting those students, too, because we like to show them that agriculture and natural resources also have cutting-edge applied science.
“We will actually recruit some of those students to come here to UT Martin and pursue degrees in areas that they didn’t realize they like, such as an applied science-related career.”
There are only three Governor’s Schools for the Agricultural Sciences in the nation, including programs at Penn State and Virginia Tech.
The Tennessee Governor’s Schools program began in 1985 under Gov. Lamar Alexander with a multi-disciplinary pilot program set up at UT Martin that was funded by the Tennessee Legislature.
Because of the success of that program, in 1986, the Legislature funded four separate programs, including the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Humanities at UT Martin.
Information about both Tennessee Governor’s Schools held at UT Martin can be found at www.utm.edu/offices-and-services. Click on the “G” to find the sites for each Tennessee Governor’s School.
For more information about the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Humanities, contact Ogg at govschol@utm.edu. For more information about the Tennessee Governor’s School for Agricultural Sciences, contact Smartt at tgsas@utm.edu.
For more information about UT Martin, visit www.utm.edu or call 1-800-829-UTM1 (-8861).
PHOTO: Students enjoyed making pizza at the 2024 Tennessee Governor’s School for the Agricultural Sciences, as they were joined by five high school students from Italy. This year’s Tennessee Governor’s School for the Agricultural Sciences and the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Humanities will be held May 31-June 26 at UT Martin.
