Dear Vice President Mizell,
      I am writing in my role as President of the UTK Faculty Senate
regarding an issue that has come to the attention of the Senate
Executive Committee and about which there is concern regarding
the legal implications for UT. 
      After an inquiry based upon comments from several faculty members, 
we have been informed by Vice Chancellor Barlow that there are several 
buildings on the UTK campus which do not have Certificates of 
Occupancy from the State Fire Marshall. Yet these buildings
are used regularly by large numbers of faculty, staff and students. 
Several of these buildings have evidently been used for over a year 
without these Certificates being issued. We have been told that many of
the remaining issues are minor and that the process for approval
can sometimes be very slow. 
      Our main question is whether there has been a ruling by the General 
Counsel's office that the use of these buildings is authorized even though
there has not been approval for occupancy by the Fire Marshall. 
We assume that since the buildings are heavily used, that it has been 
determined that the remaining issues which have not allowed the
certificates to be issued are minor and do not affect the safety of 
the people using the buildings. Any information you can provide
on the legalities of this matter would be appreciated. As President 
Petersen and Board of Trustees members will be joining us for our 
annual Senate Retreat this Friday, September 8, we would greatly 
appreciate some clarification on this issue prior to that.   
    Sincerely,
          Lou

cc: UTK Faculty Senate Executive Committee
    Chancellor Crabtree

9/4/06