NASHVILLE –- The University of Tennessee has chosen a national consulting firm to assist with the search for the University’s next president.
The UT Board of Trustees’ Executive and Compensation Committee on Thursday approved the selection of Witt/Kieffer to aid in the search. Witt/Kieffer was chosen from a request-for-proposals process conducted by University staff.
The Chicago-based firm currently is assisting in searches for high-level administrators at the University of Miami, Purdue University and Duke University Medical Center, among others. In the past, Witt/Kieffer has worked on presidential searches for several notable universities including Georgetown University, University of the South and Bowling Green State University.
At its annual meeting June 23-24, the full board will discuss presidential compensation and appoint the search committee.
Also on Thursday, the Trusteeship Committee approved two changes to the bylaws that will be forwarded to the full board in June.
The committee approved the recommendation to change the title of the Vice President for Agriculture to Chancellor of the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture.
Interim President Jan Simek made this suggestion to clarify the role of the Institute of Agriculture’s chief officer in academic and tenure decisions. Many of the duties of the vice president are similar to those of other UT chancellors, who are chief officers of campuses. This position would continue to report directly to the president, and there will be no change in current salary.
The committee also approved a change in reporting structure for UT Knoxville athletics. Earlier this year, a task force recommended UT Knoxville athletics report to the chancellor of the Knoxville campus instead of the president, and Simek agreed with the recommendation. The task force noted that many of the daily operations of athletics are performed by campus offices.
A written agreement will govern the transition of responsibilities and define the President’s continuing leadership role with UT Knoxville athletics. This will include the President’s overall responsibility for all athletic departments throughout the UT System. These departments report to the President through their respective chancellors.
For more information about the board, visit http://bot.tennessee.edu/.