UT cuts 3 vice presidents, more could come

The University of Tennessee could have a leaner system administration before next fall, since officials may eliminate three top positions and decrease the number of vice presidents by half.

With the cuts, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga will be taking on more administrative responsibility and receive some of the $5 million in expected system savings, officials said.

“I think there are things the campuses should do that the system is doing now,” said UT interim President Jan Simek.

There is no set amount yet for how much the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga might receive from the savings, officials said.

The board of trustees will vote on the proposed administrative cuts at its annual meeting this month. Starting July 1, UT campuses could be taking over responsibilities for items such as motor pools, purchasing and printing.

“I don’t know why (these functions) were at the system level to begin with,” Dr. Simek said. “It is my intention to push all that to the campus level.”

Officials at UTC did not respond to requests for a comment about what effects the changes could have on the campus.

In a new administrative structure, only seven vice presidents will remain: for agriculture, for academic affairs, for public relations, for diversity, for development, executive vice president for research and vice president and chief executive officer.

The positions of vice president for information technology, for science and technology and for operations would be cut.

However, officials said two of the people holding the terminated jobs have been moved to new positions. The current vice president for operations, Sylvia Davis, could be laid off, they said.

Officials said they were unsure whether the support staff for the three positions would be laid off or shuffled to other positions in the system.

“This has been a very difficult process,” said Dr. Simek. “It is difficult more than anything because we are dealing with people.”

Four positions will have the words “vice president” removed from their name but those who hold the jobs will not receive pay cuts. By removing part of the jobs’ titles, Dr. Simek said, the system would be able to offer a lower salary to future candidates when the jobs become vacant.

He said the move was not a “magic trick” to give the illusion of fewer vice presidents.

“We will be able to hire new people at a different level,” he said. “We don’t have to pay the same.”

After hearing Dr. Simek’s proposal to cut UT administration costs, board members said it was a good first step toward trimming system costs.

“It is a start in the right direction,” said UT board Vice Chairman Jim Murphy. “I am pleased Jan has been able to do this.”

Andrea Loughry, a UT trustee, called the proposed cuts “a move in the right direction.”

“This is something we as a board have asked for quite some time,” she said.

She said board members would discuss the potential of further systems cuts at a meeting set for August, when board members and administrators plan to discuss the future role of the system.

“I think we need to look at best practices,” she said.

Dr. Simek told board members Monday that he also wants to examine moving the administration of men’s and women’s athletics to the Knoxville campus. There now are two athletic positions in the system administration.

He said he also wants board members to think about merging the duties of the vice president for diversity into the human resources office.

“I am more than happy to go further” with these cuts, Dr. Simek said.