Final chancellor candidate visits UT
The University of Tennessee’s final chancellor candidate told faculty Thursday he’s a faculty-minded administrator with an engineering and research background who values diversity, the humanities and innovation.
Alexander Cartwright, provost for the State University of New York system, gave a 30-minute presentation on his background before opening up the floor to questions. He will continue his visit today and will spend time with top administrators and President Joe DiPietro.
“First and foremost, I do think of myself as a faculty member,” Cartwright told the crowd at the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy. “Every decision I make, I bring the faculty perspective. I don’t want to lose that. I continue to mentor students, I continue to work with students.
“I try to think about my research. I try to, because I don’t have a lot of time for it, but I do try to work on it.”
Cartwright promised he would support diversity efforts and said he would work to make the argument that having university-employed facility services workers is best for UT.
When the head of the classics department asked about support for the humanities, Cartwright said that while his fellow engineers may begrudge his answer, “technology in and of itself does not create society” and that humanities are “what enriches our lives, what we learn from, what makes us critical thinkers.”
Cartwright’s visit wraps up interviews with three finalists that began last week with University of Georgia provost Pamela Whitten. University of Cincinnati interim President Beverly Davenport visited Monday.
The search committee will meet for what is likely the last time this afternoon to discuss the candidates, according to chairman Steve Mangum, dean of the UT College of Business. The group will evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, but will not rank them, he said. Mangum will then distill the analysis into a report for DiPietro, who will make a decision on who to recommend to the Board of Trustees as the next chancellor.
All feedback sent through the university’s website will go directly to DiPietro, he said.
Cartwright, who was born and raised in the Bahamas before his mother remarried and they moved to Iowa, has a background in electrical and computer engineering. Most of his research has been in solar cells, he said Thursday.
He has previously served as interim of the school’s research foundation and vice president for research and economic development at the system’s Buffalo campus. He still holds academic appointments in the electrical engineering and biomedical engineering departments at the Buffalo campus.
A salary range has not been set for the next chancellor but will be determined based on the winning candidate’s professional background and experience, said UT spokeswoman Gina Stafford. Outgoing Chancellor Jimmy Cheek earns a $454,200 base salary, along with a housing allowance of $20,000, an expense account of $10,000 and a mobile phone allowance of $1,500.
Whitten currently has a base salary of $410,537 as provost of the University of Georgia, school spokesman said Monday. Cartwright earns $363,025, SUNY officials said.
Officials at the University of Cincinnati have not yet responded to an open records request for salary information on Davenport.
UT received 62 formal applications, including submissions from college presidents, provosts, interim presidents and other executive-level administrators, DiPietro said late last month.
The finalists are vying to replace Cheek, who announced in June he was stepping down to return to teaching, though he agreed to remain in the job until a successor is selected. UT is using Parker Executive Search firm to assist in the search for a fee of $75,000 plus expenses.