June 5, 2023

Dear Faculty and Staff Colleagues,

As we turn our focus to the upcoming school year and continue to bring our Change Starts Here vision to life, one of the important initiative areas within our plan is to Deliver Operational Excellence (3.8). Driving operational excellence and improving our organizational structure will not only better support our mission, it will also improve the ability of our talented professionals to create positive impact through their work across our campus.

To that end, our leadership team has been considering the most effective and productive structures to further deliver on our important objectives. I am pleased to share the results.

We will be reunifying Campus Operations, along with Campus Services, University Housing and Dining, and Business Strategies within a single organization, led by Jim Davis. With this broadened portfolio, Jim will be promoted to senior vice president and chief operating officer (COO) and will work during the coming weeks and months to create a cohesive group. Jim’s leadership team will continue to evolve under the following plan:

  • Campus Operations, which will now include Utilities and Energy Management, Facilities and Construction Management, and Campus Safety, will be led by Darren Hale during a national search for an associate vice president for the unit.
  • Campus Services will continue to be led by Associate Vice President Marla Martinez.
  • University Housing and Dining will continue to be led by Associate Vice President Marilyn Tyus.
  • Business Strategies, which include Discovery to Impact, Real Estate and Planning, and other strategic initiatives, will remain under Jim’s direction.

I am also pleased to announce that Amanda Cochran-McCall will be promoted to vice president for legal affairs and general counsel, reporting to me. In this role, Amanda will serve as the University’s chief legal officer and chief ethics officer, lead the Office of Legal Affairs, and continue to lead the University’s open records unit. Amanda has demonstrated extraordinary leadership, skill, diligence, and collaboration with leaders across campus on a variety of issues.

Campus Security/UTPD will remain within interim Chief Financial Officer Dan Slesnick’s portfolio, alongside the Budget Office, Accounting and Financial Management, Procurement and Payment Services, and Business Services teams. As part of this new structure, Cam Beasley, our campus information security officer, will transition with his team to University Risk and Compliance Services; Kerri Battles, director of communications for financial and administrative services, will transition with her team to University Marketing and Communications; and Brandon Jones, director of student engagement, partnerships, and programming, and his team will join the Office of the Dean of Students within the Division of Student Affairs.

This new structure will enable greater operational excellence across all our units. These changes are effective as of today. Leaders across each of these areas will continue to work closely together to ensure a smooth transition.

Please join me in congratulating Amanda and Jim in their new roles and thanking each of these teams and their leaders for their shared commitment to UT. And whether your role is directly affected by these changes or not, I thank you all for your ongoing commitment and dedication to one another and to our University’s research and teaching missions. Your work enables our students, faculty, and staff to change the world.

Sincerely yours,

Jay