The UT system has released a new program, Transparent UT.
Transparent UT is an online database that will provide public access to information concerning the UT system.
The website tennessee.edu/transparency/ is now available to the public.
In December of 2018, UT Interim President, Randy Boyd, announced a new initiative that would be a centralized location to gather information on enrollment, tuition information, annual reports, employment salary, student demographics and more.
Since Boyd’s appointment, he has had many requests to see how the UT system operates and believes that accountability and transparency are central to who he is as a businessman and he wants to express that same belief while he is president of the UT system.
“Not that we haven’t been transparent before, but we will be even more so,” Boyd said. “The core way to empowerment is information.”
Boyd formed the Transparent Advisory Board to guide the success of the Transparent UT initiative and Edie Gibson, executive assistant to the chancellor, was chosen to represent UTM.
“When there’s a request that comes in, Edie is the one [that] chases it down, so it just really naturally flowed into her job,” Chancellor Keith Carver said in reference to Gibson’s selection.
Transparent UT has also established five task forces responsible for maintaining transparency through capital projects, communications and marketing, human resources, information technology, and purchasing/contracting with five UTM representatives: Tim Nipp, Bud Grimes, Petra McPhearson, Amy Belew and Lori Donavant respectively.
“For years we had been trying to figure out a way to be more transparent in obviously publishing salary databases, publishing reports from different meetings and things like that,” Carver said.
“I think what [Boyd’s] idea was ‘Let’s take all these things that we produce either annually or semi-annually and let’s put them in one spot, so that way if the public needs information or wants information in a certain area there’s one spot on the internet for UT.’ It just makes good sense for organization.”
Along with many upcoming additions to the website, Boyd plans to stream video footage of the UT transparency board meetings so that anyone can see what is discussed and decided on.
For more information about Transparent UT, visit tennessee.edu/transparency/.
