UT Martin chancellor plans move to UT Institute of Agriculture | Georgiana Vines

Keith Carver, executive assistant to University of Tennessee System President Joe DiPietro before both moved on, is scheduled to return to the Knoxville campus as senior vice chancellor and senior vice president at the UT Institute of Agriculture on March 1, subject to the approval of the UT Board of Trustees on Friday.

Carver, chancellor at the University of Tennessee at Martin, will replace Carrie Castille, who had held the UTIA position since July 1. Castille came to UT from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where she had a number of positions in agriculture and rural fields, and also served as associate commissioner for the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry and taught at Louisiana State University.

UT said in a release Castille will become a special advisor to UT System President Randy Boyd on issues of agriculture-related policy and federal grant opportunities.

Carver, a 26-year veteran of positions at UT with nearly seven years at UT Martin, will report to Boyd and UT Knoxville Chancellor Donde Plowman. The two-boss feature has become tradition for the position.

His appointment is a two-year limited duration appointment “to provide stability and leadership to the institute,” the release said. UTIA works with UT Extension, UT AgReseach, the UT College of Veterinary Medicine and the Herbert College of Agriculture.

DiPietro, who retired officially Feb. 14, 2019, and has the title president emeritus, praised the choice of Carver for the top UTIA position although Carver’s own academic background is in higher education, not agriculture. DePietro was UTIA chancellor before becoming president and is a veterinarian with a research emphasis in veterinary parasitology.

“Keith is very talented. He’s a special person and has great instincts. He can promote an organization and is tremendous at teamwork. I think he’s a really good selection. He doesn’t have ag credentials but he had experience with me and other experiences,” DiPietro said in a phone interview.

Carver said in an interview that a lot of his work as chancellor at the Martin campus was with agricultural businesses and extension programs. He said when contacted about the UTIA position and asked if he were interested, he thought, “I’ve had the same employer for 26 years. It’s an intriguing opportunity.”

The university already is promoting Carver as the new UTIA senior vice chancellor and senior vice president as host of the 2023 UT Gardens Gala on Friday, April 28. The “save the date” notification says this is the gala’s 40th anniversary and businesswoman Sharon Miller Pryse will be honored for her contributions to the gardens. Tickets are $175 each.

The evening to benefit the UT gardens will include live and silent auctions, which Carver said is making him nervous.

“Joe DiPietro and Deb (his wife) always auctioned off a (homemade) Italian dinner. I’m scared no one will want to eat my spaghetti. I’ll have to come up with something else, like smoked ribs,” Carver said, laughing. His wife, Hollianne, will co-host the gardens party.

The two-year appointment means a search will be done eventually to fill the position on a permanent basis. DiPietro predicted Carver would be a candidate.

“He’s likely to do such a tremendous job that people will be begging him to stay, in consideration for the permanent appointment,” DiPietro said. As for other positions, such as a university or college presidency, DiPietro said Carver would be able to do that, if he wants to. “He’s young enough,” he said.

Carver has a BA degree in sociology from Memphis State in 1992, MS in college personnel and educational leadership from UT in 1995 and a Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy issues in 2009. Other positions he has held include interim vice chancellor for development and alumni affairs at the UT Health Science Center in Memphis, assistant vice chancellor for development at UT Martin and director of development and alumni affairs for the College of Law in Knoxville.

The UT announcement said UT Martin Provost Philip Cavalier will serve as interim chancellor with a search for a new chancellor to succeed Carver to be launched in the coming weeks.

∎ MORE ON DR. JOE: Joe and Deb DiPietro now call Champaign, Illinois, home. They’re graduates of the University of Illinois campus there and family members are close by, Joe DiPietro said. He received three degrees from that university and also taught there.

Since returning, he said he has helped organize the Champaign Woodworkers Club, a not-for-profit social/recreational club, for sharing of tools, workspace, expertise, knowledge and skill in the field of woodworking and other skilled handicrafts.

He’s made tables for his home and those of two daughters and also turns bowls and makes animal figures.

“There are some journeyman woodworkers here. I learn a lot from them and have access to good equipment,” he said.

Since moving, DiPietro has returned to Knoxville once, when UT renamed the Equine and Farm Animal Hospitals at the College of Veterinary Medicine the Charles and Julie Wharton Large Animal Hospital to honor their philanthropic support. The ceremony was May 13, 2022.

DiPietro said he really wanted to help honor Charles Wharton and also “thought it was important not to come during the first year” he was no longer president. He said Julie Wharton was “an incredible person who left us way too early (she died in 2008). She was part of the decision” for the gift, he said.

He said he does not miss the job of a university president. “There is a big network of people we knew and are still around. I miss the people. UT is a special place in my heart. It’s a great institution. I miss it,” he said.

∎ NEW JOB FOR DANA: Dana Soehn, the chief spokesperson for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in recent years, will become the new executive director and president of the Friends of the Smokies, an official philanthropic partner of the park.She replaces Tim Chandler, executive director and CEO, who left the top executive position in September. Jim Hart, a former executive with the organization, returned as president and will have a new role when Soehn takes over on April 3, said Sharon Pryse, chair of Friends.

“Jim Hart took back over (when Chandler left), knowing Friends would seek a replacement. He’s a wonderful friend and voice,” Gary Wade, the board’s founding chair emeritus, added.

Friends used a national executive search firm, Potrero Group, in finding a new leader, with 150 candidates reviewed. Soehn, selected by Friends’ board of directors, has worked at the park for over 30 years. Her experience has included serving as acting chief of public affairs and chief spokesperson for the National Park Service.

In her jobs at the park, she has worked in building community relationships, creating private-public partnership opportunities, developing strategic communications and coordinating large events. She has represented the park with congressional delegations, community leaders, descendant groups and partners in North Carolina and Tennessee.

Georgiana Vines is retired News Sentinel associate editor. She may be reached at gvpolitics@hotmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Vines: UT Martin chancellor plans move to UT Institute of Agriculture