Last July UT gained a valuable administrative asset in new Provost Janet McNew, colleagues say.

Her drive to improve UT began immediately upon her arrival last semester.

Already some of her plans are coming to fruition – the most obvious of which being the new four-college system.

McNew felt the four-college system would help UT adjust to its rapid growth. The system splits the College of Business and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences into four distinct schools, much as the name implies.

These new schools include the College of Arts ‘ Letters, the College of Business, the College of Natural ‘ Health Sciences and the College of Social Science, Math ‘ Education. The ability of McNew’s talent to meet UT’s needs is a seamless fit.

Of course, such talent doesn’t come without experience. Previously being Provost at Illinois Wesleyan University and department chair at St. John’s University in Minnesota, McNew found new direction when coming to UT.

In contrast to Wesleyan University, where she acted as Provost, McNew feels she does not have to prove herself but feels confident she is fulfilling her goal as Provost, which is to make UT a better institution.

“I feel UT is the last phase of my career,” she added.

In addition to her desire to make UT an even better place for learning, she enjoyed the student body population and UT’s location.

“Tampa is cosmopolitan with a small town charm,” said McNew. Growing up in Georgia and living in the Upper Midwest for more than two decades, McNew was happy about her return to the southern region of the country. She described that coming to Tampa, “felt like coming home, but at the same time, it felt like an adventure.”

“The staff and students seemed so dedicated to UT, I knew these were the kind of people I wanted to work with.” McNew said.