The Extraordinary Service to the University award honors faculty members, staff members, or friends for noteworthy service to the university.
Mary Albrecht
Mary Albrecht came to UT twenty years ago as professor and head of the Department of Ornamental Horticulture and Landscape Design. She went on to serve as both interim dean and associate dean for academic programs for the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. In 2010, Albrecht became associate vice chancellor and project leader for the development of UT’s Top 25 strategic plan. She is now associate vice provost for accreditation and served for a short time as interim vice provost and dean of the Graduate School.
Her most recent project was overseeing the highly successful 2015 reaffirmation for SACSCOC accreditation. Albrecht quickly mastered SACSCOC standards, practices, and processes. She developed a campus-wide process for completing the 500-plus page compliance certification. She organized and participated in hundreds of meetings to encourage and to explain SACSCOC to diverse campus constituencies.
“In all of this,” Provost Susan Martin wrote, “Mary has demonstrated astounding expertise, incredible organizational skills, and the ability to work effectively with a wide range of campus constituencies as well as with the SACSCOC office. She has been generous in her efforts to build capacity on this campus so that we never again find ourselves in the knowledge deficit she found. She has done with a selflessness and modesty that should be a model to all.”