Betsy Adams

I knew in my heart it was the right time and the right job for me.

- Staff

Betsy Adams joined the Haslam College of Business on October 10 as assistant dean of finance and administration. Adams has worked for the University of Tennessee since September 2007, when she started at the Office of the Provost.

“My first position in the office was budget director,” Adams said. “I managed office operations, the day-to-day budgeting activities and the yearly chancellor’s audit.”

Early in her role in the Office of the Provost, she recognized UT had some challenges with access to and organization of student data. That led to a change of focus in later years with the provost’s office.

“In 2014, I was promoted to assistant provost of systems and resources,” Adams said. “I led campus-wide conversations about our information systems and how we most effectively deploy our resources to meet the ever-growing data needs of our campus leadership. We started building the institutional data set that now serves as our student information warehouse. I also worked closely with OIT and OIRA to better understand our data sets and provide dashboards for our campus community to use for accreditation and other data-driven decisions.”

Adams interest in Haslam grew after she obtained her Executive MBA from the college in 2010. She says that Haslam felt like home from the first time she stepped into the building.

“Leaving the Office of the Provost was hard, but I knew in my heart it was the right time and the right job for me,” she said.

Dean Steve Mangum agrees, citing Adams’ experience and relationships at the university level as being key indicators for her success in her new role at Haslam. “We look forward to the impact that she will have on our strategic planning, data analysis and decision-making capabilities,” he said. “In addition, it is always enjoyable to welcome home a graduate of our college.”

Although she’s served as assistant dean for less than a month, Adams is already fulfilling that promise by setting clear goals. “I want to provide each dean, department head and director with a comprehensive picture of their unit by surfacing data relevant to the decisions each leader is challenged to make every day,” she said. “I am looking forward to working with each area to develop their own unique story.”

To help her achieve that objective, she welcomes open communication with her colleagues throughout the college.

When she’s not in her office in the Haslam Business Building, Adams loves spending time with her husband and two daughters, Caitlyn and Cayla Mae. In the summer months, the family enjoys paddle boarding and water skiing at Norris Lake. She’s also a roller coaster enthusiast.