The departing University of Tennessee Board of Trustees formally expressed support for President Joe DiPietro in a resolution Thursday, but opted against using language that scolded faculty members for voting to censure the system leader.
Trustees met in downtown Nashville, with some taking part in person and some by phone, according to system spokeswoman Jennifer Sicking. A new, smaller board takes over this summer featuring trustees approved by the state Legislature.
Related: Faculty censure president
They objected to a move Monday by UT Knoxville faculty to censure DiPietro for among other things abruptly dismissing Chancellor Beverly Davenport last week.
In demoting Davenport, who had been on the job about 15 months, DiPietro sent her a scathing "Dear Beverly" letter that ticked off numerous failures in her brief time on the job, including poor management, communication and teamwork practices.
The board, in the special meeting, expressed wholehearted support for the Illinois native, whose time with the UT system is coming to an end, in its resolution for leading the system with "humility, honor and integrity."
It continued: "President DiPietro has approached every matter, including personnel matters, with the singular goal of doing what is in the best interest of the University."
It also congratulated him for looking out for employees, boosting the university's standing under a strategic plan and shepherding "unprecedented growth" in enrollment, graduation rates, retention and research.
DiPietro has been president since Jan. 1, 2011. He's expected to retire by mid 2019.
As chancellor and head of the Knoxville campus, Davenport elected against a plan backed by Gov. Bill Haslam to outsource building services tasks on campus. Some UT campuses made similar decisions; others elected to go with outsourcing.
Faculty have speculated that DiPietro dismissed Davenport in part because of her decision.
Thursday's resolution noted DiPietro assured every system campus that it could decide what to do about outsourcing.
Despite that, however, "some continue to foment fear among our employees by repeating false allegations and rumors spread during the outsourcing process and by making the totally baseless suggestion that the Board still intends to impose outsourcing..." the resolution states.
Some faculty also objected this year to a plan for intermittent reviews of faculty who have tenure.
Thursday's document cited the "many outstanding and dedicated" faculty members but chided "a small number" including the Faculty Senate President for resisting post-tenure reviews of tenured faculty.
As originally written, the resolution declared board "disappointment with the Knoxville Faculty Senate’s censure resolution" and asked faculty leaders "to seek the truth before making unfounded accusations."
That latter portion was deleted after some board members said they wanted to focus on supporting DiPietro.
Outgoing board vice chair and Knoxville businessman Raja Jubran said he thought Monday's censure by the Faculty Senate was an unfair "attack" that demanded a response.
"I had heard a lot of support until recently," Jubran said. "That's why I think it's extremely important to set the record straight."
The board is scheduled to meet June 22.
The Tennessean contributed to this report.