As we enter 2024, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville is most certainly a university on the rise. With growth in enrollment and expanded academic offerings comes the need for new and updated facilities to accommodate an ever-changing campus population. To oversee the construction needed for this growth, UT Facilities Services has selected Matt Motsko to serve as the new Assistant Vice Chancellor of Facilities Services Construction.
Matt joins the team with 25 years of experience in the US Navy Civil Engineering Corps serving in various roles, but most notably as Deputy Director of Facilities & Director of Design and Construction for the Navy Service and Exchange Command in Virginia Beach, Virginia where he led a team responsible for planning, programming and executing more than $200 million in capital improvements for the Navy’s multi-billion-dollar worldwide retail and lodging company.
While in the Navy, Motsko gained incredible experience managing construction, maintenance, and infrastructure improvements for the United States government. His first-hand experience with a wide range of contracting methods including simplified acquisition, sealed/hard bidding, negotiation and General Services Administration (GSA) schedules will help take Facilities Services to the next level of customer service and contractor support.
In addition, Motsko understands the importance of constructing and maintaining facilities with an emphasis on sustainable practices. During his military career, Motsko was tasked with planning, programming and budgeting the Navy’s $1.7B infrastructure program efforts across its inventory of 45,000 facilities with specialty areas in shipyards, higher education institutions, and the President’s $920M energy program. By providing clear vision and guidance, Motsko and his team were able to execute a facility energy analysis generating $220K in savings per year.
His management of such programs demonstrates the importance he places on good stewardship of government resources while simultaneously ensuring the Navy’s premier training and education institutions represented the branch’s core value of commitment to excellence.
Motsko also played an important role in emergency management as he served on a team responsible for developing the Defense in Support of Civil Affairs (DCSA) coordination plan for disaster recovery efforts which was used to support Key West and Pensacola hurricane response efforts.
After retiring from the Navy, Motsko accepted a position with the US Army Corps of Engineers as a Construction Director. During his time there, Motsko was instrumental in opening an office in Radford, Virginia to support a $600M+ construction program. In the past few years, he’s played a key role in executing two Design-Build projects valued greater than $300M and administering a $20M Design-Build Addition/Renovation of the Salem Army Reserve Training Center.
Motsko’s experience will bring fresh ideas and increased accountability to the UT Facilities Services team as we continue to support the research, innovation, and collaboration that make campus an incredible place to live, work and learn. He will begin serving in this new role on March 1, 2024.