Last week Gov. Phil Bredesen named two new members to the UT Board of Trustees, one of which was Carey Smith, senior in political science.
The appointment is for two years, the first year being as the non-voting student seat on the board and the second being a voting term.
In many ways, the move was a culmination of an interest in policy that began before she ever went to UT.
“Ever since I attended Volunteer Girls State when I was a junior in high school, I really became hooked on politics,” Smith said. “I follow up, especially in Tennessee, very closely. It just became a passion of mine. ... When I went, I fell in love with the political process and being a good citizen and being an informed voter and talking about the issues.”
Smith loved the experience because it gives students the ability to learn about issues and form their own ideas.
She liked it so much that she wrote a letter to her Girls State counselor team, asking if she could come back as a counselor.
“Lo and behold, the next year, they called me, so I actually worked with the program — I went as a delegate in 2006 and have worked as a counselor ever since,” she said.
Smith came to UT undecided, but after taking a few political science classes, she decided for that major in her sophomore year.
But while political science is a field of interest, Smith has a few different career ambitions.
Right now she’s studying for the LSAT in preparation to go to law school after her undergraduate studies are finished. She sees an intersection between politics and law.
She said she expects to practice law for a few years, but even that is not the end-all be-all of her life. She said perhaps a run for public office might be in order eventually.
“Ultimately I’d really be interested in going back into higher-education policy,” Smith said. “Of course, I find it hard to speculate on what you’ll be doing in the future because I feel like you never really know.”
But she said she could shape higher-education policy in some of the roles she’s considering for her future, and higher-education policy is something she’s interested in and passionate about.
It was during her work in the spring in the Office of State Relations in Nashville where her eyes were really opened about some of the issues facing the school.
David Folz, Smith’s Political Science 320 professor, was one of the ones who nominated her for the role.
“We select who we believe are the very best, most qualified, talented and able students to represent the University of Tennessee as more or less our ambassadors on Capitol Hill during the legislative session,” Folz said.
He described Smith in the classroom as an excellent student.
“She was extremely able and studious and very bright, able to understand and articulate the processes involved in how an idea becomes policy, and how policy is implemented in various ways across the state,” he said.
Jenny Wright Russell, one of Smith's sorority advisers, had similar exemplary things to say about Smith.
"Carey is probably one of the most extraordinary students I've interacted with in a long time," Russell said. "She's extremely intelligent and very compassionate, and I think that her experiences that she's had on campus in a leadership role and her experience interning in Nashville in the past spring will benefit all the students she's going to serve in the next two years."
Smith said the stay in Nashville was particularly beneficial to her because the real-world experience went beyond the political science classrooms. She got to attend committee meetings and learn how the process of state government worked.
"You can learn it in a textbook," she said. "(But) you can't really appreciate it until you've been there. I got to learn about issues that I never even knew affected UT. And I think, with that experience, I would think that has really prepared me for my term on the board."
She said she started to think about UT as more than just the Knoxville campus but as an entire system.
As Smith joins the board, the main pressing UT issue on her mind is tuition increases.
"Student tuition is always going to be an issue for students," she said. "We have to pay it every semester. It's never going to not be an issue, especially with the recent 9-percent increase. ... Tuition is probably my primary concern because it's a concern that affects every student that walks through the door."
Even though continued tuition increases happen, Smith said that, realistically, there's no other way to make up for funding shortfalls.
"Our state appropriations are declining, so what you're lacking in state appropriations, you have to make up for it somewhere," she said. "And unfortunately students have to take that hit, and it's the price you pay for a quality education."
But she said this issue changes from year to year, depending on the university's monetary needs.
"In the future, who's to say what could happen?" she said. "It really depends on the state appropriations that you get because that really funds the University of Tennessee. Depending on those numbers, it's hard to say whether I would support or not support."
Smith said her ultimate goal as a member of the Board of Trustees was to be a voice for the students.
"Really the goal I have is acting on behalf of the students, voting for the students, because that is who I'm there to represent, and that is who I'm there to serve," she said.