Brittney VanDeventer joined the college’s communications team as a web designer and developer in October 2021 and set right to work on a redesign for the UT Space Institute website. On this project, she got to test-drive new software that UT is putting to use for web design.

“I am a self-taught coder, so I pick things up quickly,” she said. “I love learning new things and expanding my abilities beyond what I thought was capable.”

VanDeventer comes to Big Orange country from Jacksonville, Florida, where she worked for six years in a higher education setting. She has quickly taken to the UT campus scene.

“I love the atmosphere and community,” she said. “I worked at a university without a football team, so being in a ‘college town’ has been really exciting.”

She earned her BA in psychology and MS in management at the University of North Florida, where she also met her husband, Phil, an electrical engineer. She followed the path to coding by filling a need for her team.

“I began in admissions as a recruiter, then worked my way through the marketing department,” she said. “Marketing is where I picked up the responsibility of the website under ‘other duties as assigned’ and realized how much I enjoy working with the web. I then went on to work in web services and started teaching myself how to code and build clean websites.”

She and Phil are enjoying getting to know the East Tennessee region.

“I love being outdoors, hiking, walking, exploring Knoxville with my husband,” said VanDeventer. “I also love home workouts, trying new foods, and learning about nutrition.”