Spring 2013 - Tennessee`s Community Colleges

SPRING 2013 COMMUNITY
COLLEGE
REPORT
ISSUE 27
COMMUNITY
COLLEGE
REPORT
LETTER FROM THE EDITORS
Welcome to the 27th edition of the Community College
Report, a quarterly letter from Tennessee Board of Regents
two-year college presidents. This issue focuses on four
themes: Completion, Partnership, Workforce, and Student
Success. Each theme is identified by a distinctive icon.
Completion
SPRING 2013 ISSUE 27
Partnership
Workforce
Student Success
The Community College Report is available also online at
http://communitycolleges.tbr.edu/about/ccreport/.
ŸDYERSBURG STATE
ŸVOLUNTEER STATE
ŸPELLISSIPPI STATE
ŸSOUTHWEST TENNESSEE
ŸMOTLOW STATE
ŸWALTERS STATE
ŸJACKSON STATE
ŸROANE STATE
ŸNORTHEAST STATE
ŸNASHVILLE STATE
ŸCHATTANOOGA STATE
ŸCOLUMBIA STATE
ŸCLEVELAND STATE
www.dscc.edu
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www.southwest.tn.edu
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www.jscc.edu
Page 5
www.nscc.edu
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www.columbiastate.edu
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Page 2
www.volstate.edu
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www.mscc.edu
Page 9
www.roanestate.edu
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www.pstcc.edu
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www.ws.edu
Page 14
www.northeaststate.edu
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www.chattanoogastate.edu
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www.clevelandstate.edu
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Spring 2013
Community College Report
DYERSBURG State
Community College
The Right Fit
Kicell Stokes,
a criminal
justice student at Dyersburg State
Community
College, was
selected to
assist in the 57th Presidential Inauguration
Parade and Ceremonies in Washington D.C.
from Jan. 16-25 with his 268th Military
Police Company of the Tennessee Army
National Guard in Ripley, Tenn. Michael Brooks, Assistant Professor of
Criminal Justice at DSCC stated “As a prior
military and law enforcement member, I
am proud of Kicells’ accomplishments and
his military unit’s opportunity to serve our
Commander-in-Chief during the Presidential Inauguration. It’s an honor to have
him in the Criminal Justice Program at
DSCC, and his presence in the classroom
brings a real-world perspective to other
students, that allows for critical-thinking
scenarios.”
After this wonderful experience, Stokes
stated, “We should not be afraid of ambition because life is for the living.”
Stokes is also employed as a Correctional
Officer at the West Tennessee Prison in
Henning, Tenn. 731-286-3200
www.dscc.edu
Generous Donor Receives Prestigious
DSCC Pinnacle Award
Long-time donor Wayne Karlgaard was recently presented the prestigious Pinnacle
Award in recognition of his generosity to
the Dyersburg State Community College
(DSCC) Foundation. The presentation
took place at the DSCC Foundation Board
Annual Dinner Meeting held on Nov. 15 at
the Oakview Community Center in Newbern. More than 60 Foundation Board
Members and guests were in attendance.
In 2010, Karlgaard established the Doris
Ann Parmenter Karlgaard Endowed
Scholarship in memory of his wife. Doris,
a lifelong resident of Dyer County, was
a graduate of DSCC and UT Martin. She
was employed at Oldberg Manufacturing
for 18 years and Colonial Rubber/Colonial
West/PolyOne for another 18 years. The Pinnacle Award is given to community members who provide extraordinary
service to DSCC. Karlgaard joins an exclusive list of recipients; only eight Pinnacle
Awards have been presented in the nearly
43-year history of the school. Wayne Karlgaard, long-time donor at DSCC, is
shown holding the prestigious Pinnacle Award
given to him for his generosity to the DSCC foundation.
Students Honored at 43rd Annual DSCC Nursing
Pinning Ceremony
Twenty-nine dedicated students were recently acknowledged for their
hard work at the 43rd Annual Nursing Pinning Ceremony held in the
auditorium of the Academic Building of the Dyersburg State Community
College (DSCC) Jimmy Naifeh Center at Tipton County on Dec. 14, 2012.
In keeping with pinning ceremony tradition, DSCC President Karen
Bowyer, Dean of Nursing and Allied Health Evelynn Miller and other
members of the DSCC nursing faculty made special presentations. Dean
Miller placed pins on each of the graduate’s uniforms. The nursing
pin represents completion of the Associate of Applied Science degree
requirements for nursing. Each graduate also received a small ceramic
replica of the lamp carried by Florence Nightingale that was used in the
symbolic lamp lighting ceremony.
Since the program began in 1982, 1,175 students have completed their
nursing degree at DSCC.
Community College Report
Spring 2013
Page 3
SOUTHWEST TENNESSEE
Community College
Southwest Participates
in the Sickle Cell
5K Walk/Run
The Sixth Annual Sickle Cell 5K Run/Walk,
sponsored by the Sickle Cell Foundation of
Tennessee (SCFT), was held Oct. 20 at AutoZone Park. During this annual community service event, Southwest students,
faculty and staff were able to exercise,
network while enjoying good food, and
raise awareness and funds to provide educational and social services for individuals
living with Sickle Cell Disease.
Activities concurrent with the walk/run included iron overload screening, sickle cell
trait testing and a motorcycle ride in the
Memphis community to increase awareness about Sickle Cell Disease.
Associate Professor of Natural Sciences
Ken Carpenter serves on the Advisory
Council for the Sickle Cell Foundation of
Tennessee and is the founder of this annual event.
901-333-5000
www.southwest.tn.edu
Southwest Presents Grizzlies Poetry Slam Finale
The Memphis Grizzlies of the
National Basketball Association held their Third Annual
Poetry Slam Finale, presented
by Southwest Tennessee
Community College, recently
at Southwest’s Macon Cove
Campus.
The finale featured 18 winning students from individual
poetry and art slams from
Memphis area high schools.
Under the theme “Be Great,”
poets had two minutes to
recite verses of original
poetry while being judged on
performance, interpretation
and content.
Poetry Slam Winner Brayana Rodgers (center) from Kirby
High School with Southwest Director of Recruitment Vanessa
Dowdy (L) and Tim Jordan (R), Grizzlies Coordinator, Community Investment.
With a spoken word piece called “Fairy Dust,” Brayana Rodgers, a senior from Kirby
High School, delivered in all of those categories to win the Third Annual Poetry
Slam Finale, a two-year, full tuition scholarship to Southwest Tennessee Community
College and an all-expense paid trip to New York City from the Grizzlies during her
spring break.
“It was extremely exciting,” said Rodgers. “My nerves were a little shot at first, but
the whole experience was tremendous.”
Southwest Graduates Land Jobs as Java Developers
with Industry Leader
Justin Durbin, Michael Boren, and
Raymond Ortega, graduates of Southwest’s Engineering Technology Program,
recently completed a six-week Java
Boot Camp conducted by Cook Systems
International, Inc., a leading systems
integrator and provider of information
technologies. The boot camp is a highly
intensive, java-centric computer systems
development training program. “There
were 10 people that attended this boot
camp, and six graduated. Half of the
graduates attended Southwest,” said
Durbin.
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Java Boot Camp graduates are hired as fulltime Cook employees and placed on a work
assignment with the company’s clients.
“What we’ve found so far is that Southwest
has turned out our best people. You guys
have done the best job yet of producing the
people that we found are closest and ready
to take the next step and go to work. So, we
are delighted to partner with you guys to go
further,” said Senior Vice President of Technical Services, Robert H. Fortenberry.
Spring 2013
Community College Report
JACKSON State
Community College
731-424-3520
www.jscc.edu
Jackson State’s Bassett & Frost Present
at Bellwether Conference
Jackson State’s Mary Jane Bassett, Dean of
Academic Support and NCAT Scholar, and
Betty Frost, Senior Affiliate Faculty and fellow NCAT Scholar, presented at this year’s
Community College Futures Assembly also
known as the Bellwether Conference. They
spoke on the techniques employed at Jackson State’s SMART Math Lab.
Jackson State is the winner of the prestigious 2010 Bellwether Award in the
category of Innovative Instruction and
Services.
After the implementation of the SMART
Math program, completion rates of the
developmental math program increased
by 75 percent and student success in
college level math courses improved by
12 percent. The lab also reduced the costper-student by over 30 percent.
Jackson State’s SMART Math lab has
garnered national attention resulting in
numerous campus visits and phone calls
inquiring about the program. Bassett and
Frost also were invited to speak about
the SMART Math lab program in over 50
presentations and consultations at various
conferences and colleges.
Jackson State and 6 TTCs Sign Articulation Agreement
Jackson State Community College and six
Tennessee Technology Centers signed an
articulation agreement
in January that will allow for joint academic
program agreements.
The goal of this articulation is three-fold: 1)
to increase the number of students who
desire and are willing to earn an AAS
by facilitating a seamless transition for
TTC completers into the JSCC Industrial
Technology degree program; 2) to meet
the demanding needs of the manufacturing field through continued education
and work readiness; 3) and to maintain
positive lines of communication between
JSCC and the TTCs for future collaborations.
Community College Report
Benefits to students include ease of transition from one educational institution
to another, elimination of coursework
duplication, lower educational expenses,
educational goal-setting and planning, and convenient access to higher education through the on-line JSCC Industrial
Technology program.
Spring 2013
High School Student,
Earns 39 JSCC
College Credit Hours
in Dual Enrollment Program
Three Way native and soon-to-be
high school graduate Abbie Parrish
will finish her academic journey
through high school in May 2013
having earned 39 college credit hours
through Jackson State’s Dual Enrollment program.
When commenting on the most
rewarding aspect of being involved in
the program, Parrish said, “Becoming
familiar with how college professors
taught their classes and how they
tested has made me a more confident
exam taker.”
When Parrish was asked if she was
glad she did it, she said, “YES! I have
completed a year of college and have
gained confidence in my ability to
learn and handle the college workload.”
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NASHVILLE State
Community College
615-353-3333
www.nscc.edu
Nashville State Receives 2012 Partnership Award
from Department of Homeland Security
The department of Workforce & Community Development at Nashville
State Community College was recently
awarded the 2012 Partnership Award for
developing the Technical Certificate in
Homeland Security at the Nashville Metropolitan Airport for their Transportation
Security Associates. The 9-credit-hour
Certificate in Homeland Security offered
by the college is comprised of Introduction to Homeland Security, Intelligence
Analysis and Security Management, and
Transportation and Border Security. The
Certificate Program was requested by the
United States Department of Homeland
Security, Transportation Security Administration, and has been provided by
Nashville State for three years. Participants in the program can apply credits
earned toward an Associate degree and
are also eligible to enroll in additional
NSCC courses.
Susan Boase discusses methods of cooking fish with Nashville State Culinary Arts
Program Coordinator, Chef Tom Loftis.
Page 6
Spring 2013
Left to right: George Aldridge, Gail Phillips, and
Marc Starrett accept the 2012 Partnership Award
from the United States Department of Homeland
Security, Transportation Security Administration.
Culinary Arts Program
at Nashville State
Provides New Career
Opportunities for Adult Student
In her youth, Susan Boase dreamed of
being a chef, but her parents insisted that
she pursue a four-year degree. So she
obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Social
Work and went to work. The 2010 recession resulted in a layoff that sent Susan
back to her first love, cooking. Now, at
55-years-old, Susan is finally fulfilling
her dream of being a professional chef
through her studies at Nashville State
Community College. “I love it here,” said
Susan of her time at the college. In May
2013, Susan will graduate from NSCC with
her Associate degree in Culinary Arts.
Community College Report
COLUMBIA State
Community College
931-540-2722
www.columbiastate.edu
Columbia State Surpasses State NCLEX Pass Rates
The national exam required of a nursing graduate in order to be called a
Registered Nurse (RN) is the NCLEX.
Pass rates on the NCLEX are one measure of how well students are being
prepared in nursing programs, but it is
the gold standard of whether nursing
graduates will be able to go to work as
a nurse. Tennessee is ranked 5th highest in the nation for pass rates on the
NCLEX with a 2012 pass rate of 92.03
percent. The highest ranked state was
Nevada with a pass rate of 94.37 percent. While there is only a .08 percent difference between Tennessee and Nevada, the 2012 pass rate of Columbia State students
hit 95.28 percent, exceeding both Tennessee and Nevada. Barbara Blum, Columbia
State’s Nursing program director, said, “This is a reflection of the dedication and hard
work of the Nursing professionals in our department who strive to maintain the highest standards for our students. Kudos to them!”
Storm Damage & Partnership Responders
Partnerships within a community college were never so important as they were in the
early morning hours of Jan. 27 when storms created a roof breach of the Health Sciences Building on the main campus of Columbia State. The 4 a.m. breach left a hard
rain inside the home of the Radiology and Veterinary Technology programs. By 8:30
a.m. all faculty had been relocated to temporary office space along with their phones,
classes had moved to temporary locations, irreplaceable artwork and photographs had
been moved to dry places, students had been notified of the changes and classes were
beginning. A mere five days later, all faculty and Vet Tech classes had been returned
home, and two days later, the Rad Tech classes went home as well. It took a team to respond to the sudden potentially catastrophic event. The partnership within the college
was strong, vibrant and flexible. All hands were on deck.
Just About Everything
Interests Dylan
Sometimes students take a campus by
storm. That is probably the best way to
describe the energy and enthusiasm of
Dylan Platt.
As the Student Government President,
the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society
president, active President’s Leadership
Society member, QEP Student Leadership Team member for the College’s SACS
accreditation, TBR Student President’s
Council Secretary, and all around go-to
person for a variety of activities, Dylan is
on-target to graduate in May 2014 with
an AA General Transfer.
Dylan is a well-recognized presence on
the Columbia Campus. This year, he
spearheaded an effort to enroll students
in the campus-wide emergency texting
service, organized the Angel Tree drive,
and coordinated (and wrote the news
release for) the PTK nutrition education effort with the Columbia YMCA Fun
Company.
His plans for next fall are still forming,
but wherever he ends up, we are confident everyone will know him there as
well.
Photo by Susan Thurman, courtesy of The Daily Herald
Community College Report
Spring 2013
Page 7
VOLUNTEER State
Community College
615-452-8600
www.volstate.edu
Vol State Students Design Android Phone Apps
Vol State students are developing applications for Android mobile phones
as part of a Computer Information
Systems class. Two of the student
group projects are already available
commercially.
Vol State Partners
with Music Industry
Professionals
“This course was designed to be preparation for our first programming class.
With Google App Inventor, all you
have to do is have the correct thought
process,” said Instructor Dan Arena.
“It’s cool. Within a couple of weeks,
students were writing programs for
app development.”
Vol State has a new degree program
in Entertainment Media Production. It
combines several areas with the same
purpose: to get students trained and
plugged into the entertainment industry
in Tennessee. The program offers certificates, which are designed to get students
into the workplace. Those certificates can
then apply toward a new associate of applied science degree.
Student teams designed “Donut Text”
as a way for texters
to send automatic
replies while they are
driving and also have
the text read aloud.
“EchoTxt” takes those
features one step
further, by allowing texters to speak
and send a reply text
simply by shaking the
phone.
An advisory board of industry professionals helped put the program together.
Partnerships with entertainment businesses in the area will be an important
part of the study for students. The bigger
vision behind the new program is to create a college version of Music Row -- a set
of student teams working together on a
music project, forging a creative synergy.
“We’re developing a recording label that
will combine student work in all parts of
the music business from recording, video,
legal, promotions, and web design,” said
Steve Bishir, director of Entertainment
Media Industry Programs. “It’s a realworld application to combine all of the
stuff students have been working on.”
Vol State Associate Professor Dan Arena shows off the “Donut Text”
mobile phone app.
Vol State Student Elected as City Commissioner
The hard work of knocking on more than
1,500 doors and calling several hundred
people has paid off for Vol State student
Zach Young. He won a seat as a Goodlettsville City Commissioner.
“I don’t think life will be too much
different,” said Young. “I expect it to
be busy and harder, but I welcome the
challenge.”
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The Vol State students even helped out
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology along the way. MIT runs the App
Inventor program. The Vol State students noticed a possible problem while
developing their apps. They notified
MIT developers who quickly realized
that they had a bug in their latest version. MIT even loaded a special server
with a patched version so that the Vol
State students could finish their projects on time.
Spring 2013
The 20 year-old is the youngest Commissioner in the city of Goodlettsville.
“Age is just a number,” said Young. “It
takes hard work, determination and passion. To set yourself up for success, you
have to have passion about it.”
Community College Report
Motlow State
Community College
931-393-1500
www.mscc.edu
Rutherford County High School Students Attend
College Goal Event at Motlow College in Smyrna
Sixty-six Rutherford County students and
their parents or guardians attended the
Motlow College Smyrna Center’s first
College Goal event to learn about the
financial aid application process, said
academic advisor Jonathan Graham.
“This financial aid awareness campaign
was a collaborative initiative between
Motlow College and the local community,” Graham said. “A recurring theme
that my fellow advisor Jeremy Mills and
I observe with many incoming students
and parents is the difficulty they have
with the financial aid process. It was this
observation that led us to collaborate
with local high schools to put this event
together in hopes to better serve our
community.”
Students attending were from many
Rutherford County high schools, including Oakland, Holloway, La Vergne,
Smyrna, Eagleville, Cumberland, Riverdale, and Middle Tennessee Christian.
Graham said high school counselors,
Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation representatives and members of the
Motlow College staff worked to make the
event a success.
Bridgestone/Motlow College Celebrate
New Mechatronics Lab
Fred Rascoe, director of career readiness
at Motlow College, and Ingrid Williams,
department secretary, spoke during a
recent industrial expo at Oakland High
School about the upcoming Mechatronics Dual Enrollment Program Motlow will
offer this fall to Oakland students.
Community College Report
Motlow College Smyrna
Center’s COR Club
Visits the Walls
of Jericho
Members of the Motlow College Smyrna
Center’s Conservation and Outdoor
Recreation Club stand in a geological
formation at the Walls of Jericho during a
recent hike.
From left are Matt Wilder, Assistant
Professor Kevin Fitch, Professor Alan Bottomlee from San Juan Community College in New Mexico, and Whitney North.
Dual enrollment courses are those in
which students earn both high school
and college credit. Roscoe said mechatronics courses are based on the Siemens Mechatronics Systems approach
to product manufacturing and are
designed to prepare students for careers
in today’s high tech manufacturing environments.
Representatives of Nissan and Bridgestone, both of which utilize mechatronics,
also attended the expo. For more information about the dual enrollment program in mechatronics, visit the Motlow
Career Readiness website at www.mscc.
edu/careereadiness or email Williams at
[email protected].
The Walls of Jericho is a 750-acre natural
area within the 8,943-acre Bear Hollow
Mountain Wildlife Management Area,
according to the Tennessee Dept. of Environment and Conservation’s website.
Fred Rascoe, director of Career Readiness at
Motlow College, and Ingrid Williams, department
secretary.
Spring 2013
Page 9
ROANE State
Community College
865-354-3000
www.roanestate.edu
Roane State paralegal student featured
on magazine cover
Roane State paralegal student Pam Smith is on the cover of
Adult Learner magazine, a college publication that features
advice for adult students. Smith, 52, quit school at 15. Over
20 years later, she earned her GED. She then took classes at a
Tennessee Career Center and a Tennessee Technology Center
and later enrolled at Roane State.
“Going back to school at 50 is a hard thing to do. …” Smith
said. “… I was a nervous wreck. Once you start, though, it’s
not about age anymore. You are just another student working
hard to try to get a degree.”
Roane State’s Adult
Learner magazine features paralegal student
Pam Smith.
Roane State donates ACT prep,
college success books to high schools
Roane State donated ACT preparation
books and college success books to high
schools throughout the college’s service
area. The set includes flash cards, books
that provide test-taking tips and exercises, and books about how students
can excel in college. “This enhances student learning with more rigor, engages
students to determine their careers and
prepares students for college and to be
successful in life,” said Dallas Davis, principal of Central High School of Wartburg
in Morgan County.
The donation was made possible by a
Tennessee Board of Regents Access and
Diversity Grant awarded to Roane State
in 2010. The grant allowed Roane State
to start a pilot program called Prepare,
Learn and Navigate (PLAN). Roane State
partners in the PLAN program with the
Tennessee Technology Center in Harriman, Harriman High School and Worldwide Interactive Network, a Kingstonbased education technology firm.
Roane State launches
mechatronics program
A new certificate program in mechatronics will train students to become
technicians who operate, maintain and
repair high-tech automated manufacturing systems. The one-year mechatronics
program began in January at the Clinton
Higher Education and Workforce Training Facility. The program is organized in
cohorts with classes held in the evenings.
The mechatronics program was developed with funding from a $19.7 million
grant awarded to the National STEM
Consortium (NSC) and 10 community
colleges in nine states under the U.S.
Department of Labor’s Trade Adjustment
Act (TAA) grant program. Anne Arundel
Community College in Maryland leads
the National STEM Consortium.
Instructor Reid Kress teaches “Introduction to Industrial Electronic Systems” at the Clinton Higher
Education and Workforce Training Facility.
Students, faculty and staff at Central High School in Morgan County appreciated ACT preparation
materials donated by Roane State.
Page 10
Spring 2013
Community College Report
CHATTANOOGA State
Community College
Student Michael
Williams
After living in Italy for 35 years, Tennessee native Michael Williams returned
to his hometown of Chattanooga and
enrolled in business management at
Chattanooga State.
Michael joined the staff of the student
newspaper and volunteered to assist
the men’s basketball coach. He maintains a rigorous daily routine: arriving
on campus at 6:45 a.m. and leaving at 9
p.m., a schedule he says “keeps me out
of trouble.”
And, he notes, he fulfills the college’s
Quality Enhancement Plan demonstrating workplace discipline. “I have to manage my time wisely and study hard. I’m
successful in class because I’m involved
outside class.”
423-697-4404
www.chattanoogastate.edu
Chattanooga State Honored
with Prestigious Bellwether Award
Chattanooga State received
the Bellwether Award at the
2013 Community College
Futures Assembly. The award
is bestowed upon a community college with leading edge
practices worthy of replication. Since its inception 19
years ago, only 55 winning
projects have been selected
from among thousands of applicants.
Chattanooga State won in the From the left are Tim McGhee, Dr. Jim Catanzaro
and Dr. George Graham
Workforce Development category for “The Wacker Institute: Diplomas with Job Offers!”
According to Dr. George Graham, director of the Wacker Institute, “This is an
affirmation of the tremendous efforts made by our faculty and staff to provide a
world-class educational program that exceeds the expectations of our partner,
Wacker Chemie. Eighty- eight percent of those enrolled have persisted to completion; and 98
percent of those who completed got job offers from the company. As Tim Spires,
CEO of the Manufacturers Association, noted: “Chattanooga State’s approach to
learning the competencies needed in industry and developing a workforce with
those competencies hits the mark every time.”
This innovative collaboration provides students an exciting blend of theory and
hands-on experience in a one-of-kind pilot plant on the college campus. Graduates leave with their diploma in one hand and a job offer from Wacker in the
other.
Chattanooga State Selected for National Roadmap Project
In January, after a rigorous selection process, the Association of American Colleges
and Universities (AAC&U) announced that
Chattanooga State has been selected as
one of 10 community colleges in the nation to join its Roadmap Project.
The Roadmap Project will assist selected
institutions in creating pathways that
encourage newly admitted students
to take ownership of their educational
process and maintain academic engagement throughout their journey of learnCommunity College Report
ing. Over the next five years, Chattanooga
State will collaborate with this cohort of
community colleges and AAC&U to develop and implement a model for student
success through campus-wide ePortfolio
integration. The models developed by the
community college cohort will provide
“Roadmaps” for other institutions seeking to improve learning and completion- Front, left to right: Michelle Olson, Amanda
--measurable student success.
Hyberger, Leanders Burns.
This nationwide initiative is supported by
a grant from the MetLife Foundation.
Spring 2013
Back, left to right: Donna Seagle, Julius Dodds,
Sheila Albritton, Juliette Biondi.
Page 11
CLEVELAND State
Community College
CSCC Students,
Faculty, Staff Take
a Day ON for MLK Jr.
Day
Instead of taking a day off on Martin
Luther King Jr. Day, students, faculty, and
staff from Cleveland State Community
College chose to take a day on helping
others. The students joined hundreds of
other colleges and universities across the
country in an effort to honor the life and
contributions of Rev. King.
Cleveland State recruited six teams of
students, faculty and staff who signed up
to use the day as a day of service while
providing hours of help to local nonprofit agencies in Bradley, McMinn and
Monroe Counties.
423-472-7141
www.clevelandstatecc.edu
Cleveland State Hosts Manufacturing Skills Day
Cleveland State recently hosted a Manufacturing Skills Day open to all manufacturers, state workforce professionals, and
local organizations in the Cleveland community. CSCC had four industrial skill assessment machines on display during the
day -- the mechanical skills assessment
machine, electrical skills assessment
machine, PLC skills assessment machine,
and the CNC skills assessment machine.
These programs were developed by
Scientific Management Techniques (SMT)
and simplify the hiring process, lowering
both the risk and cost of hiring.
Dr. Hite, Cleveland State president, speaks at the
recent Manufacturing Skills Day held at Cleveland
State. Photo by Delaney Walker, Cleveland Daily
Banner.
CSCC Holds Inaugural Athletic Hall
of Fame Induction
Cleveland State Community College recently held its inaugural Athletic Hall of
Fame induction at the Mountain View Inn in Cleveland. The inaugural class of
25 inductees represented the sports of men’s and women’s basketball, women’s
softball, baseball, golf and tennis, coaches, as well as recognize meritorious service to Cleveland State Athletics. The class represented Cleveland State Athletics
from 1967 through 1984.
Volunteers from Cleveland State Community College assisted in the YMCA Community Garden in
Athens.
Kneeling, Left to Right: Dr. Steve Williams, Melinda Shell Strickland, Robert Kincaid, and Norma Davis.
Middle Row, Left to Right: Mike Benson, Steve Longley, Ted May, Zandra Montgomery Morris, Rhonda Snow, Liz Hannah Jackson, Kim Gentry Smith, Jim Gibson, Mike Fitzgerald, and Dr. Lynn Griffith.
Back Row, Left to Right: Tom Maupin, Scott Bell, Mike Moore, Hugh Walker, Data Caldwell, Jim
Cigliano, Ralph Buckner, Jr., and Larry Simcox.
Page 12
Spring 2013
Community College Report
PELLISSIPPI State
Community College
865-694-6400
www.pstcc.edu
KenJo Markets donates $10,000
Pellissippi State has received a $10,000
BP Fueling Communities grant from
KenJo Markets in support of the college’s
students with disabilities. KenJo Markets
President Charles W. “Wes” Carruthers
Jr. nominated the college for the grant
and recently presented the check to
the Pellissippi State Foundation. As a BP
branded marketer, KenJo services BP sta-
tions throughout East Tennessee.
The BP Fueling Communities funds will
go toward the purchase of equipment
such as a high-speed color scanner to
scan textbooks and other classroom
items. It also will fund laptop computers
to provide real-time transcription services for students who are deaf or hard
of hearing and stateof-the-art dynamic FM
systems to enhance
speech recognition for
students who are hard
of hearing.
“This new equipment
and technology underscores a critical mission
at Pellissippi State,
which is access to education,” said Carruthers.
From left to right: L. Anthony Wise Jr., Pellissippi State president; Charles W. “Wes” Carruthers Jr.,
KenJo Markets president; Peggy Wilson, vice president of College Advancement and executive director,
Pellissippi State Foundation; and Michele DeFelice, Services for Students With Disabilities coordinator,
Pellissippi State.
Pellissippi State drives workforce development
and innovation with AMP!
Pellissippi State has a key role in the Advanced Manufacturing and Prototype Center
of East Tennessee (AMP!), one of 10 public-private partnerships that will receive federal grant funding to revitalize U.S. manufacturing and create jobs.
The grant application for AMP! resulted in the largest award—a total of $2,391,778—
and was the only one from the Southeast chosen to be funded. The grant enables
Pellissippi State to create a certificate program in Additive Manufacturing and update
existing curricula. It also funds more than $250,000-plus in scholarships for students
in Advanced Manufacturing courses.
From left to right: Daniel Ostrom, Paralegal
Studies program coordinator Arlene Cleveland,
and Kelli Canan.
Pellissippi State
students earn
paralegal
scholarships
Two Pellissippi State students have
been named winners of scholarships
that attracted applicants from across
the state.
The Smoky Mountain Paralegal Association awarded Daniel Ostrom an $800
scholarship. To be eligible, students
must be enrolled full time in a sustaining member educational institution
or be an SMPA student member. They
also must have completed 6 credit
hours in their major and be in good
academic standing.
The Tennessee Paralegal Association also awarded Kelli Canan a $500
scholarship. The TPA scholarship is
based on financial need, scholastic
ability, leadership and extracurricular
activities.
Pellissippi State’s partners include Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of
Tennessee’s Center for Industrial Services and Tech 20/20, the lead applicant on the
grant. The partnership aims to connect resources and encourage collaboration, innovate and improve technologies, and develop a workforce that will drive that innovation and expand entrepreneurship.
Community College Report
Spring 2013
Page 13
WALTERS State
Community College
423-585-2600
www.ws.edu
WSCC Student Finishes
Class Via Facetime
Stephanie Webb thought a mid-semester
move to Missouri would end her studies.
Walters State’s use of technology enabled
her to complete the semester with the rest
of her classmates. When informed of her
situation, professors moved her to online
sessions. Faculty members decided to allow Webb to attend the class via Facetime,
a video-telephone app developed by Apple
Stephanie Webb, shown on the iPad screen, was
Inc.
able to complete her last semester at Walters
“In this case, technology played a big role State despite a move to the St. Louis area mid-way
through the semester. Joining her to discuss the
in helping Stephanie reach her educational final project for a class on human psychology and
goal,” said Dr. Lori Campbell, vice president education are Darlene Smith, assistant professor of
of Academic Affairs. Webb now attends
Education; Jasmine Mathis and Shakai Hurley, both
Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville. education majors.
She is a special education major.
WSCC Named Apple Distinguished Program
Walters State has been named a 2012-13 Apple Distinguished Program for its mobilelearning initiative. The Apple Distinguished Program designation is reserved for
programs that meet criteria for innovation, leadership, and educational excellence,
and demonstrate Apple’s
vision of exemplary learning
environments.
“The selection of Walters
State as an Apple Distinguished Program highlights
the successes of our faculty,
staff and governing board
in enhancing and extending
teaching and learning with
thoughtful and innovative
implementations of technology,” said Dr. Wade
McCamey, president of
Walters State.
The college has realized a
10 to 25 percent increase
in student learning through
the use of mobile technologies in the classroom.
Page 14
Tommy Reynolds, in cap and gown, is the first
person to earn Walters State’s Associate of
Applied Science in Clean Energy Technology. He
is shown with Tom Sewell, center, dean of technical education, and Andy Aarons, associate
professor of Clean Energy Technology.
First Student
Graduates from
WSCC Clean Energy
Technology Program
Walters State Community College
celebrated the first graduate from
its unique Clean Energy Technology
Program in December. “Putting this
program together was a very large
group effort,” said Tom Sewell, dean of
Technical Education. “We had faculty
members who were willing to go beyond what was expected or required.
Many community organizations and
businesses believed in us.”
Tommy Reynolds came back to Walters
State after losing a long-held job due to
the recession. “I know that our natural
resources will eventually disappear.
If we don’t do something to develop
clean energy sources, I don’t know
what kind of place we’ll be leaving our
children and our grandchildren,” Reynolds said.
Walters State was named a 2012-13 Distinguished Apple Program
for its mobile learning initiative. From left are Dr. Jeff Horner, dean
of the Natural Science division; Dr. Wade McCamey, president of
Walters State; Dr. Lori Campbell, vice president for Academic Affairs;
Dr. Robbie Melton, TBR associate vice chancellor of Organizational
Effectiveness and Strategic Planning; and Kim Bolton, interim executive director of the WSCC Claiborne County Campus and head of the
Biology Department. Spring 2013
The next big milestone for the Clean
Energy Technology Program will come
in three semesters, when 16 graduates
enrolled in the College Express cohort
earn degrees.
Community College Report
NORTHEAST State
Community College
423-323-3191
www.northeaststate.edu
Northeast State, Eastman named
AACC award finalists
The American Association of Community
Colleges has selected Northeast State
Community College and Eastman Chemical Company as finalists for the 2013
AACC Award of Excellence in the Outstanding College/Corporate Partnership
category.
The award honors collaborations between community colleges and business
and industry that have achieved notable,
multi-year success in advancing economic
prosperity and the learning excellence of
students.
Nomination materials cited several
Northeast State/Eastman collaborations
including the creation of 10 web-based
courses in support of the chemical process operations program, development of
scholarships for students majoring in
advanced manufacturing fields, and
development and construction of the Regional Center for Advanced Manufacturing in partnership with
the Tennessee Department of Economic and
Community Development, Eastman, Domtar,
the Kingsport Chamber
of Commerce, and the
City of Kingsport.
The AACC will announce
five category winners at
the organization’s annual
convention, which is set
April 23 in San Francisco.
RCAM noted in Northeast State’s AACC nomination.
A commitment to serve: Altheria Davis at NSCC
Altheria Davis counts herself as many
things: college student, veteran, wife, mother, and woman with a vision to improve
public health access in the region. She
served her country as an active duty army
medic for three years and active reservist
for three more.
Davis plans to complete her university
parallel associate degree requirements
this summer. She plans to seek a bachelor
degree in public health at East Tennessee
State University. After earning her bachelor degree, she plans to join forces with a
nurse practitioner and establish a mobile
care center to serve the poor and indigent
population of Southwest Virginia.
Community College Report
Persistence makes
for life-long learning
success
Northeast
State alum
Jon Walters
believes in
persistence.
Walters took
his first class
at Northeast
State in 1989,
but didn’t
graduate until
2005.
The long
journey
paid off for
Walters, who
is currently
Jon Walters
employed as
the lead data center engineer for Northrop
Grumman. He deals with all aspects of
daily operations at the company’s main
Enterprise Data Center, from project design and installation to server and network
support.
Ever the life-long learner, Jon is enrolled at
Penn State University, working on a bachelor of science in Information Technology
and a bachelor of science in Security and
Risk Analysis with a concentration in Cyber
Security. He plans to graduate in fall 2014.
“Without Northeast State I would have
no real prospects of advancement and
completely unhappy with my life,” Jon said.
“I owe everything I have in my professional
career to what I learned at Northeast
State.”
Altheria Davis
Spring 2013
Page 15
Produced by the Tennessee Board of Regents Office of Community Community Colleges. The Tennessee Board of Regents does not discriminate on the
basis of race, color, sex, national origin, disability or age in its programs andactivities. The Vice Chancellor for Access & Diversity has been designated to
handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies can be reached at 1415 Murfreesboro Road, Suite 340, Nashville, TN 37217 or 615-366-4483.
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