UT stays at 46

In the U.S. News and World Report College rankings.  UT Martin and UT Chattanooga are in the top 20 regional universities in the South.  From The Knoxville News Sentinel.

No movement: UT stays at No. 46 in magazine's annual rankings

It's always a thrill a minute at TSU

It's never a good thing to be led away in handcuffs from the faculty senate meeting.  From Brian Wilson, writing in The Tennessean.

TSU Faculty Senate leader arrested

Tensions at Tennessee State University reignited Monday as a vocal faculty member opposing university leadership was taken away in handcuffs from a meeting. 

After campus police arrested the chair of the Faculty Senate, Jane Davis, on a charge of disorderly conduct, the Senate voted to remove her from her leadership position — a vote she claims is illegitimate. 

Davis, an English professor, has been an outspoken critic of several policies and decisions made by TSU interim President Portia Shields, who has clashed with some faculty since her arrival in early 2011.

ETSU honors its first African American students

A new fountain will recognize those five pioneers.  From The Johnson City Press.

Fountain to be constructed to honor first five black students at ETSC

When East Tennessee State College was desegregated in the 1950s there was no violence, no protests, no blocking of doors, nothing that made the news like at other Southern colleges and universities where black students were beginning to seek higher education.  

That lack of conflict is likely why there is little record of the enrollment of Eugene Caruthers in ETSC’s graduate school in January 1956, or the enrollments of undergraduates Elizabeth Watkins Crawford, Clarence McKinney, George L. Nichols and Mary Luellen Owens Wagner in August 1958.  

“None of that type of action was exhibited when Dr. Caruthers came and when those other students followed behind him in 1958,” said Angela Radford Lewis, associate dean for ETSU’s College of Education. “It was perfect history but got hid because it was not sensational history. And that’s one of the things that ETSU prides itself on, that, you know, these students were able to enroll without any violence or hostility.”  

There may not have been much of a record at the time, but soon there will be a permanent memorial to those five students. Preston Construction is building a water fountain at the plaza in front of the Charles C. Sherrod Library intended to commemorate the university’s desegregation. ETSC became a university in 1963.  

The fountain is scheduled to be completed in October. 

Beer 101

Men's Health lists the best college beer bars in America.  Knoxville is there, of course, as is Athens, Georgia.

Best College Beer Bars in America | Men's Health

Fort Sanders Yacht Club (Knoxville, TN)

This may not be Knoxville’s oldest or most-revered drinking establishment. But when you offer nearly 100 beers along with 25-cent arcade classics like Street Fighter, Ghost and Goblins, and Tetris, who cares? This place is just fun. Oh, and half those beers are $1 off during happy hour (which lasts from 2 to 9 p.m. every day). All beers are a dollar off on Sundays, and $2 on Tuesdays.

THEC Adult Learner Webinar Series

The Tennessee Higher Education Commission is pleased to announce its Adult Learner Webinar Series, which will engage educators and student services professionals from across Tennessee with innovative steps being taken to improve adult degree attainment and meet the state’s workforce needs. The purpose of these webinars is to help facilitate dialogue about effective ways to serve adult learners. Please join us for this three-part webinar series. Presenters and their topics include:

Roane State’s H2O (Help to Opportunities) Program: Leading Adults in Transition to Success – Monday, July 30th from 10:00 to 11:00 am Central.

Denette Flynn, H20 Project Navigator

Roane State Community College

Dr. Kristi Roberson James, Director of Institutional Effectiveness and Research

Roane State Community College

Trevor Stokes,

WIN Learning

The presenters will discuss Roane State’s H20 Program, which seeks to connect adult learners with opportunities in both higher education and the workforce. The presenters will also lead a discussion about the importance of connecting workforce needs with learning among adult learners.

Please visit the following link to participate: https://stateoftennessee.adobeconnect.com/h20

A Framework for Adult Learning – Tuesday, July 31^st from 9:00 to 10:00 am Central

Dr. Doyle Brinson, Director of the University School and Assistant Professor

East Tennessee State University

The presenter will lead a discussion with webinar participants on connecting instruction and student services focused on addressing the needs of adult learners.

Please visit the following link to participate: https://stateoftennessee.adobeconnect.com/framework/

Addressing Deficiencies in the Use of Technology among Adult Students:  A Foundation for Success – Thursday, August 2nd from 9:30 – 10:30 am Central.

Dr. Michele Wollert, Adult Student Services Counselor

Chattanooga State Community College

Carol Swayze, Director of Experiential Learning

Middle Tennessee State University


The presenters will discuss strategies to improve the technological proficiency of adult learners as a means to support retention and persistence of this student population. 

Please visit the following link to participate: https://stateoftennessee.adobeconnect.com/technology

Instructions for Dialing in to the Webinars 

1) Dial the US/CAN or Int’l Toll number depending upon your location.

•      US/CAN Toll Free: 1-888-757-2790•      Int'l Toll: 1-719-359-9722

2) Enter the participant passcode when prompted:     

Participant Passcode: 159883

Race to the top

Tennessee's percentage of young adults with a college degree stays in the bottom ten, and dropping. From The Tennessean.


TN slips to 41st in young college grads

The percentage of young adults earning a college degree has increased slightly but still remains far below the level needed to reach the president’s goal of having the U.S. rank first worldwide in college graduates.

Tennessee’s percentage of degree holders stayed at about 33 percent from 2009 to 2010, but the state slipped a spot from 40th to 41st because other states added more. 

Data released Thursday by the Education Department tracked adults ages 25 to 34 who held an associate, bachelor’s or graduate degree in 2010 — 39.3 percent of Americans, up half a percentage point from 2009. 

Rising tuition is one of several reasons more young adults aren’t graduating from college.

TSU in the news again

If you work at Tennessee State University, there's never a dull moment.  From The Tennessean.com.

TSU leaders dispute grade changes

More than 100 Tennessee State University students initially marked “incomplete” in two fall courses saw those marks changed to letter grades, but university faculty and leaders disagree on who made those changes and whether they were ethical. 

Several university professors said university administrators made the changes without the instructors’ consent, but university and state officials insist they had approval after clearing up a miscommunication about course requirements. One of the instructors involved said he was disgusted his colleagues would spread lies about the university. 

The issue arose at a faculty senate meeting, said Jane Davis, an English professor and faculty senate president. She contacted the Tennessee Board of Regents and received a letter explaining the grade changes were part of a statewide overhaul of some college courses and were made with the instructors’ permission. 

The school’s provost also sent a letter to faculty Tuesday calling the allegations false and denying that any administrators changed grades. 

Before those explanations, Davis already had taken to a student blog to air her concerns, and other faculty senate members and members the school’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors remain skeptical. If all the professors did not approve of the changes, she said, the university committed a major ethical error.

Tuesday's summit

The Tennessean notes that it excluded any Democrats. But it's good the governor is paying attention.  I hope something can be done to help working adults afford higher education in this high tuition environment.

Haslam summit examines ways to change TN's higher education system

Experts discussed rising college costs and ways to make degrees more valuable in a Tuesday forum at the governor’s mansion, kicking off efforts to revamp Tennessee’s higher education system. 

Three speakers from the academic and nonprofit worlds told Gov. Bill Haslam and other Tennessee officials that the nation is turning out too many college graduates with skills that do not match up to the needs of employers. They also said rising tuition is making it harder for families — especially the poor — to get post-secondary degrees and certificates at the same time employers are demanding them. 

The speakers also suggested a handful of programs that Tennessee might use to raise graduation rates without watering down the value of college degrees. 

“We’re talking about increasing the number of degrees and quality and relevance to the marketplace, but cost is underlying all those discussions,” Haslam said. 

Haslam has said that improving Tennessee’s higher education system will be one of his top priorities in the coming year, and the forum was to start officials toward drafting new plans for the state’s four-year universities, two-year community colleges and technology centers.