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Regents
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1415 Murfreesboro Road, Suite
350
Nashville, TN 37217
Phone (615) 366-4400 Fax (615) 366-4464
Press Release
Northeast Tennessee Regional Academic Node, or NETRAN
Efficiencies that can be created when institutions work together
Contact: Mary Morgan, Tennessee Board of Regents; 615.366.4414
NETRAN
In the summer of 2002, following a legislative mandate that the UT and TBR systems should “study their operations to determine how they can operate more efficiently and with more limited resources,” administrators from Northeast State Technical Community College, the Tennessee Technology Center at Elizabethton, and East Tennessee State University began meeting to discuss and to determine how the three schools could work more cooperatively. Their goals were to serve students better and make more efficient use of state funds. Out of those initial meetings has grown the Northeast Tennessee Regional Academic Node, or NETRAN, an example for the state and perhaps the entire nation of the efficiencies that can be created when institutions work together. Listed below are some of the successes we have realized in just a few short months.
Major Accomplishments in Business Affairs
• Contracts for purchasing of paper have been shortened from 12 months to six, resulting in significant savings already—some $2,400 across NETRAN.
• Dell has recognized NETRAN as a single unit, or consortium, which has to date saved Northeast State some $12,000 in computer purchases. The potential for future savings is enormous.
• Northeast State has donated 40 computers to the Tennessee Technology Center at Elizabethton and now includes TTC as part of its computer recycling plan.
• The ETSU University Press currently prints the catalog for the TTC at an annual cost savings of $1,110.
• Through cooperation, volume buying, and moving to an interruptible supply, natural gas purchasing agreements are saving a considerable amount of money—in the 30-40 percent range. At NSTCC, that equates to some $30,000 annually.
• Northeast State’s hazardous materials handling contract is shared by ETSU.
• ETSU and NSTCC have consolidated metering and monitoring demand contracts for electric rate reductions—achieving an estimated savings of $5,000 per year.
• ETSU’s provision of HVAC maintenance to the TTC has eliminated the school’s costly contract with a private company, resulting in annual savings of $6,062.
Academic Affairs: Major ETSU-Northeast State Partnerships
• Seamless transfer programs are a major theme in ETSU’s Quality Enhancement Plan, developed as part of the university’s reaffirmation of accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
• Forty-eight articulation agreements exist in majors representing 24 ETSU departments. In fall 2001, NSTCC was ETSU’s primary transfer feeder school, with 19% of first-time-at-ETSU transfers coming from Northeast State.
• An average of 23 Academic Performance Scholarships at ETSU are set aside each year for NSTCC students who qualify.
• Northeast State shares office space and computer laboratories and holds a full schedule of classes at ETSU at Kingsport.
• ETSU and NSTCC offer a Weekend College program that is one-of-a-kind in the state. Some 10 classes, enrolling about 100 students, are offered each semester on Friday evening plus Saturday morning and afternoon in Kingsport. Both institutions approve classes and instructors.
• ETSU College Transfer Day is held at Northeast State, where students can have transcripts evaluated and complete the transfer process on the spot.
• The course numbering system between ETSU and NSTCC is now standardized.
Major Accomplishments in Student Affairs
• The Center for Physical Activity at ETSU is available to Northeast State students as guests of the university, and individual participation in public recreational activities is encouraged.
• NSTCC and ETSU allow mutual participation by their students in many activities, including outdoor adventure programs and non-credit classes.
• ETSU campus housing is now available to NSTCC and TTC students.
