Recent News

TBR-The College System of Tennessee announces the three faculty members who comprise the inaugural Faculty Innovation Fellowship class, part of the Tennessee Board of Regents’ Maxine Smith Leadership Series.

The Faculty Innovation Fellowship provides a year-long opportunity for faculty members to develop a research-backed student success innovation. Fellows will work with the TBR Office of Policy and Strategy to analyze student outcomes data and develop a pilot project aligned with campus goals.

Members of the Faculty Innovation Fellowship Class of 2026 are:

Students, faculty and staff at Tennessee’s community colleges and colleges of applied technology collected and donated the equivalent of 163,175 food items during TBR-The College System of Tennessee’s 27th Annual Food Drive Challenge.

The donations go to campus food pantries for students in need and to local food banks and programs serving their communities. In addition to food donations, campuses collected cash contributions, which count in the collection totals as two items per dollar raised. This year’s food drive greatly surpassed last year’s total of 110,851 items.

Belmont University and TBR-The College System of Tennessee today announced a new transfer pathway for nursing graduates of Tennessee’s community colleges to advance their education at Belmont’s Inman College of Nursing, including bachelor’s degrees in nursing.

Students earned a record number of diplomas and certificates – 8,309 awards conferred – at the Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology (TCATs) during Academic Year 2024-25, eclipsing the previous record set nearly 15 years ago, according to the annual TCAT student access and success report to the Tennessee Board of Regents Dec. 9.

The Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) will hold its next regular quarterly meeting Dec. 9, 2025, at the TBR system office in Nashville. Agenda highlights include but are not limited to consideration of search criteria for the next presidents of Cleveland State Community College and Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) Oneida/Huntsville, a new degree program in Artificial Intelligence Technology at Southwest Tennessee Community College, and reports on the system foundation’s fundraising, TCAT student access and success trends, and the Tennessee Direct Admissions initiative.

The Foundation for the College System of Tennessee has been an invaluable partner to TBR - The College System of Tennessee—by supporting our students, faculty, and staff across our community colleges and Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology beyond what state funding provides.