Board of Regents approves building project requests, new policies, other action during its quarterly meeting at Northeast State

During its quarterly meeting June 12-13, the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) approved building project proposals for its colleges, five new and revised policies, the proposed budget for the next fiscal year, and other measures.

Meeting at Northeast State Community College, the board heard presentations by Northeast President Jeff McCord and partnering host TCAT Elizabethton President Heath McMillian highlighting activities on their respective campuses focusing on student success.  The board governs Tennessee’s public community colleges and colleges of applied technology.

The board approved its list of new building project requests for state funding, totaling $449 million, and a proposed $80.5 million request for major maintenance projects across the system. The TBR construction and maintenance projects now go to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) for its review along with similar proposals from the state’s public universities.

THEC’s recommendations will then go to the governor’s administration later this year for consideration for inclusion in its overall state budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2026-27, which the state legislature will consider during its 2026 session. Projects will not receive final approval until the legislature approves the state budget next spring.

For Fiscal Year 2026-27, the board focused on projects at the community colleges, after the state approved more than $1.5 billion for projects at the Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology in recent years.

The project proposals approved by the board are:

• Dyersburg State Community College, new Workforce Entrepreneurial Center, $49 million.
• Volunteer State Community College, new Wilson County Higher Education Center, $61 million.
• Columbia State Community College, Warf Building replacement, $64 million.
• Dyersburg State Community College, new Henry County Higher Education Center, $43 million.
• Nashville State Community College, Science and Technology Building replacement, $57 million.
• Cleveland State Community College, Career Education Center replacement and renovations, $92 million.
• Northeast State Community College, Technical Education Complex addition, $18 million.
• Walters State Community College, Technology Building replacement and renovations, $65 million.

The committee and board meetings were live streamed and are archived for viewing on the TBR website at https://www.tbr.edu/board/june-2025-quarterly-board-meeting. Full agendas, an executive summary and board materials which contain more details on each action and report are posted at the same meeting link.

Other action by the board included but was not limited to:

• Approved the final estimated systemwide budget for Fiscal Year 2024-25 of $1,568,560,000, and the proposed budget for FY 2025-26 of $1,498,808,600. The proposed budget is preliminary and does not recognize factors such as enrollment adjustments, grant or revenue contract activity, or final adjustments required by state budget action that may occur during the budget year.
• Approved a new policy addressing Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across the system, and revisions in these existing  TBR policies: Policy 2.03.00.04, Technical College Learning Support; Policy 3.01.01.00, Student Organizations; Policy 1.02.12.00, Requests to Address the Board (shortening the request notice to three days from seven), and Policy 1.07.00.05, General Policy on Alcoholic Beverages (primarily to address a program in distilling at Motlow State Community College). Full details are in the board materials, which may be downloaded at the board meeting link.
• Approved a request from Roane State Community College to name the new building under construction at its Fentress County campus the Ken Yager & Jimmy Johnson Building, in honor of the work of state Senator Ken Yager and Fentress County Executive Jimmy Johnson in securing the college’s first permanent campus in the county.
• Heard a report on Dual Enrollment (DE) programs across the system. Dual enrollment refers to college courses taken by high school students that count for credit at both levels. ​There ​are 38,000 DE students at TBR colleges, an increase of 16 percent over the past year and 139 percent over the past decade.​ The state provides lottery-funded DE grants to students at TCATs in grades 9-12 and at community colleges in grades 11-12. At TCATs, DE grants cover tuition and fees for up to 1,296 clock hours (the equivalent of three trimesters). At community colleges, DE grants fully pay tuition and fees for five courses and partially fund five more.
• Approved 29 new career and technical programs and 30 program modifications at the TCATs, enabling the colleges to be more responsive to the needs of students, businesses and industries.
• Approved 173 faculty members for promotion at the community colleges and 66 faculty members at the TCATs, President Emeriti contracts, the chancellor’s evaluation, and revised compensation plans for three colleges and the TBR system office.
• Received a report on systemwide accreditation activities, including Council of Occupational Education (COE) final approval of the merger of TCATs Henry/Carroll and McKenzie, and of TCAT Crossville’s name change to TCAT Upper Cumberland in anticipation of its merger with TCAT Livingston, and the reaffirmation of accreditation for TCATs  Crump, Dickson, Elizabethton, Harriman, Henry/Carroll, Knoxville, Pulaski, and Shelbyville.​
• Approved resolutions of appreciation for outgoing Board Members Ross Roberts and Cayden Keltgen, and for Walters State Community College President Tony Miksa, who is leaving at the end of the month to assume the presidency of a community college in Kansas after nine years as WSCC’s president.
• Heard a report by TCAT Knoxville President Kelli Chaney and Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs on the college's partnerships with Knox County government and schools to provide more career and technical education opportunities for students across the county.
• Congratulated Southwest Tennessee Community College on its 25th anniversary.
• Received a report on the state’s new multi-agency TN Works initiative, whose primary goals are to: translate the state’s vision and workforce strategy into action and economic development results; serve as a special projects hub for priority industries and key statewide initiatives and engage employers related to those industries; develop and cultivate a compelling brand for TN Works in the market, and coordinate activities of key economic development and workforce development partners to meet the needs of Tennessee businesses and Tennessee people.
• Received a status report on TBR’s Strategic Plan update process, which has been underway for months by a steering committee of board members, campus and system office personnel, partners and stakeholders. The board is expected to consider the update strategic plan at its September meeting.