College System of Tennessee

Thirteen faculty and staff members from the College System of Tennessee are among the 21 from colleges and universities statewide selected to participate in the 2021-22 Class of the Maxine Smith Fellows program.

The Maxine Smith Fellows program provides professional development, training and advancement opportunities for participants from traditionally underrepresented groups at the College System of Tennessee, governed by the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR), and the state’s locally governed public universities. Members meet monthly for a year, starting this month.

As part of its continuing strategy to reduce the costs of college attendance and increase equity in access and student success, the Tennessee Board of Regents is awarding grants totaling $477,624.00 to 19 faculty-led teams at 11 colleges and universities to create free Open Educational Resources (OER) for their courses.

The 72 faculty members, librarians, instructional designers and other professional staff who comprise the teams will collaborate and innovate within and across campuses to transform their courses with support from the OER Grant Program. 

The Search Advisory Committee leading the search for the next president of Volunteer State Community College has scheduled its first meeting and a public forum on Wednesday, April 28.

The forum is scheduled for 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. CT, with the committee’s meeting immediately following at 9:30 a.m. – both by teleconferencing due to health and safety precautions for the Covid-19 pandemic.

The College System of Tennessee is proud to be a major part of the new Southern Tennessee Higher Education Center in Lawrenceburg, whose opening was celebrated Friday by the Lawrence County community.

The Search Advisory Committee that will lead the search for the next president of Volunteer State Community College has been appointed and will meet April 28, following a public forum on the search process.

Regent MaryLou Apple will chair the 18-member committee, which also includes Regents Joey Hatch and Emily J. Reynolds and representatives of the college’s students, faculty, staff and alumni, and civic and business leaders from the community. The complete list of members is below.

The Tennessee Board of Regents today appointed Willie Huffman as the next president of the Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology at Paris and McKenzie, and approved criteria for the next presidents of Volunteer State Community College and the Tennessee College of Applied Technology at McMinnville.

The College System of Tennessee honored the outstanding students, faculty and staff members, two colleges of the year and the philanthropists, volunteers and partners who support them in the system’s third annual Statewide Outstanding Achievement Recognition (SOAR) Awards ceremony today.

The six individual SOAR Award winners are from Chattanooga State, Southwest Tennessee and Walters State Community Colleges and the Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology at Oneida, Pulaski and Shelbyville.

The Tennessee Board of Regents will hold its next quarterly meeting March 25. The agenda includes consideration of appointment of the next president of the Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology at Paris and McKenzie, proposed criteria for the next presidents of Volunteer State Community College and the Tennessee College of Applied Technology at McMinnville, new program proposals and other items.

Tennessee’s community and technical colleges are celebrating national Open Education Week this week (March 1-5), as part of a statewide collaboration among colleges and universities in lowering textbook costs by expanding the use of freely available, openly-licensed Open Educational Resources (OER).

Dr. Allana Hamilton headed to college more than 35 years ago intending to become a medical doctor. Later, as a graduate teaching assistant in biology, and in summers as a state park naturalist helping visitors learn about the park’s plant and animal life, she discovered a love for teaching and changed her career path to education.