Nov. 17, 2009
Contact: Tom Tozer, 615-898-2919
MTSU BUSINESS PROFESSOR WINS TEACHING AWARD, SBEA LEADERSHIP ROLE
(PHOTO ATTACHED)
MURFREESBORO, TENN—Dr. Sherry Roberts, an MTSU assistant professor of business communication in the Jennings A. Jones College of Business at Middle Tennessee State University, recently was awarded the 2009 Southern Business Education Association Collegiate Teacher of the Year and will serve as SBEA president for the 2010 term.
Roberts has been teaching for 24 years, serving as a full-time college professor for 10 years. She taught at Eastern Kentucky University for eight years and was a visiting instructor last year in EKU’s business college while she completed her doctorate at the University of Louisville. Prior to that, she taught for eight years at Clark-Moores Middle School in Richmond.
She was a nominee for the SBEA Collegiate Teacher of the Year award four other years and said she was excited to finally win.
“It was really kind of disbelief when I first found out,” Roberts said. “It’s almost recognition of the 24 years of effort, 24 years of believing that business education is truly a good profession, a meaningful profession.
“And I do mean a profession, because I don’t see it as a job,” she continued. “A job is something you go to every day whether you care or don’t care, and a profession is what you believe deep down inside in, and I believe in my profession. I believe in being a business educator.”
Roberts said she was one of the first three women to graduate from Central Methodist College in Fayette, Mo., with a degree in business administration. At the time, she said, women usually graduated with a nursing, teaching or secretarial degree.
Roberts said she has always been passionate about business, but after eight years of retail management she turned to what she calls the family business—teaching.
Roberts’s parents are both retired teachers who now work full time supervising student teachers. She also has a brother, a sister and a brother-in-law who teach at the collegiate level.
“I love teaching,” Roberts said. “I’ve always felt like I’m a business person who happens to be a teacher.”
Roberts said that apart from her parents, Mrs. Saunders, a high-school history teacher, influenced her by making learning fun and doing more than just lecturing.
Prior to teaching college students, Roberts taught students from kindergarten to senior citizens. She said she doesn’t know which age or grade she likes to teach the best.
“Each one has its own reward,” Roberts said. “I think you get something different from each one of them.”
She applied for a teaching position at MTSU three times before being accepted. She was persistent, she said, because she wanted to be a part of the accomplished group of people in the Department of Business Communication and Entrepreneurship.
Roberts said it’s been a crazy year. In addition to her winning the SBEA Collegiate Teacher of the Year award and being named the 2010 SBEA president, she co-authored and published her first book, Personal Financial Literacy, which is being used in high schools throughout the country. But Roberts said her greatest accomplishment comes from her students.
“I think the greatest accomplishment you can have is to have one of them become successful,” Roberts said. “I like that the best of anything. I think that’s the best award I could ever get. I would rather have that than anything.”
Roberts is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. John (Jean) Roberts of Richmond.
#
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
[214] Dec. 1 is Deadline for 2010 MTSU Academic Scholarships
Release date: Nov. 25, 2009
News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-5616 or jweiler@mtsu.edu
Dec. 1 Is Deadline for 2010-11 Academic Scholarships at MTSU
(MURFREESBORO) — Prospective MTSU students seeking academic scholarships for 2010-11 must submit all their information by the priority deadline of Tuesday, Dec. 1, said David Hutton, director of the MTSU Office of Financial Aid.
Prospective students should submit an admission application, official ACT or SAT test scores and an official transcript to the admissions office, said Hutton, who added that information mailed with a Dec. 1 postmark will meet the deadline.
Prospective students who apply between Dec. 2 and Feb. 15, 2010, may be considered if funding is available.
Guaranteed academic scholarships and awards include the Chancellor, Presidential, Academic Service, Valedictorian and Salutatorian, and Provost Scholarships. Students who apply for admission by the deadline automatically will be considered for these awards, said Bonnie McCarty, assistant director of scholarships.
Other academic scholarships at MTSU include the Buchanan Fellowship, National Merit, National Achievement, DREAM (Diverse Representation and Educational Access at MTSU) and the new International Baccalaureate Diploma scholarships.
Students may visit the MTSU Web site at www.mtsu.edu/scholarships for information about requirements, application procedures and deadlines for these awards, McCarty added.
Current students can apply online by Dec. 1 for Enrichment and Vision scholarships, said Julie Hughes, financial aid scholarship assistant. They can visit www.mtsu.edu/scholarships to learn more about requirements and application procedures.
Transfer applicants must submit official college transcripts. The scholarship deadline for transfer applicants is Feb. 1, 2010, and more details are available at the scholarship Web site.
Most MTSU Foundation and DREAM scholarships have a Feb. 15 deadline, Hughes said.
The School of Music awards scholarships on a competitive basis to music and nonmusic majors. These will be awarded in 2010 after auditions are held on Friday, Jan. 29, Friday, Feb. 19, and Saturday, Feb. 27, in the Wright Music Building. Students can register for auditions by visiting www.mtsumusic.com online.
Students and their parents or guardians must complete the FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid, to receive federal and other forms of financial aid starting Jan. 1, Hutton said.
For more information, call 615-898-2830 or visit the financial aid Web site at www.mtsu.edu/financialaid.
###
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
For MTSU news and information, go to mtsunews.com.
News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-5616 or jweiler@mtsu.edu
Dec. 1 Is Deadline for 2010-11 Academic Scholarships at MTSU
(MURFREESBORO) — Prospective MTSU students seeking academic scholarships for 2010-11 must submit all their information by the priority deadline of Tuesday, Dec. 1, said David Hutton, director of the MTSU Office of Financial Aid.
Prospective students should submit an admission application, official ACT or SAT test scores and an official transcript to the admissions office, said Hutton, who added that information mailed with a Dec. 1 postmark will meet the deadline.
Prospective students who apply between Dec. 2 and Feb. 15, 2010, may be considered if funding is available.
Guaranteed academic scholarships and awards include the Chancellor, Presidential, Academic Service, Valedictorian and Salutatorian, and Provost Scholarships. Students who apply for admission by the deadline automatically will be considered for these awards, said Bonnie McCarty, assistant director of scholarships.
Other academic scholarships at MTSU include the Buchanan Fellowship, National Merit, National Achievement, DREAM (Diverse Representation and Educational Access at MTSU) and the new International Baccalaureate Diploma scholarships.
Students may visit the MTSU Web site at www.mtsu.edu/scholarships for information about requirements, application procedures and deadlines for these awards, McCarty added.
Current students can apply online by Dec. 1 for Enrichment and Vision scholarships, said Julie Hughes, financial aid scholarship assistant. They can visit www.mtsu.edu/scholarships to learn more about requirements and application procedures.
Transfer applicants must submit official college transcripts. The scholarship deadline for transfer applicants is Feb. 1, 2010, and more details are available at the scholarship Web site.
Most MTSU Foundation and DREAM scholarships have a Feb. 15 deadline, Hughes said.
The School of Music awards scholarships on a competitive basis to music and nonmusic majors. These will be awarded in 2010 after auditions are held on Friday, Jan. 29, Friday, Feb. 19, and Saturday, Feb. 27, in the Wright Music Building. Students can register for auditions by visiting www.mtsumusic.com online.
Students and their parents or guardians must complete the FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid, to receive federal and other forms of financial aid starting Jan. 1, Hutton said.
For more information, call 615-898-2830 or visit the financial aid Web site at www.mtsu.edu/financialaid.
###
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
For MTSU news and information, go to mtsunews.com.
[212] MTSU Approved for Prestigious Confucius Institute
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 25, 2009
EDITORIAL CONTACTS: Dr. Guanping Zheng, associate professor, 615-904-8365
Dr. Diane Miller, interim executive vice president and provost, 615-898-2880
MTSU APPROVED FOR PRESTIGIOUS CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE
University to Host Ceremonial Signing During Visit by Chinese Guests
(MURFREESBORO)—After a highly competitive selection process, Middle Tennessee State University has joined the ranks of a distinguished group of American institutions of higher learning approved to host a Confucius Institute on its campus.
In recognition of this significant achievement, MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee will host a ceremonial signing of the Confucius Institute agreement with representatives from its Chinese partner institution, Hangzhou Normal University in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, on Tuesday, Dec. 1, at 10 a.m. in Room 106 of MTSU’s Peck Hall.
“We are honored to have been selected to host this prestigious institute on our campus,” McPhee said. “MTSU has a strong commitment to international education, and we have been particularly enriched by our connections to the people, culture and universities of China.
“We look forward to strengthening our existing friendships and academic partnerships in China as well as to playing a significant role in the overall growth and development of relations between China and the United States through the Confucius Institute at Middle Tennessee State University.”
Dr. Diane Miller, interim executive vice president and provost, who was instrumental in the development of MTSU’s proposal for the Confucius Institute, will be among those who will join McPhee in greeting the Chinese delegation, which will be on the Murfreesboro campus from Nov. 30 through Dec. 2.
During their three-day visit, HNU officials will have an opportunity to view the site where the institute, also known as CIMTSU, will be housed and further discuss plans for its development and grand opening.
Members of the visiting delegation will include HNU President and Professor Ye Gaoxiang; Yin Qiping, dean of the School of Foreign Language; Tang Shiming, vice director of the International Cooperation and Exchange Division; Yang Xiaohong, a professor in the School of Foreign Language and dean of the Confucius Institute at MTSU (sent by HNU); Chen Zhenhong, vice director of the Planning and Financial Department; and He Lijun, vice dean for the School of Materials and Chemistry.
Dr. Guanping Zheng, associate professor in the Department of Electronic Media Communication in MTSU’s College of Mass Communication, will serve as director of the institute for MTSU. According to its agreement with the Confucius Institute headquarters, MTSU will share management of the institute with HNU. The two universities will work together to formulate and amend policies and regulations for CIMTSU; oversee activities related to teaching, research, scholarship and fundraising; and supervise the general fiscal operations of the institute.
As part of its outlined services, the CIMTSU will:
• develop Chinese language and cultural classes;
• provide Chinese language teaching resources;
• train teachers to teach Chinese as a foreign language;
• offer a Chinese Proficiency Test and certification of Chinese language teachers;
• provide China-related library resources;
• promote research about contemporary China; and
• provide services and consultation to Middle Tennessee and the state on matters related to Chinese culture and language.
Founded in 2004, the Confucius Institute is a nonprofit organization established to strengthen educational cooperation between China and other countries. The aprograms supported by the institute are designed to enhance the understanding of Chinese language and culture, deepen friendly relations between China and other nations and promote the development of multiculturalism and global harmony.
According to the organization’s Web site, as of October 2009, 282 Confucius Institutes and 241 Confucius Classrooms have been established in 87 countries and regions around the world. Only 80 of the Confucius Institutes established worldwide are hosted by institutions in the United States.
MTSU is making plans to host the grand opening of its institute in spring 2010.
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With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, MTSU confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
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IN BRIEF: Middle Tennessee State University has joined the ranks of a distinguished group of American institutions of higher learning approved to host a Confucius Institute on its campus. MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee will host a ceremonial signing of the Confucius Institute agreement with representatives from its Chinese partner institution, Hangzhou Normal University in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, on Tuesday, Dec. 1 at 10 a.m. in Room 106 of MTSU’s Peck Hall.
For MTSU news and information, visit www.mtsunews.com.
—30—
ATTENTION, MEDIA: To arrange for parking to attend the Dec. 2 signing ceremony, please contact Tom Tozer in the Office of News and Public Affairs via e-mail at ttozer@mtsu.edu or by calling 615-898-2919.
Thanks!
EDITORIAL CONTACTS: Dr. Guanping Zheng, associate professor, 615-904-8365
Dr. Diane Miller, interim executive vice president and provost, 615-898-2880
MTSU APPROVED FOR PRESTIGIOUS CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE
University to Host Ceremonial Signing During Visit by Chinese Guests
(MURFREESBORO)—After a highly competitive selection process, Middle Tennessee State University has joined the ranks of a distinguished group of American institutions of higher learning approved to host a Confucius Institute on its campus.
In recognition of this significant achievement, MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee will host a ceremonial signing of the Confucius Institute agreement with representatives from its Chinese partner institution, Hangzhou Normal University in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, on Tuesday, Dec. 1, at 10 a.m. in Room 106 of MTSU’s Peck Hall.
“We are honored to have been selected to host this prestigious institute on our campus,” McPhee said. “MTSU has a strong commitment to international education, and we have been particularly enriched by our connections to the people, culture and universities of China.
“We look forward to strengthening our existing friendships and academic partnerships in China as well as to playing a significant role in the overall growth and development of relations between China and the United States through the Confucius Institute at Middle Tennessee State University.”
Dr. Diane Miller, interim executive vice president and provost, who was instrumental in the development of MTSU’s proposal for the Confucius Institute, will be among those who will join McPhee in greeting the Chinese delegation, which will be on the Murfreesboro campus from Nov. 30 through Dec. 2.
During their three-day visit, HNU officials will have an opportunity to view the site where the institute, also known as CIMTSU, will be housed and further discuss plans for its development and grand opening.
Members of the visiting delegation will include HNU President and Professor Ye Gaoxiang; Yin Qiping, dean of the School of Foreign Language; Tang Shiming, vice director of the International Cooperation and Exchange Division; Yang Xiaohong, a professor in the School of Foreign Language and dean of the Confucius Institute at MTSU (sent by HNU); Chen Zhenhong, vice director of the Planning and Financial Department; and He Lijun, vice dean for the School of Materials and Chemistry.
Dr. Guanping Zheng, associate professor in the Department of Electronic Media Communication in MTSU’s College of Mass Communication, will serve as director of the institute for MTSU. According to its agreement with the Confucius Institute headquarters, MTSU will share management of the institute with HNU. The two universities will work together to formulate and amend policies and regulations for CIMTSU; oversee activities related to teaching, research, scholarship and fundraising; and supervise the general fiscal operations of the institute.
As part of its outlined services, the CIMTSU will:
• develop Chinese language and cultural classes;
• provide Chinese language teaching resources;
• train teachers to teach Chinese as a foreign language;
• offer a Chinese Proficiency Test and certification of Chinese language teachers;
• provide China-related library resources;
• promote research about contemporary China; and
• provide services and consultation to Middle Tennessee and the state on matters related to Chinese culture and language.
Founded in 2004, the Confucius Institute is a nonprofit organization established to strengthen educational cooperation between China and other countries. The aprograms supported by the institute are designed to enhance the understanding of Chinese language and culture, deepen friendly relations between China and other nations and promote the development of multiculturalism and global harmony.
According to the organization’s Web site, as of October 2009, 282 Confucius Institutes and 241 Confucius Classrooms have been established in 87 countries and regions around the world. Only 80 of the Confucius Institutes established worldwide are hosted by institutions in the United States.
MTSU is making plans to host the grand opening of its institute in spring 2010.
---
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, MTSU confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
-------
IN BRIEF: Middle Tennessee State University has joined the ranks of a distinguished group of American institutions of higher learning approved to host a Confucius Institute on its campus. MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee will host a ceremonial signing of the Confucius Institute agreement with representatives from its Chinese partner institution, Hangzhou Normal University in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, on Tuesday, Dec. 1 at 10 a.m. in Room 106 of MTSU’s Peck Hall.
For MTSU news and information, visit www.mtsunews.com.
—30—
ATTENTION, MEDIA: To arrange for parking to attend the Dec. 2 signing ceremony, please contact Tom Tozer in the Office of News and Public Affairs via e-mail at ttozer@mtsu.edu or by calling 615-898-2919.
Thanks!
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
[211] MTSU Will Close for Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend
Release date: Nov. 24, 2009
News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-5616 or jweiler@mtsu.edu
MTSU Will Close for Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend
(MURFREESBORO) — MTSU will be closed Nov. 26-28 for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, university officials announced. No classes will be held and all offices will be closed as students, faculty, staff and administrators celebrate the holiday with families and friends.
All fall semester classes will resume at their scheduled times on Monday, Nov. 30, and offices will be open from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
The James E. Walker Library will close at 10 p.m. Wednesday for the holidays. It will be open from 1 p.m. until midnight Sunday.
On Wednesday, the JUB Raider Zone, McCallie and KUC Grill will be open for their regular operating hours. Cyber Café will close at 10 p.m.
A special Thanksgiving dinner, sponsored by the Parents Association, MT Dining and Housing and Residential Life, will be served in the Scarlett Commons Clubhouse from 2 until 5 p.m. Thursday. All other ARAMARK/MT Dining food venues will be closed that day.
McCallie Dining Room will be open from 11:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday. All other food venues will be closed both days.
Food venues operating on Sunday will include McCallie (11:30 a.m.-6 p.m.) and Cyber Café (6 p.m.-2 a.m.). All others will be closed.
All ARAMARK/MT Dining venues will be open for their regular hours Monday.
Here are operating hours for Keathley University Center and James Union Building: Both will be open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. Wednesday and closed Thursday through Saturday. Only KUC will be open (4 until 11 p.m.) Sunday.
In the event of an emergency on campus, people should call the MTSU Police Department at 615-898-2424.
###
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
For MTSU news and information, go to mtsunews.com.
News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-5616 or jweiler@mtsu.edu
MTSU Will Close for Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend
(MURFREESBORO) — MTSU will be closed Nov. 26-28 for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, university officials announced. No classes will be held and all offices will be closed as students, faculty, staff and administrators celebrate the holiday with families and friends.
All fall semester classes will resume at their scheduled times on Monday, Nov. 30, and offices will be open from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
The James E. Walker Library will close at 10 p.m. Wednesday for the holidays. It will be open from 1 p.m. until midnight Sunday.
On Wednesday, the JUB Raider Zone, McCallie and KUC Grill will be open for their regular operating hours. Cyber Café will close at 10 p.m.
A special Thanksgiving dinner, sponsored by the Parents Association, MT Dining and Housing and Residential Life, will be served in the Scarlett Commons Clubhouse from 2 until 5 p.m. Thursday. All other ARAMARK/MT Dining food venues will be closed that day.
McCallie Dining Room will be open from 11:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday. All other food venues will be closed both days.
Food venues operating on Sunday will include McCallie (11:30 a.m.-6 p.m.) and Cyber Café (6 p.m.-2 a.m.). All others will be closed.
All ARAMARK/MT Dining venues will be open for their regular hours Monday.
Here are operating hours for Keathley University Center and James Union Building: Both will be open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. Wednesday and closed Thursday through Saturday. Only KUC will be open (4 until 11 p.m.) Sunday.
In the event of an emergency on campus, people should call the MTSU Police Department at 615-898-2424.
###
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
For MTSU news and information, go to mtsunews.com.
[210] "MTSU On The Record" Probes Christians', Muslims' Tensions
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 24, 2009
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081; WMOT-FM, 615-898-2800
“MTSU ON THE RECORD” PROBES CHRISTIANS’, MUSLIMS’ TENSIONS
Dr. Ron Messier Finds Respect for Jesus of Nazareth Among Adherents of Both Faiths
(MURFREESBORO) – “Jesus as a Locus for Dialogue Between Muslims and Christians” as explained by Dr. Ron Messier is the topic of the next “MTSU on the Record” at 8 a.m. this Sunday, Nov. 29, with host Gina Logue on WMOT-FM (89.5 and wmot.org).
A professor emeritus of history and former director of the Honors Program at MTSU, Messier is writing a book about how Muslims and Christians can understand each other better through their mutual appreciation of Jesus.
Messier writes, “I have given more than 150 public service presentations in the last six or so years trying to explain Islam to communities starving to know more about the culture and about the mindset of those who attacked us and of those who continue to criticize us.
“I must be quick to say that Muslims really do not hate us. Hate is a very strong word. Many in the Islamic world resent certain policies and practices of our government, and some are critical of some of our modes of behavior. But for the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Muslims in the world, that resentment falls far short of hate.”
--30—
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081; WMOT-FM, 615-898-2800
“MTSU ON THE RECORD” PROBES CHRISTIANS’, MUSLIMS’ TENSIONS
Dr. Ron Messier Finds Respect for Jesus of Nazareth Among Adherents of Both Faiths
(MURFREESBORO) – “Jesus as a Locus for Dialogue Between Muslims and Christians” as explained by Dr. Ron Messier is the topic of the next “MTSU on the Record” at 8 a.m. this Sunday, Nov. 29, with host Gina Logue on WMOT-FM (89.5 and wmot.org).
A professor emeritus of history and former director of the Honors Program at MTSU, Messier is writing a book about how Muslims and Christians can understand each other better through their mutual appreciation of Jesus.
Messier writes, “I have given more than 150 public service presentations in the last six or so years trying to explain Islam to communities starving to know more about the culture and about the mindset of those who attacked us and of those who continue to criticize us.
“I must be quick to say that Muslims really do not hate us. Hate is a very strong word. Many in the Islamic world resent certain policies and practices of our government, and some are critical of some of our modes of behavior. But for the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Muslims in the world, that resentment falls far short of hate.”
--30—
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
[209] Read All About It! Library Celebrates 10 Enlightening Years
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 23, 2009
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081
READ ALL ABOUT IT! LIBRARY CELEBRATES 10 ENLIGHTENING YEARS
More Space, More Services, More Technological Progress for MTSU Students, Faculty
(MURFREESBORO) – The James E. Walker Library, named for the university’s eighth president, opened in 1999 with nearly 645,000 volumes, 3,500 journals and a budget of $269 per student. Today, the library has almost a million books and e-books, nearly 20,000 journals and databases and 350 desktop and laptop computers. The budget is $332 per student.
Advances in student-centered services over the last 10 years include increasing the number of computers, having laptops available for checkout, greater technological access to reference librarians, like instant messaging, texting and emailing a librarian for research help, and the availability of research coaches throughout the year.
“The completion of this building after so many years of waiting, discussing, designing, and constructing gave the university community a much needed boost toward what the university should and could be in the future,” says Don Craig, library dean. “Its beautiful appearance, its spaciousness and its functionality have been welcoming over 800,000 campus users each year with many more generations to come in the future.”
The first library on campus was housed on the third floor of Kirksey Old Main in 1912. It had 75 donated volumes available for checkout. In 1927 a second library opened with 2,000 volumes, located in Murfree Hall on the site where Peck Hall is today.
In 1958, the Todd Library, designed to handle 150,000 volumes, opened, an addition was built in 1970 allowing the Library to hold 225,000 volumes. Eventually, Todd would contain more than 600,000 volumes.
Students may enter a drawing for an iPod and other prizes by explaining their favorite thing about the library. Entry cards are available at desks located throughout the building, or students can e-mail their answers to favorites@ulibnet.mtsu.edu. The deadline is Monday, Nov. 30. The drawing is slated for Tuesday, Dec. 1.
For more information about the James E. Walker Library’s 10th anniversary, contact the library at 615-898-2817 or go to http://library.mtsu.edu.
--30--
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081
READ ALL ABOUT IT! LIBRARY CELEBRATES 10 ENLIGHTENING YEARS
More Space, More Services, More Technological Progress for MTSU Students, Faculty
(MURFREESBORO) – The James E. Walker Library, named for the university’s eighth president, opened in 1999 with nearly 645,000 volumes, 3,500 journals and a budget of $269 per student. Today, the library has almost a million books and e-books, nearly 20,000 journals and databases and 350 desktop and laptop computers. The budget is $332 per student.
Advances in student-centered services over the last 10 years include increasing the number of computers, having laptops available for checkout, greater technological access to reference librarians, like instant messaging, texting and emailing a librarian for research help, and the availability of research coaches throughout the year.
“The completion of this building after so many years of waiting, discussing, designing, and constructing gave the university community a much needed boost toward what the university should and could be in the future,” says Don Craig, library dean. “Its beautiful appearance, its spaciousness and its functionality have been welcoming over 800,000 campus users each year with many more generations to come in the future.”
The first library on campus was housed on the third floor of Kirksey Old Main in 1912. It had 75 donated volumes available for checkout. In 1927 a second library opened with 2,000 volumes, located in Murfree Hall on the site where Peck Hall is today.
In 1958, the Todd Library, designed to handle 150,000 volumes, opened, an addition was built in 1970 allowing the Library to hold 225,000 volumes. Eventually, Todd would contain more than 600,000 volumes.
Students may enter a drawing for an iPod and other prizes by explaining their favorite thing about the library. Entry cards are available at desks located throughout the building, or students can e-mail their answers to favorites@ulibnet.mtsu.edu. The deadline is Monday, Nov. 30. The drawing is slated for Tuesday, Dec. 1.
For more information about the James E. Walker Library’s 10th anniversary, contact the library at 615-898-2817 or go to http://library.mtsu.edu.
--30--
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
[208] Advanced Concert Promotion Class Plans Dec. 2 Show at MTSU
ADVANCED CONCERT PROMOTION CLASS PLANS DEC. 2 SHOW AT MTSU
Fender Competition Winners AutoVaughn Will Headline
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 23, 2009
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina E. Fann, 615-898-5385
(MURFREESBORO)—Advanced Concert Promotion, a hands-on recording industry class in MTSU’s College of Mass Communication, will turn its final class project into a concert as it presents AutoVaughn at the Tennessee Room in the James Union Building on Wednesday, Dec. 2, at 9 p.m.
AutoVaughn, winners of the 2009 Fender Road Worn competition, will follow opening acts Modoc and Thief, who’ll take the stage beginning at 8 p.m.
The Murfreesboro Pulse, a regional entertainment publication, has partnered with the class to present the show. Other sponsors include 615 Music, MTSU Student Programming and Omega Delta Psi professional music industry fraternity. Tickets are $6 for students and $8 for general admission and can be purchased at www.boropulse.com/autovaughn as well as in front of the Keathley University Center on campus through Dec. 2.
“Our students obtained sponsors, negotiated the performance agreement, designed the tickets and ticket distribution system and marketed the event,” said Dr. Rich Barnet, instructor of the class. “The production coordinator is a member of the class and will recruit members of Omega Delta Psi to serve as techs for sound, lights and staging.”
AutoVaughn is a four-piece Nashville indie-rock band that’s been receiving national attention in the past year and is touring in support of its upcoming studio release, “Rise.”
“The Cycles,” the band’s previous EP, was recorded and mixed by Brian Virtue, best known for his work with Jane’s Addiction, Audioslave and Deftones. Griff Morris, Amazon MP3’s senior business developer, dubbed AutoVaughn “the best band at SXSW 2008.”
For more information on AutoVaughn, including photos, contact information and MP3s, visit www.autovaughn.com.
Contact Barnet at rbarnet@mtsu.edu for group discounts on orders of four or more tickets.
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With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, MTSU confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
-------
IN BRIEF: Advanced Concert Promotion, a hands-on recording industry class in MTSU’s College of Mass Communication, will turn its final class project into a concert as it presents AutoVaughn at the Tennessee Room in the James Union Building on Wednesday, Dec. 2, at 9 p.m. AutoVaughn, winners of the 2009 Fender Road Worn competition, will follow opening acts Modoc and Thief, who’ll take the stage beginning at 8 p.m. Tickets are $6 for students and $8 for general admission and can be purchased at www.boropulse.com/autovaughn as well as in front of the Keathley University Center on campus through Dec. 2. Contact Dr. Rich Barnet, the course’s instructor, at rbarnet@mtsu.edu for group discounts on orders of four or more tickets.
For MTSU news and information, visit www.mtsunews.com.
—30—
Fender Competition Winners AutoVaughn Will Headline
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 23, 2009
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina E. Fann, 615-898-5385
(MURFREESBORO)—Advanced Concert Promotion, a hands-on recording industry class in MTSU’s College of Mass Communication, will turn its final class project into a concert as it presents AutoVaughn at the Tennessee Room in the James Union Building on Wednesday, Dec. 2, at 9 p.m.
AutoVaughn, winners of the 2009 Fender Road Worn competition, will follow opening acts Modoc and Thief, who’ll take the stage beginning at 8 p.m.
The Murfreesboro Pulse, a regional entertainment publication, has partnered with the class to present the show. Other sponsors include 615 Music, MTSU Student Programming and Omega Delta Psi professional music industry fraternity. Tickets are $6 for students and $8 for general admission and can be purchased at www.boropulse.com/autovaughn as well as in front of the Keathley University Center on campus through Dec. 2.
“Our students obtained sponsors, negotiated the performance agreement, designed the tickets and ticket distribution system and marketed the event,” said Dr. Rich Barnet, instructor of the class. “The production coordinator is a member of the class and will recruit members of Omega Delta Psi to serve as techs for sound, lights and staging.”
AutoVaughn is a four-piece Nashville indie-rock band that’s been receiving national attention in the past year and is touring in support of its upcoming studio release, “Rise.”
“The Cycles,” the band’s previous EP, was recorded and mixed by Brian Virtue, best known for his work with Jane’s Addiction, Audioslave and Deftones. Griff Morris, Amazon MP3’s senior business developer, dubbed AutoVaughn “the best band at SXSW 2008.”
For more information on AutoVaughn, including photos, contact information and MP3s, visit www.autovaughn.com.
Contact Barnet at rbarnet@mtsu.edu for group discounts on orders of four or more tickets.
-----
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, MTSU confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
-------
IN BRIEF: Advanced Concert Promotion, a hands-on recording industry class in MTSU’s College of Mass Communication, will turn its final class project into a concert as it presents AutoVaughn at the Tennessee Room in the James Union Building on Wednesday, Dec. 2, at 9 p.m. AutoVaughn, winners of the 2009 Fender Road Worn competition, will follow opening acts Modoc and Thief, who’ll take the stage beginning at 8 p.m. Tickets are $6 for students and $8 for general admission and can be purchased at www.boropulse.com/autovaughn as well as in front of the Keathley University Center on campus through Dec. 2. Contact Dr. Rich Barnet, the course’s instructor, at rbarnet@mtsu.edu for group discounts on orders of four or more tickets.
For MTSU news and information, visit www.mtsunews.com.
—30—
[207] Continuing Education Programs at MTSU Earn State Acclaim
CONTINUING EDUCATION PROGRAMS AT MTSU EARN STATE ACCLAIM
Adult Degree Completion, Noncredit Efforts Earn Awards
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 23, 2009
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina E. Fann, 615-898-5385
(MURFREESBORO)—MTSU’s College for Continuing Education and Distance Learning has received two awards from the Tennessee Association for Continuing Higher Education, the statewide organization representing continuing higher education.
The college received the TACHE’s Credit Program Award for its Adult Degree Completion Program, noting its value and impact in facilitating a return to higher education for adult nontraditional students.
“The ADCP is intended to support the governor’s initiative to improve college participation and graduation rates in Tennessee,” said Lance Ikard, ADCP director at MTSU. “Many adults in the state of Tennessee have begun college programs only to postpone them due to changes in life and employment situations.
”The overall objective of the ADCP is to make it easier for all adult students to return or enroll at MTSU, regardless of the degree they seek. ADCP offers a ‘one-stop’ information system that funnels interested individuals to specially trained advisers.”
The college also received the association’s Non-Credit Program Award for outstanding and innovative noncredit programming, specifically for a joint special project by the CEDL and the Regents Online Continuing Education program to train employees of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services and the Tennessee Center for Child Welfare.
“This program was an extremely cost-effective method to supply required professional-development training to thousands of state employees, contractors and related parties,” said David Foster, director of marketing for the college.
“This effort saved the taxpayers of the state of Tennessee a huge amount of money by leveraging the assets and capabilities of several state agencies and provided time-sensitive training to the DCS staff. This methodology can be of benefit to many state agencies, organizations, associations or companies that have employees with training needs in multiple locations.”
To win the awards, each program had to be less than five years old; reflect originality in approach, content and delivery; be marketed toward new audiences or in innovative formats; and be easily replicated at other institutions.
“I feel extremely honored that our college was the recipient of these awards,” said Dr. Mike Boyle, dean of the College for Continuing Education and Distance Learning. “This demonstrates that our ongoing effort to develop creative solutions to current issues is effective and is being recognized by our peers. As we expand our efforts, we anticipate finding more innovative solutions to the education issues confronting Tennessee.”
For more information about the College of Continuing Education and Distance Learning, visit its Web site anytime at www.mtsu.edu/learn or call 615-898-2177.
You also can follow the college on Twitter (www.twitter.com/MTSU anytime) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/MTSUanytime).
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, MTSU confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
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—MORE—
CONTINUING ED AWARDS
ADD 1
IN BRIEF: MTSU’s College for Continuing Education and Distance Learning has received two awards from the Tennessee Association for Continuing Higher Education, the statewide organization representing continuing higher education. The college received the TACHE’s Credit Program Award for its Adult Degree Completion Program, noting its value and impact in facilitating a return to higher education for adult nontraditional students. The college also received the association’s Non-Credit Program Award for outstanding and innovative noncredit programming, specifically for a joint special project by the CEDL and the Regents Online Continuing Education program to train employees of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services and the Tennessee Center for Child Welfare. For more information about the College of Continuing Education and Distance Learning, visit its Web site anytime at www.mtsu.edu/learn or call 615-898-2177. You also can follow the college on Twitter (www.twitter.com/MTSU anytime) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/MTSUanytime).
For MTSU news and information, visit www.mtsunews.com.
—30—
Adult Degree Completion, Noncredit Efforts Earn Awards
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 23, 2009
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina E. Fann, 615-898-5385
(MURFREESBORO)—MTSU’s College for Continuing Education and Distance Learning has received two awards from the Tennessee Association for Continuing Higher Education, the statewide organization representing continuing higher education.
The college received the TACHE’s Credit Program Award for its Adult Degree Completion Program, noting its value and impact in facilitating a return to higher education for adult nontraditional students.
“The ADCP is intended to support the governor’s initiative to improve college participation and graduation rates in Tennessee,” said Lance Ikard, ADCP director at MTSU. “Many adults in the state of Tennessee have begun college programs only to postpone them due to changes in life and employment situations.
”The overall objective of the ADCP is to make it easier for all adult students to return or enroll at MTSU, regardless of the degree they seek. ADCP offers a ‘one-stop’ information system that funnels interested individuals to specially trained advisers.”
The college also received the association’s Non-Credit Program Award for outstanding and innovative noncredit programming, specifically for a joint special project by the CEDL and the Regents Online Continuing Education program to train employees of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services and the Tennessee Center for Child Welfare.
“This program was an extremely cost-effective method to supply required professional-development training to thousands of state employees, contractors and related parties,” said David Foster, director of marketing for the college.
“This effort saved the taxpayers of the state of Tennessee a huge amount of money by leveraging the assets and capabilities of several state agencies and provided time-sensitive training to the DCS staff. This methodology can be of benefit to many state agencies, organizations, associations or companies that have employees with training needs in multiple locations.”
To win the awards, each program had to be less than five years old; reflect originality in approach, content and delivery; be marketed toward new audiences or in innovative formats; and be easily replicated at other institutions.
“I feel extremely honored that our college was the recipient of these awards,” said Dr. Mike Boyle, dean of the College for Continuing Education and Distance Learning. “This demonstrates that our ongoing effort to develop creative solutions to current issues is effective and is being recognized by our peers. As we expand our efforts, we anticipate finding more innovative solutions to the education issues confronting Tennessee.”
For more information about the College of Continuing Education and Distance Learning, visit its Web site anytime at www.mtsu.edu/learn or call 615-898-2177.
You also can follow the college on Twitter (www.twitter.com/MTSU anytime) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/MTSUanytime).
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, MTSU confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
-------
—MORE—
CONTINUING ED AWARDS
ADD 1
IN BRIEF: MTSU’s College for Continuing Education and Distance Learning has received two awards from the Tennessee Association for Continuing Higher Education, the statewide organization representing continuing higher education. The college received the TACHE’s Credit Program Award for its Adult Degree Completion Program, noting its value and impact in facilitating a return to higher education for adult nontraditional students. The college also received the association’s Non-Credit Program Award for outstanding and innovative noncredit programming, specifically for a joint special project by the CEDL and the Regents Online Continuing Education program to train employees of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services and the Tennessee Center for Child Welfare. For more information about the College of Continuing Education and Distance Learning, visit its Web site anytime at www.mtsu.edu/learn or call 615-898-2177. You also can follow the college on Twitter (www.twitter.com/MTSU anytime) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/MTSUanytime).
For MTSU news and information, visit www.mtsunews.com.
—30—
Friday, November 20, 2009
[206] MTSU, AOPA Announce Partnership During Nov. 21 Aerospace Scholarship Awards, Donors Banquet
Release date: Nov. 20, 2009
News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-5616 or jweiler@mtsu.edu
Aerospace contact: Andrea Georgiou, 615-904-8495 or georgiou@mtsu.edu
MTSU, AOPA Announce Partnership During Nov. 21
Aerospace Scholarship Awards, Donors Banquet
(MURFREESBORO) — MTSU’s nationally recognized aerospace program will honor scholarship recipients and donors, and announce a unique partnership with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association during the inaugural Aerospace Scholarship Awards Banquet starting at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21, in the Tom H. Jackson Building’s Cantrell Hall.
“AOPA is the largest pilots’ association in the world,” said Dr. Wayne Dornan, aerospace department chairman. “We are excited about the partnership. Part of the agreement is that they will provide a free membership to all our students while they are in school.”
Bruce Landsberg, executive vice president of AOPA’s Air Safety Foundation, will present the first of what will become an annual $7,500 scholarship award for the program to MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee.
McPhee will talk about the aerospace scholarship program and the new partnership with AOPA.
Also expected to attend from AOPA will be Amit Sircar, vice president of marketing; Marci D’Alessio, marketing coordinator; Patrick Haller, director of marketing; and Bob Minter, the organization’s southeast regional representative and founder and chairman of the Tennessee Aviation Hall of Fame.
Certificates will be presented to 13 of 20 scholarship recipients who were able to attend, event organizer Andrea Georgiou said.
“This will be a recognition for the students who have received scholarships, and an appreciation to the donors for continuing to provide scholarships,” said Georgiou, an assistant professor and flight dispatch coordinator in the department.
Since 2005, approximately 123 scholarships have been awarded to aerospace students, she said.
The event also will recognize financial contributors and potential donors, Georgiou added.
Among the current donors expected to attend will be Raul Regalado, president and CEO of the Metro Nashville Airport Authority; John and Barbara Ellington; Sandra Couch; Donald and Frances McDonald; Bruce Thomas; and Dr. Wallace Maples.
Along with McPhee, other university officials expected to attend will be Joe Bales, vice president for Development and University Relations; John Cothern, senior vice president for the Division of Business and Finance; and Dr. Diane Miller, interim executive vice president and provost in the Office of Academic Affairs.
Other invited guests include John Black, executive director, and Chad Gehrke, manager, at Smyrna and Murfreesboro airports, respectively.
Dr. Wayne Dornan serves as chairman of the aerospace department, which is considered one of the university’s signature programs. There are five majors, more than 750 students and 24 faculty and staff, he said. It is one of 10 programs in the College of Basic and Applied Sciences.
Major concentrations include aerospace administration, technology, flight dispatch and scheduling, maintenance management and professional pilot. The department also offers an air traffic control/collegiate training initiative program for students.
###
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
For MTSU news and information, go to mtsunews.com.
Media welcomed.
News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-5616 or jweiler@mtsu.edu
Aerospace contact: Andrea Georgiou, 615-904-8495 or georgiou@mtsu.edu
MTSU, AOPA Announce Partnership During Nov. 21
Aerospace Scholarship Awards, Donors Banquet
(MURFREESBORO) — MTSU’s nationally recognized aerospace program will honor scholarship recipients and donors, and announce a unique partnership with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association during the inaugural Aerospace Scholarship Awards Banquet starting at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21, in the Tom H. Jackson Building’s Cantrell Hall.
“AOPA is the largest pilots’ association in the world,” said Dr. Wayne Dornan, aerospace department chairman. “We are excited about the partnership. Part of the agreement is that they will provide a free membership to all our students while they are in school.”
Bruce Landsberg, executive vice president of AOPA’s Air Safety Foundation, will present the first of what will become an annual $7,500 scholarship award for the program to MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee.
McPhee will talk about the aerospace scholarship program and the new partnership with AOPA.
Also expected to attend from AOPA will be Amit Sircar, vice president of marketing; Marci D’Alessio, marketing coordinator; Patrick Haller, director of marketing; and Bob Minter, the organization’s southeast regional representative and founder and chairman of the Tennessee Aviation Hall of Fame.
Certificates will be presented to 13 of 20 scholarship recipients who were able to attend, event organizer Andrea Georgiou said.
“This will be a recognition for the students who have received scholarships, and an appreciation to the donors for continuing to provide scholarships,” said Georgiou, an assistant professor and flight dispatch coordinator in the department.
Since 2005, approximately 123 scholarships have been awarded to aerospace students, she said.
The event also will recognize financial contributors and potential donors, Georgiou added.
Among the current donors expected to attend will be Raul Regalado, president and CEO of the Metro Nashville Airport Authority; John and Barbara Ellington; Sandra Couch; Donald and Frances McDonald; Bruce Thomas; and Dr. Wallace Maples.
Along with McPhee, other university officials expected to attend will be Joe Bales, vice president for Development and University Relations; John Cothern, senior vice president for the Division of Business and Finance; and Dr. Diane Miller, interim executive vice president and provost in the Office of Academic Affairs.
Other invited guests include John Black, executive director, and Chad Gehrke, manager, at Smyrna and Murfreesboro airports, respectively.
Dr. Wayne Dornan serves as chairman of the aerospace department, which is considered one of the university’s signature programs. There are five majors, more than 750 students and 24 faculty and staff, he said. It is one of 10 programs in the College of Basic and Applied Sciences.
Major concentrations include aerospace administration, technology, flight dispatch and scheduling, maintenance management and professional pilot. The department also offers an air traffic control/collegiate training initiative program for students.
###
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
For MTSU news and information, go to mtsunews.com.
Media welcomed.
[205] Sullivan County Farm Joins State's Century Farms Program
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 20, 2009
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947
SULLIVAN COUNTY FARM JOINS STATE’S CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM
Houston Farm Becomes County’s Newest Tennessee Century Farm
(MURFREESBORO)—The Houston Farm in Sullivan County has been designated as a Tennessee Century Farm, reports Caneta S. Hankins, director of the Century Farms program at the Center for Historic Preservation, which is located on the MTSU campus.
Near the historic Piney Flats community, Charles D. Deakins purchased a farm of 206 acres in 1903. He and his wife, Mary Isabelle Cole, had seven children and the family raised sheep, dairy cattle, horses, pigs, chickens, corn, wheat and hay, along with peach, pea, and apple orchards. The Deakins’ operation also included a cider business, blacksmith, gunsmith and cobbler’s shop. Roads led from the farm to the Holston River and to the Piney Flats and Bluff City communities.
After the death of Charles D. Deakins in 1918, daughter Virginia Pet Houston and her husband, James William Houston, acquired most of her parents’ farm. Through buying out her siblings’ shares, the Houstons obtained 160 acres of the original 206. They and their three children, Charles Wayne, Mary Frances and Frank Helms, raised dairy cattle, horses, mules, bees, wheat, corn, hay, chickens, pigs, tobacco, fruit orchards and kitchen gardens.
According to the family’s reports, Mary Frances was quite active in her school athletics program and was on the state championship basketball team in 1938 at Mary Hughes High School. Charles was a magistrate of the county court and served on the state election committee for 20 years, including logging time as president of the committee.
Mary Frances and her husband, Audra Malone, became the third generation to continue family ownership of the farm. They acquired 143 acres of the farm in 1983 and raised dairy cows, Black Angus cattle, corn, wheat, hay, tobacco, orchards, pigs and kitchen gardens. The Malones, as well as the Houstons before them, were members of the Farm Bureau and were involved in the Home Demonstration Club and 4-H Club either as leaders or members.
In 2008, the current owners, John N. and Patsy Starnes, acquired the land that is now called Houston Farm. Patsy is the great-granddaughter of the founder through her mother’s side of the family. At age 93 her mother, Frieda Houston, is the widow of Charles Wayne Houston, the grandson of the founder. John and Patsy, along with Frieda, live on the land that has been in the family since early in the 20th century.
A brick home, built in 1903, and other buildings, including a tool shed, smokehouse, granary, corncrib and barn remain on the property. Patsy Starnes said she remembers many stories from her grandmother, Virginia Pet Houston, including the one about her father, Charles D. Deakins, saving his money in several boxes to pay for the two-story brick house.
—more—
HOUSTON
Add 1
About the Century Farms Program
The Century Farm Program recognizes the contributions of Tennessee residents who have continuously owned, and kept in production, family land for at least 100 years. Since 1984, the CHP at MTSU has been a leader in the important work of documenting Tennessee’s agricultural heritage and history through the Tennessee Century Farm Program, and continues to administer this program.
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture began the Tennessee Century Farm Program in 1976 as part of the nation’s bicentennial. Today, the TDA provides a metal outdoor sign, noting either 100, 150 or 200 years of “continuous agricultural production” to Century Farm families.
To be considered for eligibility, a farm must be owned by the same family for at least 100 years; must produce $1,000 revenue annually; must have at least 10 acres of the original farm; and one owner must be a resident of Tennessee.
“The Century Farmers represent all the farm families of Tennessee,” Hankins said, “and their contributions to the economy, and to the social, cultural and agrarian vitality of the state, both past and present, is immeasurable. Each farm is a Tennessee treasure.”
For more information about the Century Farms Program, please visit its Web site at http://histpres.mtsu.edu/histpres. The Center for Historic Preservation also may be contacted via mail at Box 80, MTSU, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 37132, or by telephone at 615-898-2947.
—30—
• ATTENTION, MEDIA: To interview the farm’s owners or request jpegs of the farm, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947
SULLIVAN COUNTY FARM JOINS STATE’S CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM
Houston Farm Becomes County’s Newest Tennessee Century Farm
(MURFREESBORO)—The Houston Farm in Sullivan County has been designated as a Tennessee Century Farm, reports Caneta S. Hankins, director of the Century Farms program at the Center for Historic Preservation, which is located on the MTSU campus.
Near the historic Piney Flats community, Charles D. Deakins purchased a farm of 206 acres in 1903. He and his wife, Mary Isabelle Cole, had seven children and the family raised sheep, dairy cattle, horses, pigs, chickens, corn, wheat and hay, along with peach, pea, and apple orchards. The Deakins’ operation also included a cider business, blacksmith, gunsmith and cobbler’s shop. Roads led from the farm to the Holston River and to the Piney Flats and Bluff City communities.
After the death of Charles D. Deakins in 1918, daughter Virginia Pet Houston and her husband, James William Houston, acquired most of her parents’ farm. Through buying out her siblings’ shares, the Houstons obtained 160 acres of the original 206. They and their three children, Charles Wayne, Mary Frances and Frank Helms, raised dairy cattle, horses, mules, bees, wheat, corn, hay, chickens, pigs, tobacco, fruit orchards and kitchen gardens.
According to the family’s reports, Mary Frances was quite active in her school athletics program and was on the state championship basketball team in 1938 at Mary Hughes High School. Charles was a magistrate of the county court and served on the state election committee for 20 years, including logging time as president of the committee.
Mary Frances and her husband, Audra Malone, became the third generation to continue family ownership of the farm. They acquired 143 acres of the farm in 1983 and raised dairy cows, Black Angus cattle, corn, wheat, hay, tobacco, orchards, pigs and kitchen gardens. The Malones, as well as the Houstons before them, were members of the Farm Bureau and were involved in the Home Demonstration Club and 4-H Club either as leaders or members.
In 2008, the current owners, John N. and Patsy Starnes, acquired the land that is now called Houston Farm. Patsy is the great-granddaughter of the founder through her mother’s side of the family. At age 93 her mother, Frieda Houston, is the widow of Charles Wayne Houston, the grandson of the founder. John and Patsy, along with Frieda, live on the land that has been in the family since early in the 20th century.
A brick home, built in 1903, and other buildings, including a tool shed, smokehouse, granary, corncrib and barn remain on the property. Patsy Starnes said she remembers many stories from her grandmother, Virginia Pet Houston, including the one about her father, Charles D. Deakins, saving his money in several boxes to pay for the two-story brick house.
—more—
HOUSTON
Add 1
About the Century Farms Program
The Century Farm Program recognizes the contributions of Tennessee residents who have continuously owned, and kept in production, family land for at least 100 years. Since 1984, the CHP at MTSU has been a leader in the important work of documenting Tennessee’s agricultural heritage and history through the Tennessee Century Farm Program, and continues to administer this program.
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture began the Tennessee Century Farm Program in 1976 as part of the nation’s bicentennial. Today, the TDA provides a metal outdoor sign, noting either 100, 150 or 200 years of “continuous agricultural production” to Century Farm families.
To be considered for eligibility, a farm must be owned by the same family for at least 100 years; must produce $1,000 revenue annually; must have at least 10 acres of the original farm; and one owner must be a resident of Tennessee.
“The Century Farmers represent all the farm families of Tennessee,” Hankins said, “and their contributions to the economy, and to the social, cultural and agrarian vitality of the state, both past and present, is immeasurable. Each farm is a Tennessee treasure.”
For more information about the Century Farms Program, please visit its Web site at http://histpres.mtsu.edu/histpres. The Center for Historic Preservation also may be contacted via mail at Box 80, MTSU, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 37132, or by telephone at 615-898-2947.
—30—
• ATTENTION, MEDIA: To interview the farm’s owners or request jpegs of the farm, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
[204] Lauderdale County Farm Joins State's Century Farms Program
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 20, 2009
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947
LAUDERDALE COUNTY FARM JOINS STATE’S CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM
Pecan Hill Farm Becomes County’s Newest Tennessee Century Farm
(MURFREESBORO)—The Pecan Hill Farm in Lauderdale County has been designated as a Tennessee Century Farm, reports Caneta S. Hankins, director of the Century Farms program at the Center for Historic Preservation, which is located on the MTSU campus.
Nancy Price and son James Y. Price came to Tennessee from Alabama in the 1870s. James purchased his first acreage in 1892, and then in 1901, he bought the land now known as Pecan Hill Farm. Together, the properties totaled around 170 acres. He and his wife, Martha Ballard Price, had four children, Walter Y., Emma, Jimmie, and Eugene. They raised cotton, corn, hay, cattle, hogs and poultry.
When James died in 1936, his will was contested because he had excluded some of his children. In 1937, the land was divided among all the children. While his siblings sold their shares, Eugene kept his 50 acres and also bought back other tracts of the farm until he held 78 acres of the original farm. He and his wife, Ollie Stanley Price, had two children, Thomas Leo and Floyd A.
Thomas and his wife, Monese Oline Ellington Price, were the next generation to own the farm and, together with their children, Jimmy R. and Verlinda Gayle, they raised cotton, corn, hay, soybeans, cattle and chickens.
In 1993, the farm was transferred to Jimmy R. Price, the great-grandson of the founding couple. James and his wife, Sheila Dover Price and daughter Megan Suzanne, live on the family farm and raise cotton, corn, hay, soybeans, sunflowers, and cattle. The farmhouse, with a date of August 1888 written in the mortar of the cellar, still stands today.
About the Century Farms Program
The Century Farm Program recognizes the contributions of Tennessee residents who have continuously owned, and kept in production, family land for at least 100 years. Since 1984, the CHP at MTSU has been a leader in the important work of documenting Tennessee’s agricultural heritage and history through the Tennessee Century Farm Program, and continues to administer this program.
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture began the Tennessee Century Farm Program in 1976 as part of the nation’s bicentennial. Today, the TDA provides a metal outdoor sign, noting either 100, 150 or 200 years of “continuous agricultural production” to Century Farm families.
To be considered for eligibility, a farm must be owned by the same family for at least 100 years; must produce $1,000 revenue annually; must have at least 10 acres of the original farm; and one owner must be a resident of Tennessee.
—more—
PECANHILL
Add 1
“The Century Farmers represent all the farm families of Tennessee,” Hankins said, “and their contributions to the economy, and to the social, cultural and agrarian vitality of the state, both past and present, is immeasurable. Each farm is a Tennessee treasure.”
For more information about the Century Farms Program, please visit its Web site at http://histpres.mtsu.edu/histpres. The Center for Historic Preservation also may be contacted via mail at Box 80, MTSU, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 37132, or by telephone at 615-898-2947.
—30—
• ATTENTION, MEDIA: To interview the farm’s owners or request a jpeg of the official Century Farm sign that is given to farm owners, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947
LAUDERDALE COUNTY FARM JOINS STATE’S CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM
Pecan Hill Farm Becomes County’s Newest Tennessee Century Farm
(MURFREESBORO)—The Pecan Hill Farm in Lauderdale County has been designated as a Tennessee Century Farm, reports Caneta S. Hankins, director of the Century Farms program at the Center for Historic Preservation, which is located on the MTSU campus.
Nancy Price and son James Y. Price came to Tennessee from Alabama in the 1870s. James purchased his first acreage in 1892, and then in 1901, he bought the land now known as Pecan Hill Farm. Together, the properties totaled around 170 acres. He and his wife, Martha Ballard Price, had four children, Walter Y., Emma, Jimmie, and Eugene. They raised cotton, corn, hay, cattle, hogs and poultry.
When James died in 1936, his will was contested because he had excluded some of his children. In 1937, the land was divided among all the children. While his siblings sold their shares, Eugene kept his 50 acres and also bought back other tracts of the farm until he held 78 acres of the original farm. He and his wife, Ollie Stanley Price, had two children, Thomas Leo and Floyd A.
Thomas and his wife, Monese Oline Ellington Price, were the next generation to own the farm and, together with their children, Jimmy R. and Verlinda Gayle, they raised cotton, corn, hay, soybeans, cattle and chickens.
In 1993, the farm was transferred to Jimmy R. Price, the great-grandson of the founding couple. James and his wife, Sheila Dover Price and daughter Megan Suzanne, live on the family farm and raise cotton, corn, hay, soybeans, sunflowers, and cattle. The farmhouse, with a date of August 1888 written in the mortar of the cellar, still stands today.
About the Century Farms Program
The Century Farm Program recognizes the contributions of Tennessee residents who have continuously owned, and kept in production, family land for at least 100 years. Since 1984, the CHP at MTSU has been a leader in the important work of documenting Tennessee’s agricultural heritage and history through the Tennessee Century Farm Program, and continues to administer this program.
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture began the Tennessee Century Farm Program in 1976 as part of the nation’s bicentennial. Today, the TDA provides a metal outdoor sign, noting either 100, 150 or 200 years of “continuous agricultural production” to Century Farm families.
To be considered for eligibility, a farm must be owned by the same family for at least 100 years; must produce $1,000 revenue annually; must have at least 10 acres of the original farm; and one owner must be a resident of Tennessee.
—more—
PECANHILL
Add 1
“The Century Farmers represent all the farm families of Tennessee,” Hankins said, “and their contributions to the economy, and to the social, cultural and agrarian vitality of the state, both past and present, is immeasurable. Each farm is a Tennessee treasure.”
For more information about the Century Farms Program, please visit its Web site at http://histpres.mtsu.edu/histpres. The Center for Historic Preservation also may be contacted via mail at Box 80, MTSU, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 37132, or by telephone at 615-898-2947.
—30—
• ATTENTION, MEDIA: To interview the farm’s owners or request a jpeg of the official Century Farm sign that is given to farm owners, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
[203] Cocke County Farm Joins State's Century Farms Program
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 20, 2009
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947
COCKE COUNTY FARM JOINS STATE’S CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM
Leibrock Farm Becomes County’s 8th Tennessee Century Farm
(MURFREESBORO)—The Leibrock Farm in Cocke County has been designated as a Tennessee Century Farm, reports Caneta S. Hankins, director of the Century Farms program at the Center for Historic Preservation, which is located on the MTSU campus.
In January1886, William McMahan founded a 120-acre farm southeast of Newport, Tenn. He and his wife, Lydia, and their four children—Zora, Oscar, Richard David and Andrew—raised cattle, hay, tobacco, corn and many other crops on what was a largely self-sufficient farmstead.
In 1912, the farm, which had expanded to about 200 acres by this time, passed to the founding couple’s son, Oscar McMahan. After his death, the farm passed to his sister Zora and her husband, Frank Leibrock.
Following her Zora’s death, the farm became the property of the children of Zora and Frank. These heirs, Edward, Mack, Carolyn and Wilma, conveyed the family farm to William McMahan Leibrock, son of Edward, in 1980. William is the great-grandson of William and Lydia McMahan.
Today, William Leibrock, wife Charlotte and their daughter, Charlotte Ann, live on the farm. Several buildings on the farm date to the 19th and early 20th centuries. William reported that three of these are built of hewn logs and have their original cedar shingles. Each has been changed over time by the generations who have lived on the family farm, he noted.
“The Leibrock Farm is the eighth certified Century Farm in Cocke County,” Hankins confirmed.
About the Century Farms Program
The Century Farm Program recognizes the contributions of Tennessee residents who have continuously owned, and kept in production, family land for at least 100 years. Since 1984, the CHP at MTSU has been a leader in the important work of documenting Tennessee’s agricultural heritage and history through the Tennessee Century Farm Program, and continues to administer this program.
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture began the Tennessee Century Farm Program in 1976 as part of the nation’s bicentennial. Today, the TDA provides a metal outdoor sign, noting either 100, 150 or 200 years of “continuous agricultural production” to Century Farm families.
To be considered for eligibility, a farm must be owned by the same family for at least 100 years; must produce $1,000 revenue annually; must have at least 10 acres of the original farm; and one owner must be a resident of Tennessee.
—more—
LEIBROCK
Add 1
“The Century Farmers represent all the farm families of Tennessee,” Hankins said, “and their contributions to the economy, and to the social, cultural and agrarian vitality of the state, both past and present, is immeasurable. Each farm is a Tennessee treasure.”
For more information about the Century Farms Program, please visit its Web site at http://histpres.mtsu.edu/histpres. The Center for Historic Preservation also may be contacted via mail at Box 80, MTSU, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 37132, or by telephone at 615-898-2947.
—30—
• ATTENTION, MEDIA: To interview the farm’s owners or request jpegs of the farm for editorial use, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947
COCKE COUNTY FARM JOINS STATE’S CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM
Leibrock Farm Becomes County’s 8th Tennessee Century Farm
(MURFREESBORO)—The Leibrock Farm in Cocke County has been designated as a Tennessee Century Farm, reports Caneta S. Hankins, director of the Century Farms program at the Center for Historic Preservation, which is located on the MTSU campus.
In January1886, William McMahan founded a 120-acre farm southeast of Newport, Tenn. He and his wife, Lydia, and their four children—Zora, Oscar, Richard David and Andrew—raised cattle, hay, tobacco, corn and many other crops on what was a largely self-sufficient farmstead.
In 1912, the farm, which had expanded to about 200 acres by this time, passed to the founding couple’s son, Oscar McMahan. After his death, the farm passed to his sister Zora and her husband, Frank Leibrock.
Following her Zora’s death, the farm became the property of the children of Zora and Frank. These heirs, Edward, Mack, Carolyn and Wilma, conveyed the family farm to William McMahan Leibrock, son of Edward, in 1980. William is the great-grandson of William and Lydia McMahan.
Today, William Leibrock, wife Charlotte and their daughter, Charlotte Ann, live on the farm. Several buildings on the farm date to the 19th and early 20th centuries. William reported that three of these are built of hewn logs and have their original cedar shingles. Each has been changed over time by the generations who have lived on the family farm, he noted.
“The Leibrock Farm is the eighth certified Century Farm in Cocke County,” Hankins confirmed.
About the Century Farms Program
The Century Farm Program recognizes the contributions of Tennessee residents who have continuously owned, and kept in production, family land for at least 100 years. Since 1984, the CHP at MTSU has been a leader in the important work of documenting Tennessee’s agricultural heritage and history through the Tennessee Century Farm Program, and continues to administer this program.
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture began the Tennessee Century Farm Program in 1976 as part of the nation’s bicentennial. Today, the TDA provides a metal outdoor sign, noting either 100, 150 or 200 years of “continuous agricultural production” to Century Farm families.
To be considered for eligibility, a farm must be owned by the same family for at least 100 years; must produce $1,000 revenue annually; must have at least 10 acres of the original farm; and one owner must be a resident of Tennessee.
—more—
LEIBROCK
Add 1
“The Century Farmers represent all the farm families of Tennessee,” Hankins said, “and their contributions to the economy, and to the social, cultural and agrarian vitality of the state, both past and present, is immeasurable. Each farm is a Tennessee treasure.”
For more information about the Century Farms Program, please visit its Web site at http://histpres.mtsu.edu/histpres. The Center for Historic Preservation also may be contacted via mail at Box 80, MTSU, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 37132, or by telephone at 615-898-2947.
—30—
• ATTENTION, MEDIA: To interview the farm’s owners or request jpegs of the farm for editorial use, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
[202] Gibson County Farm Joins State's Century Farms Program
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 20, 2009
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947
GIBSON COUNTY FARM JOINS STATE’S CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM
100-Year-Old Kings Chapel Farm Becomes County’s Newest Century Farm
(MURFREESBORO)—The Kings Chapel Farm in Gibson County has been designated as a Tennessee Century Farm, reports Caneta S. Hankins, director of the Century Farms program at the Center for Historic Preservation, which is located on the MTSU campus.
In September 1909, William James King purchased about 100 acres of land in Gibson County. He and his wife, Molly Elizabeth Taylor King, had 10 children. The family grew cotton, corn and beans and raised cattle, mules, chickens and pigs.
In 1922, William deeded the land to his wife though he lived until 1929. Molly died in 1954 at the age of 93. During her ownership, she established the Taylor family cemetery on the property, where her parents are buried along with other members of the family. Also in the 1920s, Kings Chapel School was built on the property. In 1947, the community school, which served grades one through eight, was closed.
In 1942, William and David Bailey King, along with David’ wife, Ozell, were the next generation to acquire the land. David and Ozell had 11 children and the family continued to raise many of the same crops David’s parents had grown on the farm. In 1953, the land passed to the current owner, Emerson T. King, who is the grandson of the founder, William James King.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Emerson had a small herd of Jersey cattle and sold to Pet Milk. He and his daughter, Margaret King Valentine, and son-in-law, Albert Valentine, live on 57 acres of the original land, with Emerson owning an addition 30 acres and Albert and Margaret another additional 30 acres.
Today, Emerson and Albert work the land, where they raise beef cattle and hay. Active in agricultural organizations, the family reported that Alene King was chairwoman of the Gibson County Women’s Farm Bureau for a number of years and Emerson King has served as one of the directors of Gibson County Farm Bureau for several years.
About the Century Farms Program
The Century Farm Program recognizes the contributions of Tennessee residents who have continuously owned, and kept in production, family land for at least 100 years. Since 1984, the CHP at MTSU has been a leader in the important work of documenting Tennessee’s agricultural heritage and history through the Tennessee Century Farm Program, and continues to administer this program.
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture began the Tennessee Century Farm Program in 1976 as part of the nation’s bicentennial. Today, the TDA provides a metal outdoor sign, noting either 100, 150 or 200 years of “continuous agricultural production” to Century Farm families.
—more—
KINGS
Add 1
To be considered for eligibility, a farm must be owned by the same family for at least 100 years; must produce $1,000 revenue annually; must have at least 10 acres of the original farm; and one owner must be a resident of Tennessee.
“The Century Farmers represent all the farm families of Tennessee,” Hankins said, “and their contributions to the economy, and to the social, cultural and agrarian vitality of the state, both past and present, is immeasurable. Each farm is a Tennessee treasure.”
For more information about the Century Farms Program, please visit its Web site at http://histpres.mtsu.edu/histpres. The Center for Historic Preservation also may be contacted via mail at Box 80, MTSU, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 37132, or by telephone at 615-898-2947.
—30—
• ATTENTION, MEDIA: To interview the farm’s owners or request jpegs of the farm for editorial use, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947
GIBSON COUNTY FARM JOINS STATE’S CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM
100-Year-Old Kings Chapel Farm Becomes County’s Newest Century Farm
(MURFREESBORO)—The Kings Chapel Farm in Gibson County has been designated as a Tennessee Century Farm, reports Caneta S. Hankins, director of the Century Farms program at the Center for Historic Preservation, which is located on the MTSU campus.
In September 1909, William James King purchased about 100 acres of land in Gibson County. He and his wife, Molly Elizabeth Taylor King, had 10 children. The family grew cotton, corn and beans and raised cattle, mules, chickens and pigs.
In 1922, William deeded the land to his wife though he lived until 1929. Molly died in 1954 at the age of 93. During her ownership, she established the Taylor family cemetery on the property, where her parents are buried along with other members of the family. Also in the 1920s, Kings Chapel School was built on the property. In 1947, the community school, which served grades one through eight, was closed.
In 1942, William and David Bailey King, along with David’ wife, Ozell, were the next generation to acquire the land. David and Ozell had 11 children and the family continued to raise many of the same crops David’s parents had grown on the farm. In 1953, the land passed to the current owner, Emerson T. King, who is the grandson of the founder, William James King.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Emerson had a small herd of Jersey cattle and sold to Pet Milk. He and his daughter, Margaret King Valentine, and son-in-law, Albert Valentine, live on 57 acres of the original land, with Emerson owning an addition 30 acres and Albert and Margaret another additional 30 acres.
Today, Emerson and Albert work the land, where they raise beef cattle and hay. Active in agricultural organizations, the family reported that Alene King was chairwoman of the Gibson County Women’s Farm Bureau for a number of years and Emerson King has served as one of the directors of Gibson County Farm Bureau for several years.
About the Century Farms Program
The Century Farm Program recognizes the contributions of Tennessee residents who have continuously owned, and kept in production, family land for at least 100 years. Since 1984, the CHP at MTSU has been a leader in the important work of documenting Tennessee’s agricultural heritage and history through the Tennessee Century Farm Program, and continues to administer this program.
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture began the Tennessee Century Farm Program in 1976 as part of the nation’s bicentennial. Today, the TDA provides a metal outdoor sign, noting either 100, 150 or 200 years of “continuous agricultural production” to Century Farm families.
—more—
KINGS
Add 1
To be considered for eligibility, a farm must be owned by the same family for at least 100 years; must produce $1,000 revenue annually; must have at least 10 acres of the original farm; and one owner must be a resident of Tennessee.
“The Century Farmers represent all the farm families of Tennessee,” Hankins said, “and their contributions to the economy, and to the social, cultural and agrarian vitality of the state, both past and present, is immeasurable. Each farm is a Tennessee treasure.”
For more information about the Century Farms Program, please visit its Web site at http://histpres.mtsu.edu/histpres. The Center for Historic Preservation also may be contacted via mail at Box 80, MTSU, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 37132, or by telephone at 615-898-2947.
—30—
• ATTENTION, MEDIA: To interview the farm’s owners or request jpegs of the farm for editorial use, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
[201] Cooking, Eating On The Menu On "MTSU On The Record"
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 20, 2009
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081; WMOT-FM, 615-898-2800
COOKING, EATING ON THE MENU ON “MTSU ON THE RECORD”
New York Times Expert Mark Bittman Talks Turkey in Time for Thanksgiving
(MURFREESBORO) – Mark Bittman, food and cooking columnist for The New York Times, will talk about healthy eating just in time for Thanksgiving this Sunday, Nov. 22, at 8 a.m. on “MTSU on the Record” with host Gina Logue on WMOT-FM (89.5 and wmot.org).
The author of six books, including How to Cook Everything and Food Matters, Bittman was a guest speaker at the 2009 Tennessee Undergraduate Social Science Symposium Nov. 10. He encourages the consumption of more greens and grains and fewer industrially processed animal foodstuffs.
To hear last week’s program on research into the impact of public health policy on Southern attitudes toward death, go to http://frank.mtsu.edu/~proffice/podcast2009.html and click on “November 15, 2009.” For more information, contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.
--30—
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081; WMOT-FM, 615-898-2800
COOKING, EATING ON THE MENU ON “MTSU ON THE RECORD”
New York Times Expert Mark Bittman Talks Turkey in Time for Thanksgiving
(MURFREESBORO) – Mark Bittman, food and cooking columnist for The New York Times, will talk about healthy eating just in time for Thanksgiving this Sunday, Nov. 22, at 8 a.m. on “MTSU on the Record” with host Gina Logue on WMOT-FM (89.5 and wmot.org).
The author of six books, including How to Cook Everything and Food Matters, Bittman was a guest speaker at the 2009 Tennessee Undergraduate Social Science Symposium Nov. 10. He encourages the consumption of more greens and grains and fewer industrially processed animal foodstuffs.
To hear last week’s program on research into the impact of public health policy on Southern attitudes toward death, go to http://frank.mtsu.edu/~proffice/podcast2009.html and click on “November 15, 2009.” For more information, contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.
--30—
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
[200] Three MTSU History Professors Secure Grants To Aid Research
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 20, 2009
CONTACT: Lisa L. Rollins, 615-898-2919, or lrollins@mtsu.edu
THREE MTSU HISTORY PROFESSORS SECURE GRANTS TO AID RESEARCH
(MURFREESBORO)—With funding from two federal agencies in hand, three MTSU historians have embarked on research for two national parks and a treasured Tennessee landmark.
Dr. Jim Williams, director of the Albert Gore Research Center, will conduct oral history interviews for Congaree National Park with a grant from the National Park Service.
The Web site for Congaree National Park, located near Hopkins, S.C., touts the property as “the largest remnant of old-growth floodplain forest remaining on the continent.” Congress designated it a national natural landmark in 1974 and re-designated it a national park in 2003.
Williams said he would like to interview about 30 people, including those who were involved either with the creation of the park or its transition from a monument to a park. He also added that he hopes the study will help establish the Gore Center as a regional center for the preservation of oral history.
Dr. Ellen Garrison, associate professor of history, also has a National Park Service grant for a project that will help the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in east Tennessee.
Garrison will direct her efforts toward improving the condition of the park’s archival materials. Other project goals include reduction of the archival materials cataloging backlog and, as appropriate, creating finding aids for the materials.
Dr. Jan Leone, professor of history, will examine the growing body of humanities scholarship on the early 19th century for her project, “The Hermitage, Andrew Jackson and America 1801-1861.”
With funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Landmarks of American History program, Leone will design workshops for high school teachers that will combine classroom and field studies, including archaeology.
Primary source evidence for this project will include a variety of documents from the 1801-1861 time period, the objects in The Hermitage’s collections, books owned by the Jackson family, archaeological remains left behind by enslaved black families, the architecture and the cultural landscape.
The grants secured by Williams and Garrison are yearlong stipends that began in September 2009. Leone’s funding runs from Oct. 1, 2009, to Dec. 31, 2010, with workshops to be held in summer 2010.
—more—
GRANTS
Add 1
ATTENTION, MEDIA: To request interviews with the researchers about their respective history-related projects, please contact Lisa L. Rollins in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919 or lrollins@mtsu.edu.
—30—
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
CONTACT: Lisa L. Rollins, 615-898-2919, or lrollins@mtsu.edu
THREE MTSU HISTORY PROFESSORS SECURE GRANTS TO AID RESEARCH
(MURFREESBORO)—With funding from two federal agencies in hand, three MTSU historians have embarked on research for two national parks and a treasured Tennessee landmark.
Dr. Jim Williams, director of the Albert Gore Research Center, will conduct oral history interviews for Congaree National Park with a grant from the National Park Service.
The Web site for Congaree National Park, located near Hopkins, S.C., touts the property as “the largest remnant of old-growth floodplain forest remaining on the continent.” Congress designated it a national natural landmark in 1974 and re-designated it a national park in 2003.
Williams said he would like to interview about 30 people, including those who were involved either with the creation of the park or its transition from a monument to a park. He also added that he hopes the study will help establish the Gore Center as a regional center for the preservation of oral history.
Dr. Ellen Garrison, associate professor of history, also has a National Park Service grant for a project that will help the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in east Tennessee.
Garrison will direct her efforts toward improving the condition of the park’s archival materials. Other project goals include reduction of the archival materials cataloging backlog and, as appropriate, creating finding aids for the materials.
Dr. Jan Leone, professor of history, will examine the growing body of humanities scholarship on the early 19th century for her project, “The Hermitage, Andrew Jackson and America 1801-1861.”
With funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Landmarks of American History program, Leone will design workshops for high school teachers that will combine classroom and field studies, including archaeology.
Primary source evidence for this project will include a variety of documents from the 1801-1861 time period, the objects in The Hermitage’s collections, books owned by the Jackson family, archaeological remains left behind by enslaved black families, the architecture and the cultural landscape.
The grants secured by Williams and Garrison are yearlong stipends that began in September 2009. Leone’s funding runs from Oct. 1, 2009, to Dec. 31, 2010, with workshops to be held in summer 2010.
—more—
GRANTS
Add 1
ATTENTION, MEDIA: To request interviews with the researchers about their respective history-related projects, please contact Lisa L. Rollins in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919 or lrollins@mtsu.edu.
—30—
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
[199] Former Commissioner Seivers To Lead MTSU's College of Education
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 20, 2009
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Lisa L. Rollins, 615-898-2919
FORMER COMMISSIONER SEIVERS TO LEAD MTSU’S COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
University Announces Appointment of Leader ‘Second to None’
(MURFREESBORO)—Dr. Lana C. Seivers, former commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Education, will join MTSU’s ranks in 2010 when she becomes the new dean of the university’s College of Education.
A 1972 alumna of MTSU with a Bachelor of Science degree in speech and hearing therapy and minors in political science and secondary education, Seivers recently was announced as the newest member of the university administrative and academic team by MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee. She will assume her new responsibilities Feb. 1.
"Dr. Seivers comes with a level of knowledge and experience in the field of education that is second to none," McPhee said. "Attracting a professional of her extraordinary background and expertise speaks very highly of the university and the quality of our programs, faculty and students. Without a doubt, Dr. Seivers will be a tremendous asset to the university and will provide exceptional leadership for our College of Education."
Most recently, Seivers served as executive director of the Mississippi Center for Education Innovation, an entity funded primarily by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and dedicated to early childhood, teacher quality, community engagement and leadership.
She was appointed by Gov. Phil Bredesen to serve as the state’s education commissioner, a job she held for five years until her February 2008 resignation. At that time, in announcing Seivers’ departure from his cabinet, Bredesen described her service to Tennessee as “truly exemplary,” citing her leadership in a number of initiatives designed to enhance the quality of Tennessee’s education system, including working to raise teacher pay above the southeastern average to expanding the state’s pilot pre-kindergarten initiative into a program for 4-year-olds across the state.
“MTSU played a significant role in my life, and the opportunity to return to my alma mater is exciting and humbling,” Seivers said of her decision to seek the MTSU deanship. “Dr. McPhee has set high expectations that we become a national leader in teacher education, and I am very eager to work with him and MTSU’s excellent College of Education faculty and staff.
“The rich history of MTSU’s teacher-preparation program, the number and quality of teachers we currently graduate and the national focus on teacher-education programs create a perfect environment to make the president’s vision a reality,” she added. “It is wonderful to be back ‘home’ and to be a part of educating future teachers."
The recipient of numerous awards, including her 2008 induction into the Tennessee Teachers Hall of Fame, Seivers graduated from high school in Clinton, Tenn., before earning her undergraduate degree from MTSU. She received a Master of Science degree in educational administration/supervision in 1984 and a doctorate in educational leadership in 2003, both from the University of Tennessee.
“We are delighted to have Dr. Seivers reconnected to the Tennessee Board of Regents system, where she served as a board member in her capacity as Tennessee Commissioner of Education,” said TBR Chancellor Charles Manning, “and we look forward to working with her as MTSU’s dean of education. We feel this will be a good fit given her extensive background in education.”
—more—
SEIVERS
Add 1
Seivers’s appointment follows an extensive nationwide search to replace former education dean Dr. Gloria Bonner, who moved into MTSU’s new Office of Community Engagement and Support in April 2008. Longtime psychology professor Dr. Terry Whiteside has served as interim dean for the college and has guided efforts to design and outfit the new College of Education building, which is under construction with a target opening date of spring 2012.
“The search committee did an excellent job providing the provost and president with an excellent list of candidates for this position,” said Dr. Bob Eaker, professor of educational leadership and chair of the search committee for the new dean.
“I think we are fortunate to have someone of the caliber of Lana Seivers to serve as dean of the College of Education. Not only is she highly respected as an educator, having successfully served in a variety of positions, including Tennessee's Commissioner of Education, she is widely viewed as a tremendous leader. I am confident she will do a wonderful job leading the College of Education into the future."
----
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, MTSU confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
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For MTSU news and information, visit www.mtsunews.com.
—30—
ATTENTION, MEDIA: For a color JPEG of Dr Seivers, please contact Lisa Rollins in the Office of News and Public Affairs via e-mail at llrollins@mtsu.edu or by calling 615-898-2919.
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Lisa L. Rollins, 615-898-2919
FORMER COMMISSIONER SEIVERS TO LEAD MTSU’S COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
University Announces Appointment of Leader ‘Second to None’
(MURFREESBORO)—Dr. Lana C. Seivers, former commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Education, will join MTSU’s ranks in 2010 when she becomes the new dean of the university’s College of Education.
A 1972 alumna of MTSU with a Bachelor of Science degree in speech and hearing therapy and minors in political science and secondary education, Seivers recently was announced as the newest member of the university administrative and academic team by MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee. She will assume her new responsibilities Feb. 1.
"Dr. Seivers comes with a level of knowledge and experience in the field of education that is second to none," McPhee said. "Attracting a professional of her extraordinary background and expertise speaks very highly of the university and the quality of our programs, faculty and students. Without a doubt, Dr. Seivers will be a tremendous asset to the university and will provide exceptional leadership for our College of Education."
Most recently, Seivers served as executive director of the Mississippi Center for Education Innovation, an entity funded primarily by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and dedicated to early childhood, teacher quality, community engagement and leadership.
She was appointed by Gov. Phil Bredesen to serve as the state’s education commissioner, a job she held for five years until her February 2008 resignation. At that time, in announcing Seivers’ departure from his cabinet, Bredesen described her service to Tennessee as “truly exemplary,” citing her leadership in a number of initiatives designed to enhance the quality of Tennessee’s education system, including working to raise teacher pay above the southeastern average to expanding the state’s pilot pre-kindergarten initiative into a program for 4-year-olds across the state.
“MTSU played a significant role in my life, and the opportunity to return to my alma mater is exciting and humbling,” Seivers said of her decision to seek the MTSU deanship. “Dr. McPhee has set high expectations that we become a national leader in teacher education, and I am very eager to work with him and MTSU’s excellent College of Education faculty and staff.
“The rich history of MTSU’s teacher-preparation program, the number and quality of teachers we currently graduate and the national focus on teacher-education programs create a perfect environment to make the president’s vision a reality,” she added. “It is wonderful to be back ‘home’ and to be a part of educating future teachers."
The recipient of numerous awards, including her 2008 induction into the Tennessee Teachers Hall of Fame, Seivers graduated from high school in Clinton, Tenn., before earning her undergraduate degree from MTSU. She received a Master of Science degree in educational administration/supervision in 1984 and a doctorate in educational leadership in 2003, both from the University of Tennessee.
“We are delighted to have Dr. Seivers reconnected to the Tennessee Board of Regents system, where she served as a board member in her capacity as Tennessee Commissioner of Education,” said TBR Chancellor Charles Manning, “and we look forward to working with her as MTSU’s dean of education. We feel this will be a good fit given her extensive background in education.”
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SEIVERS
Add 1
Seivers’s appointment follows an extensive nationwide search to replace former education dean Dr. Gloria Bonner, who moved into MTSU’s new Office of Community Engagement and Support in April 2008. Longtime psychology professor Dr. Terry Whiteside has served as interim dean for the college and has guided efforts to design and outfit the new College of Education building, which is under construction with a target opening date of spring 2012.
“The search committee did an excellent job providing the provost and president with an excellent list of candidates for this position,” said Dr. Bob Eaker, professor of educational leadership and chair of the search committee for the new dean.
“I think we are fortunate to have someone of the caliber of Lana Seivers to serve as dean of the College of Education. Not only is she highly respected as an educator, having successfully served in a variety of positions, including Tennessee's Commissioner of Education, she is widely viewed as a tremendous leader. I am confident she will do a wonderful job leading the College of Education into the future."
----
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, MTSU confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
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For MTSU news and information, visit www.mtsunews.com.
—30—
ATTENTION, MEDIA: For a color JPEG of Dr Seivers, please contact Lisa Rollins in the Office of News and Public Affairs via e-mail at llrollins@mtsu.edu or by calling 615-898-2919.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
[198] Christmas Favorites On Tap For Nov. 30 Pipes And Pistons Concert
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 18, 2009
CONTACT: Tim Musselman, School of Music, 615-898-2919
CHRISTMAS FAVORITES ON TAP FOR NOV. 30 PIPES AND PISTONS CONCERT
Free & Open Performance Features MTSU Quintets and Ensembles, FUMC Choirs
(MURFREESBORO)—The second concert in the three-part MTSU Piston and Pipes Concert Series will feature Christmas favorites beginning at 7 p.m. Nov. 30 at the First United Methodist Church, 265 W. Thompson Lane, in Murfreesboro.
Free and open to the public, the upcoming performance will feature the MTSU Faculty Brass Quintet, the MTSU Symphonic Brass Ensemble and Sandy Arndt, FUMC organist and MTSU faculty member, as well as choirs from the FUMC.
"(This concert) s a unique collaboration between FUMC and the MTSU School of Music," said Michael Arndt, professor of trumpet at MTSU.
The first half of the concert will feature Gigout's Grand Dialogue, Timothy Hubler's Die Gipfelfanfare, Gabrieli's Canzona in Double Echo and Bach's Movements from the Christmas Oratorio (for brass).
The second half of the concert will include holiday favorites, including Phil Snedicor's inspiring arrangements of the Wexfords Carol and Greensleeves, Arndt said.
The final work, which will be conducted by FUMC Music Director Elliott Peterson, will be John Rutter’s Gloria for choir, organ, brass and percussion
"It is a pleasure to collaborate with First United Methodist Church in the performance of such great works," Arndt said.
The final concert in the Piston and Pipes Concert Series will feature the MTSU Wind Ensemble on April 15, 2010.
For more information on this and other concerts by the MTSU School of Music. please visit www.mtsumusic.com or call 615-898-2493.
—30—
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
CONTACT: Tim Musselman, School of Music, 615-898-2919
CHRISTMAS FAVORITES ON TAP FOR NOV. 30 PIPES AND PISTONS CONCERT
Free & Open Performance Features MTSU Quintets and Ensembles, FUMC Choirs
(MURFREESBORO)—The second concert in the three-part MTSU Piston and Pipes Concert Series will feature Christmas favorites beginning at 7 p.m. Nov. 30 at the First United Methodist Church, 265 W. Thompson Lane, in Murfreesboro.
Free and open to the public, the upcoming performance will feature the MTSU Faculty Brass Quintet, the MTSU Symphonic Brass Ensemble and Sandy Arndt, FUMC organist and MTSU faculty member, as well as choirs from the FUMC.
"(This concert) s a unique collaboration between FUMC and the MTSU School of Music," said Michael Arndt, professor of trumpet at MTSU.
The first half of the concert will feature Gigout's Grand Dialogue, Timothy Hubler's Die Gipfelfanfare, Gabrieli's Canzona in Double Echo and Bach's Movements from the Christmas Oratorio (for brass).
The second half of the concert will include holiday favorites, including Phil Snedicor's inspiring arrangements of the Wexfords Carol and Greensleeves, Arndt said.
The final work, which will be conducted by FUMC Music Director Elliott Peterson, will be John Rutter’s Gloria for choir, organ, brass and percussion
"It is a pleasure to collaborate with First United Methodist Church in the performance of such great works," Arndt said.
The final concert in the Piston and Pipes Concert Series will feature the MTSU Wind Ensemble on April 15, 2010.
For more information on this and other concerts by the MTSU School of Music. please visit www.mtsumusic.com or call 615-898-2493.
—30—
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
[194a] U.S. Education Secretary Broadcasts Live Dec. 15 VIA ERC@MT
ATTENTION, MEDIA: The date of the broadcast outlined below has been changed from Nov. 24 to Dec. 15, according to an update received today, Nov. 18, 2009. The original release, with the new date, is below. NPA apologizes for any inconvenience caused by this change.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 16, 2009
CONTACT: Gail Fedak, Instructional Media Resources, 615-898-2740
U.S. EDUCATION SECRETARY BROADCASTS LIVE DEC. 15 VIA ERC@MT
Rutherford County School, Community May Participate Via Phone & E-mail
(MURFREESBORO)—“Student Voices on Education: A National Town Hall Meeting with Arne Duncan” will air live on the Education Resource Channel@ Middle Tennessee at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 15.
Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education, will serve as moderator for the broadcast, which will air live locally on Comcast Channel 9. The program is part of the monthly "Education News Parents Can Use" series that airs evenings on ERC@MT during the K-12 school year.
Gail Fedak, director for Instructional Media Resources at MTSU, said the program’s town hall-focused format will allow for call-in and e-mail questions. In turn, schools in Rutherford County that normally receive the university’s K-12 programming on ERC@MT, as well as interested community members, may tune in to participate in the live discussion.
The Dec. 15 broadcast will focus on improving the quality of student’s educational experiences; their aspirations for college and future careers; contributions to civic life through volunteer service; and, critical influences on young people’s decision-making and academic choices, Fedak said.
“The Education Resource Channel@Middle Tennessee will run this program live during school hours so students can hear and have the opportunity to participate in this national discussion,” she noted.
For more information about the program, please access http://registerevent.ed.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewer.description&intEventID=231.
—30—
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 16, 2009
CONTACT: Gail Fedak, Instructional Media Resources, 615-898-2740
U.S. EDUCATION SECRETARY BROADCASTS LIVE DEC. 15 VIA ERC@MT
Rutherford County School, Community May Participate Via Phone & E-mail
(MURFREESBORO)—“Student Voices on Education: A National Town Hall Meeting with Arne Duncan” will air live on the Education Resource Channel@ Middle Tennessee at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 15.
Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education, will serve as moderator for the broadcast, which will air live locally on Comcast Channel 9. The program is part of the monthly "Education News Parents Can Use" series that airs evenings on ERC@MT during the K-12 school year.
Gail Fedak, director for Instructional Media Resources at MTSU, said the program’s town hall-focused format will allow for call-in and e-mail questions. In turn, schools in Rutherford County that normally receive the university’s K-12 programming on ERC@MT, as well as interested community members, may tune in to participate in the live discussion.
The Dec. 15 broadcast will focus on improving the quality of student’s educational experiences; their aspirations for college and future careers; contributions to civic life through volunteer service; and, critical influences on young people’s decision-making and academic choices, Fedak said.
“The Education Resource Channel@Middle Tennessee will run this program live during school hours so students can hear and have the opportunity to participate in this national discussion,” she noted.
For more information about the program, please access http://registerevent.ed.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewer.description&intEventID=231.
—30—
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
[197] MTSU Writing Center, Project Help Team To Sponsor Children's Book Drive
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 17, 2009
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Lisa L. Rollins, Office of News and Public Affairs, 615-898-2919
MTSU WRITING CENTER, PROJECT HELP TEAM TO SPONSOR CHILDREN’S BOOK DRIVE
New & Gently Used Children’s Books Being Accepted Now through Dec. 9 at UWC
(MURFREESBORO)—The University Writing Center at MTSU has joined forces with Project Help and Murfreesboro City Schools Outreach during the holiday season to encourage children’s literacy.
In its team effort to promote the cause, UWC staff will accept new and gently used children’s books now through Dec. 9, as well as money donations, which will go toward the purchase of youth titles.
Meagan McManus, a peer mentor and UWC writing assistant, said that members of the UWC staff will attend Project Help’s fall semester celebration Dec. 17 to share some of the donated books with the lab’s children.
Those interested in donating children’s books may deposit them at the campus-based writing center, Room 325 in Peck Hall, during its regular operating hours. The center is open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Fridays and 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays.
For more information on the children’s holiday book drive, please contact the UWC at 615-904-8237 or e-mail McManus at mcm2r@mtsu.edu.
—30—
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Lisa L. Rollins, Office of News and Public Affairs, 615-898-2919
MTSU WRITING CENTER, PROJECT HELP TEAM TO SPONSOR CHILDREN’S BOOK DRIVE
New & Gently Used Children’s Books Being Accepted Now through Dec. 9 at UWC
(MURFREESBORO)—The University Writing Center at MTSU has joined forces with Project Help and Murfreesboro City Schools Outreach during the holiday season to encourage children’s literacy.
In its team effort to promote the cause, UWC staff will accept new and gently used children’s books now through Dec. 9, as well as money donations, which will go toward the purchase of youth titles.
Meagan McManus, a peer mentor and UWC writing assistant, said that members of the UWC staff will attend Project Help’s fall semester celebration Dec. 17 to share some of the donated books with the lab’s children.
Those interested in donating children’s books may deposit them at the campus-based writing center, Room 325 in Peck Hall, during its regular operating hours. The center is open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Fridays and 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays.
For more information on the children’s holiday book drive, please contact the UWC at 615-904-8237 or e-mail McManus at mcm2r@mtsu.edu.
—30—
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
[196] TECTA Providing New Scholarship Program For Tennesseans
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 17, 2009
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Debbie Simpson, 615-898-5448
TECTA PROVIDING NEW SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM FOR TENNESSEANS
Full Tuition Support Offered for Child Care Training
(MURFREESBORO)—Tennesseans who want to pursue their educations in child care or early childhood education have a new scholarship option, thanks to the Tennessee Early Childhood Training Alliance.
TECTA will be providing scholarships for the 2009-10 academic year to cover 100 percent of a recipient’s tuition, plus related expenses for Child Development Associate or Infant Toddler credentials, technical certificates and academic degrees as funds allow.
These scholarships provide full tuition support for one or two courses per term to retrain displaced and underemployed workers in the child care field as well as those who want to make the transition to a career in child care, organizers say. This is the first initiative to allow TECTA to provide full tuition support for students at both public and private two- and four-year institutions and is designed to remove the financial constraints for adults entering and returning to school.
The scholarship program is open to permanent residents of Tennessee who meet the requirements for admission.
“In keeping with the illustrious history of TECTA, we are extending our services to assist Tennesseans in overcoming the current economic condition with the provision of funding for tuition and mentoring in the field of early childhood education to individuals that have been affected,” says Katari Coleman, TECTA statewide program director.
An applicant may qualify if he/she:
• has lost a job due to a plant or job closing or layoff caused by corporate economic hardship or competition;
• is underemployed (employed but not in the desired capacity in terms of compensation, hours, or level of skill and experience);
• lives in a county affected by the current national economic crises; and
• is currently working directly or indirectly in the child care industry.
Those interested in applying for the scholarships should contact the TECTA site in their region. At MTSU, the TECA site phone number is 615-904-8318, or applicants may contact Site Director Debbie Simpson at dsimpson@mtsu.edu.
The TECTA program, managed by the Center of Excellence for Learning Sciences at Tennessee State University, is sponsored and funded by the Tennessee Department of Human Services. TECTA is a consortium of nine Tennessee Board of Regents universities and community colleges that provides an academic gateway for preparation of professional early childhood personnel. It provides support for tuition and services such as technical assistance for CDA applications and renewals.
The TECTA program is funded through a contract with the Tennessee Department of Human Services and the Center of Excellence for Learning Sciences at Tennessee State.
####
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Debbie Simpson, 615-898-5448
TECTA PROVIDING NEW SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM FOR TENNESSEANS
Full Tuition Support Offered for Child Care Training
(MURFREESBORO)—Tennesseans who want to pursue their educations in child care or early childhood education have a new scholarship option, thanks to the Tennessee Early Childhood Training Alliance.
TECTA will be providing scholarships for the 2009-10 academic year to cover 100 percent of a recipient’s tuition, plus related expenses for Child Development Associate or Infant Toddler credentials, technical certificates and academic degrees as funds allow.
These scholarships provide full tuition support for one or two courses per term to retrain displaced and underemployed workers in the child care field as well as those who want to make the transition to a career in child care, organizers say. This is the first initiative to allow TECTA to provide full tuition support for students at both public and private two- and four-year institutions and is designed to remove the financial constraints for adults entering and returning to school.
The scholarship program is open to permanent residents of Tennessee who meet the requirements for admission.
“In keeping with the illustrious history of TECTA, we are extending our services to assist Tennesseans in overcoming the current economic condition with the provision of funding for tuition and mentoring in the field of early childhood education to individuals that have been affected,” says Katari Coleman, TECTA statewide program director.
An applicant may qualify if he/she:
• has lost a job due to a plant or job closing or layoff caused by corporate economic hardship or competition;
• is underemployed (employed but not in the desired capacity in terms of compensation, hours, or level of skill and experience);
• lives in a county affected by the current national economic crises; and
• is currently working directly or indirectly in the child care industry.
Those interested in applying for the scholarships should contact the TECTA site in their region. At MTSU, the TECA site phone number is 615-904-8318, or applicants may contact Site Director Debbie Simpson at dsimpson@mtsu.edu.
The TECTA program, managed by the Center of Excellence for Learning Sciences at Tennessee State University, is sponsored and funded by the Tennessee Department of Human Services. TECTA is a consortium of nine Tennessee Board of Regents universities and community colleges that provides an academic gateway for preparation of professional early childhood personnel. It provides support for tuition and services such as technical assistance for CDA applications and renewals.
The TECTA program is funded through a contract with the Tennessee Department of Human Services and the Center of Excellence for Learning Sciences at Tennessee State.
####
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
Monday, November 16, 2009
[195] Nominate Community Leaders For Unity Luncheon
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 16, 2009
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Valerie Avent, 615-898-2718
NOMINATE COMMUNITY LEADERS FOR UNITY LUNCHEON
Annual Event Fetes Lives of Honor and Achievement; Deadline Nov. 30
(MURFREESBORO) – MTSU’s Black History Month Committee is accepting nominations for unsung heroes to be honored at the annual Unity Luncheon, which is slated for Feb. 3, 2010.
Nominees must be individuals who have made outstanding contributions to their community, are age 60 or older and have lived in the Middle Tennessee area for 25 years or more.
The deadline for submitting nominations is Friday, Dec. 11. To nominate a person worthy of this great traditional honor, go to http://www.mtsu.edu/aahm/nominations.shtml and fill in the online questionnaire. For more information, contact Valerie Avent, assistant director of the Office of Intercultural and Diversity Affairs at 615-898-2718 or vavent@mtsu.edu.
--30--
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Valerie Avent, 615-898-2718
NOMINATE COMMUNITY LEADERS FOR UNITY LUNCHEON
Annual Event Fetes Lives of Honor and Achievement; Deadline Nov. 30
(MURFREESBORO) – MTSU’s Black History Month Committee is accepting nominations for unsung heroes to be honored at the annual Unity Luncheon, which is slated for Feb. 3, 2010.
Nominees must be individuals who have made outstanding contributions to their community, are age 60 or older and have lived in the Middle Tennessee area for 25 years or more.
The deadline for submitting nominations is Friday, Dec. 11. To nominate a person worthy of this great traditional honor, go to http://www.mtsu.edu/aahm/nominations.shtml and fill in the online questionnaire. For more information, contact Valerie Avent, assistant director of the Office of Intercultural and Diversity Affairs at 615-898-2718 or vavent@mtsu.edu.
--30--
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
Friday, November 13, 2009
[193] MTSU to Host Global Entrepreneurship Week Nov. 16-20
MTSU TO HOST GLOBAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP WEEK NOV. 16-20
Events Aimed at Helping Students Become Self-Starters, Innovators
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 11, 2009
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina E. Fann, 615-898-5385
(MURFREESBORO)— MTSU is joining entrepreneurship educators worldwide the week of Nov. 16-20 to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week, an effort to connect young people through local, national and global activities designed to help them explore their potential as self-starters and innovators.
The university’s Department of Business Communication and Entrepreneurship and Wright Travel Chair in Entrepreneurship in the Jennings A. Jones College of Business is working in conjunction with the Department of Recording Industry in the College of Mass Communication to conduct the event.
Included in a week of outstanding speakers are:
• Steve Moore, senior vice president AEG Live!/Moore Entertainment and president of the Country Music Association, who’ll provide a keynote address on Monday, Nov. 16, for the Department of Recording Industry; and
• David Bullock, social media expert and co-author (with Brent Leary) of “Barack 2.0: Barack Obama’s Social Media Lessons for Business,” and Rich Miles, founder and managing member of CAPSTONE Business Advisors LLC, who’ll team up for keynote speeches for the big finale event in the College of Business on Friday, Nov. 20.
“We live in a global business environment, and we recognize the need to celebrate this fact through our Global Entrepreneurship Week events, which we believe enhance awareness of our students and the public of the vital role entrepreneurship plays in national and international business development,” said Patrick Geho, associate professor of entrepreneurship and state executive director of the Tennessee Small Business Development Center. “Many thanks go to the Department of Business Communication and Entrepreneurship and fellow GEW event organizers.”
During the week, students and guests can:
• enjoy a variety of exciting speakers/entrepreneurs and free food;
• meet and network with successful entrepreneurs including nationally known entrepreneurs;
• learn how entrepreneurs can strategically leverage social media;
• gain insight into zoning and planning issues entrepreneurs need to know;
• hear a banker discuss financial planning for entrepreneurs;
• learn about the Middle Tennessee business climate; and
• listen to some of the best entrepreneurs talk about their experiences and insights.
“This week's events provide a broad base of experienced business leaders to share their expertise to encourage our students to know they can reach for the stars and attain whatever goal their entrepreneurial spirits seek,” said Ramona DeSalvo, an assistant professor of recording industry and one of the event organizers.
Global Entrepreneurship Week events will be held in the Business and Aerospace Building and the Bragg Mass Communication Building, and all events are open to the public.
For a complete agenda of the week’s events, please visit the entrepreneurship Web site at http://www.mtsu.edu/~entre. For more information, please call 615-898-2902.
NOTE: Off-campus visitors may obtain a campus map and parking pass at the MTSU Tennessee Small Business Development Center office, which is located in the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce Building at 501 Memorial Blvd. in Murfreesboro.
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With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, MTSU confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
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IN BRIEF—MTSU is celebrating Global Entrepreneurship Week Nov. 16-20 with several outstanding speakers and events in an effort to connect young people through local, national and global activities designed to help them explore their potential as self-starters and innovators. All events are free and open to the public. For a complete agenda of the week’s events, please visit the entrepreneurship Web site at www.mtsu.edu/~entre. For more information, please call 615-898-2902.
For MTSU news and information, visit www.mtsunews.com.
—30—
ATTENTION, MEDIA: For color JPEGs of the three principal speakers, please contact Gina E. Fann in the Office of News and Public Affairs via e-mail at gfann@mtsu.edu or by calling 615-898-5385.
Thanks!
Events Aimed at Helping Students Become Self-Starters, Innovators
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 11, 2009
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina E. Fann, 615-898-5385
(MURFREESBORO)— MTSU is joining entrepreneurship educators worldwide the week of Nov. 16-20 to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week, an effort to connect young people through local, national and global activities designed to help them explore their potential as self-starters and innovators.
The university’s Department of Business Communication and Entrepreneurship and Wright Travel Chair in Entrepreneurship in the Jennings A. Jones College of Business is working in conjunction with the Department of Recording Industry in the College of Mass Communication to conduct the event.
Included in a week of outstanding speakers are:
• Steve Moore, senior vice president AEG Live!/Moore Entertainment and president of the Country Music Association, who’ll provide a keynote address on Monday, Nov. 16, for the Department of Recording Industry; and
• David Bullock, social media expert and co-author (with Brent Leary) of “Barack 2.0: Barack Obama’s Social Media Lessons for Business,” and Rich Miles, founder and managing member of CAPSTONE Business Advisors LLC, who’ll team up for keynote speeches for the big finale event in the College of Business on Friday, Nov. 20.
“We live in a global business environment, and we recognize the need to celebrate this fact through our Global Entrepreneurship Week events, which we believe enhance awareness of our students and the public of the vital role entrepreneurship plays in national and international business development,” said Patrick Geho, associate professor of entrepreneurship and state executive director of the Tennessee Small Business Development Center. “Many thanks go to the Department of Business Communication and Entrepreneurship and fellow GEW event organizers.”
During the week, students and guests can:
• enjoy a variety of exciting speakers/entrepreneurs and free food;
• meet and network with successful entrepreneurs including nationally known entrepreneurs;
• learn how entrepreneurs can strategically leverage social media;
• gain insight into zoning and planning issues entrepreneurs need to know;
• hear a banker discuss financial planning for entrepreneurs;
• learn about the Middle Tennessee business climate; and
• listen to some of the best entrepreneurs talk about their experiences and insights.
“This week's events provide a broad base of experienced business leaders to share their expertise to encourage our students to know they can reach for the stars and attain whatever goal their entrepreneurial spirits seek,” said Ramona DeSalvo, an assistant professor of recording industry and one of the event organizers.
Global Entrepreneurship Week events will be held in the Business and Aerospace Building and the Bragg Mass Communication Building, and all events are open to the public.
For a complete agenda of the week’s events, please visit the entrepreneurship Web site at http://www.mtsu.edu/~entre. For more information, please call 615-898-2902.
NOTE: Off-campus visitors may obtain a campus map and parking pass at the MTSU Tennessee Small Business Development Center office, which is located in the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce Building at 501 Memorial Blvd. in Murfreesboro.
-----
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, MTSU confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
-------
IN BRIEF—MTSU is celebrating Global Entrepreneurship Week Nov. 16-20 with several outstanding speakers and events in an effort to connect young people through local, national and global activities designed to help them explore their potential as self-starters and innovators. All events are free and open to the public. For a complete agenda of the week’s events, please visit the entrepreneurship Web site at www.mtsu.edu/~entre. For more information, please call 615-898-2902.
For MTSU news and information, visit www.mtsunews.com.
—30—
ATTENTION, MEDIA: For color JPEGs of the three principal speakers, please contact Gina E. Fann in the Office of News and Public Affairs via e-mail at gfann@mtsu.edu or by calling 615-898-5385.
Thanks!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
[192] MTSU TV Crews Focusing on NASA's 'Transition'
MTSU TV CREWS FOCUSING ON NASA’S ‘TRANSITION’
Documentary to Cover 2 Space Launches, People Who Make Them Happen
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 11, 2009
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina E. Fann, 615-898-5385
(MURFREESBORO)—This is one giant step, in two big leaps, for MTSU.
Students from two mass communication classes are shooting a documentary in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on the transition and “reinvention” of NASA as the official media crew for Nashville Public Television, WNPT.
The first step involved the Oct. 28 test flight of the new Ares-IX rocket from the Kennedy Space Center. The second will focus on work surrounding one of the final flights of the space shuttle Atlantis, tentatively set for Monday, Nov. 16.
“We went down for a launch several years ago, and because we’re always trying to find opportunities to involve our students, we started putting together ways to get students down here, too,” explains recording industry professor Dan Pfeifer.
But when the Columbia explosion grounded shuttle flights for more than two years—just a month before an MTSU crew was scheduled to visit—Pfeifer and Dr. Mary Nichols, electronic media communication professor, had to regroup.
“They started flying the shuttles again in 2005, and we started planning again … scrounging money and getting permissions about a year ago,” Pfeifer says. “Our intention was to go down for another launch … and plan a second trip to shoot B-roll. But we realized that the window of opportunity was so narrow and we could get two (launch) shoots in one semester, so we decided to stay because of the story of the transition of NASA.”
NASA says its “’Transition’ is the evolution of people, property, processes and plans to enable space-exploration missions by evolving from our Space Shuttle-based human-space flight system to a new architecture designed to achieve the objectives of the U.S. Space Exploration Policy.”
That new architecture includes the Ares I-X, NASA’s next-generation spacecraft and launch-vehicle system. The Oct. 28 Ares flight gave NASA an early opportunity to test and prove flight characteristics, hardware, facilities and ground operations associated with it. The scheduled Nov. 16 Atlantis launch will be used to rotate crew members of the International Space Station.
The media crews for the Ares test and Atlantis launch are a combination of Nichols’ EMC 4940 undergrad course, Advanced Production Seminar, and Pfeifer’s Master’s in Recording Arts and Technologies 6340 course, Directed Production. Ten students from the EMC and MRAT classes are making each trip to Florida.
“This truly is an amazing experience that we all have the opportunity to be a part of,” the teams wrote on their blog. “We are not only taping one of the first launches of the new Ares-1X rocket, that is destined to replace the old weathered shuttles, but [we] will also be taping one of the last seven scheduled shuttle launches for NASA.”
Post-launch, they noted: “Good thing for text updates, because we have been left speechless.”
The classes have talked with several “above the line” advisers for their projects, including former astronauts and NASA scientists Dr. Rick Chappell and Dr. Rhea Seddon. While they’re on-site, they’re working with NASA public affairs officers during media briefings and events, press conferences, etc., to obtain access for interviews.
“We’re casting as broad a net as we can,” Pfeifer says. “It’s really been amazing how many people are coming out to help us and make referrals. … We’re getting some very compelling stories of the people of NASA and the excitement of their involvement. If they have the slightest part in getting a shuttle or a rocket up, they’re proud of it.”
“I was surprised the students would come up with something like it, but it’s just great,” Nichols says. “The whole point of it is ‘what’s NASA done for me lately?’, and their approach is going to show how NASA is reinventing itself with the help of its people.”
To follow the MTSU NASA crew’s adventures, read their blog at http://mtsunasa.blogspot.com or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/mtsu.nasacameracrew. There’s even a documentary video about the documentary at the Facebook page.
----
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, MTSU confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
-------
IN BRIEF: Students from two MTSU mass communication classes are shooting a documentary in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on the transition and “reinvention” of NASA as the official media crew for Nashville Public Television, WNPT. The first step involved the Oct. 28 test flight of the new Ares-IX rocket from the Kennedy Space Center. The second will focus on work surrounding one of the final flights of the space shuttle Atlantis, tentatively set for Monday, Nov. 16.
For MTSU news and information, visit http://www.mtsunews.com.
—30—
ATTENTION, MEDIA: To arrange interviews before the crew leaves for the Nov. 16 launch, please contact Gina E. Fann in the Office of News and Public Affairs ASAP via e-mail at gfann@mtsu.edu or by calling 615-898-5385.
Thanks!
Documentary to Cover 2 Space Launches, People Who Make Them Happen
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 11, 2009
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina E. Fann, 615-898-5385
(MURFREESBORO)—This is one giant step, in two big leaps, for MTSU.
Students from two mass communication classes are shooting a documentary in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on the transition and “reinvention” of NASA as the official media crew for Nashville Public Television, WNPT.
The first step involved the Oct. 28 test flight of the new Ares-IX rocket from the Kennedy Space Center. The second will focus on work surrounding one of the final flights of the space shuttle Atlantis, tentatively set for Monday, Nov. 16.
“We went down for a launch several years ago, and because we’re always trying to find opportunities to involve our students, we started putting together ways to get students down here, too,” explains recording industry professor Dan Pfeifer.
But when the Columbia explosion grounded shuttle flights for more than two years—just a month before an MTSU crew was scheduled to visit—Pfeifer and Dr. Mary Nichols, electronic media communication professor, had to regroup.
“They started flying the shuttles again in 2005, and we started planning again … scrounging money and getting permissions about a year ago,” Pfeifer says. “Our intention was to go down for another launch … and plan a second trip to shoot B-roll. But we realized that the window of opportunity was so narrow and we could get two (launch) shoots in one semester, so we decided to stay because of the story of the transition of NASA.”
NASA says its “’Transition’ is the evolution of people, property, processes and plans to enable space-exploration missions by evolving from our Space Shuttle-based human-space flight system to a new architecture designed to achieve the objectives of the U.S. Space Exploration Policy.”
That new architecture includes the Ares I-X, NASA’s next-generation spacecraft and launch-vehicle system. The Oct. 28 Ares flight gave NASA an early opportunity to test and prove flight characteristics, hardware, facilities and ground operations associated with it. The scheduled Nov. 16 Atlantis launch will be used to rotate crew members of the International Space Station.
The media crews for the Ares test and Atlantis launch are a combination of Nichols’ EMC 4940 undergrad course, Advanced Production Seminar, and Pfeifer’s Master’s in Recording Arts and Technologies 6340 course, Directed Production. Ten students from the EMC and MRAT classes are making each trip to Florida.
“This truly is an amazing experience that we all have the opportunity to be a part of,” the teams wrote on their blog. “We are not only taping one of the first launches of the new Ares-1X rocket, that is destined to replace the old weathered shuttles, but [we] will also be taping one of the last seven scheduled shuttle launches for NASA.”
Post-launch, they noted: “Good thing for text updates, because we have been left speechless.”
The classes have talked with several “above the line” advisers for their projects, including former astronauts and NASA scientists Dr. Rick Chappell and Dr. Rhea Seddon. While they’re on-site, they’re working with NASA public affairs officers during media briefings and events, press conferences, etc., to obtain access for interviews.
“We’re casting as broad a net as we can,” Pfeifer says. “It’s really been amazing how many people are coming out to help us and make referrals. … We’re getting some very compelling stories of the people of NASA and the excitement of their involvement. If they have the slightest part in getting a shuttle or a rocket up, they’re proud of it.”
“I was surprised the students would come up with something like it, but it’s just great,” Nichols says. “The whole point of it is ‘what’s NASA done for me lately?’, and their approach is going to show how NASA is reinventing itself with the help of its people.”
To follow the MTSU NASA crew’s adventures, read their blog at http://mtsunasa.blogspot.com or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/mtsu.nasacameracrew. There’s even a documentary video about the documentary at the Facebook page.
----
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, MTSU confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
-------
IN BRIEF: Students from two MTSU mass communication classes are shooting a documentary in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on the transition and “reinvention” of NASA as the official media crew for Nashville Public Television, WNPT. The first step involved the Oct. 28 test flight of the new Ares-IX rocket from the Kennedy Space Center. The second will focus on work surrounding one of the final flights of the space shuttle Atlantis, tentatively set for Monday, Nov. 16.
For MTSU news and information, visit http://www.mtsunews.com.
—30—
ATTENTION, MEDIA: To arrange interviews before the crew leaves for the Nov. 16 launch, please contact Gina E. Fann in the Office of News and Public Affairs ASAP via e-mail at gfann@mtsu.edu or by calling 615-898-5385.
Thanks!
[191] MTSU Graduate Overcomes Odds To Teach Overseas
Nov. 12, 2009
Editorial Content: Sydney Hester, Tom Tozer, 615-898-2919
MTSU GRADUATE OVERCOMES ODDS TO TEACH OVERSEAS
MURFREESBORO—Former Middle Tennessee State University student Kirk Medley (MTSU ’06), overcoming the challenges of being a paraplegic, graduated with a degree in global studies and took his experiences and education overseas to teach English as a Second Language classes in Vietnam.
Medley became interested in Vietnam because of his cousin, a veteran of the Vietnam War. Learning about the culture through his cousin, he was able to look beyond the usual prejudices associated with the war- torn country. He credits Dr. Doug Heffington, MTSU professor of history, with helping him to put together a study-abroad program that would take him to Vietnam.
In addition to Heffington, Medley says, “I would especially like to thank Dr. Judith Rusciolelli [MTSU professor of foreign languages] for going to bat for me and believing in me while many people didn’t.”
Medley took his college lessons of perseverance and persistence with him. However, the first years were not without their difficulties. He found himself short of ESL hours according to Vietnam law, struggling with money and knowing virtually no one. His luck changed when he encountered a fellow teacher from America who helped him to meet with prospective students. Soon Medley was swamped with students.
“[MTSU] was also a great confidence builder, which helped me try to achieve something unique,” Medley says of his initial struggles in a foreign country.
Medley found the strength to persevere in light of his disability. He found a way to work with the students of Vietnam, which in turn earned him vast appreciation among many people. His teaching allowed the Vietnamese to study English with a native speaker without having to pay the high prices of a language academy.
Medley continues to astound those who know of him and his story. From the classrooms of MTSU to the schoolrooms of Vietnam, he reflects strength and selflessness.
“Just as in anyone's life, the difficulties are often what push us to achieve,” Medley says. “The higher the mountain, the greater the reward for conquering it.”
####
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
Editorial Content: Sydney Hester, Tom Tozer, 615-898-2919
MTSU GRADUATE OVERCOMES ODDS TO TEACH OVERSEAS
MURFREESBORO—Former Middle Tennessee State University student Kirk Medley (MTSU ’06), overcoming the challenges of being a paraplegic, graduated with a degree in global studies and took his experiences and education overseas to teach English as a Second Language classes in Vietnam.
Medley became interested in Vietnam because of his cousin, a veteran of the Vietnam War. Learning about the culture through his cousin, he was able to look beyond the usual prejudices associated with the war- torn country. He credits Dr. Doug Heffington, MTSU professor of history, with helping him to put together a study-abroad program that would take him to Vietnam.
In addition to Heffington, Medley says, “I would especially like to thank Dr. Judith Rusciolelli [MTSU professor of foreign languages] for going to bat for me and believing in me while many people didn’t.”
Medley took his college lessons of perseverance and persistence with him. However, the first years were not without their difficulties. He found himself short of ESL hours according to Vietnam law, struggling with money and knowing virtually no one. His luck changed when he encountered a fellow teacher from America who helped him to meet with prospective students. Soon Medley was swamped with students.
“[MTSU] was also a great confidence builder, which helped me try to achieve something unique,” Medley says of his initial struggles in a foreign country.
Medley found the strength to persevere in light of his disability. He found a way to work with the students of Vietnam, which in turn earned him vast appreciation among many people. His teaching allowed the Vietnamese to study English with a native speaker without having to pay the high prices of a language academy.
Medley continues to astound those who know of him and his story. From the classrooms of MTSU to the schoolrooms of Vietnam, he reflects strength and selflessness.
“Just as in anyone's life, the difficulties are often what push us to achieve,” Medley says. “The higher the mountain, the greater the reward for conquering it.”
####
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
[190] "MTSU On The Record" Examines Southern Way of Death
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 11, 2009
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081; WMOT-FM, 615-898-2800
“MTSU ON THE RECORD” EXAMINES SOUTHERN WAY OF DEATH
Historian Researches Public Health Policy Impact on Southern Attitudes on Dying
(MURFREESBORO) – “MTSU on the Record,” the 30-minute public affairs program that connects MTSU with the community at large, is moving to 8 a.m. each Sunday morning from its previous time of 7 a.m on WMOT-FM (89.5 and wmot.org).
This Sunday, Nov. 15, Dr. Kris McCusker, associate professor of history, will talk with host Gina Logue about her research into the impact of public health policy from 1918-1945 on attitudes toward death and dying in the South.
“In the South, whether one was black or white, death was a common and important part of the region’s self-conception, its ‘mind,’ in writer W.J. Cash’s words, since the death of young and old alike was ever present,” McCusker writes. “What happened, then, when public health policy, which assumed that dying was bad except in old age or on a battlefield, infiltrated the South?”
To hear last week’s program on the new MTSU Veterans Memorial, go to http://frank.mtsu.edu/~proffice/podcast2009.html and click on “November 8, 2009.” For more information, contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.
--30—
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081; WMOT-FM, 615-898-2800
“MTSU ON THE RECORD” EXAMINES SOUTHERN WAY OF DEATH
Historian Researches Public Health Policy Impact on Southern Attitudes on Dying
(MURFREESBORO) – “MTSU on the Record,” the 30-minute public affairs program that connects MTSU with the community at large, is moving to 8 a.m. each Sunday morning from its previous time of 7 a.m on WMOT-FM (89.5 and wmot.org).
This Sunday, Nov. 15, Dr. Kris McCusker, associate professor of history, will talk with host Gina Logue about her research into the impact of public health policy from 1918-1945 on attitudes toward death and dying in the South.
“In the South, whether one was black or white, death was a common and important part of the region’s self-conception, its ‘mind,’ in writer W.J. Cash’s words, since the death of young and old alike was ever present,” McCusker writes. “What happened, then, when public health policy, which assumed that dying was bad except in old age or on a battlefield, infiltrated the South?”
To hear last week’s program on the new MTSU Veterans Memorial, go to http://frank.mtsu.edu/~proffice/podcast2009.html and click on “November 8, 2009.” For more information, contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.
--30—
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
Monday, November 09, 2009
[189] Salute Veterans at Nov. 14 MTSU Festivities
Release date: Nov. 9, 2009
News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-5616 or jweiler@mtsu.edu
Military Science contact: Maj. Chuck Giles, 615-898-2470 or cgiles@mtsu.edu
MT Athletics contact: Brad Smith, 615-898-5322 or bsmith@mtsu.edu
Salute Veterans at Nov. 14 MTSU Festivities
(MURFREESBORO) — MTSU’s military science and athletic departments have special events planned around the 28th annual Salute to Armed Services/Veterans Day Saturday, Nov. 14.
There’s something for everyone, including an Air Force flyover, parachutists bringing the game ball, a picnic and a patriotic halftime salute, during the Blue Raiders’ 3:15 p.m. Sun Belt Conference football game against Louisiana-Lafayette in Floyd Stadium.
Some noted MTSU military alumni, including U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Tony L. Cothron and Brig. Gen. Terry “Max” Haston, assistant adjutant general of the Tennessee National Guard, have been invited for a return visit to campus by university President Sidney A. McPhee. They will gather for brunch at the president’s home at 10 a.m. and will be recognized between the first and second quarters of the game.
After ROTC alumni meet at 11 a.m. at Forrest Hall, the first Veterans Memorial Service with the new veterans memorial in place will be held just outside the Tom H. Jackson Building.
At noon, veterans can register for the 12:30 p.m. barbecue picnic they will share with many of the 153 current cadet corps members at a site adjacent to the Kennon Sports Hall of Fame.
Roy Edwin Barker of Brentwood will be the 20th recipient of the Dr. Joe Nunley Memorial Award in a presentation that will begin at 1:30 p.m. MTSU alumnus Joe Nunley Jr. and John Furguss, past national commander in chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and commander of American Legion Post 05 in Nashville, will preside.
State Farm Insurance is providing complimentary tickets to the game for active military, veterans and their families on a first-come, first-served basis.
“This year, a combined service color guard will present the colors before the game,” said Maj. Chuck Giles, assistant professor of military science.
Following the Air Force flyover, weather permitting, the 101st Airborne Division Parachute Demonstration Team will bring the game ball. During halftime ceremonies, all veterans from World War II to the current war on terrorism will be recognized on the field as the MTSU Band of Blue plays each military branch’s song.
The Marine Corps also will be collecting new toys at the gate for their Toys for Tots program. The Tennessee National Guard will set up military vehicles and equipment around the stadium, Giles said.
On Friday, Nov. 13, starting at 10 a.m. on the Keathley University Center knoll, the military science department will have a weapons simulation. It will run most of the day.
In addition to State Farm, other game presenters include Barrett Firearms, the National Guard and MT Athletics.
For more information, contact Brad Smith at 615-898-5322 or call Giles at 615-898-2470.
###
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
For MTSU news and information, go to mtsunews.com.
Media welcomed. (Note: Media credential required to gain entry into Floyd Stadium for the football game.)
News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-5616 or jweiler@mtsu.edu
Military Science contact: Maj. Chuck Giles, 615-898-2470 or cgiles@mtsu.edu
MT Athletics contact: Brad Smith, 615-898-5322 or bsmith@mtsu.edu
Salute Veterans at Nov. 14 MTSU Festivities
(MURFREESBORO) — MTSU’s military science and athletic departments have special events planned around the 28th annual Salute to Armed Services/Veterans Day Saturday, Nov. 14.
There’s something for everyone, including an Air Force flyover, parachutists bringing the game ball, a picnic and a patriotic halftime salute, during the Blue Raiders’ 3:15 p.m. Sun Belt Conference football game against Louisiana-Lafayette in Floyd Stadium.
Some noted MTSU military alumni, including U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Tony L. Cothron and Brig. Gen. Terry “Max” Haston, assistant adjutant general of the Tennessee National Guard, have been invited for a return visit to campus by university President Sidney A. McPhee. They will gather for brunch at the president’s home at 10 a.m. and will be recognized between the first and second quarters of the game.
After ROTC alumni meet at 11 a.m. at Forrest Hall, the first Veterans Memorial Service with the new veterans memorial in place will be held just outside the Tom H. Jackson Building.
At noon, veterans can register for the 12:30 p.m. barbecue picnic they will share with many of the 153 current cadet corps members at a site adjacent to the Kennon Sports Hall of Fame.
Roy Edwin Barker of Brentwood will be the 20th recipient of the Dr. Joe Nunley Memorial Award in a presentation that will begin at 1:30 p.m. MTSU alumnus Joe Nunley Jr. and John Furguss, past national commander in chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and commander of American Legion Post 05 in Nashville, will preside.
State Farm Insurance is providing complimentary tickets to the game for active military, veterans and their families on a first-come, first-served basis.
“This year, a combined service color guard will present the colors before the game,” said Maj. Chuck Giles, assistant professor of military science.
Following the Air Force flyover, weather permitting, the 101st Airborne Division Parachute Demonstration Team will bring the game ball. During halftime ceremonies, all veterans from World War II to the current war on terrorism will be recognized on the field as the MTSU Band of Blue plays each military branch’s song.
The Marine Corps also will be collecting new toys at the gate for their Toys for Tots program. The Tennessee National Guard will set up military vehicles and equipment around the stadium, Giles said.
On Friday, Nov. 13, starting at 10 a.m. on the Keathley University Center knoll, the military science department will have a weapons simulation. It will run most of the day.
In addition to State Farm, other game presenters include Barrett Firearms, the National Guard and MT Athletics.
For more information, contact Brad Smith at 615-898-5322 or call Giles at 615-898-2470.
###
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
For MTSU news and information, go to mtsunews.com.
Media welcomed. (Note: Media credential required to gain entry into Floyd Stadium for the football game.)
Friday, November 06, 2009
[188] MTSU Breaks Ground on New Student Union
Release date: Nov. 6, 2009
News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-5616 or jweiler@mtsu.edu
MTSU Breaks Ground on New Student Union
Target Date for Completion Is Early 2012
(MURFREESBORO) — Middle Tennessee State University officials today signaled the start of its next newest building with a groundbreaking ceremony for the Student Union.
President Sidney A. McPhee, Student Affairs/Enrollment and Academic Services leader Dr. Debra K. Sells and 2009-10 Student Government Association President Brandon McNary shared brief remarks.
“We’re all so excited to mark the ceremonial groundbreaking of this new facility, but clearly students already have seen the actual construction already under way, and they already have been a part of the planning and programming processes,” said Sells, who is vice president for student affairs and vice provost for enrollment and academic services.
“The groundbreaking is a wonderful time, however, for us all to take a minute to recognize the far-sightedness and commitment to the future of those students who paved the way by sponsoring the SGA legislation which has made this facility possible,” Sells said.
The Student Union, which is being built at a cost of $77.13 million and being paid for by student fees, “is intended to primarily serve as gathering space for students,” Sells said.
“Students, some of you will be lucky enough to experience how great this building truly is before you graduate,” McNary said. “… This building is just as much part of your legacy as the new Student Health and Wellness and Recreation Center renovations were a part of those who came before us.”
McPhee, who brought a historical perspective to his comments, said it will be “an incredible facility for students and the campus, and it was not funded at taxpayers’ expense. It’s a facility that’s badly needed on campus.”
Designed by Street Dixon Rick Architecture and Thomas Miller and Partners, the building’s 197,180 square feet can accommodate a bookstore, copy center, game room and food court (first floor); a ballroom, parliamentary room, video theater, computer center, conference and meeting rooms and student lounges (second floor); and offices for Student Involvement and Leadership, the SGA and Student Unions and Programming (third floor).
The target date for completion is early 2012, MTSU officials said.
The Student Union will not replace Keathley University Center, which will continue to house Student Affairs-related offices, the MTSU Post Office and others.
Pinnacle Construction Partners of Nashville and national builder Messer Construction were awarded the contract to build the new facility.
Campus, state and Rutherford County officials, MTSU students and others attended the ceremony, which was held near the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building.
Student Union building specs:
Budget: $77.13 (projected*)
Designers: Street Dixon Rick Architecture and Thomas Miller and Partners
Contractors: Pinnacle Construction Partners and Messer Construction
Schedule: Site work October 2009; target completion early 2012*
* — Subject to change
Student Union building features
First floor Second floor
• 640-seat dining facility • Collaborative computer center
• Support kitchen • 84-seat parliamentary room
• 102-seat casual dining • 95-seat video theater
• Small grab-and-go POD (purchase on demand) • 2 large conference rooms
• Game room • 2 medium conference rooms
• ATM area • 3 small conference rooms
• Bookstore • Formal meeting/dining
• Retail locations with future copy center area • 840-seat ballroom/green room
• Lounge areas • Support kitchen
• Lounge spaces
• E-mail check stations
• Seminar rooms
Third floor
• Student Involvement and Leadership offices
• Student Organization offices
• Student Government offices
• Student Programs
• Television lounge
• Other lounge spaces that include collaborative technology
###
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
For MTSU news and information, go to mtsunews.com.
Note: Should you need a jpeg rendering of the Student Union, please contact MTSU News and Public Affairs staffer Randy Weiler by calling 615-898-5616 or e-mail: jweiler@mtsu.edu.
News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-5616 or jweiler@mtsu.edu
MTSU Breaks Ground on New Student Union
Target Date for Completion Is Early 2012
(MURFREESBORO) — Middle Tennessee State University officials today signaled the start of its next newest building with a groundbreaking ceremony for the Student Union.
President Sidney A. McPhee, Student Affairs/Enrollment and Academic Services leader Dr. Debra K. Sells and 2009-10 Student Government Association President Brandon McNary shared brief remarks.
“We’re all so excited to mark the ceremonial groundbreaking of this new facility, but clearly students already have seen the actual construction already under way, and they already have been a part of the planning and programming processes,” said Sells, who is vice president for student affairs and vice provost for enrollment and academic services.
“The groundbreaking is a wonderful time, however, for us all to take a minute to recognize the far-sightedness and commitment to the future of those students who paved the way by sponsoring the SGA legislation which has made this facility possible,” Sells said.
The Student Union, which is being built at a cost of $77.13 million and being paid for by student fees, “is intended to primarily serve as gathering space for students,” Sells said.
“Students, some of you will be lucky enough to experience how great this building truly is before you graduate,” McNary said. “… This building is just as much part of your legacy as the new Student Health and Wellness and Recreation Center renovations were a part of those who came before us.”
McPhee, who brought a historical perspective to his comments, said it will be “an incredible facility for students and the campus, and it was not funded at taxpayers’ expense. It’s a facility that’s badly needed on campus.”
Designed by Street Dixon Rick Architecture and Thomas Miller and Partners, the building’s 197,180 square feet can accommodate a bookstore, copy center, game room and food court (first floor); a ballroom, parliamentary room, video theater, computer center, conference and meeting rooms and student lounges (second floor); and offices for Student Involvement and Leadership, the SGA and Student Unions and Programming (third floor).
The target date for completion is early 2012, MTSU officials said.
The Student Union will not replace Keathley University Center, which will continue to house Student Affairs-related offices, the MTSU Post Office and others.
Pinnacle Construction Partners of Nashville and national builder Messer Construction were awarded the contract to build the new facility.
Campus, state and Rutherford County officials, MTSU students and others attended the ceremony, which was held near the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building.
Student Union building specs:
Budget: $77.13 (projected*)
Designers: Street Dixon Rick Architecture and Thomas Miller and Partners
Contractors: Pinnacle Construction Partners and Messer Construction
Schedule: Site work October 2009; target completion early 2012*
* — Subject to change
Student Union building features
First floor Second floor
• 640-seat dining facility • Collaborative computer center
• Support kitchen • 84-seat parliamentary room
• 102-seat casual dining • 95-seat video theater
• Small grab-and-go POD (purchase on demand) • 2 large conference rooms
• Game room • 2 medium conference rooms
• ATM area • 3 small conference rooms
• Bookstore • Formal meeting/dining
• Retail locations with future copy center area • 840-seat ballroom/green room
• Lounge areas • Support kitchen
• Lounge spaces
• E-mail check stations
• Seminar rooms
Third floor
• Student Involvement and Leadership offices
• Student Organization offices
• Student Government offices
• Student Programs
• Television lounge
• Other lounge spaces that include collaborative technology
###
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
For MTSU news and information, go to mtsunews.com.
Note: Should you need a jpeg rendering of the Student Union, please contact MTSU News and Public Affairs staffer Randy Weiler by calling 615-898-5616 or e-mail: jweiler@mtsu.edu.
[187] MTSU Study Abroad Fair Shows Students Passport To Success
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 6, 2009
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081
MTSU STUDY ABROAD FAIR SHOWS STUDENTS PASSPORT TO SUCCESS
Trips to Fascinating Locales Add Dynamic Dimension to Classroom Credit Hours
(MURFREESBORO) – A passport to a world of new and exciting possibilities awaits MTSU students at the annual Study Abroad Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17, on the second floor of the Keathley University Center.
Rhonda Waller, director of Education Abroad and Student Exchange, says this year’s fair will be the biggest ever in terms of opportunities to travel to countries all over the world for the learning experience of a lifetime.
“My philosophy is to come and learn more information,” says Waller. “You may be surprised to find what’s possible. We’re here to find out what fits you.”
Exchange programs offered by MTSU can send students to Brazil, China, France, Germany, Ghana, Japan, Philippines, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the United Kingdom.
In addition, relationships with a number of consortia, including the Kentucky Institute for International Studies, the Cooperative Center for Study Abroad and the Tennessee Consortium for International Studies, provide students with numerous other options.
“The fair is a great first step, but the next step is to come in for advising,” says Waller. “Don’t wait until the last minute!”
MTSU sent 254 participants, including 232 undergraduates, abroad in the 2008-2009 academic year. Sixty-seven percent of them went to Western Europe. Twenty percent went to Latin America. Nine percent went to Asia.
In the same year, MTSU hosted 46 exchange students from 15 countries ranging from Antilles to Thailand. Seven of those students came from France, the destination for MTSU’s general education courses at the Institut Universitaire de Technologie in Cherbourg.
The school hosts MTSU undergraduates each June for summer classes augmented by historical trips to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Mont St. Michel and the D-Day beaches of Normandy.
“Although we offer French, we’re not primarily a foreign language program,” says Dr. Steven Livingston, professor of political science and coordinator of the Cherbourg excursions.
Accommodations are at a former French emperor’s naval hospital that has been converted into a cinema school. Each student will have his or her own room with a bath and a kitchenette.
--more--
STUDY ABROAD
Add 1
“I’m sure the students like the field trips the most because there are spectacular places they’ve never been,” Livingston says. “I just like daily life in France, the pace, the food, strolling around. France is still a country of small, individual shops. The shops you see in Cherbourg you’re not going to see anyplace else.”
“I loved being able to get out of my comfort zone and experience different cultures,” says Leah Rehmert, a senior marketing major from Union City of her 2008 Cherbourg trip.
Students seeking to study abroad for summer 2010, fall 2010 or the full 2010-2011 academic year can apply for generous scholarships. The deadline is January 28, 2010.
For more information, contact Livingston at 615-898-2720 or slivings@mtsu.edu or Waller at 615-898-5179 or mtabroad@mtsu.edu.
--30--
ATTENTION, MEDIA: For color jpegs from prior study abroad trips to Cherbourg, France, contact Gina Logue in the MTSU Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081
MTSU STUDY ABROAD FAIR SHOWS STUDENTS PASSPORT TO SUCCESS
Trips to Fascinating Locales Add Dynamic Dimension to Classroom Credit Hours
(MURFREESBORO) – A passport to a world of new and exciting possibilities awaits MTSU students at the annual Study Abroad Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17, on the second floor of the Keathley University Center.
Rhonda Waller, director of Education Abroad and Student Exchange, says this year’s fair will be the biggest ever in terms of opportunities to travel to countries all over the world for the learning experience of a lifetime.
“My philosophy is to come and learn more information,” says Waller. “You may be surprised to find what’s possible. We’re here to find out what fits you.”
Exchange programs offered by MTSU can send students to Brazil, China, France, Germany, Ghana, Japan, Philippines, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the United Kingdom.
In addition, relationships with a number of consortia, including the Kentucky Institute for International Studies, the Cooperative Center for Study Abroad and the Tennessee Consortium for International Studies, provide students with numerous other options.
“The fair is a great first step, but the next step is to come in for advising,” says Waller. “Don’t wait until the last minute!”
MTSU sent 254 participants, including 232 undergraduates, abroad in the 2008-2009 academic year. Sixty-seven percent of them went to Western Europe. Twenty percent went to Latin America. Nine percent went to Asia.
In the same year, MTSU hosted 46 exchange students from 15 countries ranging from Antilles to Thailand. Seven of those students came from France, the destination for MTSU’s general education courses at the Institut Universitaire de Technologie in Cherbourg.
The school hosts MTSU undergraduates each June for summer classes augmented by historical trips to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Mont St. Michel and the D-Day beaches of Normandy.
“Although we offer French, we’re not primarily a foreign language program,” says Dr. Steven Livingston, professor of political science and coordinator of the Cherbourg excursions.
Accommodations are at a former French emperor’s naval hospital that has been converted into a cinema school. Each student will have his or her own room with a bath and a kitchenette.
--more--
STUDY ABROAD
Add 1
“I’m sure the students like the field trips the most because there are spectacular places they’ve never been,” Livingston says. “I just like daily life in France, the pace, the food, strolling around. France is still a country of small, individual shops. The shops you see in Cherbourg you’re not going to see anyplace else.”
“I loved being able to get out of my comfort zone and experience different cultures,” says Leah Rehmert, a senior marketing major from Union City of her 2008 Cherbourg trip.
Students seeking to study abroad for summer 2010, fall 2010 or the full 2010-2011 academic year can apply for generous scholarships. The deadline is January 28, 2010.
For more information, contact Livingston at 615-898-2720 or slivings@mtsu.edu or Waller at 615-898-5179 or mtabroad@mtsu.edu.
--30--
ATTENTION, MEDIA: For color jpegs from prior study abroad trips to Cherbourg, France, contact Gina Logue in the MTSU Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
[186] 'Celebrating Lincoln Online' is Focus of Free Nov. 12 Heritage Lecture
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 6, 2009
CONTACT: Jennifer Butt, 615-217-8013 or jbutt@mtsu.edu
'CELEBRATING LINCOLN ONLINE' IS FOCUS OF FREE NOV. 12 HERITAGE LECTURE
(MURFREESBORO)—“Celebrating Lincoln Online” will be the focus of the Nov. 12 installment of the 2009 Fall Community Heritage Lecture Series that will get under way at 7 p.m. at The Heritage Center, 225 W. College St.
During the free talk, Ashleigh Oatts, a master’s candidate in MTSU’s public history program, will discuss the Library of Congress program known as Teaching with Primary Sources, with a focus on Abraham Lincoln.
Event sponsors said Oatts’ program will be of particular interest to anyone interested in using primary sources for research or educational purposes and cited the fact that the Library of Congress, the largest library in the world, has digitized more than 15 million primary source items and made them available through its Web site.
“This year is the bicentennial anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth,” Oatts observed. “This topic serves as an excellent example to show the many sources available through the Library of Congress Web site.”
The Teaching with Primary Sources program, referred to as TPS, was established in 2005 by the Library of Congress for the purpose of embedding the use of digital primary sources in curricula and the classroom to deepen content understanding and student literacy.
TPS is administered through a consortium of educational institutions in 10 states across the nation, with MTSU joining the consortium in May 2008. Through MTSU’s Center for Historic Preservation, TPS across Tennessee seeks to link current state-focused educational initiatives to large national themes and to emphasize the student exploration of history, sciences, arts, and culture through the use of primary sources, lecture organizers reported.
Located just off the square, The Heritage Center is open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding major holidays, and features local history exhibits and guided walking tours of the town square on the hour. Group tours are available Monday through Saturday by advance reservations.
The Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County is a joint venture between the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area, Main Street: Murfreesboro/Rutherford County, the City of Murfreesboro and the Center for Historic Preservation at MTSU. Additional support comes from the Rutherford County government and State Farm Insurance.
For more information on the Community Heritage Lecture Series, please call The Heritage Center at 615-217-8013 or e-mail heritage_center@bellsouth.net.
—30—
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey
CONTACT: Jennifer Butt, 615-217-8013 or jbutt@mtsu.edu
'CELEBRATING LINCOLN ONLINE' IS FOCUS OF FREE NOV. 12 HERITAGE LECTURE
(MURFREESBORO)—“Celebrating Lincoln Online” will be the focus of the Nov. 12 installment of the 2009 Fall Community Heritage Lecture Series that will get under way at 7 p.m. at The Heritage Center, 225 W. College St.
During the free talk, Ashleigh Oatts, a master’s candidate in MTSU’s public history program, will discuss the Library of Congress program known as Teaching with Primary Sources, with a focus on Abraham Lincoln.
Event sponsors said Oatts’ program will be of particular interest to anyone interested in using primary sources for research or educational purposes and cited the fact that the Library of Congress, the largest library in the world, has digitized more than 15 million primary source items and made them available through its Web site.
“This year is the bicentennial anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth,” Oatts observed. “This topic serves as an excellent example to show the many sources available through the Library of Congress Web site.”
The Teaching with Primary Sources program, referred to as TPS, was established in 2005 by the Library of Congress for the purpose of embedding the use of digital primary sources in curricula and the classroom to deepen content understanding and student literacy.
TPS is administered through a consortium of educational institutions in 10 states across the nation, with MTSU joining the consortium in May 2008. Through MTSU’s Center for Historic Preservation, TPS across Tennessee seeks to link current state-focused educational initiatives to large national themes and to emphasize the student exploration of history, sciences, arts, and culture through the use of primary sources, lecture organizers reported.
Located just off the square, The Heritage Center is open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding major holidays, and features local history exhibits and guided walking tours of the town square on the hour. Group tours are available Monday through Saturday by advance reservations.
The Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County is a joint venture between the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area, Main Street: Murfreesboro/Rutherford County, the City of Murfreesboro and the Center for Historic Preservation at MTSU. Additional support comes from the Rutherford County government and State Farm Insurance.
For more information on the Community Heritage Lecture Series, please call The Heritage Center at 615-217-8013 or e-mail heritage_center@bellsouth.net.
—30—
With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey
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