[055] McPhee Touts MTSU, Pitches Partnerships to Business Rountable

Aug. 22, 2010
Contact: Tom Tozer, 615-898-2919

MCPHEE TOUTS MTSU, PITCHES PARTNERSHIPS TO BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE

MURFREESBORO—Tennessee needs to produce 20,000 more college graduates by 2025 in order to reach the national average. Progress in that direction will produce an increased and better-trained workforce and spur economic development, which is what the Complete College Tennessee Act of 2010 Act is designed to address.
An important part of meeting that challenge is to find newer ways to partner with business. Recently the Tennessee Business Roundtable met with higher-education officials to discuss “The Changing Face of Higher Education: The Role of Business.” Members heard from TBR Chancellor Charles Manning, MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee and Dr. Jan Simek, interim president at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Manning reminded roundtable members that in the last 10 years, enrollment in the TBR system has grown from 181,000 to 210,000 students.
“We have received zero new operating money from the state,” Manning said. “We’re operating on a 2000-2001 operating budget. … We need partners in the community.”
“While we are supportive of this landmark legislation … it should not be perceived as a silver bullet, solving all our problems,” McPhee told the audience. “We will make programs more accountable.”
The legislation calls for basing the funding formula more on successful outcomes and graduation rates rather than enrollment numbers. In addition it gives community colleges more prominence in the educational process, calls for a more seamless transition from a 2-year college to 4-year university, requires both the TBR and UT systems to establish dual-admission and dual-enrollment policies and recognizes the importance of enhancing education at the K-12 level.
McPhee reminded members that MTSU already provides more college graduates to the state’s workforce than any other institution in the state.
“More than 55 percent of our alumni live within a hour of Nashville,” he said. “The combined direct and indirect economic impact on the area’s economy from the university is estimated to be in excess of $1 billion annually.” He added that more than 70 percent of MTSU graduates live in Tennessee.
The lack of state funding has made it difficult for schools to meet the anticipated enrollment growth, McPhee said, and many schools, including MTSU, are limping along with antiquated facilities and equipment. The panel agreed that business needs to step up and provide financial support when appropriate, including offering more scholarships and internships.
“There must be better coordination and communication between business and educational leaders to assure that we are relevant in our programming and that our academic systems are in line with the needs of the business community,” McPhee noted.
Simek told the gathering that a recent survey of UT students who had dropped out of school revealed that they did so because they did not feel engaged.
“We need to provide a sense of belonging … create smaller communities of students within the larger student population … and we need better and more accurate advising,” Simek said. “We have to instill the notion that we are partners with students.”
The Tennessee Business Roundtable and the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce partnered with the Tennessee Higher Education Commission and the Lumina Foundation in sponsoring the event.