[192] TBR Honors McPhee with 'Catalyst Award' for Online-Education Efforts

FOR RELEASE: Nov. 29, 2011
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Andrew Oppmann, 615-898-7800 or Andrew.Oppmann@mtsu.edu

TBR honors McPhee with ‘Catalyst Award’ for online-education efforts

MURFREESBORO— MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee is one of five recipients of the “Catalyst Award,” an honor from the Regents Online Campus Collaborative for efforts to make postsecondary education accessible online for all Tennesseans.

In the span of a single year, McPhee and his fellow honorees set into motion major decisions on:
• a degree framework;
• course-development plan and articulation;
• a revenue-sharing model;
• a new Learning Management System;
• substantive change notification for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools;
• credit transferability between institutions;
• financial-aid eligibility;
• a common calendar;
• critical student-support services;
• faculty development; and
• a marketing plan.

As a result, the Regents Online Degree Program successfully launched in September 2001 and has grown from 1,048 students to more than 14,500 students in 2011. The program celebrated its 10-year anniversary at the Tennessee Board of Regents headquarters in Nashville Oct. 28.

McPhee’s fellow Catalyst Award winners included R. Jack Fishman, a former TBR member; Dr. Dan Lattimore, vice provost of the University of Memphis; Dr. Ellen Weed, retired vice president of Nashville State Community College; and Dr. Robbie Melton, associate vice chancellor for the TBR.

A video documenting the Catalyst Award winners' roles in the startup and launch of the Regents Online Degree Program can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPe8z7-4U9A.

The Regents Online Campus Collaborative is an award-winning program that brings together postsecondary educational resources from the six state universities, 13 community colleges and 27 technology centers across the state of Tennessee. Through Regents Online, students can earn associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees or diplomas and certificates from institutions in the collaborative.

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The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has recognized MTSU for its outstanding curricular engagement, community outreach and partnerships. As MTSU celebrates its 100th anniversary, Pride, Tradition and Excellence are the cornerstones of "Tennessee’s Best"!

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