MTSU contacts: Andrew
Oppmann, 615-339-8851 or Andrew.Oppmann@mtsu.edu; Jimmy
Hart, 615-898-5131 or Jimmy.Hart@mtsu.edu
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. —
The chairman and secretary of The College of The Bahamas Council, the governing
board of the nation’s public institution of higher education, visited Middle
Tennessee State University this week to collect ideas and insights as the
college prepares to its transition to become The University of The Bahamas.
Chairman Alfred Sears, a former education minister for The
Commonwealth of The Bahamas, and Secretary Michael Stevenson arrived
Wednesday and spent Thursday and Friday touring the MTSU campus and meeting
with university executives.
Campus stops included visits with dean and faculty of the
Jennings A. Jones College of Business; the College of Mass Communication; and
the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, including the departments of
Agribusiness and Agriscience, as well as Aerospace.
After more than 35 years serving The Bahamas, first as a
two-year institution, then as a four-year degree-granting college, the
institution will soon become a university with a focus to support and drive
national development through education, research and innovation and service.
Sears said the delegation focused its time upon the MTSU
programs that it hopes to emulate when it reaches university status —
agriculture, small business development, recording industry management and
business entrepreneurship — that can help The Bahamas diversify its economy and
support greater sustainability.
The chairman said the delegation was most impressed with
MTSU's “close relationship between industry and the academy,” as well as its
shared governance with faculty, its priority on experiential student learning
and the cohesion and shared vision on student success.
“We have a long way to go, but based on what we've seen here,
we're on the right track,” Sears said. “It's possible to achieve what we are
envisioning.”
On Friday, the delegation toured MTSU's Guy James Agricultural
Campus and the university’s new dairy barn before leaving to visit the
University of Memphis.
Stevenson said they were very impressed with the level of
involvement they observed with students and faculty.
“Your emphasis on student-centered learning and student
engagement are going to be two of the biggest things we are going to take home
as lessons,” he said. “We were also impressed with the level of passion among
your faculty and the attention and caring of the work being done by faculty and
administrators on campus.”
MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee said the University was
honored to serve as a resource to The College of The Bahamas.
“We have made student-centered learning and development of
public-private partnerships one of our top priorities," he said. “We are
proud to show them tangible examples of our devotion to student success.”
Stevenson and Sears said the University of The Bahamas will
support efforts to diversify the nation’s economy, which today mostly centers
on tourism and banking. MTSU's agriculture programs caught their eye, since
most of The Bahamas’ food supply is imported, Stevenson said.
Warren Gill, chair of MTSU's Agribusiness and Agriscience
Department, said the University's recently completed dairy barn caught the eyes
of the delegation members.
“I think they got the lesson that our focus is on
student-centered learning,” Gill said. “There are very few ways to better learn
animal science than hands-on learning.”
Bud Fischer, dean of the College of Basic and Applied
Sciences, said MTSU faculty stressed student engagement and community outreach
to the visitors.
“We spent time talking about how to engage students in
learning about agriculture and their ability to make a living in agriculture,”
he said.
An official welcoming reception Thursday featured
Murfreesboro Mayor Tommy Bragg and his wife, Jeanne; MTSU alumnus Darrell
Freeman, a member of the Tennessee Board of Regents; and TBR Vice Chancellor
Wendy Thompson.
On Saturday, they will return to Murfreesboro to meet with
the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce to learn more about economic
development and educational partnerships.
About MTSU
Founded in 1911 as
one of three state normal schools for teacher training, MTSU is now the oldest
and largest public university in Middle Tennessee. With an enrollment of more
than 25,000 students, MTSU is the largest undergraduate university in
Tennessee.
MTSU remains
committed to providing individualized service in an exciting and nurturing
atmosphere where student success is the top priority. With a wide variety of
nationally recognized academic degree programs at the baccalaureate, master's
and doctoral levels, MTSU takes pride in educating the best and the brightest
students from Tennessee and around the world.
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