Tusculum College Interim President Dr. Russell Nichols, at left, talks with Assistant Professor of English Richard Greenfield, facing camera, and Associate Professor of Education DiAnn Casteel, back to camera, during the 2007 Annual Staff and Faculty Picnic held behind Tusculum College’s Doak House Museum on Thursday, Aug. 16.

Faculty and staff paused from their preparations for the upcoming academic year to enjoy the event. Despite very hot weather, about 140 people attended the picnic, sponsored by Provost Dr. Kim Estep and her husband, Paul Adams. Staff and faculty members and their families enjoyed chicken, baked beans, potato salad, and a vegetarian past entrée catered by Diedra Haruff. The picnic was held under a large tent, and the nearby Doak House Museum remained open for guided tours after the picnic.

Members of the Tusculum College Pioneer football team were among about 50 volunteers who worked at Tusculum College on Tuesday to finish cleaning up residence halls to be ready for occupancy by football student-athletes returning to the College the next day for practice and for the upcoming fall academic semester. Others who volunteered included Resident Advisors, members of the College coaching staff and staffers from the Office of Student Affairs. In two and a half hours the group, working with the College housekeeping staff, cleaned two entire apartment-style residence hall buildings, washing down the walls and every refrigerator, microwave oven, toilet and sink in the buildings. About 50 people worked on the project, and had the residence halls ready for occupancy when football players arrived the following day. Shown above cleaning one of the rooms are, from left, Pioneer foot ball players Rashaad Montgomery, Calhoun, Ga.; Jarvis Littlejohn, Gaffney, S.C.; Altorien Reed (foreground), Brunswick, Ga.; Robbee Woodard, Mobile, Ala.; and JaMichael Caldwell, Chattanooga.

Several Northeast Tennessee business, government and civic life leaders with ties to Tusculum College are among the members of a committee established to lead the historic college’s search for a new permanent president.

Membership of the committee was announced by Dr. Kenneth Bowman, chairman of the Tusculum College Board of Trustees, on July 31, one day before the college’s new interim president, Dr. Russell Nichols of Indiana, began his work at Tennessee’s oldest college. Dr. Nichols directly succeeds two acting presidents, Dr. Angelo Volpe and Dr. Edward Kormondy, who served as acting presidents this summer while the search for a longer-term interim went on. Tusculum’s previous president was Dr. Dolphus E. Henry, who resigned this summer after seven years at the college.

Among the regional leaders serving on the Presidential Search Committee are Northeast Tennessee business figure and philanthropist Scott M. Niswonger, a 1987 graduate of Tusculum College who also holds an honorary doctorate from Tusculum; Miles Burdine, president/CEO of the Kingsport Area Chamber of Commerce; Dr. Don Henard, a noted Greeneville physician and community leader; John Foster, mayor of the City of Tusculum; and Don Raber, founder and president of Aldebaran Financial in Kingsport. All but Foster are members of the Tusculum College Board of Trustees.

Dr. Bowman, a 1970 Tusculum College graduate who lives in Pennsylvania, will chair the search committee.

Also on the committee are students Duane Randolph and Landree Brotherton, Student Government Association president and vice president, respectively. Faculty Moderator Dr. Robert Davis, a professor of biology, and Assistant Professor of Management Cheri Jones are faculty representatives on the committee, while George Collins, director of the Tusculum College Department of Museum Program and Studies, represents the TC staff. On the search committee as representative of the President’s Cabinet are Tusculum College Vice President and CFO Steve Gehret and Provost and Vice President Dr. Kimberly Estep.
Serving as advisors to the committee are Drs. Ed Kormondy, Angelo Volpe, and Nichols, the interim president. Kormondy and Volpe are trustees and former acting presidents of Tusculum College, and have been presidents and/or chancellors of major universities.

Representing the alumni of Tusculum College is Judith Domer ’61, president of the Tusculum College Alumni Executive Board.

In announcing the formation of the committee, Dr. Bowman said: “The structure and membership of this Committee are parallel in many ways to our recent Interim President Selection Committee. Both have been built with strong leaders from the several groups of our larger Tusculum College community. The goals are to include the several perspectives from across our College and to hire our next president. With this shared ownership in the process, the entire Tusculum College community will be invested in the success of our next president.”

The committee is accountable to the Board of Trustees and will make reports at all regularly scheduled trustee meetings and further reports as deemed appropriate by the board chairman. The committee’s charge is to recommend to the board a candidate to serve as the next president of Tusculum College, and a supporting rationale. While this process is expected to take several months, the goal is to have a new president in place by the start of the 2008-2009 academic year.

The committee is expected to find and contract with an academic search firm, determine desirable attributes for the new president, and begin advertising the position no later than September.

The new, online application for work study jobs is now online. The new application is designed to do a better job of matching student’s skills and interests with the requirements of the work study positions available.

The application is available at: https://www.tusculum.edu/faid/workstudy_application.php

A visual tribute to the memory of Jean Hixon, who served as Executive Administrator and Associate Registrar for Tusculum College’s Graduate and Professional Studies program until her death in July, now adorns a wall on the ground floor of Virginia Hall, just across from Jean’s old office suite.

Featuring photos and other memorabilia of Jean, who had worked on campus since the mid-1980s, the display was put up by her friends and coworkers and will remain in place about a month.

Words and phrases that were either descriptive of Miss Hixon or were commonly said by her highlight the display. Among them are “gracious,” “Miss Tusculum College,” “the ‘go to’ person,” and one of her common expressions, “Oh, good glory!”

Another phrase, “Are you causing trouble again?” was described by GPS Coordinator of Enrollment Jamie Hamer as something Miss Hixon often asked him. Also on the display is a poetic acronym based on Jean Hixon’s name, in which each letter is linked to an aspect of her personality and life. It was written by Mary Sheffield.

A photo gallery has been created for the Athletic Training Education Program and is now online. The purpose of the gallery is to maximize the exposure of the program to potential students. In addition to being a visual recruiting tool for new students, the gallery also serves as a digital scrapbook for students currently enrolled in the program.

The gallery is a direct result of the efforts of Assistant Professor of Athletic Training Jane Sandusky who serves as director of the Athletic Training Education Program and her colleagues, including Head Athletic Trainer Chris Lenker, Assistant Athletic Trainer and Clinical Instructor Amy Brooks, ATC Clinician Sarah Brooks, Assistant Athletic Trainer Michael Hawkins and Assistant Athletic Trainer and Clinical Education Coordinator Tom Stueber.

View the ATEP Photo Gallery.

Ed Hoffmeyer has announced he will be stepping down as Director of Athletics at Tusculum College effective August 24, 2007 announced acting president Dr. Ed Kormondy. For nearly a decade, Hoffmeyer has guided the Tusculum athletic program into the most successful period in the storied history of Tennessee’s oldest college.

Hoffmeyer will be returning to his alma mater, Mars Hill College, to accept a position outside Athletics.

During his nine years at Tusculum, he has emphasized the term student-athlete, which has resulted in the Pioneers being one of the leaders in the South Atlantic Conference in honorees to the League’s Academic Honor Roll since officially joining the conference in 1998. The Pioneers have enjoyed success both on and off the field, including 15 SAC regular season championships, nine SAC Tournament titles and 20 NCAA Tournament appearances. TC has been honored with 18 SAC Scholar-Athletes, 13 Conference Players of the Year and 15 SAC Freshmen of the Year. Also included are 21 All-Americans and six Academic All-Americans®.

Over the last nine years, Tusculum’s 14 intercollegiate teams have posted a .600 winning percentage, accounting for over 60 winning seasons, the most ever by the TC athletic department in a nine-year period. In all, the Pioneers have won over 1,400 games or matches since 1998. Last year alone, 11 sports tallied winning campaigns.

“I and the Board of Trustees accept this resignation with regret and sadness,” said Dr. Kormondy. “Ed has been a wonderful ambassador for Tusculum and he will be greatly missed. I’m very happy for Ed and Linda and wish them all the best in their future endeavors and thank them for all they have done for our College.”

Tusculum’s athletic facilities have undergone major renovations during Hoffmeyer’s watch. Renovations included: a new press box and grandstand areas for Pioneer Field (football/soccer), an indoor athletic practice facility and field house, and lighted soccer fields on the East end of campus. In 2004, the final construction was completed for Pioneer Park, the 2,400-seat home of Tusculum baseball, giving TC one of the finest venues of its kind in collegiate sports. The J.C. “Red” Edmonds Softball Field also received a facelift with the installation of a state-of-the-art playing surface in 2003 and the installation of lights in the spring of 2006. Coupled with Pioneer Arena (basketball/volleyball) and the Roger M. Nichols Tennis Complex, TC has been blessed to have some of the finest facilities of any small college in the nation.

“This was a decision that hasn’t been made hastily or easily,” said Hoffmeyer. “I have enjoyed my nine years at Tusculum and will always cherish the friendships that have been nurtured during my time here. I wish to thank the Board of Trustees, Presidents Robert Knott, Tom Garland and Dolph Henry, and most recently acting Presidents Angelo Volpe and Ed Kormondy for the opportunity to serve the College as athletic director during a period of growth and accomplishment. I especially wish to thank the outstanding coaches and staff, who I have had the pleasure of working with at Tusculum and for their service to this institution and for their support during my tenure. Tusculum is indeed fortunate to have each and every one of them. I also want to thank the fine student-athletes who have been part of making Tusculum College Athletics so special.”

“There are many factors that make the timing of my decision appropriate,” added Hoffmeyer. “Because of her role as primary care giver for her mother, my wife and I have had to maintain two residences during my tenure at Tusculum. Over the last month, an opportunity presented itself for me to return to my alma mater in a capacity outside of athletics. The chance to move back to the Asheville area and spend more time with my wife is something that I could not pass.”

For eight years (1991-98) he served as athletic director at Mars Hill. Hoffmeyer oversaw a rapid growth in MHC athletics, as the number of varsity sports grew from nine to 16. The Lions claimed four conference titles and boasted 16 South Atlantic Conference scholar-athletes during his tenure. Like Tusculum, he oversaw MHC’s transition into the NCAA from the NAIA in 1991.

After 20 years in private business, the 1968 Mars Hill graduate returned to his alma mater in 1988 where he served as Alumni Director for three years before accepting the athletic director’s post.

“I especially wish to thank Scott Niswonger for his support not only of the athletic department but for his support of the College,” said Hoffmeyer. “He has allowed us to dream and continue to provide opportunities for many young people to experience the joy of athletic competition in a college environment.”

Hoffmeyer has been active on a number of national and regional athletic committees. He has served as national chair of the NCAA Division II Women’s Golf Championship Committee. He has been a member of the NCAA Division II Athletic Directors Association’s Board of Directors and served as chairman of the South Atlantic Conference Athletic Directors Council. He was also on the NCAA II Football Southeast Region Selection Committee. In 1994, he was honored as a member of Who’s Who in Global Business.

Hoffmeyer also served as men’s golf coach at Mars Hill. His 1997-98 linksters set a school record with a 111-61 mark and for his efforts, was honored as SAC Golf Coach of the Year.

While a student-athlete at Mars Hill, Hoffmeyer was a member of the Lions’ track and field team, where he ran the intermediate hurdles, 440-yard dash and was on the two relay teams. He also lettered one season on the Mars Hill basketball team.

He and his wife, Linda, are the parents of two children, Courtney, a graduate from Mars Hill College, and Zac, who was a four-year letterman on the Pioneer men’s golf team. The Hoffmeyers also have a granddaughter, Aliyah, 8 and a grandson, Will, 1.

Dr. Kormondy indicated he would be naming an interim athletic director soon and that a national search would follow to name a permanent athletic director.

Tusculum College, located in Greeneville, Tenn., is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and is a NCAA Division II member of the South Atlantic Conference which is comprised of nine colleges and universities in Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Dr. Russell L. Nichols, who retired June 30 from the presidency of Hanover College in Hanover, Ind., has accepted the position of Interim President of Tusculum College beginning Aug. 1. This was announced by Tusculum College Board of Trustees Chairman Dr. Kenneth Bowman today.
Dr. Nichols went through the formal interview process at Tusculum College on Thursday, July 12, and traveled back to Indiana that day.

Bowman said, “Dr. Nichols has already proven he is a very successful college president with his long list of significant accomplishments at Hanover College. His success comes from his remarkable blend of qualities. He is a motivator and is very effective at building and supporting teamwork. He is aggressive at making change and moving programs forward. And he is personable, engaging, firm and fair when working with people. It is with great pleasure I welcome Rusty Nichols to Tusculum College.”

Nichols said, “I’m delighted to join the talented staff at Tusculum. Tusculum has a rich history and a promising future, and I’m pleased to have this opportunity to become part of it as we move toward finding a permanent president.”

Nichols had completed his 20th year as president of Indiana’s oldest four-year College at the time of his retirement. He was the 14th president in Hanover’s 179-year history and only the fifth since 1879.

Phillip Scott, chairman of the Hanover board, noted: “President Nichols literally helped transform every aspect of Hanover College. There is greater faculty participation in shared governance, more financial resources available to support academic programs, major academic and residential facilities have been constructed or renovated, and the investments of the College have increased from some $40 million to approximately $200 million.”

During Nichols’ tenure at Hanover, the 179-year-old institution experienced unparalleled growth in both quantity and quality as recognized by peer institutions and leading publications. Its number of full-time faculty grew from 74 in 1987 to 110 today, and administrative staff positions nearly doubled due in large part to new intellectual ventures such as the Center for Free Inquiry, the Rivers Institute at Hanover, the Center for Business Preparation, and the Career Connections Program.

The academic ability of incoming Hanover classes, as evidenced by SAT scores, increased more than 15 percent, or nearly 180 points, during Nichols’ tenure.

In 1987, fund-raising totaled $3.26 million. Last year, the college received close to $20 million in gifts from alumni, parents, and friends. Nichols oversaw a $45 million investment in campus construction and facilities renovation, including a $22.7 million Science Center and the $11.3 million Horner Health and Recreation Center. Other construction includes the Ogle Center and Greenwood Suites, both providing apartment-style living for students.
For the past two years, Hanover has been listed as one of the top 100 liberal arts colleges in the country by U.S News and World Report, and consistently ranked as one of the best educational values in the U.S.

Nichols holds a Ph.D. from Purdue University and the A.B. from Wabash College, as well as an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Hillsdale College. He came to Hanover from Hillsdale, where he served 12 years in a number of capacities, including director of admission, vice president for student affairs, and later vice president for academic and student affairs. He also has held administrative positions at Eastern Illinois University and Wabash College.

Active in civic affairs, Dr. Nichols is an ordained elder of Hanover Presbyterian Church. Last year, he was one of 28 Indiana residents appointed by the Indiana governor and the state’s superintendent of public instruction to the Indiana Education Roundtable, a forum to consider policy decisions affecting students in pre-school through college.

He has been a member of the advisory committee of Indiana Vocational Technical College, a board member of Historic Madison, Inc., and a member of the Madison Bank and Trust Company board of directors. He co-chairs the Committee on Volunteerism for the Indiana Donors Alliance, and is an honorary member of the Rotary Club of Madison.

From 2001 to 2003, Dr. Nichols served as president of the American Association of Presidents of Independent Colleges and Universities. In 1997-98, he served as president of the Indiana College Athletic Conference President’s Council. For more than a decade, he was a member of the executive committee of the Independent Colleges of Indiana and the executive committee of its foundation.

Dr. Nichols has been honored by Wabash College with the prestigious Clarence Jackson Career Service Award for his contributions to higher education. In 1991 he was named a Kentucky Colonel, an award presented by the Governor of Kentucky in recognition of civic service. The following year he was named a Sagamore of the Wabash, presented by Indiana’s governor in recognition of civic service. In 1993, he was inducted into the Wabash College Athletic Hall of Fame, and that same year he received the Distinguished Education Career Achievement Award from Purdue University.

Hanover is a private liberal arts college founded in 1827. Like Tusculum College, it is associated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), and is the oldest college established in its state. It is located on a 600-acre campus along the Ohio River, in the town of Hanover, Ind.

Nichols will be the second interim president to serve at Tusculum in the past decade. Dr. Thomas Garland H’86 served an interim presidency at the College for about a year between the presidencies of Dr. Robert Knott and Dr. Dolphus Henry.

During the current spring/summer period, Tusculum College has been led on an alternating and cooperative basis by two members of its Board of Trustees who have extensive administrative experience in higher education. They are Tennessee Technological University President Emeritus Dr. Angelo Volpe, and University of Hawaii at Hilo Chancellor Emeritus Dr. Edward Kormondy, a 1950 Tusculum College graduate who also served as Interim President of the University of West Los Angeles School of Law.

Both Volpe and Kormondy were involved in the selection of Dr. Nichols for the interim presidency, along with other trustees and a committee of Tusculum College staff, faculty, students, and alumni.

Dr. Dolphus E. Henry III, who led Tennessee’s oldest institution of higher learning through much growth and change, has resigned as president of Tusculum College.

Dr. Henry, a Virginia native, had extensive experience in higher education when he came to Tusculum in June 2000, and quickly focused the College on strategic planning and outcomes assessment, strengthening and growing the faculty, improving facilities including the main Tusculum College library, and increasing enrollment.

His administration also saw an expansion of academic opportunities available through Tusculum College. During Dr. Henry’s tenure, a political science major was approved in November 2001 and a journalism minor approved that same year, an Honors Program was put in place in April 2004, a revised Commons Curriculum was approved in January 2005 and a civic engagement minor was approved in Fall of 2006.

Under Dr. Henry’s administration, Tusculum College developed a concise college mission statement for both the traditional Residential College and the innovative Graduate and Professional Studies program for working adult students, developed a five-year rolling strategic plan tied to budget allocation, and created a campus master plan tied to that strategic plan.

Dr. Henry’s administration brought both the traditional and working adult facets of the college under the academic oversight of a single provost, bringing unity to what had in practice often operated as mostly separate programs.

Dr. Henry also increased faculty numbers. In the Residential College the number of full-time faculty members increased from 42 when Dr. Henry came to the College to a high of 51 during the 2005-2006 academic year. The number during the 2006-2007 current academic year was 48.

Graduate and Professional Studies operated with solely adjunct faculty in 2000-2001. Dr. Henry established full-time GPS faculty positions.

In 2003, Dr Henry led the college through a successful accreditation reaffirmation process with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Dr. Henry’s presidency also saw physical growth on Tusculum’s campuses. The Knoxville Regional Center was completed in 2002. On the Greeneville campus, the Niswonger Sports Complex was completed in 2003 and the expanded and renovated Library at Tusculum College was officially opened in 2005, bringing that facility from an outdated 1910 structure of 10K square feet up to a state-of-the-art structure of 34K square feet. Full-text on-line journals in the library increased from 7,000 to 24,000 to support undergraduate and graduate programs. Two distance education librarian posts were established, and a satellite library created at Tusculum College’s Knoxville Center.

Residential College student enrollment grew during Dr. Henry’s tenure from 483 to just under 1,000.

During the Henry years, four 48-bed apartment-styled residence halls were constructed. Improvements were also made to Tusculum’s GPS facilities in Morristown.
Dr. Henry had over three decades of college administrative experience before joining Tusculum. His earlier work was focused on strategic planning, marketing, and outcome-based learning.

Before joining Tusculum, which is associated with the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., Dr. Henry was professionally associated with three religiously affiliated institutes of higher education (Roanoke College, Salem Virginia; Capital University, Columbus Ohio; and Mercer University, Macon Georgia) and one public institution (State University of New York, Potsdam).

Dr. Henry received his Ph.D. in Educational Research and Evaluation from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Va., in 1982. He earned a Master’s degree in guidance and psychology from Radford University in Radford, Va., in 1973, and a BA in psychology from Roanoke College in 1972. In 1999, Dr. Henry studied at the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard University.

Dr. Henry and his wife, the former Judith Worthy, restored the College tradition of using the presidential residence as a site for receptions, meetings, dinners and other special events. On a more social level, Dr. and Mrs. Henry initiated several events that have become ‘traditions’ at the College, such as new student move-in day, receptions for graduating seniors and the annual faculty/staff Children’s Christmas party. They opened the President’s House to the College and community for many events.

The Henrys were married in 1974 and have one daughter, Jessica.

Judith Henry received her Bachelor’s degree from Radford University in Virginia, and her Masters from Tusculum College. She is the founder and chief executive officer of Worthy Solutions, a consulting firm specializing in helping small companies build stronger business relationships through a strategic process and improved communication techniques.

Judith Henry has been actively involved in community activities and in Greeneville First Presbyterian Church.

Kelley Simpson, Director of Enrollment and Marketing for Tusculum College, Graduate and Professional Studies Programs, was recently nominated as President of the East Tennessee College Alliance. She has accepted the position and will serve the alliance during the 2007-2008 academic year.

Founded in 1992, the East Tennessee College Alliance (ETCA) is a consortium of colleges and universities committed to the presentation and delivery of post-secondary educational programs to employees of area businesses and industries.

Defined as non-profit colleges and universities that provide programs specific to adult students, hold regional accreditation, and have main campuses within a 13-county area proximate to Knox County, the members of ETCA are dedicated to promoting higher education opportunities for adults.

For additional information on ETCA, visit the website at http://www.discoveret.org/etca

Visitors to Tusculum College’s Advance Registration Day on Monday, June 18, had the unusual experience of meeting not just one chief executive of the College, but two.

Tusculum College Trustees Dr. Ed Kormondy, left, and Dr. Angelo Volpe are both providing presidential leadership for the College, on an alternating basis, as the College begins the process of seeking an interim president.

Dr. Kormondy, a 1950 Tusculum College graduate who was a university president in the University of Hawaii system, arrived at Tusculum on Monday, which was the last full day of service for Dr. Volpe during the month of June. Dr. Volpe is president emeritus of Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville.

Both “acting presidents” took part in greeting new students and their families during the Advance Registration taking place that day.

In three Advance Registration days held so far this summer, Tusculum College has registered about 150 students. Two more Advance Registration days will be hosted by the College on July 23 and 27. Classes begin Aug. 20.

Tusculum College kicker Glen Black has been named the 2006-07 recipient of the South Atlantic Conference Presidents Award announced officials at the league’s annual meeting in Asheville. The SAC Presidents Award is presented annually to the top male and female student-athletes in the conference as chosen by the Faculty Athletic Representatives of each member institution at the end of each academic year.

Black, a native of Bristol, Tenn., becomes the second student-athlete in Tusculum history to earn this prestigious honor. Former Tusculum women’s basketball standout Julie Maples earned the SAC Presidents Award in 2004-05. Black also becomes only the second football player in the 19-year history of this award. Presbyterian College’s David Nelson was the first gridiron standout to earn the honor in 1990-91.

Black was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® College Division Football Second Team last fall, becoming the first player in the program’s history to earn Academic All-America® distinction.

Black graduated this past fall with a 3.82 cumulative grade point average, while earning a degree in Accounting. He was also named the SAC Scholar Athlete for football the last two seasons (2005 & 2006).

Black enjoyed a solid season on the gridiron leading the Pioneers in scoring with 43 points. The Tennessee High School graduate went 22-of-24 on extra points and 7-of-11 on field goals earning All-South Atlantic Conference Second Team honors. Black was named the SAC Special Teams Player of the Week twice during his career, including once in 2006.

The Tennessee High School graduate is ranked second in Tusculum history with 111 career points (kicking) and is the all-time leader in extra points (69) and extra point attempts (77).

Black was a campus leader, serving as vice president of student government association. He led weekly Bible studies with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes as well as worked with a local church to develop a Tusculum Baptist College Night. He volunteered with numerous community service projects through Nettie Day at Tusculum College and through church activities.

Black was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV First Team last fall and was tabbed to the 2006 American Football Coaches Association of America Good Works Team which recognizes community service, along with athletic and academic achievement. He was one of only 22 collegiate football players in the country to earn this prestigious honor.

Nominees for the SAC Presidents Award include the SAC Scholar Athlete recipients from the sports year, representing all 14 sponsored sports by the conference. Nominees exemplify the finest combined qualities of athletic and academic ability. A minimum GPA of 3.30 is required and nominees must hold at least junior status. Nominees must also possess and exhibit outstanding character and qualities which are in keeping with the most prestigious student-athlete recognition within the league.