The Tusculum College Board of Trustees met on Thursday and Friday, September 22-23, and voted to move forward on expanding academic program offerings at the college.
At the recommendation of the Academic Affairs Committee, chaired by Dr. Jerry Ward, the board conceptually approved three new academic programs, including a master’s degree program in business administration and undergraduate programs in nursing and criminal justice.
The new programs have been recommended to the Board of Trustees after the completion of faculty-led comprehensive feasibility studies.
The programs were deemed to align well with the civic arts/community service portion of Tusculum’s mission and core values, and to have strong potential for the recruitment of new students to the College in the social/behavioral and natural sciences.
The Masters of Business Administration will be a transition from the existing Masters of Arts in Organizational Management. Based on the feasibility study, projected employment for students with the MBA credential is positive, and Tusculum College graduate business faculty members are well poised with experience, resources and organizational capacity to transition the MAOM into a MBA.
The feasibility study for the nursing program showed a number of local and national factors support the value of Tusculum College providing undergraduate students the opportunity to complete an undergraduate nursing degree either as first-time freshmen or as registered nurses seeking to complete a bachelor’s degree. Prospective student data collected via Tusculum College’s Office of Enrollment Management documents that the number of students considering Tusculum who are also seeking nursing have tripled since 2009.
In addition, a 2008 Tennessee Department of Health study found that all but one East Tennessee county are designated as whole or partial medically underserved areas, which indicates how strongly compatible nursing is with the civic arts/service components of the College’s mission and core values.
“A great deal of thought and effort has been put into creating these new programs by our faculty and administration,” said Dr. Nancy B. Moody, president of Tusculum College. “We are committed to increasing academic options for students, while continuing to support the programs already in place. The new programs complement the mission of Tusculum College and will provide new avenues for success for our students.”
The Board also approved the Vision 20/20 plan presented by Moody on behalf the administration. Vision 20/20, developed by all constituents of the institution, focuses all of the college’s resources on meeting challenges such as, enhancing institutional integrity through leadership and academic innovation, distinguishing Tusculum’s alumni as leading citizen-scholars, establishing transformative living and learning communities and creating the capital to support ongoing institutional self-sufficiency, security and innovation.
Additionally, Dr. Blair Henley, vice president and chief technology officer, presented his Vision 20/20 for institutional technology.
Henley reported on Thursday the current state of the college’s technology infrastructure, including software and hardware. The Board approved a nearly $1 million allocation for technology needs for the current academic year, including the college’s move to an integrated database system to replace the existing system and provide greater functionality, as well as increased desktop virtualization, which will allow our students to have access to the most current software and computer technology by the implementation of “Thin Client Solutions.”
Approval was also given for the 2011-2012 annual operating budget, set at $27,802,091, up just over $500,000 from the 2010-11 budget.
“We are very confident with our budget numbers for the year and are pleased that all the indicators of financial stability of the institution are where they need to be,” said Kenneth A. Bowman, chair of the Board of Trustees.
Bowman stated that the year-end financials for 2010-11 are positive and all the indicators, including endowment, net tuition revenue, net cash flow from operations and the U.S. Department of Education composite ratio are improved over the previous year.
In addition, fund raising efforts have been successful for the past year as well, despite the economic climate, according Dr. Angelo Volpe, chair of the Institutional Advancement Committee.
In 2010-11 nearly $1.75 million was raised from 1, 276 donors. In addition, a challenge was issued to increase alumni giving from five percent to 10 percent by June 30, with alumni responding in record numbers, ending the year with a giving percentage from the residential college at 10.86 percent.
Two faculty members were approved for promotion. Both Wayne Thomas, chair of the Fine Arts Department and Dr. Joel Van Amberg, chair of the History Department, were approved for promotion to associate professor.
Thomas joined Tusculum College in 2005. He has a Master’s of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from West Virginia University, with an emphasis in scriptwriting, a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Georgia College and State University with an emphasis in fiction and nonfiction and he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in theatre GCSU as well. He is co-editing an anthology of Appalachian Literature, “Red Holler,” due out by Sarabande Press in 2013.
Dr. Van Amberg has a Ph.D. in European history from The University of Arizona. He is chair of the Faculty Affairs Committee and the Tenure and Promotion Committee. He also serves on the Center for Global Studies Advisory Council. Dr. Van Amberg’s forthcoming book, “A Real Presence: Religious and Social Dynamics of the Eucharistic Conflicts in Early Modern Augsburg 1520-1530” is set to be published in Brill’s series, Studies in the History of Christian Thought and is due out later this year.
In other action the Board approved the awarding of diplomas to 307 graduates, pending successful completion of fall course work and faculty approval, for the Saturday, December 17, Commencement ceremonies.
Boards of Trustees officers for the new year were elected. Officers elected include: Chair, Bowman; Vice Chair, Edward J. Kormondy; Treasurer, Dwight Ferguson, and Secretary, Mark R. Williams.
Bowman, who currently resides in Apollo, Pa., has been a member of the Board since 1998 and chairman since 2006. He is a member of the Tusculum’s Class of 1970.
“I am happy to be serving my Alma Mater as Chairman of the Board of Trustees,” said Bowman. “It is an honor to serve, and I look forward to leading the institution in the year to come.”
Kormondy, a member of Tusculum’s Class of 1950, is chancellor emeritus of the University of Hawaii-Hilo in West Oahu and currently lives in Los Angeles, Calif. He has been a member of the Board since 1998. Ferguson joined the board in 2009. He is a retired from Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc., located in Erwin, where he served as president and chief executive officer from March 1992 until January 2009. Williams, of Greeneville, joined the Board in 2001. He is a broker with Century 21 Legacy.
Three trustees whose terms are ending were recognized and included Capt. Samuel L. Doak, a graduate from 1949, Jane Shanks Pilloni and Joseph S. Schwartz, both alumni from the Class of 1959. The three were presented certificates for their dedicated service through the years and were recognized for their faithfulness to the College by the members of the Board of Trustees.
The next meeting of the Tusculum College Board of Trustees is February 10-11, 2012.