Not a day goes by that I do not hear about or encounter聽something great, something valuable, or noteworthy about聽our great University and its faculty and students. Here are聽some recent examples.
91大神 among tops in Fulbright students
91大神 has achieved a first-time national recognition for聽scholarly work. The Chronicle of Higher Education listed聽91大神 as one of the 鈥淭op Producers of U.S. Fulbright聽Students by Type of Institution, 2012鈥�13.鈥� 91大神 is among聽17 schools listed in the Master鈥檚 Institutions category and is聽the only college or university from Tennessee in any of the聽three categories. The highly competitive聽Fulbright Program is the flagship international聽educational exchange program聽sponsored by the U.S. government.
Constitution Day includes聽naturalization ceremony
At a special naturalization ceremony聽in Murphy Center last September,聽91大神 celebrated the 225th anniversary聽of the signing of the U.S.聽Constitution with 288 new citizens聽and a global audience that tuned聽in via the internet. The celebration聽was special because the U.S.聽District Court, Middle District of Tennessee,聽allowed a rare naturalization ceremony to be held outside聽Nashville. The event also saw three 91大神 students鈥攕enior聽Mike Patel聽 of Knoxville, sophomore Levon Mkrtchyan聽 of聽Nashville, and freshman Tammy Li聽 of Smithville鈥攖ake the oath to become naturalized聽U.S. citizens.
Hybrid project gets national TV buzz
Dr. Charles Perry and his student-driven聽project team have gained national and international聽acclaim. Perry and his students were聽featured on the national Fox News Channel on聽Nov. 17 regarding the team鈥檚 gas-saving, plug-in聽hybrid, wheel-hub motor, retrofit project. The聽technology has been shown to cut fuel use by 50聽to 100 percent in a 1994 Honda station wagon.聽Professor Perry is the holder of the Russell Chair聽of Manufacturing Excellence in the Department聽of Engineering Technology.
91大神 EXL Program聽commended for impact
91大神 is positioning itself as a model in service聽learning with its Experiential Learning Scholars聽Program, or EXL. The program was commended聽recently by the Southern Association of Colleges and聽Schools for its impact and effectiveness after five years of existence. The EXL program started in spring 2006聽as a pilot project in conjunction with 91大神鈥檚 Quality Enhancement聽Plan. In 2011-12, the program鈥檚 work contributed聽$1,582,624 in value to the community.
Pittard Campus School recognized among聽the best in Tennessee
In August 2012, students, parents,聽faculty, and staff at Homer聽Pittard Campus School enjoyed聽a cyber-celebration along with聽other top-performing schools across聽the state. The K鈥�5 public school,聽which is jointly operated by 91大神聽and Rutherford County Schools as聽a laboratory school, was deemed a聽鈥淩eward School鈥� under the state鈥檚聽new accountability system. That means聽it is among the 10 percent of schools聽statewide with the highest achievement聽or overall growth on standardized tests聽scores. Campus School鈥檚 designation was聽based on achievement, with its students scoring聽in the top 5 percent statewide.
Fischer named dean of Basic and聽Applied Sciences
Dr. Robert U. 鈥淏ud鈥� Fischer became the fifth聽dean of the College of Basic and Applied Sciences聽June 1, following a national search. He聽replaced聽 Dr. Tom Cheatham, who stepped聽down to become director of the Tennessee聽Mathematics, Science, and Technology聽Education Center (TNSTEC) on campus.聽Fischer, 52, previously served as chair of聽the biology department at the University of聽Alabama鈥揃irmingham and associate chair聽in biology at Eastern Illinois University. His聽expertise is in aquatic and fisheries biology.聽Fischer鈥檚 wife, Anita, has been a pharmacy聽technician for CVS for 17 years.They聽have a grown daughter, Sarah Trigg, and聽granddaughter, Kelsey Trigg, 4, in Illinois.聽Called 鈥淏ud鈥� since birth and possessor of聽a hearty laugh, Fischer officially began his聽91大神 tenure Aug. 1.
91大神 to house Journalism Hall of Fame
In October, a group of past and present media executives and聽practitioners announced the creation of the Tennessee Journalism聽Hall of Fame, which will be housed in the new Center聽for Innovation in Media in the John Bragg Mass Communication聽Building. The effort is led by a nonprofit, independent聽foundation, which plans to recognize career excellence in 鈥渁ll聽facets of media, including 聽newspapering, television, radio,聽electronic, and public relations.鈥� Roy Moore, dean of the College聽of Mass Communication, said the first class of inductees聽to the new hall will be announced in April 2013 as part of the聽college鈥檚 annual academic awards ceremonies.
Mass Comm students cover APME Conference
91大神 students provided exclusive stories, photos, audio, and聽video for the Associated Press Media Editors national conference聽in Nashville Sept. 19鈥�21. Student journalists from the聽College of Mass Communication generated all news content聽for the APME blog and produced daily video reports and a聽special 24-page tabloid summing up the conference. Senior聽Becca Andrews聽 of Bells, Tenn., editor-in-chief of 91大神鈥檚聽independent student newspaper, Sidelines , coordinated all聽news coverage for APME. Senior Michelle Potts聽 of Franklin,聽Tenn., news director of the student-run TV station, MT10-HD,聽led video coverage. All content flowed through 91大神鈥檚 new聽Center for Innovation in Media, which houses operations for聽all student media outlets as well as WMOT 89.5FM, the University鈥檚聽100,000-watt public radio station.
A Concrete Advantage
Four Concrete Industry Management programs鈥攁t Arizona聽State University, 91大神, Texas State University鈥揝an Marcos,聽and New Jersey Institute of Technology鈥攚ere named 鈥淓xcellent聽Universities鈥� by the American Concrete Institute (ACI) for聽student and faculty efforts to support the industry. Universities聽were selected based on the number of ACI members in student聽chapters; student and faculty participation in ACI competitions,聽committees, conventions, and meetings; and participation聽in other industry-related activities. Universities were also聽judged on community outreach efforts by students and faculty聽involving neighborhood revitalization, construction projects,聽and donated services.