Center for Supply Chain Management and Sustainability
Welcome to the Center for Supply Chain Management and Sustainability
2025 MTSU MidSouth Supply Chain Summit
Over 230+ students, academics, and industry representatives attended!
Special Thank You To Our Session Presenters:
- State Senator Heidi Campbell, Gary Cohen, and Maris Masellis – Discussed the TN Waste to Jobs Act
- Dr. John McFadden (Green Interchange) – Sustainability Leadership
- Beau McGinnis (The Tenny Group) – Consolidation in Transportation and Logistics – Why It is Needed
- Scott Daley (Bridgestone) – Journey to Carbon Neutrality
- Landon Scott and Tommy Dunn (V. Alexander) – 2025 Supply Chain Market Trends
- Nicole Anderson (Omnia Partners) – Professionalism
- Danny Prigmore, Chris Hunt, & William Corcoran (Old Dominion Freight) – Sustainability in Transportation
- Tricia Walls & Brandon Sather (REI) – Sustainability in Distribution
- Jeremy Morgan (Geodis) – Sustainability in Distribution
Sponsored by a generous donation from:
Gap Inc. (Gallatin, TN) Implements Student Internship Project Network Wide!
This past summer, university interns, including MTSU’s recent B.B.A-Supply Chain graduate, Olivia King, and M.S-Supply Chain graduate, Charles Harper, developed a new process to document information during operations partners’ Corrective Action Observations. By understanding their customers and gaining a deeper understanding of the Corrective Action process, they identified key questions and checkpoints to sharpen the form into a single page (previously upwards of 10 pages!), which is easily utilized and understood by a supervisor and associate perspective. The process will be implemented network-wide!
MTSU Supply Chain Alumni ON THE MOVE!
Fall 2024 Synergy-CollabLab Program Completes with Strategy Recommendations to GEODIS Leadership
Congratulations to the four students completing the MTSU Center for Supply Chain Management & Sustainability Fall 2025 Synergy Program (Abdulhakim Ali, Samuel Duffield, Arsanious Helmy, and Michael Tanas), working with GEODIS to review an active warehouse operation to identify inefficiencies, determine their impacts, and develop a solution to simplify and standardize processes to reduce or eliminate these inefficiencies. The solution addressed forklift travel paths, inbound load scheduling, and the reorganization of the warehouse storage space to divide perishable versus non-perishable goods. The optimized solution resulted in reduced travel distances and optimized traffic flow, which directly reduced the targeted inefficiencies of the operation. After spending the semester analyzing data and modeling potential solutions, the students presented their findings and recommendations to GEODIS leadership on Thursday, December 5th, 2024.
Many thanks to Jeremy Morgan, Evelyn Ortiz, Trent McDermott, and the entire GEODIS DC team for this incredible opportunity for our students. In addition, thank you to Dr. Senali Amarasuriya, who helped guide the students this semester!
Supporting Partners – Thank You!
Synergy Program Partners – Thank You!
The Center for Supply Chain Management was initiated in August of 2024 to be at the forefront of innovation and collaboration. Our new Center is dedicated to advancing the future of supply chain management while promoting environmental, economic, and social sustainability. Our mission is to empower students, researchers, and industry leaders to tackle the challenges of modern global supply chains and create solutions that drive sustainable practices.
Richard Tarpey, Director
richard.tarpey@mtsu.edu
615-898-5312
MTSU Supply Chain Faculty:
Dr. Cliff Welborn, Dr. Jinfeng Yue, Dr. Bryan Kethley, Dr. Richard Tarpey, Dr. Senali Amarasuriya, Dr. Bukola Bakar, Adjunct Professor Curtis Sawyer, Adjunct Professor Tyson Pinkley, Adjunct Professor Tom McKay, Adjunct Professor Andrew Lynch
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Spring 2025 Synergy Program
We have nine students participating with GEODIS on two projects this semester!
Sayed Ashari, James Dill, Zakery Dosky, Samuel Duffield, Arsanious Helmy, Tony Peck, Daniela Rodriguez, Kerolus Seddik, and Michelle Venegas
ASCM Exam Prep Courses
The MTSU Center for Supply Chain Management and Sustainability is proud to partner with the University of Tennessee - Chattanooga (UTC) to communicate ASCM Exam Prep opportunities.
Join UTC and prepare for your ASCM Exams! We offer CPIM and ASCM Exam Prep programs that fit your schedule. UTC is an ASCM Authorized Academic Partner and our online, live classes are led by an APISC IDP Master Instructor. Payment plans available and price includes class materials, exam fees, and a one-year ASCM membership! VISIT THE UTC WEBSITE for learning options and details.
Recent Supply Chain Scholarship Award Winners
2024 - The Curtis and Jeannine Sawyer Scholarship
Jonathan T. Stutts
2024 - Dr. Richard Tarpey & Myra Tarpey Supply Chain Management Scholarship
Jonathan T. Stutts
2023 - The Curtis and Jeannine Sawyer Scholarship
Christopher F. George
2023 - Dr. Richard Tarpey & Myra Tarpey Supply Chain Management Scholarship
Priscilla Hammermeister
Consider applying for future scholarships. You can view the scholarships HERE
Alumni Spotlight
Maya Yelland
Graduated: Spring 2024
Employment: Mars Petcare
Q: Tell us a little about your current position at MARS. I am a Customer Supply Representative on the Walmart account. This means that I am responsible for all the orders that Walmart places, from the moment it comes into our system, to the time it arrives at Walmart’s DC and is closed out. Walmart is the biggest account at Mars, counting for over 33% of the sales volume every year, so it is quite a large responsibility.
Q: Which course or professor at MTSU had the greatest impact on your career readiness? Dr. Tarpey, Dr. Welborn, and Dr. Morgan were the most impactful professors. Dr. Welborn’s KPI class was where I first learned about the supply chain field. Dr. Tarpey and Dr. Morgan’s classes, both being project-based, really got me excited about the possibilities in supply chain and prepared me for the variability of the field.
Q: What advice would you give to current supply chain students? My advice would be to go to events! Get to know people, students and professionals. The more people you know, and build a genuine relationship with, the more opportunities you will receive in the future.
Center for Supply Chain Management & Sustainability Contact Us
Dr. Richard Tarpey
Director - MTSU Center for Supply Chain Management and Sustainability
Coordinator - Undergraduate and Graduate Supply Chain Programs
(615) 898-5312
Room N134B, Business & Aerospace Building (BAS)