The Record, July 12, 2010, V19.01


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Summer School: Teaching the teachers—Math workshops adding up to new skill sets

by Randy Weiler

Between the off-campus Foundation House next to Tennessee Miller Coliseum, Cantrell Hall in the Tom H. Jackson Building and venues in Knoxville, Chattanooga and Clarksville, secondary-school mathematics educators are honing their skills for the return to their classrooms this fall.

Thirteen Master Teaching Fellows met June 14-18 at the Foundation House. Throughout the week, they reported on their Year 1 activities, which included teacher enhancement plans and action research plans, said Karen Case, assistant director and National Science Foundation grants coordinator for the Tennessee Math, Science and Technology Education Center.

They also shared news with their peers from making presentations at conferences and other workshops, Case said.

Working with their respective mentors, the Master Teaching Fellows developed strategies for their upcoming second year of the five-year program.

On- and off-campus, Drs. Mary B. Martin and Dovie Kimmins and their aides embarked on the Algebra I Employment Standards Training.

"Middle-school teachers are trying to be eligible to teach the ninth grade,"; Martin said. "To be eligible, you have to take this training and pass the middle-school praxis. State law says they have to do that, and we offer the training.";

"I think it's wonderful,"; said Fran Ramsey, a Memphis City Schools teacher. "I've been going many years to workshops; this is the first time I did not want to leave early. It got more enjoyable every day. I learned an awful lot, and it was very well-organized.";

Larry Phillips of Page High School in Williamson County closed the June 14-18 session with a "Coach's Casino.";

For teachers, Phillips said, learning is about "getting kids to do things and learn themselves, through a lab that's interesting and fun, and be able to reach their own conclusions. They learn about probability and make decisions based on math.";

An earlier session was a math-science partnership, UMath, for teachers in third through fifth grades. About 70 teachers attended sessions held in Murfreesboro, Chattanooga and Clarksville, Martin said.

In all, about 150 teachers took part in the Algebra I training and UMath, she added.

MAKING IT COUNT—Kim Keith, who teaches math and social studies at Greenbrier Middle School, counts change in the first photo above in an exercise in Algebra I Employment Standards Training during a June math workshop in the Tom Jackson Building.

In the second photo, Larry Phillips, left, of Page High School in Williamson County confiscates a little "cash"; from Sam Arnold during the "Coach's Casino"; learning experiment at a math workshop for secondary-school educators in the Tom Jackson Building.

photos courtesy of Pat Govan

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Summer School: Teaching the teachers—Institute helps instructors with pre-K licensing

by Tom Tozer

Approximately 35 kindergarten through eighth-grade teachers from across the state attended a weeklong intensive Pre-K Summer Institute at MTSU to obtain their endorsement to teach at the pre-K level.

MTSU was first approached by the Tennessee Department of Education's Office of Early Learning to offer the pre-K endorsement. Coordinated through the College of Education, key sessions focused on child development, curriculum and instruction, diversity and exception needs, family relationships and assessment.

"We consider it a privilege to offer training in early-childhood education to a group of dedicated teachers,"; said Dr. Lana Seivers, education dean. ";The expertise and knowledge of the MTSU faculty further prepare these skilled professionals with developmentally appropriate curricula and information to use in their classrooms. Through endeavors such as the Pre-K Institute, Tennessee's youngest learners will be given a foundation upon which to grow and develop.";

"This has been great, and in a one-week course we are getting all the information we need,"; said Katie Dowis, who teaches in Alcoa, Tenn. "This will help me get my endorsement to become a pre-K teacher next year.";

Dowis will take the Praxis II Education of Young Children test in July, which all aspiring pre-K teachers must pass, along with meeting other criteria, before they earn licensure.

"I've always wanted my pre-K endorsement,"; said Ruby Hunt from Huntingdon, Tenn. "I've learned about the development of the child and the stages they go through—how their hearing progresses and their writing skills, what age they should be scribbling, what age they should be making shapes and designs and drawing pictures. This has been a very valuable experience.";

Candace Washington from Memphis has a pre-K class waiting for her this summer as soon as she adds a pre-K endorsement to her teaching license.

"I come from middle school,"; she said, "so I have problems getting children who are behind on their reading level. I spend a lot of time with them. And I thought, well, if I'm doing this in middle school, I need to be in kindergarten where I can lay a foundation. If I can teach the 20 children I have in kindergarten to read, then I have a good running start in the other grades.";

Dr. Kathy Burriss, a professor in MTSU's Department of Elementary and Special Education and one of the instructors for the institute, said teaching in an institute like this is the "greatest opportunity because these people want to be here. They want to know how to make things happen for children in the most appropriate way—and they are willing to meet state standards. They're just very enthusiastic; you can see it!";

Debbie Simpson, director of the Tennessee Early Childhood Training Alliance at MTSU, served as coordinator of the institute.

"I just believe that if something good is happening for teachers in the state of Tennessee, MTSU should be involved,"; Simpson said. "One participant said that we were the reason she would have a job this fall. The enthusiasm was contagious! They seemed to really form a bond over the five-day event.";

BREAKING THE ICE—Pre-K Summer Institute participants experience a "summer snowball"; ice-breaking exercise led by Dr. Cheryl Hitchcock, an assistant professor of human sciences and facilitator in a session dealing with family relationships. Each person wrote a brief synopsis about an experience she had working with a family. Participants then wadded up their papers and had a "snowball fight";, shown above. Then each person picked up a "snowball"; and responded to a situation.

photo by News & Media Relations

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Concrete, aerospace partner with Metro 'academies'

by Randy Weiler

MTSU's nationally recognized Department of Aerospace and the Concrete Industry Management Program are among 82 groups partnering with Metro Nashville Public Schools for specialized career- and theme-based academies at 12 zoned high schools.

The plan was announced June 18 at the Pinnacle Building in downtown Nashville.

McGavock High School will be home to The Academy of Aviation and Transportation. Adjunct aerospace faculty member Chris Carnett will serve as instructor, said Dr. Wayne Dornan, department chair. Dornan attended the event with Dr. Bill Badley, interim vice provost for academic affairs and director of general education.

Cane Ridge High School will house The Academy of Architecture and Construction. CIM alumna Samantha Summers Hart has accepted a teaching position with the academy and will be teaching the concrete portion, said Dr. Heather Brown, CIM director, who also attended the ceremony.

Along with the principals from McGavock and Cane Ridge, Dornan and Brown signed a pledge of support for their programs' involvement. Both the CIM and aerospace academies will begin this fall.

"We have already been active with them this spring as we had their students down for a half-day of lab activities,"; Brown said. "We are transplanting three of our CIM courses into dual-credit courses.";

The Academies of Nashville 2010: A Celebration of Current and Future Business-Education Partnerships is a collaboration of businesses, universities, community partners and others. Dornan and Badley said they credit Michelle Blackwell, director of the Office of Transfer Student Services, with laying the groundwork for MTSU's role in the academies.

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In Brief: Splash into water fitness

Have fun in the water and make money, too! A Water Fitness Instructor Class is set Saturday, July 31, to prepare participants to lead basic water-fitness classes. The primary level is for beginning instructors and costs $247, while the master's level ($277) is for instructors with a minimum one year or 100 hours' experience. For information, visit www.uswfa.com or call 615-898-2255.

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Camp ENRGY still going strong in second year

by Lisa L. Rollins

Although many physically disabled youths miss out on adaptive-recreation opportunities as part of their lifestyle, Camp ENRGY's creators hope their summer-camp template will soon catch on.

Now in its second year, Camp ENRGY, which stands for Excellence 'N' Recreation and Games for Youth, is a weeklong camp designed and implemented by Dr. Don Morgan, director of the Center for Physical Activity and Health in Youth at MTSU, and two of his doctoral students, Sandy Stevens and Jenny Hutchens.

In August 2009, Morgan, along with camp co-directors Stevens and Hutchens and a handful of volunteers, led the inaugural Camp ENRGY as a free five-day camp for physically challenged youth ages 10 to 17. This year, the camp is back with an expanded participant age range (5 to 18) and an added emphasis on nutrition.

Set July 26-30 on the MTSU campus, Stevens said the camp's registration roster filled quickly. Seven of this year's participants are returning campers.

"The mission of the camp is to provide a positive experience for each child in a variety of activities,"; she explained. "Our goal is to facilitate participation in lifelong physical activity, which improves their quality of life and reduces the burden of their disability. On a personal level, I want each child to leave with great memories of their time at camp.";

Like last year, the 2010 camp will include yoga, swimming, nature trails, dance, indoor soccer, martial arts and GPS-based activities as well as baseball, golf, strength/flexibility training and football.


Because a third of this year's Camp ENRGY participants are second-year campers, organizers have worked hard to find to new ways to engage the youngsters.

"To keep them interested, we are adding a variety of new activities,"; Stevens confirmed. "For example, this year the campers will be able to participate in gymnastics, kayaking in the pool, playing Wii and hosting a touch-football game.";

Also among this summer's activities will be a tried and true favorite: singing camp songs.

"One of our counselors this year is the son of a Grammy-winning songwriter (Marcus Hummon),"; Stevens said. "He will be providing music at various times throughout the week. … Plus, we are hoping that we may even be able to have his father perform at our camp graduation event or maybe at the evening meal.";

Meanwhile, Morgan, a professor in the Department of Health and Human Performance, said that by sponsoring an activity camp for children with disabilities, he hopes MTSU's CPAHY will forge the way for others.
"We hope that this summer camp will become a template for other camps for physically challenged youth here in Tennessee and throughout the nation,"; he said. "We also hope that we can raise awareness of the need for local recreation groups and organizations to provide meaningful activity and sports opportunities for these kids.";

Although registration for Camp ENRGY is currently full, organizers will accept names for a first-come, first-serve "standby"; list. For more information, contact Morgan at dmorgan@mtsu.edu.

JUMP RIGHT IN—Camp ENRGY Site Co-Director Sandy Stevens, above, catches 2009 camper Jahlin Huell as he jumps off the side during a session in the Student Health, Wellness and Recreation Center pool. More fun is set for the 2010 Camp ENRGY session.

MTSU Photographic Services file photo by Andy Heidt

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TBR approves tuition increase to help recover lost state funds

The Tennessee Board of Regents voted unanimously June 25 to approve the tuition increases recommended by the Committee on Business and Finance at its June 8 meeting.

Next year's tuition will increase 6.3 percent or less for more than 72 percent of university and community-college students, with the remaining students paying more because they are taking more hours. Technology-center students, who are charged per trimester rather than based on hours of instruction, will see a per-trimester increase of $112 over last year.

The tuition increases are aimed at recovering only 80 percent of lost state funding and inflation costs and are designed to ensure that increases in tuition and mandatory fees combined for students taking 15 hours (the number of semester hours necessary to graduate in four years) are under 10 percent. These students will see a total increase ranging from 6.1 percent at Austin Peay State University to 8.2 percent at the community colleges.

The full report, available at the TBR website via http://bit.ly/9wBv4A, shows how much the hourly rate will be at each institution and how much students at each level of hours will pay compared with last year. The Business and Finance Committee met four times to discuss tuition from a variety of perspectives, a process that culminated in the recommendation that was approved by the full board.

Over the past three years, the TBR system has lost 25 percent of its state funding—almost $186 million. While numbers at specific institutions vary, the university sector has lost 29.7 percent of its state funding, the community colleges 20.8 percent and the technology centers 15 percent.

All institutions have undertaken budget-reduction measures, but a tuition increase has proven to be unavoidable, TBR officials said. Given the decision to replace only 80 percent of the reduced state funding with tuition, institutions will have to continue reducing spending and will have fewer dollars per student to spend. Enrollment is expected to continue to increase significantly.

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Mulraine takes reins of recording industry

by Gina E. Fann

Dr. Loren Mulraine is ready for a fresh polish on one of MTSU's crown jewels—the Department of Recording Industry.

The longtime associate professor took on the chairman's job July 1, replacing the retiring Chris Haseleu and already anticipating a challenging new academic year for the 33-year-old department.

"Our consensus has been that we don't want to solely be reactionary to the industry but to give thought to how we can lead the industry,"; explains Mulraine, an entertainment law attorney who's taught at MTSU since 1998 and served two stints as interim associate dean of the College of Mass Communication.

"It's important that we find a way to steer the ship into uncharted territory, which is precisely where the industry is headed. We can expand and diversify our programs so we're not just focusing on 'recording industry' but entertainment, and that means music for film, TV and gaming … "We have to continue to create opportunities for our students to be well-rounded. If we don't put a good product on the street, we lose our credibility. When we started more than 30 years ago, we were unique. Now we have all sorts of competition.";

The department, which is the largest of its kind in the United States, boasts more than 1,200 majors and 28 full-time faculty members. It's regularly expanded its course offerings and concentrations, creating partnerships within and outside MTSU to form programs like the Master of Fine Arts in Recording Arts and Technology and the commercial songwriting concentration, which has strategic alliances with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Faculty ties with industry professionals have led to classroom training by multiplatinum artists and producers, participation in international trade shows and even Grammy nominations for professors.

"The good news is that our students are well-prepared when they leave here. Wherever MTSU RIM students go, they shine,"; notes Mulraine, a gospel artist and songwriter who also runs Ten 21 Entertainment, Inc., which includes recording, publishing, booking and artist-management divisions, and a consulting company, The Mulraine Firm, which handles legal issues.

Taking the next steps will include expanding the department's presence on Music Row, developing a greater online presence with more distance-learning courses and creating more industry partnerships to help maintain program quality in the wake of ongoing funding cuts.

"Our greatest challenge is finding a way to maintain and increase the quality of our students' education in a world of diminished resources,"; the new chairman says. "It's never enough to stay where we were. We must continuously strive to get better.";

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Center helps amplify Voices We Haven't Heard

by Gina K. Logue

Expressions of confidence, faith, defiance, togetherness, satire and sobriety characterize the second edition of Voices We Haven't Heard, a publication of MTSU's June Anderson Center for Women and Nontraditional Students.

The latest Voices, available since July 1, is larger than last year's edition and includes feminist poetry and prose complemented by photographs of students engaged in center activities.

Center Director Terri Johnson says the magazine empowers students by providing them with a creative outlet for their observations on racism, sexism, classism, homophobia and other forms of oppression.

For example, in "Ghetto Poetry,"; sophomore Precious Creavalle anticipates the surprise her readers might feel in discovering that verbal talent can emerge from harsh conditions.

She writes, "Ebonics and old English all in one./Yeah I was locked up, but only for a fortnight./That's right, broken English and Webster's best/All in the same verse./How else could I use a term like/Government sanctioned self-contained purgatory and/'Hell Yeah' in the same line?";

Brenda (Kidd) Navarro, a junior majoring in global studies and Spanish, overturns conventional thinking about womanhood and invites the readers to consider numerous possibilities in "Flesh, Mind, and Soul.";

Her poem states, "I am Mother Nature, Gaia is my name./A renegade bitch that'll drive you insane./I'm loyal, confident, motivated, and rare …/… and when I walk by everyone stares./I am the truth that can set every man free./Masculine, Feminine, Androgynous—that's me.";

The centerpiece of Voices is Lawrence Tumpag's "O Brother, Where Art Thou?,"; a chronicle of Tumpag's struggles in defining manhood during a life marked by encounters with some of the worst examples of manhood imaginable.

Of his hard-working single mother, the senior social-work major writes, "Interspersed throughout my childhood, she would come across men she hoped could be companions, caretakers, role models, father figure(s). ... (U)nfortunately, many of them would turn out to be individuals who took advantage of her assets (and) dreams to have a 'whole or complete family,' and finally one would use his own income to give a sense of financial security in exchange for subservience and dehumanization.";

For comic relief, Gina Logue of News & Media Relations provides an essay on the relative absence of commercials for feminine-hygiene products on prime-time television compared to the overwhelming saturation campaigns for erectile-dysfunction drugs.

"The Viagra spots are so preposterously over the top that they almost make one yearn for the straightforward Bob Dole solicitations of yesteryear,"; she writes. "Targeting the older demographic is fine; insulting their taste is not. Viagra commercials have all the class of an orange leisure suit, circa 1977.";

Voices We Haven't Heard is free and is available from the June Anderson Center for Women and Nontraditional Students in its new home, Room 320 of the Keathley University Center. For more information, call 615-898-5989 or go to www.mtsu.edu/jac .


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A learning experience

ACTIVISM IN ACTION—Five MTSU undergraduates traveled to Providence, R.I., to present their original research in a June 19 session, "Supporting, Engaging, Inspiring: Students as Agents and Architects of Democracy,"; at the national conference of the American Democracy Project of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. Representing five departments and four MTSU colleges, the students, all members of MTSU's ADP student organization, turned their student activism into an experiential-learning program course for spring 2010 to earn EXL hours for original research. The students are, front row, Liz Thomason, a senior nursing major, and Kiara Hall, a junior majoring in pre-law; and back row, Matthew Foriest, a junior history minor; Nicholas Crosby-Walton, a sophomore majoring in computer information systems; and Andrew King, a sophomore majoring in advertising/public relations.

photo courtesy of Dr. Mary Evins

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5 named to 2010 class of Blue Raider Hall of Fame

from MT Athletic Communications

A quintet of some of the top athletic achievers in MTSU history will be inducted into the Blue Raider Hall of Fame in September.

Baseball is represented by Steve Peterson, current head coach, and former pitcher Dave Richardson, while football assistant coach Ed Bunio, track All-American Dwight Johnson and tennis All-American Fred Niemeyer round out the Class of 2010. They will bring the total number of inductees to 117 since the Hall of Fame opened in 1976.

The induction ceremony will be held before the home football game with Austin Peay on Saturday, Sept. 11, in the courtyard behind the Blue Raider Athletic Hall of Fame. There is no admission charge, and Blue Raider fans are encouraged to attend.

Bunio joined Middle Tennessee in 1979, where he served as defensive coordinator and linebacker coach until he retired after the 1994 season. He was a driving force in rebuilding the Blue Raiders' football fortunes with his great defenses in the 1980s. His nominator described him as "a great teacher of young men, a great co-worker and a great friend.";

Johnson was the dominant force in Ohio Valley Conference track in the mid-1980s, earning All-American honors in the long jump in 1984 and 1985. He helped continue the success of MTSU's "Grasshopper Gang,"; a group of Blue Raider jumpers nationally known for their exploits in the long and triple jump.

Perhaps the best tennis player in MTSU history, Niemeyer earning All-American honors three times during his years with the Blue Raiders. His best season was his senior year, 1997, when he earned All-American honors in singles after posting a 36-8 record and receiving his third consecutive OVC Player of the Year award.

Peterson has been the head coach at MTSU since 1988, following six years in two separate stints as an assistant to John Stanford. He has coached MTSU to eight OVC championships, seven OVC tournament titles and nine NCAA tournament appearances, and his Sun Belt teams have won three conference titles and two tournament championships.

Richardson, a left-handed pitcher from Nashville, had a senior season in 1988 with a school record 13 wins against only five losses. He was All-OVC and was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals and ranks first in career wins (29) and complete games (23).

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InfoSearch eases access to library books, journals

by Gina K. Logue

Students using MTSU's James E. Walker Library will see a big change when they log on to the library's website.

The institution's new search engine is now online, providing even more options and user-friendly access to resources for both on-campus students and distance learners at http://library.mtsu.edu .

Using federal stimulus funds, the library has replaced its Voyager search system, which has been in place for about 10 years, with Millennium software that the library has christened InfoSearch.

"It looks a little bit more like modern-day Web interfaces,"; says Electronic Resources Librarian Mary Ellen Pozzebon. "It doesn't look as outdated as Voyager does.";

InfoSearch enables users to conduct basic searches by entering keywords without limiting the search to title or subject. Users also will be able to find out the resource's location within the library and whether it has been checked out.

"The catalog will also include some, but not all, holdings from the Gore Center and the Center for Popular Music,"; Pozzebon says. "It will include all the holdings from the (Howard) Music Library and the Instructional Media Resources Library and, of course, all of the materials here.";

Systems Librarian David Robinson says the new system offers "a quick and intuitive search interface"; with many new search tools, including content categories, tag clouds (which are hyperlinked words used to describe comments on sites), spell-checking, recently added materials suggestions and relevance ranking. The search engine even has a "Did you mean …?"; feature.

Another advantage of InfoSearch over Voyager is access to Google previews. Patrons will be able to click on a picture of a book and read an overview of it before deciding whether it suits their needs.

"Book-cover art, table of contents, content summary and other features will be available,";

Robinson says. "Users can add descriptive tags to books in the catalog and can rate books on usefulness.";

"There's a very robust user community that shares tips and tricks and adjustments that they've made,"; adds Pozzebon. "We can borrow implementations that other libraries have done.";

A smart-phone-enabled interface will allow users to search the library catalog from a cell phone by pointing the phone's browser to http://airpac.library2.mtsu.edu .

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Teachers fly higher at aerospace workshop

ADVENTURES IN EDUCATION—Field trips, speakers and hands-on projects highlight the 52nd annual Tennessee Aerospace Education Workshops for basic and advanced participants. In the photo below, area teachers build a balloon near the Student Health, Wellness and Recreation Center.


























Aerospace faculty member Terry Dorris, at right, helps workshop participant David Perry, left, who is working on a master's degree in aerospace education, prepare a rocket for blast-off.The teachers also flew in MTSU's airplane fleet and heard other key presenters during their sessions.

photos submitted

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Ag develops cool way to keep veggies fresher

by Randy Weiler

MTSU's School of Agriculture has developed a cool way to make the MTSU Farm's harvest of vegetables and fruits remain fresher longer.

Two 10-foot-by-10-foot air-conditioned walk-in packing sheds have been built on the approximately 450-acre farm property on Guy James Road, just off Halls Hill Pike east of campus.

With more crops being harvested, the packing sheds are holding more produce such as tomatoes, lettuce, onions and watermelons, keeping them cooler—and fresher—for this summer's Student Farmers Market Fridays at the Horticulture Center.

Wheels began turning when Dr. Warren Gill, the department chair, worked with state Commissioner Ken Givens to secure $34,300 in state agriculture enhancement money. MTSU's Office of Research and Sponsored Programs then "matched it to help the student program and allowed us to sponsor student research,"; Gill said.

Daniel Messick, president of the Plant and Soil Science Club, conceived a geothermal idea for the packing sheds, making it more ecologically friendly, Gill said. Messick and assistant professor Dr. Nate Phillips then collaborated on a $27,000 grant to make the project happen.

"I did a lot of research (about the geothermal method) and organized interviews (with prospective companies),"; said Messick, a junior ag-science major and environmental science minor from Shelbyville. "Dr. Phillips and I came together on the proposal.";

"The student became the teacher"; is how Gill summarizes Messick's creative thinking.

"This is hands-on learning,"; said Tim Redd, MTSU's Farm Lab director. "This is a student lab, pure and simple.";

"It gives the students more access to experiential learning—what they'll see in their future careers,"; Phillips added.

The university contracted with Precision Air to build the packing sheds and provide the geothermal method, digging a 6 1/2-inch hole 300 feet into the ground adjacent to the facility housing the packing sheds. It brings a constant 55-degree temperature to the cooling units.

"It's 70 percent more efficient and doubled the lifespan of the cooling unit,"; Messick said.

"This has been a great experience. It's nice to have a part in something that's going to be here a long time. We have a more efficient way to sustain the cost on running the unit.";

CHILLING OUT—Dr. Nate Phillips, left, and Dr. Warren Gill, right, join agriculture-science major Daniel Messick to inspect the new packing sheds at the MTSU Farm off Halls Hill Pike in the photo above. Messick suggested that the sheds, which are used to keep produce fresh for the Student Farmers Market, use geothermal technology to keep temperatures consistent and remain ecologically friendly. In the photo at left, Messick inspects the geothermal tubing in a trench near the new packing sheds at the MTSU Farm.

photos by News & Media Relations

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Adams Chair releases 'Allied Health' study for 2010

from Staff Reports

MTSU's Adams Chair of Excellence in Health Care Services released the fourth edition of "Allied Health in Tennessee: A Supply and Demand Study"; in June.

The study analyzes supply and demand for various allied health professions in Tennessee, said Cynthia Chafin, project director and consultant with the Adams Chair. It was released through the MTSU Center for Health and Human Services, which has a grant with the Nashville Career Advancement Center and the Tennessee Hospital Association Center for Health Workforce Development in Tennessee to produce the fourth edition.

The fourth edition includes national and local data as well, Chafin said, adding that it is called "the"; source for allied health supply and demand information by academic institutions, employers and students.

"At the national level, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics Occupational Employment Projections to 2016 (from November 2007) indicate that jobs in health care and social assistance are expected to have the fastest rate of growth over the next 10 years, with the addition of a projected 4 million new wage and salary jobs, or 27 percent of all nonagricultural wage and salary jobs,"; said Dr. Jo Edwards, Adams Chair of Excellence in Health Care Services and CHHS director.

"Jobs in health care are not going away,"; Edwards added. "These statistics should capture the attention of students making career decisions, academicians and state and local governments. The publication addresses the many challenges associated with a changing health care landscape.";

For more information on MTSU's Adams Chair and the CHHS, please visit http://mtsu.edu/achcs .

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Center for Popular Music names interim leader

Dr. Dale Cockrell is the interim director of the Center for Popular Music and will serve for one year while a search is under way for a new leader for the center, Dean Roy Moore of the College of Media and Entertainment has announced.

"Dr. Cockrell has a very distinguished academic, scholarly and professional record in popular music,"; Moore said, adding that Cockrell is currently on a research leave from his post as professor of musicology at Vanderbilt University.

"I want to thank Dr. Loren Mulraine for serving as interim director during the past three months after the retirement of Paul Wells as director. "

The Tennessee Board of Regents approved Cockrell's appointment at its June 24-25 meeting, making it effective July 1.

Cockrell is the author of Demons of Disorder: Early Blackface Minstrels and Their World, Excelsior: Journals of the Hutchinson Family Singers, 1842-1846 and more than 100 other books, articles, papers and monographs devoted to the study of American popular music. His The Ingalls Wilder Family Songbook (a critical edition of the music referenced in the Little House books) will be published this summer.

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People Around Campus: Creating new traditions

FUN AND FELLOWSHIP—Past presidents of MTSU's Faculty Senate gather at a May 27 forum and luncheon at The Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County to share and record MTSU memories, build connections and brainstorm ideas to celebrate the university's past, present and future. The Faculty Senate, which was formed in 1966, promotes policies that set and maintain the university's academic programs and advocates for faculty and academic policies within the university community.
Above, past presidents and guests choose selections from the buffet.


At right, three Faculty Senate leaders pause for a photo. From left are Dr. Warner Cribb, geosciences, 2010-11 Faculty Senate president; Professor Deborah Belcher, human sciences, 2009-10 president; and Dr. L Diane Miller, mathematical sciences and Faculty Senate president for the 1999-2000 academic year.

Below, retired Faculty Senate secretary Nancy Lanier joins current secretary Gay Johnson for a laugh. During the gathering, members heard presentations from Joe Bales, director of Development and University Relations, on MTSU's upcoming Centennial Celebration; Patti Miller of Campus Planning on the exciting changes coming to the university; Ginger Freeman, director of Alumni Relations, on the many opportunities for alumni to stay involved at MTSU; and Diane Turnham, assistant director of athletics, who discussed the MTSU Athletic Department and the importance of supporting the university's student-athletes. "The opportunity to visit and share with past presidents is a wonderful experience and benefit,"; Belcher said. "The Faculty Senate looks forward to engaging our past presidents and continuing this tradition.";

photos submitted



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Faculty/Staff Update

Certifications

Kathy Davis (University Honors College), Lisa Eddy (Campus Recreation), Gina Poole (economics and finance) and Jennifer Tweedie (engineering technology) recently received their Certified Professional Secretary designations.

Conferences

Dr. Ron Henderson (physics and astronomy) attended the Hybrid Organic Photovoltaic Conference in Assisi, Italy, in May.

Dr. Padgett Kelly (biology and Center for Environmental Education) will co-chair this year's National Marine Educators Association "From the Mountains to the Sea"; conference July 18-24 in Gatlinburg.

Dr. Nate Smith (physics and astronomy) visited his native Australia in May and attended a research conference in Germany.

Consulting

Dr. Daniel Erenso (physics and astronomy) is working with faculty at universities near the city of Addis Ababa in his native Ethiopia on curricular and research issues.

Grants

Dr. Nate Smith (physics and astronomy) is a co-thrust leader in a $20 million National Science Foundation Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research grant, "Tennessee Solar Conversion and Storage using Outreach, Research and Education,"; that involved several Tennessee universities. Approximately $372,000 of the recently funded grant will be directed to MTSU as a sub-award over the next five years.

Performances

Dr. William Yelverton (music) performed spring-semester solo guitar and lute concerts at Indiana University Bloomington; the University of Southern Mississippi; Appalachian State University; the University of Louisville; Eastfield College in McKinney and Collin College in Mesquite, Texas; Bethel University; and at the Nashville Public Library's "Virtuoso Series."; He also adjudicated the Texas International Guitar Competition at the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of Louisville Guitar Competition. Yelverton also directed the Eighth Annual Tennessee Guitar Festival at MTSU and led the new classical guitar seminar at the Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts.

Personnel Changes

Patricia Abogado is the new secretary in the Engineering Technology Department. She replaces Elizabeth Lamb, who is now executive aide for the College of Basic and Applied Sciences.

Presentations

Dr. Don Hong (mathematical sciences) made a presentation June 9 to 19 Tennessee guidance counselors during MTSU's fourth annual Griffith Education Foundation workshop.

Dr. Ron Luo (mathematical sciences) presented "Independence number and hamiltonicity of edge chromatic critical graphs"; at the 2010 Conference on Combinatorics and Graph Theory May 30 at the University of Science and Technology of China in Heifei. He also made a colloquium talk, "An introduction on integer flows,"; at Anhui University in Heifei on June 1 and at Beijing Normal University on June 10.

Research

Deputy U.S. Labor Secretary Seth D. Harris cited research on "Misclassified Construction Employees in Tennessee"; conducted by Dr. William Canak (sociology) and Dr. Randall Adams of Tennessee Tech during Harris's testimony on worker misclassification before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on June 17.

Get noticed in The Record !

Submit your Faculty/Staff Update items and other news tips to gfann@mtsu.edu by 3 p.m. Wednesday, July 14, for the July 26 edition of The Record or 3 p.m. Wednesday, July 28, for the Aug. 9 Record.

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Campus Calendar July 12-25, 2010

Please note: Event dates, times and locations may change after press time. Please verify specifics when making plans.

TV Schedule: "Middle Tennessee Record";
Cable Channel 9: Monday-Sunday, 7 a.m., 5 p.m.
NewsChannel 5+: Sundays, 1:30 p.m.
Visit www.mtsunews.com for other cable-outlet airtimes or www.youtube.com/mtsunews for a complete show archive.

Radio Schedule: "MTSU On the Record";
8 a.m. Sundays, WMOT 89.5-FM
Podcasts available anytime at www.mtsunews.com .

Fridays all summer
Student Farmers Market
sponsored by the Plant and Soil Science Club
1-3 p.m. Fridays (except holidays), Horticulture Center
For information, contact: 615-494-8985.

Monday, July 12
July Term Classes Begin

July 13-14
CUSTOMS Orientation
Basic and applied sciences and undeclared majors
7:30 a.m., campuswide
For information, visit www.mtsu.edu/customs or contact: 615-898-2454.

Tuesday, July 13
Tennessee Sixth Congressional District Candidate Forum
6 p.m., Tennessee Livestock Center.

Wednesday, July 14
Tornado Siren Test Date
(no action needed by building runners or others)
11:15 a.m., campuswide
For information, contact: 615-898-2424.

July 16-17
CUSTOMS Orientation
Business, liberal arts, mass comm and undeclared majors
For information, visit www.mtsu.edu/customs or contact: 615-898-2454.

Wednesday, July 21
Red Cross Blood Drive
10 a.m.-3 p.m., Student Health, Wellness and Recreation Center
Visit www.redcrossblood.org , click the blue "Make a blood donation appointment"; box and enter "MTSU19"; sponsor code, or for information, contact:615-494-8704.

July 22-23
CUSTOMS Orientation
Basic and applied sciences, education and undeclared majors
7:30 a.m., campuswide
For information, visit www.mtsu.edu/customs or contact: 615-898-2454.

July 23-25
Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders' and Exhibitors' Association World Versatility Walking Horse Championships
Tennessee Miller Coliseum
For information, visit www.twhbea.com .


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