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The Tennessee Board of Regents approved criteria for the next president of the Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology at McKenzie and Paris during its quarterly meeting today.

The Tennessee Board of Regents will hold its next regular quarterly meeting Dec. 10. The agenda includes action on criteria for the next president of the Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology at McKenzie and Paris, new programs at Colleges of Applied Technology, and several informational reports.

The Board of Regents governs the College System of Tennessee, comprised of the state's 13 Community Colleges and 27 Colleges of Applied Technology.  

When Raven Ferrell logged onto her first virtual college course at Jackson State Community College last August, she achieved a major goal in her life.

"I've always had dreams and goals in my life," said the 28-year-old mother. "I always wanted to go to college."

It’s no secret that Tennessee, like much of the nation, has experienced a shortage of skilled workers in recent years – with high demands for more nurses, computer technicians, welders and other technical fields. In an effort to encourage more young Tennesseans to consider one of these many careers, TBR – The College System of Tennessee has premiered an original children’s book entitled “Let’s Explore Technical Careers.”

Tennessee’s community and technical colleges are ready to help Tennesseans who want to learn a new career or new skills. With Tennessee Reconnect, it’s tuition-free – and enrolling in classes online or in your community is easy.

The Tennessee Board of Regents’ committee chairs and the Audit Committee will meet Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020, to receive updates and review a number of items in advance of the full board’s next quarterly meeting in December.

Military veterans at Tennessee’s community and technical colleges are being honored in Veterans Day activities this week – and one veteran at each college will be awarded the inaugural Chancellor’s Commendation for Military Veterans.

The Tennessee Board of Regents and Chancellor Flora W. Tydings established the new commendation as a system-level award to honor the service, bravery and sacrifices of military veterans in the campus communities. It supplements Veterans Day ceremonies, observances or recognitions that the colleges traditionally conduct.

As part of its continuing work to reduce the costs of college attendance and increase equity in student outcomes, the Tennessee Board of Regents is awarding grants to faculty teams at seven community colleges to create learning materials for their courses that students will use for free, in lieu of commercially published textbooks.

Tennessee Promise provides Tennessee high school graduates the opportunity to attend a community or technical college free of tuition and mandatory fees. Tennessee Promise is both a scholarship and mentoring program.

The application deadline for Summer/Fall 2021 has been extended to December 1, 2020.

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The Audit Committee of the Tennessee Board of Regents will meet at 9:30 a.m. CT, Wednesday, Oct. 14, to review and consider hiring an information systems auditor at the TBR system office. 

The committee will meet by videoconferencing.  Anyone wishing to observe the public meeting may contact Board Secretary Sonja Mason at sonja.mason@tbr.edu or 615-366-3927 for call-in information.

The Board of Regents governs Tennessee's public community colleges and colleges of applied technology.

Nearly 500 faculty, students, administrators and staff from colleges and universities across the state participated in the College System of Tennessee’s We All Rise Biennial Conference on Equity and Completion Oct. 5 and 6, with a focus on improving college success and completion for all students.

All 27 Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology have been accepted into the national Achieving the Dream Network, bolstering their commitment to the success of all students.

Tennessee’s Community Colleges awarded a record number of 15,874 degrees and technical certificates during the 2019-20 academic year – a 44 percent increase from a decade ago. The previous high was 15,240 two years ago.

The Tennessee Board of Regents will hold its fall quarterly meeting Sept. 22-23, with an agenda that includes reports on fall semester enrollment and results of the 2019-20 academic year.

The board, which governs Tennessee’s public community and technical colleges, will also consider funding recommendations for new or expanded program initiatives for fiscal year 2021-22.

The Tennessee Board of Regents’ committee chairs, and the board’s Audit Committee, will meet Tuesday, Sept. 1, to review a number of items in advance of the full board’s next quarterly meeting Sept. 22-23.

Tennessee’s community colleges are welcoming students back for Fall semester, in a variety of class modalities and with a focus on keeping them healthy and safe as they continue their studies.

Eleven of the 13 community colleges start fall classes Monday, Aug. 24.  Northeast State Community College began classes Aug. 17 and Roane State Community College launched Aug. 19.

The 27 Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology start their Fall terms Sept. 1.

Seven of the 30 members of the Complete Tennessee Leadership Institute class of 2020-21 announced today by the State Collaborative on Reforming Education represent Tennessee community and technical colleges and the College System of Tennessee.

SCORE invited the 30 leaders from across higher education, K-12 education, business and industry, and nonprofit organizations to participate in the 5th Complete Tennessee Leadership Institute.

The Tennessee Board of Regents will hold a special called meeting Aug. 12 to consider policy revisions required by new federal Title IX regulations and a new Infectious Disease Policy for the state's community and technical colleges.

Students attending Tennessee’s public community colleges and colleges of applied technology will see no tuition or fee increase during the upcoming academic year as a result of action today by the Tennessee Board of Regents.

The Tennessee Board of Regents today appointed Dr. Carol Puryear as president of the Tennessee College of Applied Technology Murfreesboro, where she has served as interim president since May 2019.

She previously led the college as its director from 2007 to 2012, when she left to join the Tennessee Board of Regents system staff, first as associate vice chancellor of instruction and special projects for all 27 Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology and, since 2017, as vice chancellor of economic and community development.