Board of Regents to meet Sept. 22-23 at Pellissippi State Community College. Agenda includes budget requests, policy changes, enrollment & graduation reports, criteria for next president of TCAT Livingston
The Tennessee Board of Regents will hold its next regular quarterly meeting Sept. 22-23, at Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville. The agenda includes system budget requests, proposed policy changes, and reports on fall enrollment, 2021-22 graduation numbers, and the TBR Access and Diversity Program.
The board’s committees will meet Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, starting at 1 p.m. ET with the Committee on Academic Policies and Programs and Student Life and continuing consecutively with the Committees on External Affairs; Finance and Business Operations; Workforce Development, and Personnel and Compensation. The full board meeting will start at 9:30 a.m. ET Friday, Sept. 23 following presentations starting at 9 a.m. by Pellissippi State President Anthony Wise and Tennessee College of Applied Technology Knoxville President Kelli Chaney.
All meetings are in the Clayton Performing Arts Center on Pellissippi State’s campus at 10915 Hardin Valley Road, Knoxville. Anyone needing accommodations for the meetings should contact Board Secretary Mariah Perry by 3 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 21, at mariah.perry@tbr.edu or 615-366-3927.
The complete committee and board agendas, an executive summary, and supporting materials are posted on the TBR website at https://www.tbr.edu/board/september-2022-quarterly-board-meeting. The meetings will be live-streamed and archived on the same webpage. The Tennessee Board of Regents governs the state’s public community colleges and colleges of applied technology.
In other action, the board will consider criteria for the next president of Tennessee College of Applied Technology Livingston, where Dr. Myra West plans to retire in January after 34 years of service, including as its president since July 2013. Adoption of the criteria is the first step in the search for the next president.
The board will also hear an update on the system’s “Reimagining the Community College Experience” pilot project, which calls for extensive pre-college career exploration for students, career advising and a workforce-focused certificate in a student’s first semester. Community colleges were invited to submit proposals to conduct the initiative on their campuses, starting next year, and colleges selected for the pilots are expected to be announced at the board meeting.
The board will consider two policy revisions. The first would classify a veteran or military-affiliated individual as a Tennessee resident for tuition purposes if enrolled in a TBR college and residing out of state, in compliance with a new state law. The second would revise the Firearms and Other Weapons policy, to make clear that an inadvertent violation of policy does not necessarily result in an arrest. Whether to arrest an individual should be based on the totality of the circumstance. The proposed revision would also clarify who legally may transport and store a firearm in a personal vehicle on campus.
Agenda items recommended for approval by the committees will be considered by the full board as part of its review of the committee reports on Friday.
The board’s budget requests for Fiscal Year 2023-24 are the first step in the state budget process. The board’s requests will be submitted to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission for its consideration. TBR proposals endorsed by the Commission are then forwarded along with other higher ed proposals to the Governor for his consideration in developing his FY 2023-2024 budget recommendations to the General Assembly, which ultimately determines which items recommended are funded.
The board will also consider new strategic plans for Columbia State, Pellissippi State and Southwest Tennessee community colleges; various faculty promotion, tenure and faculty emeritus recommendations, and changes to the service areas of Dyersburg State and Jackson State community colleges. Service areas are considered primary spheres of responsibility for colleges and do not affect where students choose to enroll.
Persons who want to request to address the board may follow the process authorized by TBR Policy 1.02.12.00 – Requests to Address the Board.
The College System of Tennessee is the state’s largest public higher education system, with 13 community colleges, 24 colleges of applied technology and the online TN eCampus serving approximately 140,000 students. The system is governed by the Tennessee Board of Regents.