Tennessee Board of Regents

The Tennessee Board of Regents voted unanimously today to appoint Dr. Scott Cook as the next president of Dyersburg State Community College.

Dr. Cook, who is provost of Madisonville Community College in Madisonville, Ky., will succeed Dr. Karen Bowyer, effective Jan. 4, 2022, when Dr. Bowyer is retiring after 37 years as the third president in the college’s history.

The Tennessee Board of Regents will consider the appointment of Dr. Scott Cook as the next president of Dyersburg State Community College in a special called meeting tomorrow, Nov. 16.

The Tennessee Board of Regents has approved the appointment of Dr. Jothany L. Blackwood as vice chancellor for academic affairs for The College System of Tennessee, the state’s public community and technical colleges.

Blackwood previously served as vice president for academic success at San Antonio College in Texas, winner of The Aspen Institute’s 2021 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, which recognizes high achievement and performance among America’s community colleges.

The Tennessee Board of Regents will hold a special called meeting Tuesday, Nov. 16, to receive, review and consider acting on the chancellor’s recommendation for the next president of Dyersburg State Community College.

The meeting will be held virtually, starting at 8:30 a.m. CT, and will be streamed and archived on the TBR website at https://www.tbr.edu/board/november-16-2021-special-called-board-meeting.

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 Chancellor’s Commendation for Military Veterans.

Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) Chancellor Flora W. Tydings established the commendation last year as a system-level recognition to honor the service, bravery and sacrifices of veterans in campus communities. The commendations are presented during Veterans Day ceremonies and observances traditionally conducted by TBR colleges.

A Tennessee Board of Regents Search Advisory Committee has selected five finalists for the next president of Dyersburg State Community College. They will participate in campus visits – including forums with campus groups and the public – on Oct. 27, 28, 29 and Nov. 1, 2, the next step in the selection process.

The finalists are:

Eleven of the 32 members of the 2021-22 class of the Complete Tennessee Leadership Institute, announced Tuesday by the State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE), represent the College System of Tennessee and seven of its community and technical colleges.

The College System of Tennessee has announced that its technical colleges will provide an onsite workforce training center to facilitate a career-to-workforce pipeline for Ford Motor Company’s future assembly plant in Blue Oval City – a $5.6 billion campus spanning 3,600 acres at the Memphis Regional Megasite in Stanton, Tennessee.

Tennessee’s public community and technical colleges awarded 22,956 degrees, diplomas and certificates to graduates during academic year 2020-21, essentially tying the record set the previous year despite enrollment declines.

The Tennessee Board of Regents will meet for its regular fall quarterly session Sept. 23-24, 2021. Agenda items include consideration of campus parking and traffic fines, dual-enrollment tuition rates, budget and capital outlay requests for fiscal year 2022-23, and criteria for the next president of the Tennessee College of Applied Technology Nashville.