The President’s Blog

Pellissippi State is home to many great teachers and one of the very best is Audrey Williams. With strong technical programs, we have long known how to teach technical subjects, but with Audrey’s help, Pellissippi’s Director of Educational Technology Services, we have gotten very proficient in using technology in delivering the information. And thanks to Audrey, we have done it with a minimum of tooth-gnashing and stress.
In this week’s blog, Audrey introduces us, in a 10 minute video, to sites where you can find free multimedia resources. These videos, audios, text, and photographs could be very useful to faculty and to students who are creating projects for classes. If you haven’t already, take a look her blog. You can find it at this address: http://blogs.pstcc.edu/techupdate/

I met a man on Saturday who has a Ph.D. in computer science but no job. I also met another man who lost his job last June and is now on the verge of losing his house. These were just two of the people who showed up on campus last Saturday looking for help.

We could provide help if they were looking for a chance to come back to school to get new skills, and we could help if they were looking for advice on starting a small business.
Our faculty and staff answered the call and we helped people with making decisions, filling out financial aid forms, exploring new careers, and with budgeting and stress management.

Sydney Gingrow and Carolyn Carson went overtime helping people compile or improve their resume. I overheard them on a couple of occasions as they counseled, encouraged, and motivated people. The people they counseled got more than a new resume; they got a dose of encouragement and enthusiasm as well. They left our campus with a new resume and hope for the future. I left with a renewed sense of purpose and with renewed admiration for the great people I work with everyday.

What’s in a name. Well, apparently, a lot is in a name given the feedback I have received about a possible shortening of the college name to Pellissippi State Community College. Most feedback has been in favor of a change; some think we should not change while others suggest a more significant change to just Pellissippi State College. The one I like best is the name a Pellissippi State student posted on Facebook when he created a group for fellow students called “Harvard on the Highway.” It has a nice ring to it.

For those of you who weren’t around or don’t remember, our College began as the State Technical Institute of Knoxville (STIK) in 1974. We offered only technical programs and the Associate of Applied Science degree at that time. Over the years, our mission changed to include the Associate of Arts and the Associate of Science degrees and courses for transfer to upper division universities and our name changed to Pellissippi State Technical Community College to reflect a regional role (Pellissippi) and a broader mission. Our enrollment has eroded some in the technical fields, but real growth has occured in the transfer and general education side of the house. About 20 percent of our enrollment is in technical programs today.

Nationally, you find many models. Historically, our roots are in the “junior college” and the “vocational/technical institute” models which have evolved over the years. The term “community college” was developed to describe the modern day development combining the mission of a “junior college” with that of a “technical institute.”
However, the names have been used and interpreted very differently by states and systems.

In California, you find Pasadena College and Barstow Community College with different names but with essentially the same mission. In Georgia, you will find that most community colleges don’t use the term community at all; they are just called college, as in Atlanta Metropolitan College. In Florida, community colleges are now changing their names as they take on the role of offering select baccalaureate degrees even though 90 percent of their mission is still community college oriented. There is no real consistency throughout the country.

Name changes sometimes make sense; sometimes they don’t. I am very glad, for instance, that we don’t have the initials STIK anymore. Pellissippi State may be difficult to spell for some, but this Cherokee word for “winding river” is a very dignified regional name for our institution. Howeve, I don’t know what the University of Memphis gained when they changed their name from Memphis State University, but I hope it is working for them.

Whatever we will call ourselves in the future will be determined by the legislature, not by me nor by the Tennessee Board of Regents. Whether we are a state “technical” community college or just “community college” we will still market ourselves as Pellissippi State just as we do now. Our mission will not change, and I will still be very proud to be associated with this great institution.

Marching in the MLK Jr. parade was a joyful experience. Nobody minded the snow or the cold. It really set the stage for today’s inauguration. Thanks to all the faculty and staff who marched and/or rode in this great event.

Tuesday’s inauguration will be the most significant inauguration in my lifetime; it may be the most significant in history to this point. Barack Obama’s election to the presidency of the United States of America is a remarkable event, not only for our country, but for the world and the way the world sees us. It doesn’t matter if you are a Republican or a Democrat. This is big.

I grew up in a small housing development near a textile mill in South Carolina during the 1950’s, and I lived with racism and the separation of races as a fact of life during those years. As a kid, I thought it was just the way things were. As a thirteen year old, I watched the freedom riders on television and remember clearly the violence of the attempts to integrate the University of Mississippi and George Wallace’s stand at the doors of the University of Alabama. I remember watching and reading about the marches in Selma, the church bombings in Birmingham, the rallies in Washington, and about the significant men and women who made it all happen. I wasn’t a participant; I was just a teenage observer, more interested in cars and girls than anything else.

The men who opened my eyes and who really helped my understanding of the importance and value of the changes that were going on were Harvey Gantt, a black South Carolinian who was studying in Iowa, and Robert Edwards, president of Clemson University. Harvey wanted to come back home to South Carolina to study architecture. He wanted to attend Clemson University, the school I had wanted to attend since I was in the eighth grade. When the decision was made to accept him, I waited to see what would happen there. Would there be fiery bombs? Would there be shots in the night? No. Not at Clemson, the first public college to be integrated in the state.
Dr. Edwards welcomed Harvey Gantt to Clemson and made it clear to all who could hear and read that Harvey Gantt was welcome. I entered Clemson the year after Gantt started, and occasionally saw him in the dining hall and rarely on the campus–architecture students are notorious for spending 18-20 hours a day in the architecture building. He, and Dr. Edwards, both played a large part in my growing up, and I grateful for their courage and for their leadership.

It seems so silly at times to think that society made such a big fuss over a man who wanted to go to college, or, to vote, or to ride in the front of the bus. It wasn’t silly; it was tragic, and how wonderful it is to live in different days. The juxtaposition of Martin Luther King Jr.’s holiday and the inauguration of the first black president of the United States is a powerful reminder of how far we have come in the past sixty years. We are not all the way to the mountaintop, but I think we are on the right road.

I just returned from a meeting with Pellissippi State’s Global Ambassadors, a new designation for students who receive service scholarships to assist with study abroad programs. It is so encouraging and inspiring to meet these bright young men and women who are engaged in exploring the world and all the possibilities before them.
There are so many people in our community who never consider the possibility, or perhaps never think they have the opportunity, to study or even visit another country. These Global Ambassadors hope to change that by speaking about their experiences and about assisting our students in taking the first steps toward a new and potentially life-changing event–a study tour abroad.

Even in a difficult financial environment there are often funds available for students to pursue their dreams of studying abroad. Just as important as the money, however, is the encouragement provided by faculty, staff, and students to take the first step and the Global Ambassadors should help us move our programs forward.

During Pellissippi State’s second year of involvement with an organized study abroad program, we are among the top 25 community colleges in number of students who study abroad. With the help of our Global Ambassadors, I think we have the potential to enter the ranks of the top 10 community colleges in the nation in this category.

Congratulations to our Global Ambassadors, and thanks to all of them for inspiring others to dream big.

This year’s Christmas holiday season is very different from past seasons. It is impossible to escape all the doom and gloom that is being spread by media far and wide, and it is hard to find the joy and hope that has traditionally accompanied our time away from work.
I hope that there is a silver lining in this cloudy season for you.

For me, the silver lining will be the time I spend with friends and family over the holidays. It will not be about the gifts but about the precious time that I can spend with my 92 year old mother who will delight in seeing the Christmas lights and great-grandchildren over one more season of her life. It will be about the wonderful long hours I get to spend with my wife Sue as we drive from place to place to visit with family and friends. It will also be about caring for an aging Uncle Jack who lives alone and is always excited to have visitors come and stay a while.

Most of all, I hope that you will find something to celebrate this Christmas. For a while, I hope you get away from newspapers, television, email, and the internet and just enjoy all of those things that make life such a wonderful gift. Celebrate your faith, your friends, your family, and see if you can find joy in even the simplest things we are given.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, Germany signed an armistice with the rest of the western world to end the “Great War” or World War I as it came to be known. Thereafter, the day, November 11, was observed as an unofficial holiday to recognize veterans of WWI, and it was made an official state and federal holiday in 1938: “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as ‘Armistice Day.”
In 1954, by act of Congress, Armistice Day was expanded to include all veterans of all wars and the name of the holiday was changed to Veterans Day.
With American engaged in two active wars, Veterans Day takes on even more importance as our students and employees return from military service to take on their place in society as civilians once again. I am deeply grateful for the sacrifices they have made and believe that we are a better world for their willingness to serve our great country.

Two weeks ago, I made a pilgrimage that I have wanted to make for almost 40 years–I went to Canterbury Cathedral. As an undergraduate major in English, I had studied Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in Middle English and, of course, the Tales are about the lives of pilgrims who are going to Canterbury Cathedral to visit the site of the murder of Thomas Becket who was killed by knights of King Henry II.
Despite many trips to Great Britain over the years, I had never visited this historic site. Well, it was worth the wait. Canterbury Cathedral is still drawing pilgrims from all over the world. It is one of the most beautiful cathedrals in Great Britain and it is an active church. The site of Beckett’s murder by the knights is marked by a special altar and the chapels of the cathedral are as wonderful as any I have ever seen.
This is one of the special places in the history of the western world, and I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to visit there.

It only took a casual remark in my office to set off several reminders of how old I am. Passing by a candy dish (why do we do this to ourselves) I made the comment “Do you have any Squirrel Nut Zippers?”. It was as if I had asked if there were poodles in the puddles or some other nonsensical thing.

Only 50 years ago, in my hometown, that would have been a very sensible question to ask, as Squirrel Nut Zippers, BB Bats, and Zagnuts were popular candies that would have been a welcome addition to any candy dish. Apparently, not anymore. Time has moved on and so have the candy choices. It is hard for me to get excited about Chocolate Pop Rocks, Bratz Candy Star Dust, Sour Patch Xploderz, and Chewy Atomic Fireballs.
In the end though, as good as the banana BB Bats are, the Squirrel Nut Zipper has to be my favorite. Chewy caramel, nuts, and that little wrapper that always seemed to be a little oily–yum yum.

Mast General Store still carries the great old traditional candies in case you are looking for some special treats.