Honors for Vol State EMS Grads

EMS providers in Montgomery County were recognized recently by State Senator Mark Green. Of the seven EMT’s and Paramedics receiving commendation from Dr. Green, six are Vol State graduates (all wearing the red shirts). One EMT in particular, Jennifer Earp, is a current student in our Paramedic program and was recently recognized for her emergency care of a stroke patient at the Country Music Marathon. Here's the full story and picture in ClarksvilleNow.

Vol State in the News

The Tennessean has a story about Tennessee Promise. Dr. Faulkner is one of the quotes.

Deborah Martin from the women’s basketball team has graduated and signed to play at Division One Alabama A&M University for next season. Deb was a major part of the women’s success this past season. Here is an Alabama A&M story about her signing.

Collegiate Ministry Helps Out Hurricane Vicitims in New York

Hurricane Sandy tore through New York and New Jersey on October 29, 2012. A year-and-a-half later some residents are still rebuilding. Recently, Vol State students and faculty members with Collegiate Ministry traveled to Long Island to help. Six students and faculty advisor Cindy Chanin spent several days helping an elderly woman who did not have flood insurance and assisting a man who was repainting his house on an Indian reservation.

The work was done as part of the North American Mission Board. It’s not the first time Collegiate Ministry has gone to action to help people after a big storm. They made a mission trip to the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and have participated in many other such projects.

Godwin Hired as Director of Construction and Facilities

Glenda Godwin of Gallatin is the new director of Construction and Facilities at Volunteer State Community College. She was most recently vice president, senior real estate manager and facilities manager for First Tennessee Bank.

“I like the fact that everything is in one location for the Vol State campuses,” Godwin said. “In my previous job, I had 42 banks between Springhill and Gallatin.”

Godwin arrives at a critical juncture. The college has just finished one major building project on the Gallatin campus, a new Health Sciences building, and is now beginning another, a new Humanities building.

“The Humanities project is a big one,” said Godwin. “We’re having planning meetings every couple of weeks.”

When asked what she would like to accomplish in her new role she said: "I would like to incorporate more standards in design. I think that would help make the processes much easier."

Godwin holds a bachelor’s degree in Interior Design from the University of Illinois at Champaign. She taught interior design at the University of Mississippi and the University of Memphis.

Logistics Graduate Success Story: Dawn Leady

Dawn Leady and George Wilson

Dawn Leady graduated from Vol State in May 2013 with a Technical Certificate in Logistics & Supply Chain Management, earning her Technical Certificate in just one semester with a 4.0 GPA. During the past 12 months, Dawn continued as a part-time Student working on her AAS, and she secured a full-time job as Inside Customer Sales Coordinator at Spitfire Controls in Springfield. Dawn also organized and participated in several Vol State, industry, and community activities. For Vol State, Dawn (and Scott Little) served as Supplemental Instruction Leader for George Wilson, and she co-presented the Soft Skills Workshop for Dr. Kenny Yarbrough’s Student Leadership Symposium. At the 6^th Annual Vol State Logistics & Supply Chain Management Advisory Board Meeting, Dawn gave what has come to be known as “the Kevin Bacon speech” and she was a Member of the Sustainability Panel Discussion. Dawn staffed tables at Vol State Career Fairs and at Vol State College Night.

During the summer of 2013, Don Ellis, George Wilson, and Dawn met several times with managers and supervisors at Electrolux in Springfield to organize a cohort of Electrolux employees to take hybrid logistics classes at Highland Crest to earn their Technical Certificate in Logistics & Supply Chain Management. These meetings helped network Dawn to her job at Spitfire Controls, a $20M supplier to Electrolux. In her new job, Dawn works on-site at Electrolux, and she is responsible for order processing, inventory, and quality assurance for Spitfire parts supplied to Electrolux from China and Mexico.

For the logistics & supply chain industry, Dawn Leady & George Wilson organized the CSCMP Supply Chain Student Connector Event held at Vol State, she served as Recorder, Statistician, and Photographer at the CSCMP / Nashville Chamber of Commerce Logistics Epicenter Event, she served on the ISM-Nashville Marketing Committee, she (and John Kemper) won an ISM-Nashville scholarship, and she served the CSCMP as an at-large Board Member.

For the community, Dawn Leady and George Wilson were members of the Goodlettsville Leadership Academy during  Summer 2013, and Dawn served as a volunteer for the United Way of Sumner County “Stuff the Bus” program.

Congratulations, Dawn, on a great year !

-George Wilson

www.volstate.edu/logistics

Welcome Back Jamey Campbell

Jamey Campbell is the new director of development for the College Foundation. Campbell is a familiar face on the Gallatin campus. He was coordinator of student activities from 2009 to 2011. He left the college to be director of business development for Schenk Photography of Hendersonville.

“The driving factor to come back was knowing that I could wake up in the morning and spend my day raising money for student scholarships,” said Campbell. “It gives the highest sense of purpose and emotional return. It’s easy to identify the line between the donor’s assistance and the student being helped.”

Campbell has a bachelor’s degree from Hendrix College in Arkansas and a Master of Science degree in Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Memphis. His responsibilities at Vol State will include leading alumni programs.

“I want to meet as many alumni and supporters of the college as I can,” Campbell said. “I’d like to start having casual and informal breakfast meet and greets for alumni around the area.”

For more information about the College Foundation and the Vol State Alumni Association please visit www.volstate.edu/foundation.

Graduation 2014

The skies cleared up just in time for graduation on Saturday. We have hundreds of fun photos from the event. You can find many on the College Facebook page, along with many student posts. It's become the hub of social media activity for graduation. We ask some of the college Ambassadors to help us out each year with a jump shot of sorts. Here is this year's version:

 

 

Vol State in the News

Graduation received coverage on Fox 17. We expect Gallatin and Hendersonville newspaper coverage when they go to print this week.

The Nashville Scene references Vol State in an interesting editorial about the Tennessee Promise and the impact to students, overall.

The Fogbees bicycle group points out this print coverage of the recent Vol State Cycling Classic event.

Vol State Livingston faculty member David Johnson has donated hundreds of hours of tapes to an archive. The Cookeville Herald-Citizen has the story.

Channel 5 visited Vol State to do this story on the Tennessee Promise.

Leading the Way: A New Mace for Vol State

You may have seen the new ceremonial emblem of Vol State proudly displayed at graduation on Saturday. It's a new Vol State mace, which is an ornamental wood staff displayed during special occasions.  It was carried by Vol State faculty speaker Scott McMillan as he led the administration into the Pickel Field House. 

The previous mace used by the college was destroyed in the 2006 tornado that swept through campus, causing more than seven million dollars in damage. The new mace was designed by Franz Nuernberger of Gallatin, a former engineer at Cresent Fine Furniture in Gallatin. It incorporates a piece of walnut wood from the previous mace that was recovered during the tornado clean-up. The new mahogany mace was finished at the Cresent Fine Furniture Plant. The inlays feature the college crest and the newer v-flame logo.

Photo by Jennifer Pitts

Tommy Tomkins, long-time College Foundation supporter, is also the former CEO of Cresent and thus the connection. He led the effort to have the mace produced locally and the result has everyone quite impressed. It seems especially important to folks that the mace was locally produced and is a true original. Some colleges purchase maces online. Having it made by a local artisan, and tied to one of Gallatin's oldest businesses, Cresent Fine Furniture, has meant a lot to people.

With any luck, we can keep this one around for a bit longer. I'm sure we would all appreciate a break from calamity for a while.

Left to right: Tommy Tomkins, College Foundation donor and former Cresent Fine Furniture CEO; Dr. Jerry Faulkner, Vol State president; and Franz Nuernberger, mace designer.

A Big Day for Bike Riding

The inaugural Vol State Cycling Classic event was a big hit on Saturday, bringing out 145 participants. The scholarship fundraiser featured three different bike rides under blue skies and sunshine. Afterwards, everyone enjoyed barbecue, beverages and live music from Vol State student groups. A number of folks came from out of town to ride and many riders from all over said they would be back next year. Here are some photos of the fun:

Vol State in the News

Pioneer softball and baseball players battled hard in the TCCAA Tournament this weekend at Vol State. They both lost on Saturday but made it to the top 4 finishers. Congrats to all of the players and a big shout out to Bobby Hudson and all of the Athletic Department folks who put on a great tournament!

Educate A Woman had another successful year as a Foundation fundraiser. The Tennessean has this story.

The TMTA math competition brought in hundreds of high school students from across the area. This story is from the Gallatin News Examiner.

Educate and Grow Sumner County scholarships are back, for a while, anyway. The Tennessean has the update.

A graduating mother and daughter team received coverage in the Tennessean. We have since found out about two more mother-daughter combos and we'll be promoting that to the media for graduation day stories.