The Tennessean had a lovely story about the new Parris Powers arboretum...and the impact a professor can have on students. It's something that happens every day at Vol State. It's nice when it gets highlighted.
The Tennessean ran our news release about the Pioneer Pen winning a national honor.
The Tennessean and Channel 5 came out to cover the memorial for Vol State student Lexus Williams, who was killed in a reported domestic incident earlier this month.
The CHEC Earth Day event attracted some attention with articles in the Overton County News and the Cookeville Herald Citizen.
Channel 4 came out to the Gallatin campus for a weather warning story. They reported on our upgraded emergency warning systems, including the police speaker system inside and outside on campus and our texting system.
Campus Police were lauded for their safety efforts and the Tennessean had the story.
Tennessee Reconnect has been a big promotional inititiative for the college. Here is a story in the Tennessean.
The Overton County News
interviewed Greg Burgess, a Vol State Cyber Security instructor, for a feature story
on the Cyber Security program in Livingston.
Friday, April 27, 2018
Monday, April 23, 2018
A Police Officer with his Hands in Clay
Student artists can be known for their stylish outfits, but
seldom do they dress in an all-navy uniform and carry a gun. Thus there was a
bit of a surprise on this reporter’s part when Campus Police Sergeant Philip
Woodard stepped forward at a recent student art awards ceremony to receive his
certificate for Best Ceramic Set. His beautiful cobalt blue and brown coffee mugs
and bowl would be at home in any craft art show in Nashville. It’s the product
of his independent study class in ceramics with instructor Patrick Green.
Woodard has been working on a degree in history at Vol
State. Now he is considering switching to fine arts. “I think it’s a great way
to relieve stress.”
He thanks the Art Department faculty members for helping him
to develop his skills. But don’t think for a moment that the recognition has
gone to his head. He told me that his big goal is to take that ceramic bowl
home and eat ice cream out of it.
Sergeant Woodard’s pottery, and many other fine student art
works, are on display in the Vol State Gallery on the first floor of SRB. It’s
well worth a visit.
Graduate Profiles on the Virtual Community Blog
Each year we highlight a couple of upcoming graduates. You can find the stories for this semester on the Vol State Virtual Community Blog.
Reminder: Parris Powers Memorial Arboretum Event Friday
The Vol State Gallatin campus is now home to a certified Arboretum: a collection of trees that have been identified and listed for
nature exploration and scientific study. The Tennessee Urban Forestry
Council has certified the campus as a Level II Arboretum. It will be named for
former Vol State Chemistry Professor Parris Powers. A grand opening for the
Parris Powers Memorial Arboretum will be held on Friday, April 27 at 2 p.m. on
the Duffer Plaza. Everyone is invited.
The designation is largely the work
of Vol State alumnus Cynthia Hernandez and Vol State faculty members. Part of
the effort involved identifying and marking 62 species of trees on the campus. They
worked with Parris Powers on the project and it will stand as a lasting symbol
of his commitment to environmental science at Vol State. The college will be
producing a map of the tree locations and visitors are welcome to campus to
view them.
Monday, April 16, 2018
Fond Farewell for Dr. Torrence
Dr. Michael Torrence is headed soon to Motlow State Community College to take on the position of President. Today, faculty and staff here at Vol State gathered to wish him well.
Vol State Student Among Tops in Mircosoft Word
Vol State graduate Jordyn Houghton recently discovered she ranked fourth in the state of TN on the Microsoft Office Specialist (M.O.S.) exam in Word. You could be next by taking advantage of the many free testing opportunities available to students, faculty, and staff at Vol State. The International Data Corporation says that Microsoft Office skills rank third as the top skills employers are looking for. Obtaining a Microsoft Office Specialist certification is way to give you a professional edge, potentially boosting annual salary by as much as $16,000, according to Microsoft.com.
“I knew I passed, but I had no idea that I had done that well. I didn’t even know this test was an option until it was given to me as the final exam for a computer class I was taking,” said Jordyn. “I had a lot of experience with Word, so the classes were kind of like a review for me. If I learned something new, it was easy to retain that information because of my experience with the program. Students need to know that this is an option. It’s free and it’s something great to add onto your resume. Excel is another one that students should look into because it’s a big part of any business."
“We only had a handful of students that tested with us at Vol State, so for one of those students to be number four in the entire state for her age bracket is pretty awesome,” said Lisa Borre, assistant director of Advising and Testing. “A lot of people in job interviews will say that they’re proficient in Microsoft Office, and that’s pretty subjective. But to say that you are Microsoft certified, that’s taking it to another level - its confirmation from Microsoft. If you don’t get the score you need, nothing gets recorded, so there’s really nothing to lose…We’re trying to get the word out because it’s an awesome benefit that a lot of people aren’t aware of. When you’re a student and you’ve graduated, you’ll not only have your degree in your subject matter, you can also have an added benefit of receiving Microsoft certification. I would also highly recommend Imagine Academy,” said Borre.
Microsoft’s Imagine Academy provides free curricula and resources on Microsoft products for students and educators; it can be used to prepare for the exams. The exam can then be scheduled through Vol State’s website. The Testing Center offers many other free tests for students, faculty, and staff, such as career and personality assessments, CLEP, and much more. For more information on testing at Vol State, swing by the testing center in room 126 of the Warf building, or check out their website at www.volstate.edu/testing.
Photos - Top Left: Jordyn Houghton
Bottom Right: Lisa Borre
-By Rachel Keyes
“I knew I passed, but I had no idea that I had done that well. I didn’t even know this test was an option until it was given to me as the final exam for a computer class I was taking,” said Jordyn. “I had a lot of experience with Word, so the classes were kind of like a review for me. If I learned something new, it was easy to retain that information because of my experience with the program. Students need to know that this is an option. It’s free and it’s something great to add onto your resume. Excel is another one that students should look into because it’s a big part of any business."
“We only had a handful of students that tested with us at Vol State, so for one of those students to be number four in the entire state for her age bracket is pretty awesome,” said Lisa Borre, assistant director of Advising and Testing. “A lot of people in job interviews will say that they’re proficient in Microsoft Office, and that’s pretty subjective. But to say that you are Microsoft certified, that’s taking it to another level - its confirmation from Microsoft. If you don’t get the score you need, nothing gets recorded, so there’s really nothing to lose…We’re trying to get the word out because it’s an awesome benefit that a lot of people aren’t aware of. When you’re a student and you’ve graduated, you’ll not only have your degree in your subject matter, you can also have an added benefit of receiving Microsoft certification. I would also highly recommend Imagine Academy,” said Borre.
Microsoft’s Imagine Academy provides free curricula and resources on Microsoft products for students and educators; it can be used to prepare for the exams. The exam can then be scheduled through Vol State’s website. The Testing Center offers many other free tests for students, faculty, and staff, such as career and personality assessments, CLEP, and much more. For more information on testing at Vol State, swing by the testing center in room 126 of the Warf building, or check out their website at www.volstate.edu/testing.
Photos - Top Left: Jordyn Houghton
Bottom Right: Lisa Borre
-By Rachel Keyes
Thursday, April 12, 2018
Retirement Celebration
It's that time of the year again...when we send off the latest group of college retirees. There were fond wishes and some funny stories at this year's event. We wish everyone the best.
Monday, April 9, 2018
Gallatin Campus Celebrates Arboretum Designation April 27
![]() |
This Japanese Maple is one of the Arboretum trees |
The Vol State Gallatin campus is now home to a certified Arboretum: a collection of trees that have been identified and listed for
nature exploration and scientific study. The Tennessee Urban Forestry
Council has certified the campus as a Level II Arboretum. It will be named for
former Vol State Chemistry Professor Parris Powers. A grand opening for the
Parris Powers Memorial Arboretum will be held on Friday, April 27 at 2 p.m. on
the Duffer Plaza. Everyone is invited.
The designation is largely the work
of Vol State alumnus Cynthia Hernandez and Vol State faculty members. Part of
the effort involved identifying and marking 62 species of trees on the campus. They
worked with Parris Powers on the project and it will stand as a lasting symbol
of his commitment to environmental science at Vol State. The college will be
producing a map of the tree locations and visitors are welcome to campus to
view them.
Dr. Faulkner: Mistakes
“The only real mistake is the
one from which we learn nothing.” John
Powell
“All men
make mistakes, but only wise men learn from their mistakes.” Winston Churchill
“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that
won't work.” Thomas
Edison
Often
we view those that are successful as always being perfect and never having made
a mistake. Even wildly successful
persons and enterprises have mistakes in their history. Look at the uber-successful company
Pixar. We are all familiar with their
top grossing films like the now 20 year old Toy
Story or Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, and Cars. What we have not been
aware of are the stops and starts that led to those blockbusters.
Pixar
has just taken the unprecedented step of releasing a video of their
failures. You can find their Scrapped Ideas video on YouTube.
Why
would any company, let alone the premier animation studio in America, release a
video about their failures? Perhaps they
are reminding us that the creative process is often a messy one. Perhaps they are reminding us of the truth
from the quotes above. Mistakes will be
made but we must learn from and build upon our mistakes.
That
can only happen in a culture that gives people permission to explore and make
mistakes. A culture that punishes
creative mistakes causes people to hide their failures, not to learn from them.
From
the Harvard Business Review we learn that Pixar operates on three principles:
1. Everyone must have the freedom to communicate with
anyone.
2. It must be safe for everyone to offer ideas.
3. We must stay close to innovations happening in the
academic community.
Where
could we as a Vol State community go if we embraced these principals and
applied them across our campuses? What
if we felt safe being creative and taking risks? What if we learned from our mistakes?
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