Morristown City Council member Kay Senter, second from right, joins Tusculum College President Dr. Dolphus Henry in cutting the ribbon officially opening the expanded Morristown Center for the college. Holding the ribbon are Jamie Hamer, at left, and Jenifer Kirk, admissions counselors for Tusculum College. (Tusculum College photo)

Major expansion of Morristown Center celebrated with ribbon-cutting

Tusculum College, the oldest college in the state of Tennessee, celebrated one of its latest developments on Friday, Aug. 2, with a ribbon-cutting for the newly expanded Morristown Center.

In brief comments at the event, Tusculum College President Dr. Dolphus Henry noted that although Tusculum maintains the commitment to community building and the one-course at a time calendar it had its founding in 1794, the college is much different in other ways to meet the needs of today's students, both traditional-aged students and the working adults served at sites such as the Morristown Center. The college's library has thousands of journals, books, periodicals, and other materials available on the Internet, for example, he said. "Our students have access to these resources 24 hours a day, seven days a week," he said.

Bringing greetings from the college's faculty, Dr. Jonathan Franz, provost and academic vice president of Tusculum, noted, "The expansion of the Morristown Center is an example of one of the steps we have been taking to grow and improve to meet the needs of of our students."

Representing the City of Morristown, Councilwoman Kay Senter remarked, "We are honored Tusculum College selected Morristown for this expansion to provide more educational opportunities to our citizens and those in surrounding counties." Senter also thanked the college for selecting to locate in the Medical Arts Building, which is part of the city's downtown revitalization area.

Welcoming remarks and introductions of honored guests were made by Dr. Denise Wood, dean of instruction for Graduate and Professional Studies and director of the Knoxville Professional Studies Center. Don Stout, associate dean of operations for Graduate and Professional Studies, presided over the ribbon cutting.

The invocation was given by the Rev. Gary Kelley, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Morristown.

The addition of three large classrooms, a computer lab, two faculty offices, and a lobby area during the past year has more than doubled the size of the Morristown Center. With the addition, the center now has six classrooms.

Courses have been offered in Morristown since 1984 as part of Tusculum's Professional Studies program, specifically designed for working adults. As part of Professional Studies, four degree programs are taught at an accelerated, focused pace in locations convenient to students' homes or workplaces at sites ranging from Chattanooga to Bristol. The Professional Studies program offers students opportunities to earn a bachelor of science degree in organizational management, to obtain master's degrees in organizational management or education, or to complete their elective and core requirement courses towards a degree.

A new alumni chapter recently formed in Morristown and will be meeting in conjunction with the open house. Jim Senter, a 1994 graduate, is president of the new Morristown Alumni Chapter, and Miller Lyons, a 1976 graduate, is president-elect. Any alumni interested in the new chapter are asked to contact Senter via email at jsenter@charter.net, or Sean Bride, Tusculum College alumni director, at sbride@tusculum.edu or 423-636-7331