Knott Announces Resignation

On Monday, June 7, Dr. Robert E. Knott, president of Tusculum College, announced his resignation, effective October 31, 1999, from Tusculum College. He will join Mars Hill College in Mars Hill, North Carolina, as executive vice-president for internal relations and dean.

Thomas J. Garland has been named interim president and will work closely with Knott during the transition period.

Tusculum College, of Greeneville, Tennessee, has centers in Greeneville and Knoxville and serves both traditional college students on its residential campus and working adults in an evening program--the Professional Studies Program. The Professional Studies Program offers classes on site in locations across East Tennessee, from Bristol to Knoxville to Chattanooga.

Knott, who has led the College since 1989, engineered an effective turnaround for this, the oldest college in the State of Tennessee. In 1989, the College claimed a total enrollment of 659 and had accumulated a multi-million dollar operating debt. In 1999, enrollment topped 1,500 and the College has enjoyed nine years of surpluses in its operating budgets.

"Since 1989, we have been fortunate to have the best college president in the United States in Greeneville and at Tusculum College," observed Stanley R. Welty, Jr, a 1951 graduate and the chairman of the College's Board of Trustees. "He has provided a compelling vision and wise leadership and has assembled a team of faculty and administrators who have made that vision a reality. We will certainly miss his leadership, but he has left Tusculum College in a strong position to thrive in the next century."

Before coming to Tusculum College, Knott was provost and dean of Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina. He served as dean of Arkansas College (now Lyon College) and Gardner-Webb University. He also served ably as Professor of Philosophy at Mars Hill College, where he will now return to lead day-to-day operations. As executive vice president and dean, Knott will have responsibility for the academic programs of the College as well as business matters, while the College's president, Dr. A. Max Lennon, will lead the college's community relations and fund raising efforts.

"The progress Tusculum College has made during the past decade has been gratifying to both Brenda and me." Knott said in a prepared statement. "Tusculum College has come from insecure circumstances to a position of strength as it approaches its next stage of development. After two successful capital campaigns, the rebuilding of its academic and athletic programs and the renovation as well as new construction of facilities, it is time for a new and reinvigorated leadership to carry Tusculum College forward. The demands of these last ten years in salvaging the College have taken their toll on Brenda and myself, and after careful and prayerful consideration, we concluded that Tusculum College would be better served with new leadership from the office of the president."

Knott expressed gratitude for the friendships he has made in Greeneville, both with alumni and others in the community.

Garland's Service to Board of Regents a Factor

In naming Thomas Garland as interim president, the board of trustees has put its faith in an individual with significant experience in higher education. Garland has twice been associated with Tusculum College, most recently since 1991 when he was named Executive in Residence and Distinguished Service Professor of the Civic Arts. He is currently leading efforts to establish the Tusculum Institute for Public Leadership and Policy, which will form partnerships among educators, business people, and government to provide educational opportunities for students and public servants alike.

Garland began his service to Tusculum as a member of the Board of Trustees in 1966. He served as chairman of the Board from 1971 to 1972. He holds an honorary Doctor of Laws from Tusculum College.

Garland has a long and distinguished career in public life. A state senator for 21 years, Mr. Garland was minority leader of the Senate for seventeen years. Following his service in the Senate, he served as Chancellor of the Tennessee Board of Regents, the governing authority of the state's community colleges and regional universities. "We are fortunate to have someone with Tom's experience on our staff," noted Stan Welty. "His service as chief executive of Tennessee's largest university system prepares him to take the reins here. He has already hired a number of university presidents, and that experience will be very much appreciated as we begin to seek a permanent successor to Bob Knott."

In addition to his experience in government and education, Mr. Garland has wide experience in business. He is a director of Atmos Energy Corporation of Dallas, Texas, parent of United Cities Gas Company. A founding director of People's Community Bank of Johnson City, Garland also serves as vice chairman of the Board of Mountain States Health Alliance in that city. He is former Chairman of the Board of Commerce Union Bank, Greeneville (now NationsBank).

Record of Achievement

The past ten years under Knott's leadership represent a remarkable turnaround for the historic college. The College has instituted distinctive new academic programs, such as the focused calendar, an integrated core curriculum called the Commons, and an innovative competency program that validates student skills in important areas. These advances have given the College national recognition from such entities as the Pew Charitable Trusts and American Academy of Liberal Education.

The College has continued to build on its pioneering educational programs for working adults. Enrollment in these programs has tripled in the last ten years.

The two capital campaigns have allowed the College to renovate and reopen residence halls that were closed in the early 1980s, expand endowment for scholarships and faculty developments, and build the Niswonger Commons, an impressive facility that contains Alpine Arena, a 2,000-seat sports arena that holds 2,800 with seating on the floor for community events. The Niswonger Commons is also the home of a new student center and the renovated Simerly Union Building and Pioneer Gymnasium.

A partial list of the College's achievements under Knott's leadership includes the following:

• The entire campus community celebrated the Bicentennial of the College, with such dignitaries as U.S. Congressman James H. Quillen and Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley participating.

• Faculty developed the Civic Arts program with a distinctive Commons curriculum which places emphasis on citizenship, character and service to society.

• Students and faculty began completing course work using the focused calendar in which courses are scheduled one at a time. Tusculum College is one of only four colleges in the country to use this innovative calendar.

• A competency program set entry and graduation standards in nine basic areas–from communications skills to knowledge of specific subject areas and matters of character.

• The College received national recognition for its academic programs from the Pew Trusts, the Kettering Foundation and the Teagle Foundation.

• Enrollment more than doubled from 659 to 1,543, an increase of 134 percent.

• The percentage of regional students more than tripled. Sixty percent of the residential college students and virtually all of the adults in the Professional Studies Program are now from East Tennessee.

• Recruiting in the local area improved, with about 30 percent of residential college students now coming from Greene County.

• Professional Studies administrators developed articulation agreements with five regional community colleges: Northeast State Technical Community College, Walters State Community College, Mountain Empire Community College, Pellissippi State Technical Community College, and Roane State Community College.

• The Board of Trustees has been strengthened significantly and is now providing outstanding leadership for the College.

• Church relations efforts strengthened the College’s historic connection with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), with covenants established with Holston Presbytery, the Presbytery of East Tennessee and the Synod of Living Waters.

• The Partners-in-Ministry Campaign among the 68 churches in Holston Presbytery yielded over $340,000 in pledges to endowment for scholarships and campus ministry support. The goal was $275,000.

• Thanks to its friends, the College raised over $30 million in the last ten years. The $10 million Bicentennial Campaign, which was chaired by Thomas J. Garland, yielded over $11 million and was completed in 1994. The Tusculum College 2000 Campaign, which is currently in its final stages, topped the $20 million goal in April. The Tusculum 2000 Campaign is chaired by Scott M. Niswonger.

• New construction provided the College an impressive new facility, the Niswonger Commons, which houses Alpine Arena, a 2,000-seat sports arena that holds 2,800 with seating on the floor for community events. The Niswonger Commons is also the home of a new student center and the renovated Simerly Union Building and Pioneer Gymnasium.

• Under the leadership of Alvin Gerhardt, the College developed the President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library.

• Over $1 million was added to the endowment for faculty development.

• Over the last nine years, the College’s endowment grew from $2 million to over $10 million (market value).

• In athletics, Tusculum College reestablished football after 40 years and moved from NAIA Division II to the South Atlantic Conference of NCAA Division II. Both the NCAA and the conference require higher academic standards for student-athletes and conference affiliation provides wider exposure to potential students.

• Technicians, faculty, and staff worked together to create a state-of-the-art personal computer laboratory, a vibrant Tusculum presence on the World Wide Web, and computer-based research facilities for students and faculty.

Plans for the College

As students return in August to learn of Knott's impending departure, they will also return to a completed new Niswonger Commons and renovated and expanded athletic fields. Enrollment is expected to continue to grow.

"In the next few weeks, we will announce the formation of a search committee to replace perhaps the most effective president in this College's history," noted Stan Welty. "While this will not be an easy task, thanks to Bob Knott's leadership, we are in an excellent position to attract an outstanding new president. We wish Bob well in his new work, and we look forward to taking Tusculum College into the next century under new leadership."