January 2026 Volume 9 Issue 6

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The college continues to make positive gains in employee engagement, according to the Fall 2025 Engagement Survey. You can view the detailed responses in the Survey Response PDF.

This is the third year of the engagement survey, which is sent to regular full-time and part-time employees each fall. The survey was designed by the Employee Engagement Committee, in conjunction with IR, to help inform the work of college leaders and the Engagement Committee.

Survey responses are categorized into three areas:

• STRENGTHS – (Green) 80% or more answered “Strongly Agree” or “Agree.” This is where we want to see all of our responses fall.
  
• OPPORTUNITIES – (Yellow) 25% or more answered either “Somewhat disagree” or “Somewhat agree.” This is what we would call “on the fence” responses – not wholly positive, but not wholly negative.
  
• WEAKNESSES – (Red) 10% or more answered “Strongly disagree” or “Disagree.”

The goal is to see continued growth in our Strengths percentages, but also a decrease in numbers in the Weakness category. This may look like a shift from a Weakness to an Opportunity, and then, ideally, to a Strength.

Overall Engagement

In 2025, 71% of responses to questions were “Strongly Agree” or “Agree,” which is a 2-percentage point increase from 2023. The bar chart below is a snapshot of how our “Strongly Agree” and “Agree” responses have been trending. In 2024 we saw a nice increase in strength responses in most categories, followed by a slight dip in a handful of categories in 2025. However, most responses have remained stable or are up 1-2 percentage points from 2023.

The only category that remained in the Weakness bucket is the frequency of supervisor feedback with 15% of respondents saying they only receive feedback from their supervisor 1x a year. The good news on that question, however, is that we saw a 3-percentage-point increase since 2023 in the number of people who receive feedback daily or weekly – which is now at 62%.

Areas to Highlight

The percentages below represent Agree or Strongly Agree responses. Change in percentage points (pp) represents the change from 2023 to 2025.

• I understand how my work is connected to NSCCs mission, vision and values — stable at 90%
• I feel like I belong here — remains strong at 81%
• I feel appreciated at Nashville State” — +3pp and a notable drop in Weakness responses from 9% in 2023 and 2024 to 3% in 2025
• My personal life and work life are in balance — +6pp to 63%
• The college promotes a culture of caring — +5pp to 69%
• Leadership provides ways for me to give feedback — +12pp to 69%
• Leadership has a clear vision of where the college is going — +9pp to 82%
• Leadership transparency in decision-making — +6pp to 65%
• Leadership proactively shares info — +5pp to 64%
• The new hire orientation equipped me to be successful in my role — +8pp and a 12pp drop in the Weaknesses response since 2023

Areas to Watch

Change in percentage points represents the change from 2023 to 2025.

• My supervisor encourages me to give feedback — -6pp to 76% (moved from a Strength)
• I am given sufficient autonomy on how best to do my work — -5pp to 79% (moved from a Strength)
• I have opportunities to grow as an employee — -4pp to 67%
• My supervisor does a good job celebrating successes and achievements — -7pp to 72%
• I am satisfied with the opportunities the college provides to connect me with fellow employees — 71% in 2023, jumped to 76% in 2024, and dropped to 67% in 2025

The next Employee Engagement survey will be conducted in Fall 2026. Keep up to date on the activity of the Engagement Committee and all other committees on the Committees SharePoint.

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Human Resources Update

By Connie Daniel, Senior Administrative Assistant, Human Resources

January 2026

Please join us in extending a warm welcome to Nashville State’s newest employees!

New Hires

NAME	TITLE	DEPARTMENT
Theodore Bryson	Manager, UserSupport Services	Office of Technology Services
John Byrd	Computer Technician	Office of Technology Services
Noelle Cannon	Instructor, Communications	School of Arts and Humanities
Heather Cohen	Instructor, Architectural Design Technology	School of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
Elizabeth Koop	Student Services Specialist I	Clarksville Campus
Amanda Payne	Student Services Specialist III	Dickson & Humphrey’s Campuses
Steven Shaw	Instructor, Industrial Process Control Technology	School of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

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Please join us in congratulating Nashville State’s employees who are in a new role!

New Roles

NAME	TITLE	DEPARTMENT
Jasmyn Vaughn	Director, Paralegal Studies	School of Business and Professional Studies
Morgan Whittenberg	Instructor, Nursing	School of Health Sciences

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Please join us in saying farewell to these NSCC employees!

Separations

NAME	TITLE	DEPARTMENT
Suzanne Sadler-Belcher	Receptionist	Office of the Vice President of Business & Finance
Kaylyn Cole	Admissions and Records Specialist	Office of Admissions & Records
Helen Kunkel	Senior Administrative Assistant	Office of the Vice President of Academic Affairs
Evan Klimko	Network Technician	Office of Technology Services
Emily Qualls	Student Success Advisor	Office of the Student Success Center
Nicholas Yancy	Admissions Records Clerk	Office of Admission & Records

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In Fall 2026, over 1000 students will take NSCC 1010 First Year Experience. This one credit course is a graduation requirement of all first-time college students because it makes it more likely they will graduate. While our students start college year-round, most start in the fall and so that is when we need the most NSCC 1010 instructors.

Soon there will be a call for NSCC 1010 instructors in preparation for Fall 2026 registration that begins in April. If you haven’t taught NSCC 1010 in a year, we need you again. If you have never taught NSCC 1010, the fall 2026 term is the time.

I will host a Teaching Center workshop on NSCC 1010 on Friday, February 27 at 10am called “Why Teach NSCC 1010.” Zoom Link

• Teaching NSCC 1010 helps TBR increase student participation in a High Impact Practice and foster a learning mindset, two goals of TBR’s Office of Student Success.
• Teaching NSCC 1010 helps Nashville State reach its 2030 Targets: 10,000 students; 90% persistence fall to spring; 60% retention fall to fall; 30% 3-year graduation rate. 
• Teaching NSCC helps you learn how to connect students to the people, degrees, and resources at Nashville State.

I hope to see you at the workshop and in NSCC 1010 classes this fall.

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The Teaching Center would like to recognize and thank the following presenters and panelists for sharing their expertise at the January 2026: New Semester, New Purpose Professional Development kickoff.

Their contributions sparked discussions on innovative ideas and effective teaching methods aimed at improving learning at Nashville State.

Jessica Rabb Neely Ann Scheucraft Kurstin Bush Harlan Pease Rachel Lewis Audrey Cross Karen Kendrick Shane McCoy Maryellen Nash Hannah Hurdle

Halley Andrews Diana Hernandez Megan Leith-Sexton Evan Espey April Delgrave Carlos Montas Mark Helm Maayan Ornath Megan York Renae Rakidzic

Jayme Hay Sheelan Mohammed Haleigh Portillo Michael Sostre Emily Naff Carl Weitlauf Gracie King Brian Curtis Jennifer Goncalves Thomas Homes

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Accreditation

I am delighted to share that the Surgical Technology program was conferred continuing accreditation status by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs, earning a full ten years of continuing accreditation!

Preparation for this accreditation review was a multi—year process requiring great time and effort. Program Director Van Bates and Surgical Tech faculty members Jay Chambers, Genevieve El-Chaer, Kirsten Ford, and Kayla James did an extraordinary job of pulling all materials together, addressing questions by the on-site team, and providing additional information as requested.

This is the year for full programmatic accreditation review as well for the Nursing and Occupational Therapy Assistant Programs. Accreditors from the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing and the Accreditation Council on Occupational Therapy Education will visit Nashville State the first week of March. Accreditation visitors often ask to speak with faculty who teach pre-requisite program coursework – Directors Beth Youngblood and Piper Sesnan may be reaching out for volunteers for this activity. Any help faculty could provide would be greatly appreciated.

New Program Videos

Thanks to the New Skills Ready Grant—made possible through a gift from JPMorgan Chase—our Health Sciences programs were able to develop new videos showcasing the School of Health Sciences and the career pathways of Central Sterile Processing, Healthcare Management, Nursing, Occupational Therapy Assistant, and Surgical Technology.

You can view the videos using the direct links below, and you’ll also find them posted on each program’s webpage. We hope these short features provide a clear, quick overview of the work each profession does, and the impact graduates make every day.

• https://nscc.edu/academics/areas-of-study/health-sciences.php
• https://nscc.edu/academics/programs/central-sterile-processing-technology/index.php
• https://nscc.edu/academics/programs/healthcare-management.php
• https://nscc.edu/academics/programs/nursing/index.php
• https://nscc.edu/academics/programs/occupational-therapy-assistant/index.php
• https://nscc.edu/academics/programs/surgical-technology/index.php
  

New options in Dickson and Clarksville

Dickson Campus now offers Nursing! The Nursing program began its first cohort of 24 students in Dickson this spring. TriStar Horizon Medical Center is hosting our students this semester, and we are grateful for their partnership. Students are looking forward to moving into the new building for Fall.

We are also on track to open a Nursing cohort in Clarksville for the Fall 2026 semester, and pending state approval we plan to begin our first EMS Basic class in Dickson in fall as well.

Lots of changes and good growth are happening. Thanks to all for your ongoing support. We do encourage faculty and staff to come visit the H building to see our students and faculty in action. Please email donna.whitehouse@nscc.edu to schedule.

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Happy New Year from the Staff Assembly! As we welcome 2026, the Staff Assembly is excited to shine the spotlight on two team members who went above and beyond this fall. Please join us in celebrating our October and November Employees of the Month!

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As you are looking at our pages, remember the Library is here to serve faculty and staff as well as students.

Some of our offerings:

• New York Times database
• Wall Street Journal database
• Chronicle of Higher Education database
• Libby for ebooks and audiobooks
• Physical books that we’ll send to any campus

Check us out in person or on our website. We’re waiting for you!

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