January 2024 Volume 7 Issue 6

Update from the President

by Dr. Shanna L. Jackson

Greetings, 

Happy New Year, Falcon Family!  Our spring semester started with a winter wonderland of snow and ice.  I want to thank our facilities, TSD and security teams for making sure our campuses were safe and operational.  I also want to thank our faculty teaching on-ground classes for making the transition to virtual or alternative instruction to get classes going for students.

Below are a few updates for the Office of the President:

Spring Convocation – A special thanks to Natalie Olsen, Convocation Chair, and all of the individuals and departments involved in planning and executing Convocation.  It was good for the college to come together before the start of the new semester.  Hats off to Robin Cooper-Wilbanks and Dr. Christie Ferguson for the eye-opening professional development session on plain language. You can find the recording of the event here: Spring 2024 Convocation.

Fantasy Football Champions – We had another fun season of trash talking and experiencing the highs and lows of Nashville State’s Fantasy Football league.  I did make it to the Championship round this year but came up only a few points short.  Please join me in congratulating our 2023 Champions!

  • Gold Division: Online Domination – Jamie Edwards
  • Platinum Division: Purple Reign – Tommy Phelps
  • Red Division: Snap Squad – Danielle Sullivan
  • White Division: Tennessee GRIND – Joseph Johnson
  • Blue Division: Team Sensing – Danny Sensing

Clarksville Campus – The State Building Commission approved the early design of the Clarksville Expansion.  We are now waiting to receive the cost information and assess if we are in budget and can move forward with construction. 

Dickson Campus – We are in the early design stages with the Dickson County Center of Higher Education. I am excited to work with our TCAT Dickson partners on this project.

Enrollment Update – Students can still register for our 2nd 7-week courses. Stay data informed with our dashboards:

Support – Continue to keep in mind that it is ok to not be ok.  Please reach out to the resources available if you or someone you care about needs support.  EAP services are offered at no cost to all benefit-eligible employees and eligible family members. Visit Here4tn.com for more information.  Fellow Falcons, we have good momentum building in 2024! Our ability to effectively keep the college going during inclement weather reminded me of the quote from Benjamin Franklin that I shared during Convocation: “Change is the only constant in life.  One’s ability to adapt to those changes will determine your success in life.”  What we were able to do for the first critical days of the semester is what will keep us Moving Forward and successfully achieving Vision 2030: A Student Ready College!

People We Meet in the Hall

by Gracie Andrews King, Ph.D., Associate Professor

Meet Coreyon and Shane, two students at Nashville State who are looking to the future and pushing outside their comfort zones. You may not have noticed them if you walked by them in the hall. Both are quiet, more comfortable keeping thoughts to themselves than talking. And these are their stories.

Coreyon Mayfield

I was born and raised here in Nashville my entire life and it’s a really nice, beautiful, and rowdy town at times to be in, but I wouldn’t change all of my experiences in this city for anything in the world.

Getting a college education is very important because it’s the blueprint or guiding stone into what I want to do with my life and be able to live a pretty decent life with a college education and get a degree to pursue my dream aspirations. I also wanted a college education because I wanted to become the first person in my family to go to college and provide for them in the future as well.

Nashville State Community College was a simple choice for me to start taking classes because first, I didn’t have to go far at all and leave the city, I could get to campus pretty easily and get around better, but the main reason is was like a first step in me getting a college education because it provided great resources and information about my classes to get to my degree.

Honestly, two things that get in my way of being a better student in the classroom at times are myself and time management. Sometimes, I have trouble getting things done in time because I’m either working a lot or busy helping around the house, so that does put a limit on how much time I have to focus, but the biggest problem is me mentally. I struggled at times to mentally focus on certain things and that hampers what I want to do better in the classroom.

Being able to meet new people from my different classes and being taught well by the amazing professors here are both great experiences here at Nashville State. When I first came here, I didn’t think I would make a lot of friends because I was a shy person at the time and didn’t know how to approach people, but overtime I grew out of that phase and met a lot of really nice people and professors to help me along the way.

If I were granted three wishes and I could get anything I wanted, I would wish for getting an A on every test I take, teleport to anywhere I want, and become very rich and have enough money to take care of myself, my family, and the people around me.

My favorite musician is definitely J. Cole. listening to J. Cole keeps me motivated to be humble and stay focused to achieve my goals

My favorite TV show would have to be Ridiculousness. Whenever I need a good laugh, I always would watch that to brighten up my day better.

The only thing that I could say is that I am a very nice, humble, and hardworking person to get to know.

Clayton “Shane” Kocisko

  1. Have you lived anywhere other than Nashville? If so, where have you lived?
    I was born and raised in Lexington, TN. I have also lived in St Louis, Knoxville, and Clarksville.
  2. What circumstances brought you to Nashville?
    I came to Nashville to pursue my career of being a chef.
  3. Why is getting a college education important to you?
    Getting a college education is important to me because now that I’m engaged, I want to have a family and make sure I can give them all the things they deserve in life.
  4. Why did you choose to take classes at Nashville State Community College?
    I chose NSCC because my fiancé attends and had spoken highly of it.
  5. What are two things that get in the way of doing better in your classes or make it very hard to get the grades that you want to get?
    The main hindrance on my college experience is having to work enough to still pay adult bills while trying to study and focus on school.
  6. What keeps you motivated to wake up every morning and go to school, even if you are tired? What do you tell yourself when you feel like it is too much and maybe you want to quit?
    My main motivation is the desire to better myself and achieve a life I never thought possible while using drugs and alcohol. Even when I’m tired and discouraged, I remind myself that my worst day sober is better than my best day using.
  7. Describe two good experiences that you have had since you have been taking classes here.
    I’ve had several good experiences here at NSCC so far. The first would definitely be getting my first A&P test back and seeing that I had gotten an A. It meant a lot to see that my brain still works after 15 years out of school and all I’ve put it through. I believe my second would be spending 3 hours studying muscles with my fiancé in the A&P practice room. It brought us closer together and also helped me do well on the test.
  8. If you were granted three wishes and you could wish for anything you wanted, what are three things that you would wish for that would help you achieve your goals at Nashville State? (*You can wish for ANYTHING, no matter how crazy. If having a personal chauffeur to drive you around would help you, wish for that, for example. 🙂
    If I could have three wishes the first would absolutely be to have the disease of addiction removed from me. Fighting an internal battle every day can be a major struggle sometimes and unfortunately is something I will fight the rest of my life. Second would be having my bills taken care of so I don’t have so much stress and can really focus on getting the best grades possible. The third would be for my fiancé to also do well at NSCC because seeing her excel would push me to do better as well.
  9. Who is your favorite musician/band?
    My favorite musician is John Mayer.
  10. What is your favorite movie or TV show?
    My favorite movies and books are the Harry Potter series. I didn’t have the best childhood so being able to escape into a different, magical world for a short time by reading a book really got me through a lot and they will always hold a special place in my heart for that.
  11. Is there anything else you would like to share about yourself? Maybe something you think makes you unique or something you think is special about you or your family and friends?
    I take pride in being sober and I don’t shy away from telling people of my past struggles. I was ashamed of it for years but once I worked The 12 Steps and truly found freedom from a life I was trapped in, I have no problem talking about it because I’m a better version of myself than I ever thought possible and maybe hearing my story will help someone who is or has been in a place the same.

FAFSA Update

by Jennifer Byrd, Director, Financial Aid Office

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the 2024-2025 aid year is open. The Department of Education (ED) did a soft launch December 30th.

There have been quite a few issues and students whose parents do not have Social Security Numbers are still experiencing some issues with the new application process. That said, for students in straight-forward circumstances, the new process is much faster and easier.

Our office will be working on setting some dates for FAFSA events in late February – mid-March. We are trying to give time for the issues to be resolved.

There is also a delay in schools and students receiving the results of their filed FAFSA for 2024-2025. We were originally expecting them to be available in late January. However, earlier this week the Department of Education announced they will be making a change to the formula as they had not adjusted the income protection allowance in the formula to account for inflation as required.

At this time, we are not sure what impact that will have on schools and students receiving results. Our hope is that as the kinks get worked out and as the results start coming out, that this will be a better experience for our students and their families.

In the meantime, the THEC/TSAC Outreach team is holding FAFSA Line-by-Line Webinars for students and parents during January through March. If you assist students with doing the FASFA, it would be good to register to watch this live demonstration. Registration may be found at here.

The Workforce Minute

by Larry E. Mangrum, Workforce Solutions Consultant, The Center for Workforce Development and Continuing Education

My career in the higher education workforce arena began with one of our sister community colleges, Chattanooga State Community College, in 2004 and continued with Nashville State Community College beginning in 2015. During my time in the workforce development/non-credit education, there are a few principles that have remained consistent over the years. I thought I would take a “workforce minute” to highlight a few of these principles.

Revenue generation is a key function of the department. Revenue can be generated through such sources as grant awards, employer/industry specific requests for customized training, open enrollment courses offered to the community at large, and foundation partnerships.

Speed to market is a concept our team knows well! Once our customers confirm they want to contract with NSCC for a training curriculum, they generally request the training to be scheduled quickly.  

Since contract turnaround time can be narrow, the agility & flexibility of our team is critical to our success. In December 2019, NSCC was a partner in the GIVE Act 1.0 grant with eight partners in the North Middle TN area. NSCC was offering an eight-day IRT (Industrial Readiness Training) course that included OSHA 10 certification. AtlasBX (subsidiary of Hankook Tire) contracted with NSCC to deliver our IRT course to 150 new hires for their new Clarksville, TN plant. The requested training start date and location was the week of the NSCC official Christmas holiday closing at our Clarksville, TN campus. Fortunately, Dr. Jackson understood the employer’s mindset and approved of us opening the Clarksville campus to deliver the training program. I willingly agreed to be onsite, at our Clarksville campus, that week to meet the employer’s requested training timeline.

An industry and community engagement mindset are a given for all team members. We must develop and maintain a variety of industry and community relationships (chambers of commerce, education, government, etc.)  to be successful in providing educational opportunities to the customers and adult learners we serve.

I must say that I have been fortunate in my workforce career. Specifically in leadership at the department level and at the college senior leadership level understand workforce development. Those key issues being our purpose, function, and value to our adult learners, our customers, the community, the college, and the TBR system. My personal thanks to Dr. Jackson, Dr. Williams, and Joseph Johnson for their leadership, support, and trust!

To start 2024 off right, I would be remiss if I did not introduce our newest “ex-officio” member of our workforce team as best described by his mom, Megan Murray, Business Development Coordinator:

“The Center for Workforce Development & Continuing Education welcomed the newest member of the team on November 8th at 12:03 AM. Harrison Murray entered this world at an impressive 9 lbs., 5 ounces and 22 inches long! The nurses diagnosed him with “sweetness” for which there is no cure. I am doing well and have been enjoying motherhood tremendously. I appreciate everyone’s well wishes and am happy to be back with my Falcon Family!”

We invite you to stop by for a visit when you have time…and if you plan well, or if you are simply lucky…you may get the chance to visit with Harrison! Nothing better than to spend a bit of time in wonderment at the start of a new life.  On behalf of the Center for Workforce Development & Continuing Education (Joseph Johnson, Dr. Kenisha Burke, Rob Tudor, John Cunningham, Megan Murray, & Jayla Crawford) we trust that 2024 will be a prosperous and enriching year for each of us!

Dr. Jessica Rabb, Headshot

Strategies to Support a Growth Mindset

by Jessica Rabb, Ph.D., Professor of Biology

We all have HIPs. Not just faculty.

Did you know that High Impact Practices (HIPs) are not just faculty practices? A HIP is a data informed student success practice with an unusually high impact on student success. While some HIPs are class credit centered like Honors Education and Study Abroad, other HIPs are extra-curricular like Advising and Peer Mentoring.

The College System of Tennessee (TBR) supports the implementation of HIPs so much that students that participate in some HIPs will get BADGES. These badges will appear on the soon to be standard transcripts called Comprehensive Learner Records throughout the TBR system.

I am currently a TBR HIP Ambassador because of my work with NSCC 1010 First Year Experience, a HIP. There are 14 HIP Ambassadors, and our job is help you make connections with your colleagues across the TBR system. We are all doing monthly connections calls. I am working with my colleague Parish Akin at Southwest Community college to present growth mindset active learning strategies on Friday, February 16 at 11:00 am on Teams.

The current list of Connection Calls is on the TBR HIP website and our very own Professional Learning calendar. You can add the Nashville State Professional Learning calendar to your own Outlook calendar to keep on top of professional learning at Nashville State and TBR. The Teaching Center sends weekly reminders to faculty too.

Amy Bryant Headshot

New Year New Horizons Badge

by Amy S. Bryant, Assoicate Professor of Communication Studies and Director, The Teaching Center

62 NSCC Employees earned the New Year, New Horizons badge for engaging in 8 sessions during New Year, New Horizons: Empowering Educators. Please join the Office of Online Learning and The Teaching Center in congratulating these employees on their accomplishments.

Valerie Aguilar
Frank Aiello
Jesmin Akther
Eli Alvarado
Halley Andrews
René Bataille
Bir Bohara
Kristen Bradley
Amy Bryant
Kurstin Bush
Jay Chambers
Beverly Collins
Audrey Cross
Brian Curtis
Howard Doty
David Edgington
Genevieve El Chaer
Pam Esposito
David Gerth
Jeff Green
Steve Hancock

Gail Harris
Janessa Jacobs
Faye Jones
Karen Kendrick
Gracie King
Jennifer Knapp
John Knox
Robert Ladd
Rachel Lewis
Devora Manier
Connie Mathews
Aggie Mendoza
Roslyn Mize
Cynthia Morgan
Robert Overstreet
Harlan Pease
Marla Perry
Janusz Polanowski
Jessica Rabb
Amelia Rinehart
Sally Robertson

Cliff Rockstead
Beth Rogers
Danny Sensing
Piper Sesnan
Flora Setayesh
Neely Ann Sheucraft
Yvonne Simerman
Beth Slade
Derek Smith
Marian Soliman
Katherine Sorenson
Elizabeth Stein
Laurie Swanson
Donald Turner
Christina Weston
Terri Whyte Hilgendorf
Robin Wilbanks
Mary Elizabeth Wilson-Patton
Mary Womack

Slate 2023 Year in Review and What’s Ahead for 2024

by Miranda Inman, CRM Administrator

The year 2023 was a busy one for the Slate project. Some of our 2023 highlights include.

  • We completed our first application cycle and successfully transferred data to Banner in Summer 2023
  • We launched a check-in system for the Welcome Center
  • We launched appointment scheduling for the Welcome Center and Student Success
  • We launched a test appointment scheduling process for ESOL
  • We created our first employee portals to control workflow for Admissions and Records
  • I officially took on the role of CRM Administrator
  • We began to actively work towards Phase II of the Slate project which will establish a connection to bring Banner data into Slate

Along the way, we also collected some exciting statistics as highlighted below.

As we head into 2024, we have so far held two webinars through Professional Learning, and we have several more exciting webinars coming over the next few months:

  • Friday, February 2nd @ 11AM: Queries, queries, queries: An overview of how queries are utilized to streamline processes and to send targeted communications.
  • Friday, February 16th @ 11AM: Forms and Events: An overview to building forms and events in Slate including a breakdown of some of our current use cases.
  • Friday, March 1st @ 11AM: Active Scheduler: An overview of Active Scheduler including the pros and cons of using this feature vs other options such as Calendly or Bookings.

If you’re interested in attending any of these events, please sign-up through the Professional Learning Portal.

Our active focus this year will be on building the bridge to connect Banner data to Slate. Once this connection is established, we hope to actively pursue the following projects:

  • Early Alerts: A committee has been formed to evaluate our current Early Alert system and to dream up shiny new ways to interact with our students utilizing Slate!
  • Advisor Portals: These will be employee portals listing your advisees…and more. This is still in early development so more on it at a later date.
  • A custom and integrated Admissions & Financial Aid Status portal: This will help to streamline the admissions and financial aid process by making it easy for students to see both their admissions and financial aid requirements (as well as their status and awards) all in one place. It will be fully customized to provide students only with the information that is relevant to them.
  • And much more we haven’t thought up yet! 😉

Also, this June, Laura Moran, Julie Williams, Carol Osorio, and I will head to Slate Summit in Chicago to network with other Slate schools from across the country. Laura, Julie, and I have attended this event for the past two years when it was hosted here in Nashville, and we always bring back heaps of exciting ideas. We will also continue to meet with our TBR sister schools, including an upcoming training sponsored by TBR.

2024 looks to be just as exciting a year as 2023, and I’m honored to be responsible for helping this baby database to grow into the beast of a communication tool it has the potential to be.

The Evolution of a Mural

by Sharley Ross, Technical Clerk, Clarksville Campus

Over the Christmas break, John Campbell and Kadie Wenstrom worked together to transform the lobby area of the Clarksville Campus. 

Mr. Campbell is an adjunct Art instructor who usually splits his time between the Waverly, Dickson, and Clarksville campuses. He has taught at the Clarksville campus since 2018. Kadie is an 18-year-old student who is in her first year of college. She is currently majoring in Biology and plans on transferring to get her degree in zoology to study reptiles. In addition to her love of reptiles, Kadie has always loved art and loves to create in her free time. Together they worked to create a design that embodied the Nashville State spirit and be a positive inspiration to Clarksville campus students.

In 2019, a student designed mural was created to bring color to the lobby. Last fall it was decided that a new student inspired mural would replace the old one, which was beginning to show some wear and tear. To accomplish this, Mr. Campbell and Kadie worked to create a new design, exchanging ideas to create an eye-catching mural. Over the weeks, as they worked, they continued to brainstorm and add ideas or adjust them as needed for their vision to come to life. 

They chose Finn the Falcon as their centerpiece as he is the new “face” of NSCC. They wanted to show him watching over the students as they came onto campus to pursue their degrees. Although it only took a day for them to come up with a concept, it took about six weeks to complete the entire mural once painting began. The finished product is beautiful and an inspiring piece of art and Finn can keep an eye on students for years to come.

Faculty Earn ACUE Microcredential in Promoting Active Learning

by Amy S. Bryant, Associate Professor of Communication Studies and Director, The Teaching Center

16 NSCC faculty have earned the ACUE Microcredential in Promoting Active Learning. During the last months of the fall semester, these faculty engaged in professional learning about developing effective class sessions and lectures, teaching powerful note-taking skills, using groups to ensure active learning, using the active learning cycle, planning effective class discussions, and facilitating engaging class discussions.

These faculty learning about active learning, implemented active learning teaching practices in their courses, reflected on these teaching practices, and planned for how to continue using active learning practices in their courses for the future.

Please join The Teaching Center in congratulating these faculty on their achievement.

Belkis Barrios
Kristen Bradley
Courtney Foley
Audrey Humphries Michael Kiggins
Jennifer Knapp
Philip Lee
Diane Leonard

Eulunda Maxwell
Scott McRoberts
Zachary Mills
Barbra Mullaney
Eli Nettles
Marian Soliman
Breanna Waller
Beth Youngblood

Faculty Earn ACUE Microcredential in Creating an Inclusive & Supportive Learning Environment

by Amy S. Bryant, Associate Professor of Communication Studies and Director, The Teaching Center

19 NSCC faculty have earned the ACUE Microcredential in Creating an Inclusive and Supportive Learning Environment.  During this semester, these faculty have engaged in professional learning about creating inclusive and supportive learning environments, implemented inclusive and supportive practices in their courses, reflected on the impact of these practices, and planned for how to use these practices in their teaching moving forward. 

Teaching practices included focusing on leading the first day of class, promoting a civil learning environment, engaging under prepared students, helping students persist in their studies, embracing diversity in the classroom, checking for student understanding, and providing useful feedback.

Belkis Barrios
Kristen Bradley
Courtney Foley
Audrey Humphries
Michael Kiggins
Jennifer Knapp
Philip Lee
Diane Leonard
Eulunda Maxwell
Scott McRoberts

Zachary Mills
Barbra Mullaney
Eli Nettles
Laura Reid
Eric Richardson
Marian Soliman
Dara Talibah
Breanna Waller
Beth Youngblood

Chris Saunders Headshot

Facilities Management Department Report

by Christopher Saunders, CFM, Executive Director of Facilities Management

  • Clarksville: New Campus
    • Architects Programming w/ NSCC Management Team – Underway
    • Budget Value Engineering – Complete
    • Alarm Systems Contract – Complete
    • New Vending Machines Installation – Complete
    • HVAC in Existing Campus Repairs
  • Dickson:
    • New Campus Road Sign – Underway
    • New Campus Programming – Underway
    • Falcon Flags Installation – Pending
    • Kitchen Heating Repair – Complete
  • East Davidson: Space Utilization
    • Transferring Excess Furniture – Equipment from WBR – Complete
  • Humphreys County: General Maintenance of the Building
    • Lights – Ceiling Tile Repairs – Underway
    • Lab Autoclave Installation – Complete
  • North Davidson
    • HVAC Repairs – Complete
    • Duct Work – Roof Repairs – Underway
    • Floor Finish Review – Underway
    • New Monument Sign – Underway
    • Lab Autoclave Installation – Complete
    • HVAC Maintenance Contract – Pending
  • Southeast: Installation of New Chiller
    • Addressing Issues with the New Unit – underway
    • Chiller Unit Preventative Maintenance Contract – Underway
  • Southeast: Projects
    • Jail Gate – Underway
    • Concrete Wall and Stairs Repair – Pricing
    • Sprinkler Head Replacement Project – Complete
    • NSCC – TBR – Designer Value Engineered Project Budget – Complete
    • Indoor Directional Signs – Pending
    • Purchasing of Laundry Equipment – Installing
    • Purchasing of Kitchen Equipment – Specifing
  • White Bridge: H-K-A-C Buildings Modifications – Health Sciences Project
    • C-A Furniture and Contents Moved Out – Complete
    • Class Scheduling Options in Planning – Complete
    • Demo – Abatement in C-A – Complete
    • Studs and Drywall in Process K-H – Underway
    • Duct Work and Sprinklers Alterations – Underway
    • Power and Data Boxes Being Installed – Underway
  • White Bridge: HVAC Central Plant Upgrades
    • Designer Working with TBR to go to Bid – Complete
    • 2nd Phase -Scope Changes in Engineering – Complete
    • C-210 HVAC – In Phase 1 of Project – Underway
Headshot of Janet Dennis

Human Resources News

by Janet Dennis, Personnel Assistant, Human Resources

New Hires

NamePosition/TitleDepartment
Cynthia SimsSenior Administrative AssistantOperations
Marc WareAccounts Receivable ManagerBursar’s Office
Emily LewisCulinary Arts InstructorSchool of Business & Professional Studies
Rebekah WitemeyerStudent Services Specialist ISoutheast Campus

Separations

NamePosition/TitleDepartment
Jonathan BeatyDirector of Access CenterAccess Center
Isabella PutmanWebmaster/Graphic DesignerMarketing & Communications
Teshyra ButlerAdmissions and Records ClerkAdmissions & Records
Brenda NorthProject CoordinatorCenter for Workforce Development & Continuing Education
Michael HartmanA/R CoordinatorBursar’s Office

The NSCC Voice

Founded 2017

Cliff Rockstead, Managing Editor
David Gerth, Assistant Managing Editor
Isabella Putman, Layout Editor

December 2023 Contributors

Dr. Gracie Andrews King
Amy S. Bryant
Jennifer Byrd
Janet Dennis
Tom Hayden
Miranda Inman
Dr. Shanna L. Jackson
Larry Mangrum
Dr. Jessica Rabb
Sharley Ross
Christopher Saunders