ONE ETSU ONE ETSU ONE ETSU ONE ETSU 2 0 2 0 -2 0 2 1 An n u a l R epor t
East Tennessee State University
President Brian Noland
2020-21 Annual Report
Editors/Writers Joe Smith, Melissa Nipper, Amanda Mowell, Jennifer Hill, Joel Spears, Jessica Vodden
At a Glance
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Student Success
From President Noland
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Academic Programs
Special: Committee for 125 Chapter II
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Faculty and Staff
Photography Ron Campbell, Matthew Carroll, Dakota Hamilton, Larry Smith, Charlie Warden Design Cody Ryans, Jeanette Jewell
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Scholarship
26
14
Service
38
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Foundation Report
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AT A GLANCE 13,967 Students Enrolled (Fall 2020)
2,460 Full-time Faculty and Staff (Fall 2020)
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Published by Office of the President Office of University Relations
Colleges and Schools
Office of the President officeofthepresident@etsu.edu 423-439-4211 etsu.edu/president
$483,282,900
166 Academic Programs
Operating budget with tuition and other sources supporting 64% of the general academic budget and the remaining 36% from state appropriations
105,886 Living alumni residing in 50 states and 69 countries East Tennessee State University does not discriminate against students, employees, or applicants for admission or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, disability, age, status as a protected veteran, genetic information, or any other legally protected class with respect to all employment, programs and activities sponsored by ETSU. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: Compliance Coordinator, PO Box 70271, Johnson City, TN 37614, 423-439-8544. ETSU’s policy on non-discrimination can be found at: etsu.edu/universitycounsel/compliance. ETSU is an AA/EEO employer. ETSU-PRZ-81-22 500
ETSU | 1
One ONE ETSU The ETSU story begins with a single mission: to improve the quality of life for the people of this region. On our first day in October 1911, we enrolled 29 students, all of whom shared the dream of becoming educators and shaping the lives of young people in classrooms. Today, we have almost 14,000 students and over 2,000 employees. ETSU began with one academic program, and, presently, we offer more than 100 undergraduate and graduate programs. The number of living alumni exceeds 105,000. For many years, there were no health professions programs offered, and now we have more than 250 faculty and staff who are also clinical providers in the region. The land donated by George L. Carter is still home to our main campus, but we also have campuses in Kingsport, Elizabethton, and Sevierville. Yet we are all still connected – as One ETSU – and everything we do traces back to that original mission. As One ETSU, we support our students on their journey to earning a degree. As One ETSU, we embrace new ideas, and we bring solutions to our community. As One ETSU, we enhance the arts. We assist businesses. And we provide health care to patients. During the past year, as One ETSU, we stood together in resilience. We persevered. We faced challenges during a chapter of our history filled with uncertainty and unparalleled circumstances. While we endured difficult moments, we also stood together – again as One ETSU – to elevate the stories of our people. We celebrated as more than 3,600 degrees were conferred. We applauded our students, faculty, and staff as they realized new achievements. In the pages that follow, you will read stories from the 2020-21 year that highlight how members of the ETSU family led, thrived, and were agents of change in our community and beyond. I am honored and blessed to call ETSU home, and I am deeply proud of the work of our students, faculty, and staff. Thank you for all you do and for being part of our story – a story of One ETSU.
Brian Noland President 2 | 2020-2021 Annual Report
ETSU | 3
be included in this process to ensure solid alignment between the board’s expectations and the university’s strategic direction,” Noland said. “Externally, the public is questioning the necessity of a college education while the university is approaching a demographic cliff in the college-aged population. The new pressures from the COVID-19 pandemic have forced us to evaluate practices and policies in ways that were never imagined – and some that were imagined but never given due attention in preference for tradition.
Noland
Anderson
“The university has developed a strong sense of connectedness, perhaps to a larger extent than at any time in recent history, despite the distance we are currently forced to endure. If we are to achieve prominence at the levels required for continued stewardship of the Appalachian Highlands, we must focus now on our strengths and opportunities that can be leveraged to grow the impact of our mission,” he added.
The next chapter
Noland is chairing the Committee for 125 Chapter II and is joined by:
ETSU launches Committee for 125 Chapter II
“What if…?” In the early 1900s, the specific question was “What if there was a school in East Tennessee that prepared teachers?” The response to that question ultimately led to the establishment of East Tennessee State Normal School.
in the mid-1980s and would gain momentum for a quarter-century.
To ask “what if…?”
The campus and the region never stopped asking the question “what if…” Today, many dreams have been made possible: the Gatton College of Pharmacy, the Johnson City Community Health Center, the Niswonger Digital Media Center, the newly renovated D.P. Culp Student Center, the Basler Center for Physical Activity, state-of-the-art residence halls, and many new academic programs.
For example, the region came together in the 1970s to dream about having a medical school at ETSU that prepared rural primary care physicians. The question – “what if ETSU was home to a regional arts center” – began to rise
“What if…” is a question that will continue to set the course for ETSU as it approaches its 125th anniversary in 2036. A new strategic visioning process for ETSU was launched this spring at the university – the Committee for 125 Chapter II.
For more than 100 years, the presence of ETSU has allowed people of the region to dream, to have hope.
4 | 2020-2021 Annual Report
The initiative will build upon the foundation of the Committee for 125 effort that began in 2012. The goal of the new initiative is to develop a future-focused vision for ETSU that maximizes the power of the collective talent of the university and surrounding community to improve the lives of the people in the Appalachian Highlands. As ETSU President Brian Noland explained, ETSU is presently at the midway point of its current strategic plan, and 10 years have passed since the first 125 initiative began. Since those two processes have occurred, significant changes have taken place. “For example, ETSU now has its own governing board that has matured and must
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Scott Niswonger, ETSU Board Trustee Dr. Linda Latimer, ETSU Board Trustee Ron Ramsey, ETSU Board Trustee Melissa Steagall-Jones, ETSU Board Trustee Louis H. Gump, Committee for 125 Chapter I Representative Rev. Lester D. Lattany, Pastor, Friendship Baptist Church Alan Levine, President, Ballad Health Scott Jenkins, Strategy Director State Policy, Lumina Foundation Dr. James Votruba, President Emeritus, Northern Kentucky University Dr. Rob Anderson, President, State Higher Education Executive Officers Association Dr. Mildred Garcia, President, American Association of State Colleges and Universities Dr. Alisa White, President, Sam Houston State University Dr. Mike Hoff, ETSU Staff Lead
Garcia
Levine
Gump
Hoff
Jenkins
Latimer
Lattany
Niswonger
Ramsey
Steagall-Jones
Votruba
Six task forces in the areas of Academics, Equity and Inclusion, ETSU Health, Student Success and Experience, Research and Scholarship, and Fiscal Sustainability have also been appointed and have been meeting. The Committee for 125 Chapter II continued its work throughout the summer. White
ETSU | 5
A Community of Inspiring
Students Go Prime
STUDENTS
ONE ETSU
77.9% Fall 2019-Fall
2020 retention rate (firstyear, full-time freshmen)
KeiAndra Harper
Sarah Hamilton
Amythyst Kiah
Caitlin Maupin
3,672 Degrees
Eight ETSU students and two alumni were featured in The College Tour, a nationally broadcast TV series streamed on Amazon Prime Video and Roku, created by Emmynominated and multi-award-winning producers. In a segment highlighting ETSU and Johnson City, the students and graduates share their unique experiences and offer an inside look at life on campus and within the local community.
Alumna Amythyst Kiah came to ETSU to study Bluegrass, Old-Time and Country Music under musician, writer and program founder Jack Tottle. In the episode, she talks about starting her music career at ETSU and receiving a Grammy nomination for a song she wrote titled “Black Myself,” which she also performs.
16:1 Student-to-Faculty
Morristown native KeiAndra Harper tells viewers how she faced paying for college on her own and discovered scholarship opportunities that will allow her to graduate from ETSU debt-free. Sarah Hamilton explains how she is reaching her dreams of becoming a physician and Spanish interpreter right in her hometown of Johnson City.
Caitlin Maupin left her hometown of Chattanooga to attend ETSU. She immediately connected with the local art community and was selected to paint a mural representing Johnson City. Another Chattanooga native, Jaylen Malik Grimes, discovered his passion for student engagement through ETSU’s Preview and Orientation Leader Organization (POLO) and is working toward a master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis. He gives viewers some important advice about how to be successful at ETSU.
conferred during 2020-21
ratio (Fall 2020)
3.542 Average GPA,
Fall 2020 entering class
418 High school
ETSU appeals to many students living outside the Appalachian Highlands, as shown in stories featuring Jaquae ‘Quay’ Holmes of Marietta, Georgia, and Carly Brewington of Coral Springs, Florida. Holmes found his ETSU family not only on the football field, but also through shared connections with other student athletes, such as Brewington, a member of the ETSU Women’s Triathlon team. Brewington has received support from mentors and students as she completes her teaching residency program at ETSU’s University School.
Jaylen Malik Grimes
viewers many of the hands-on learning opportunities available in the Radio, TV and Film Program, including working at BucTV News, writing for the East Tennessean, creating short films, and traveling with student groups. Joseph Mora talks about a different opportunity to create what we see and interact with on screens. During his Digital Media studies, the Nashville native created and successfully launched his own 2-D game, Chiaroscuro. Alumna Kayla Carter shares her passion for the outdoors and growing the community through her role as the outdoor development manager for the Northeast Tennessee Regional Economic Partnership. The full episode and individual student and alumni segments are available to view at etsu.edu/episode.
Anthony Salas of Kingsport also appears in The College Tour. He transferred to ETSU from a community college and shares with
students participated in ETSU's dual-enrollment program (Fall 2020)
3,954 Students
named to Dean's list in Fall 2020 6 | 2020-2021 Annual Report
Jaquae 'Quay' Holmes
Carly Brewington
Anthony Salas
Joseph Mora
Kayla Carter
Student Success | 7
Esports Scores Big Looking back on ETSU’s first year competing in the esports arena, it was certainly a banner year: • Twenty-two students – most of whom were already highly ranked in the nation for their respective games – were selected for the Overwatch® and League of Legends® teams. • Jeff Shell was hired as the founding Head Coach of the esports team. • Overwatch® played its inaugural season this past fall, finishing 8-1 in their group and earning a spot in the National Association of Collegiate Esports playoffs where they made it to the final 16. The Overwatch® varsity squad made it to NECC playoffs and finished in their division’s top 8.
Students Earn Recognition for Mask Study A team of graduate students from the College of Public Health placed Johnson City on the map as they concluded four months of local observations for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) national MASCUP! study.
Pettyjohn and 11 students in the Master of Public Health program canvased ETSU and other designated locations in Johnson City where they have studied the rates of mask-wearing behaviors and local adherence to CDC COVID-19 prevention guidelines and how these rates changed over time. A total of 10 sites, five on campus and five in Under the direction of Dr. Sam Pettyjohn, Research Assistant Johnson City, such as national retail and grocery chains or other local Professor, ETSU was one of 66 locations nationwide chosen to assess businesses, were chosen for their high foot traffic and proximity. Then, mask wearing behaviors at U.S. colleges and universities as part of students observed mask use unobtrusively throughout the course of a larger “Mask Adherence Surveillance at Colleges and Universities,” approximately 3,000 total observations during the spring semester— or MASCUP!. Students collected field data gathered on and off campus. one of the longest such studies in the national study. 8 | 2020-2021 Annual Report
• The League of Legends® team began their official season in January and finished the Collegiate League of Legends® with a season record of 4-2. They also placed second in the Battle at Buff Nation and placed in the top 8 at the Drury League of Legends invitational. • Renovation of the new esports arena in the D.P. Culp Student Center was completed. The space includes a 32-foot video wall. • This spring, ETSU announced the addition of Rocket League® which began in fall 2021. Tyler Gregory was named founding captain. Gregory is listed in the Supersonic Legend, which is the highest competitive rank a gamer can achieve in Rocket League®. • Ashe Greenberg, who was the founding captain for the Overwatch® team during its inaugural season, signed as captain for the team’s second year. Lucca Weber also signed for a second season as captain of the League of Legends® team. Student Success | 9
Dave Carney's Storymap A “storymap” telling the story of the Gray Fossil Site using maps of fossils clarifies how the site formed and improves paleontological research. “Spatial Analyses of the Gray Fossil Site Vertebrate Remains” was created by David Carney, a May 2021 graduate of ETSU’s master’s degree program in Geosciences with a concentration in Paleontology. His awardwinning thesis study combined geographic information systems and vertebrate taphonomy – the study of what happens to animals after death and burial – and used spatial taphonomy, which looks at the spatial organization of the bones.
Cadet Commander Hall of Fame Ceremory
ETSU paleontologists have collected spatial information on fossils since the Gray Fossil Site’s discovery, mapping each using surveying equipment before removing it from the ground. With 20 years’ worth of this data, Carney had an opportunity to apply new techniques to improve interpretations at the site. His 3-D models of the mastodon deposit discovered in 2015 confirmed that the skeleton was swept up in a rapid debris flow, or landslide, at some point, which is consistent with the belief that the site was formed by a sinkhole filled with water.
Graduate student Cory Whitfield served as the student representative on the National Association of Social Workers, Tennessee Chapter’s Board of Directors.
1911 Society Eleven members of the Class of 2021 who distinguished themselves in academic excellence, service, and leadership at ETSU were inducted into the 1911 Society, formed in 2020 in commemoration of the year of ETSU’s founding to recognize the most notable graduates from undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs. The 2021 inductees are Hebah Al-Khateeb, Brooke Baxter Bartow, Serena Hernandez, Cierra Linka, Dawnna Metcalfe, John David Mullins, Cameron Phillips, Austin Ramsey, Adam Rosenbalm, Amber Seay, and David Taylor.
“The freshman year is certainly a time of transition for students as they develop a sense of belonging, and this can be especially challenging for students of color,” said Jessie Wang, Director of Student Success in the Clemmer College. “We know that if we can retain students from the freshman to sophomore year, they will be better poised to persist to graduation. “Pairing them with a mentor who is also a person of color will help them build an important connection with someone who may have had similar experiences and learned how to navigate them.” 10 | 2020-2021 Annual Report
ETSU students participating in the 20th anniversary of the Appalachian Teaching Project presented research designed to promote economic development initiatives in the town of Erwin.
Clemmer STRIVEs STRIVE, or Students Teaching and Representing Inclusive Values and Excellence, is a new student mentoring initiative in the Clemmer College that pairs students of color with an upperclassman mentor. The program is available to all students of color in the Clemmer College and matches freshmen with sophomore, junior, or senior students of color who serve as mentors for the next year. After that year, mentees will become mentors to the next class of students, bringing the program full circle.
In May, 12 ROTC cadets were commissioned as second lieutenants. Those commissioned include Zachary Branham, Brianna Brown, Joseph A. Carey, Tristen Tyler Castillo, Preston Connor England, Levi C. Harmon, Mark Daniel Holyfield, Jr., Dylan Matthew Land, Kamren Matthew Lewis, Ayarys Pena, Joey Watson, and Phillip Cameron Wilson. William Wallace Davis, an Emory & Henry student, was also commissioned in partnership with the college.
Retired Maj. Gen. Gary Harrell became the fourth alumnus of the Army ROTC Program inducted into Cadet Command’s Hall of Fame. Before earning his Green Beret and commanding special operation Delta Force in Somalia, which was later chronicled in the book and film Black Hawk Down, Maj. Gen. Harrell was an ETSU student and member of the Grantland Rice Bowl Championship football team in 1969. He is one of 22 inductees for 2020 selected by Cadet Command.
Former nursing student Azael Rodriguez-Roman joined more than 1,500 cadets commissioned into the ROTC Program. A member of the Eddie Reed Range Challenge Team, RodriguezRoman completed nursing summer training at Fort Carson, Colorado. After taking the oath of office, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Army Nursing Corps.
During the 2020-21 year, more than 200 students participated in an honors-enrichment program or experience offered by the ETSU Honors College.
Six student pharmacists — Jacquelyn Crawford, Kristen Friend, Martha Leigh Martin-Gibbs, Kaitlyn Phillips, Kaitlyn Price, and Sydney Tabor — were admitted to the prestigious Tennessee Area Health Education Centers Scholars Program.
862 military-affiliated students were enrolled at ETSU in fall 2020.
ETSU student pharmacists launched the 88th chapter of the Industry Pharmacists Organization National Student Chapter Network.
Junior Laura Martin was selected as the 2021 American Dental Hygienists’ Association District VI Delegate.
24 student-athletes posted a perfect 4.0 GPA in 2020-21
Student Success | 11
The women’s golf team won its first Southern Conference Championship. Digital Media major Quinn Daniels not only won a $100 VISA® gift card as one of 30 randomly selected winners in Sodexo’s national “Spread the Joy Sweepstakes” in the fall of 2020, but she also chose Johnson City’s Good Samaritan Ministries to receive a $500 donation in her name from Sodexo.
The men’s golf team won the Southern Conference Championship, the NCAA Regional, and made its 18th appearance in the NCAA Championship.
The ETSU men’s tennis team captured both the SoCon regular season and conference championships. 12 | 2020-2021 Annual Report
Research by ETSU psychology doctoral student Robyn Dolson and faculty co-researchers found that modifying question wording in a screening test commonly used to identify adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) could result in more childhood sexual abuse survivors being identified and lead to better adult health outcomes.
Two students have received the National Strength and Conditioning Association Minority Scholarship (NSCA). Sungwon Chae, a doctoral student in Clemmer College, and Ai Ishida, a doctoral candidate in the sport physiology and sport performance program, were awarded the $2,000 scholarship, provided by the NSCA Foundation and designed to encourage minorities to enter the field of strength and conditioning.
A class assignment turned into an opportunity for Kingsport native and nursing student Aaron “Max” Chesser to advocate for additional seating options and sheltered coverings at Kingsport area bus stops. Chesser presented his findings from his “Community and Public Nursing” assignment to the Kingsport Neighborhood Commission.
Courtney Vance Burgin, a doctor of nursing practice (DNP) student, was one of only 16 people in the country selected for the National Rural Health Association’s 2021 Rural Health Fellows program. This yearlong, intensive program is aimed at developing leaders who can articulate a clear and compelling vision for rural America.
Fourth-year medical student Kamyl Harvey-Bogan transformed an assignment in an elective class into an opportunity to raise awareness about racial disparities in health care and bring attention to ways in which future physicians can overcome them. She designed a medical simulation case focusing on sickle cell disease (SCD), a genetic condition that is prevalent among African Americans. 249 Buccaneer student athletes earned a spot on the SoCon Honor Roll. Graduate student Kevanté Drew was selected to be the Student State Officer for the National Student Speech-LanguageHearing Association (NSSLHA), which has more than 13,000 members.
Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy student pharmacist Chandler Parton, a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Tribe, earned a prestigious, merit-based scholarship from the American Indian Graduate Center. This is the second year in a row Parton has earned the $20,000 Science Post Graduate Scholarship.
ETSU’s Bluegrass Pride Band broke the Top 20 on national bluegrass charts in spring 2021 with the single, “When the Water Goes Down.” Written by and recorded with award-winning alumni Becky Buller and Tim Stafford, the song weaves a tale of mystery that adds to the region’s rich folklore.
University School students are making headlines. In August 2020, Reilly Wells earned a perfect score of 36 on the ACT exam, something fewer than half of 1% of students who take the ACT accomplish. In the U.S. high school graduating class of 2019, only 4,879 out of nearly 1.8 million students who took the ACT earned a top composite score. In October, four seniors were named semifinalists for the 66th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Amisha Agrawal, Viraj V. Brahmbhatt, Heather Robertson, and Reilly Wells had the opportunity to continue in competition for some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships totaling more than $30 million. Semifinalists were obligated to fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level. In January, Olivia Ares won the Good Citizens Scholarship Contest hosted by the John Sevier-Sarah Hawkins Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. Ares was also the Appalachian District winner. Student Success | 13
A Campus of Diverse
ACADEMIC PROGRAMS ONE ETSU
Growing Rehabilitative Sciences
ETSU announced two in-demand programs that will expand its footprint in the rehabilitative sciences – a Doctor of Occupational Therapy and a Master of Science in Orthotics and Prosthetics.
fully in school and social situations, helping people recovering from injury to regain skills, and providing supports for older adults experiencing physical and cognitive changes.
The programs will be housed on the VA campus in Charles Allen Hall (Building 2), which is undergoing renovations that will transform it into ETSU’s physical rehabilitative sciences hub. Currently, Building 2 houses ETSU’s Physical Therapy Program on the second floor. A $4 million renovation is underway on an additional 14,000 square feet of space on the first floor that will house Occupational Therapy and Orthotics and Prosthetics.
The Master of Science (M.S.) in Orthotics and Prosthetics will prepare graduates for this specialized health care profession that combines a unique blend of clinical abilities, technical design, and the integration of material and computer technologies as a therapeutic treatment for patients who have neuromuscular and musculoskeletal disorders and/ or clients who have partial or total absence of a limb. ETSU’s program will be the only graduate level orthotics and prosthetics program in the state of Tennessee and within a 275-mile radius.
“There are very few examples of the kind of collaboration that we will have here at ETSU, with these programs – Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Orthotics and Prosthetics – all housed in the same building and department,” said Dr. Jeff Snodgrass, Chair of ETSU’s Department of Rehabilitative Sciences. “In this environment, interprofessional interactions and opportunities among the faculty, students, and staff will happen organically.” The Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) will prepare graduates as generalists to help people across the lifespan participate in the things they want and need to do through the therapeutic use of everyday activities (occupations). Common occupational therapy interventions include helping children with disabilities to participate 14 | 2020-2021 Annual Report
Students in both new programs will benefit from ETSU’s thriving interprofessional curriculum, which prepares health care professionals to work across disciplines to ensure better client outcomes. “We are excited about the popularity and potential of these new programs,” said Dr. Don Samples, Dean of the College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences. “They will complement our existing programs and help to expand the reach of ETSU Health throughout our region.” ETSU is now accepting applications for the new programs and will welcome the first cohorts of students in May 2022.
Academic Programs | 15
Strong BRAIN Celebrates First Year
Our Rankings
#1
RN to BSN named the top in Tennessee by NursingProcess.org
#13
U.S. News & World Report ranks Quillen College of Medicine 13th in the nation among “Best Family Medicine Programs”
#15
Archival Studies Program is 15th in the nation among Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Programs for “Best Archival Studies Focus”
#24
ETSU was ranked 24th in the nation among Best Colleges for Students with Learning Disabilities by College Consensus
16 | 2020-2021 Annual Report
#1
Animation Career Review ranks ETSU No. 1 in Tennessee as the top school for game design and animation, No. 12 in the South for animation, a nd No. 17 in the South for game design
#3
Digital Marketing master’s program ranked the third best online graduate program of its kind by Online Masters Colleges.
#1
Ranked No. 1 “2021 Best College for Computer Information Systems in Tennessee” by CollegeFactual.com.
#11
University School ranked the 11th best high school in Tennessee by U.S. News & World Report
#3
U.S. News & World Report ranks Quillen College of Medicine third in the nation for “Most Graduates Practicing in Underserved Areas”
#15
ETSU’s MALS Program is ranked 15th among the Top Master’s in Liberal Arts Degree Programs in the Nation by Intelligent.com
#6
The Clemmer College’s Human Services program ranked sixth in the nation by Learn.org
#26
Respiratory Therapy Program ranked 26th among the top programs in the country and 2 8th among the best online respiratory therapy programs by Intelligent.com
Since the ETSU Ballad Health Strong BRAIN (Building Resilience through ACEsInformed Networking) Institute was established in 2020, its leaders have worked to develop its infrastructure, deliver training and education opportunities, and expand research activities with a goal of promoting a traumainformed citizenry and workforce
throughout the region. The SBI, led by founding director Dr. Wallace E. Dixon, Jr., Chair of the Department of Psychology, works to promote awareness of and research on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), which can have a profound effect on individuals’ mental and physical health throughout life. A slate of expert contributors to the SBI includes faculty from all of ETSU’s academic colleges, along with independent consultants and human resource professionals. Members of the institute have already begun providing education on trauma awareness and resilience throughout the community.
In addition, a community advisory council has been formed with representation from municipal government, K-12 and higher education, business, legal/judicial, legislative, faith-based, health care, and other sectors. SBI members are working to develop traumainformed training modules specific to these sectors. And, while the Clemmer College houses a minor in trauma and resilience, Dixon says the SBI would like to develop a curriculum that would apply and appeal to students in a variety of majors outside of traditional trauma-interested disciplines.
Continuing its focus on promoting a diverse and inclusive student culture, Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy received a grant of more than $45,000 to support mentoring, engagement, and retention efforts for student pharmacists whose first or best language is not English (E2 students). The project, PEER-E2, stands for Promoting Engagement, Excellence, and Retention for E2 students.
Nave Center Expands Services, Reach The ETSU Center for Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology at the Nave Center underwent extensive renovations, expanding services offered at the interdisciplinary, interprofessional clinic located in Elizabethton. The ETSU College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences celebrated the completion of the work and the grand reopening of the facility last fall. This facility has served as an academic space for ETSU since
1976 and has transformed over the years into an interdisciplinary clinic with multiple areas of practice that serves community health care needs and educates ETSU students who are pursuing a variety of careers in the rehabilitative and diagnostic health sciences. The renovations transformed former classrooms and lab spaces into additional speech-language pathology examination and observation suites so that ETSU’s
SLP clinics could move from ETSU’s main campus to the Nave Center. “Our vision is to increase the interprofessional presence here at the Nave Center,” said Dr. Bess Sirmon-Taylor, Chair of ETSU’s Department of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology. “We have space for additional ETSU Health clinics and are excited for the possibilities to expand the services at the Nave.”
The oldest known rabbits in the Appalachians have been found at the Gray Fossil Site. ETSU alumna and Georgia Tech doctoral student Julia Schap and ETSU’s Dr. Josh Samuels identified two extinct species, Notolagus lepusculus and Alilepus vagus, which are common in the western half of the continent but have never before been found in the eastern half. Academic Programs | 17
Despite COVID, the Arts Go On
Quillen College of Medicine Welcomes Largest Class in School History Quillen College of Medicine welcomed 79 medical students in the Class of 2025, the largest class in the medical school’s history, during an orientation week that culminated with a traditional White Coat Ceremony. Earlier this year, Quillen announced that it would increase its class size for the first time in 10 years in order to provide additional students with the opportunity to pursue their dream of a medical education at ETSU. The increase from 72 to 79 new students represents a 9% increase. This year, Quillen had a record 3,099 applicants – up more than 650 from last year’s record of 2,433. The class represents 37 undergraduate institutions, with the greatest number of students coming from ETSU and University of TennesseeKnoxville. Seventy of the incoming students are Tennesseans, and four are children of Quillen alumni. Nine are veterans of the U.S. military. Eight new students are from underrepresented populations in medicine. 18 | 2020-2021 Annual Report
Classes were virtual, staff worked at home, and many activities were curtailed in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that didn’t stop the arts at ETSU! Music students wore masks and distanced themselves from each other but practiced together and delivered both outdoor and livestreamed performances. The Department of Theatre and Dance presented plays virtually, and visual artists on campus and throughout the region continued to create and exhibit their work at Slocumb Galleries and the Reece Museum.
Access ETSU In October, Access ETSU received a $2.5 million boost from the U.S. Department of Education. Access ETSU, a two-year, non-degree program for individuals with intellectual disabilities seeking to enhance their academic, career development and social skills, and experiences in a way identical to their peers at the university, allows participants to attend classes, participate in internships and have access to the same activities and services as other students. Through this Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSID) grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the university can help with tuition and other fees for eligible students in the program. The funds will also be used for additional staffing including a program coordinator, an academic coordinator and an employment specialist. In addition, ETSU is now recognized by the Department of Education as a “comprehensive transition program,” meaning participants may also qualify for federal financial aid.
ETSU’s Radiologic Science program has boasted a 100% job placement rate and a 100% pass rate on the national certification examination for the past five years. Also known as radiographers, radiologic technologists perform x-rays and other diagnostic imaging examinations on patients.
ETSU and Walters State Community College forged an articulation agreement allowing students to transfer from Walters State’s new Digital Media major directly into ETSU’s baccalaureate program in Digital Media with advanced standing. Both schools’ programs concentrate on animation, game design, and visual effects.
When Bailey Davis graduated on Dec. 21, 2020, she became the first ETSU student to complete a bachelor of science in the new rehabilitative health sciences major (RHSC-BS). The RHSCBS prepares students for graduate studies in medicine, occupational therapy, physical therapy, prosthetics and orthotics, speech-language pathology, audiology, nutrition and dietetics, and a host of other allied health fields of study.
M.Ed. degree in Curriculum and Instruction Data Analytics (graduate certificate) Heritage Interpretation & Museum Studies (graduate certificate) Sport Nutrition (graduate certificate)
Cloud Wise Academy, an Innovation Lab affiliate, conducted a six-week-long introductory course to teach coding skills and train students for technology professions. Ten students learned to create websites with HTML, JavaScript, and CSS.
Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies marked 25 years at ETSU in spring 2021. Since its founding, the program has provided feminist education through scholarship, activism, and community building.
New Degree Programs, Certificates Implemented in 2020-2021:
Esports Management (graduate certificate) Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy announced a dual enrollment class for high school students across the region to learn more about the pharmacy profession and how to get into pharmacy school.
Health Data Analytics (graduate certificate) B.A. degree in Music M.H.A. degree in Health Administration Higher Education Teaching (graduate certificate) English as a Second Language PreK-12 (graduate certificate) M.S. degree in Information Systems
The College of Nursing received a $121,069 Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant to enhance clinical and educational opportunities for patients and students. The grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development and Rural Utilities Service.
Nature-Based Therapy (graduate certificate) M.F.A. degree in Digital Media Recovery Research (graduate certificate) Academic Programs | 19
Leaving a Legacy: Dr. Wilsie Bishop Dr. Wilsie Bishop, Senior Vice President for Academics and Interim Provost, retired on June 30, 2021, leaving an imprint on the university’s academic programs and the people with whom she worked for more than four decades. Bishop began her career at ETSU in 1978. She earned tenure and progressed through the faculty ranks, serving in administrative roles including department chair, dean, and assistant/associate vice president prior to becoming a vice president in 2005. While serving in various administrative roles, she continued to be a classroom teacher as well as a mentor for doctoral and graduate students. Throughout her career at ETSU, Bishop observed and was a part of many important changes at the university. After 11 years of serving as Dean of the College of Public and Allied Health, she was appointed Vice President for Administration and Chief Operating Officer in 2005. In 2007, she transitioned to Vice President for Health Affairs, becoming the first non-physician to hold the VPHA title. In this position, she embraced and led the university’s Interprofessional Education 20 | 2020-2021 Annual Report
Initiative (IPE) and the team-based care that it embodied as the future of quality health care delivery. Through the IPE efforts, ETSU not only created opportunities for shared classroom experiences, but was able to create a building where team-based learning is the priority and students can work and study together in preparation for their future careers as health care providers. The Interprofessional Education and Research Center (Building 60) on the Veterans Administration campus is a physical symbol of vision becoming reality. Upon her retirement, ETSU’s Board of Trustees voted to approve the naming of Building 60 as “Bishop Hall” in her honor.
of ETSU’s five health sciences colleges, more than 250 providers, and 35 clinical sites. In her final role as Senior Vice President for Academics and Interim Provost, Bishop focused on bringing together under one management umbrella the academic affairs and health affairs colleges of the university. “Throughout her tenure at the university, she has earned respect and admiration of colleagues at every level of this institution,” said ETSU President Dr. Brian Noland. “Dr. Bishop has provided sound and wise leadership across our campus and has been recognized nationally for her work. We will miss her vision, but her impact here will continue.”
In 2019, Bishop also oversaw the launch of the ETSU Health brand, which unified the educational, clinical, and research pursuits Faculty and Staff | 21
New Faces Michael Meit
joined the ETSU Center for Rural Health Research as Director of Research and Programs. He previously served as CoDirector of the Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis at the non-partisan and objective research organization NORC at the University of Chicago. He retains his Senior Fellow role at NORC.
Dr. Roslyn Robinson
was named ETSU Health’s Chief Nursing Officer (CNO). She also was named the new Associate Dean of Practice and Community Partnerships in the College of Nursing. She has worked at ETSU since 2015.
Dr. Leann Horsley
was appointed Dean of the College of Nursing. She began her new role in August 2021.
Dr. Beth Anne Fox (Quillen College of Medicine) received the 2020 John S. Derryberry M.D. Distinguished Service Award, presented by the Tennessee Academy of Family Physicians.
Dr. Janna Scarborough
has been named Dean of the Clemmer College. Scarborough joined the faculty in 2006 and served as Interim Dean. For six years, she served as Chair of the Department of Counseling and Human Services and also held an associate dean appointment in Clemmer before assuming the interim deanship in March 2019.
Dr. A. Lynn Williams (Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences) took office as the 2021 President of the American Speech-LanguageHearing Association (ASHA).
Jeffrey Blanton,
a former FBI agent, was named Assistant Vice President for Administration and Director of Emergency Management.
Dr. Kimberly D. McCorkle
is the new Provost and Senior Vice President for Academics. She comes to ETSU from the University of West Florida, where she spent 19 years as a faculty member and administrator.
Dr. Kiana Johnson (Quillen College of Medicine) is among the 21 faculty and staff members from colleges and universities across Tennessee selected to participate in the 2021-22 Class of the Maxine Smith Fellows program.
A Community of Notable
FACULTY & STAFF
Dr. Kayla Norman and Vanessa Smith (Nursing) were selected as fellows for the Duke-Johnson & Johnson Nurse Leadership Program.
ONE ETSU
Cesar Gracia
was named Chief of Police and Director of Public Safety. An ETSU graduate, he spent five years as campus safety dean and police chief at Lincoln Memorial University.
22 | 2020-2021 Annual Report
Marlina Rogers
joined ETSU as Compliance Counsel in November 2020. A 2012 graduate of ETSU, she is a former member of the softball team. Prior to returning to her alma mater, she worked in private practice in Macon, Georgia.
A new post clock located at University Commons on the corner of Ross and Dossett drives honors the 110 employees with the longest years of service. As Lori Erickson, Assistant Vice President for Human Resources, noted during the University Commons opening, “I cannot express to you how great this is to have 110 people who have more than 29 years of service at an institution. It says so much about ETSU and the place we call home.”
Joy Fulkerson, Director of Leadership and Civic Engagement, was elected to a four-year term on the Board of Directors of the National Conference on Citizenship. Established in 1946, the NCoC is dedicated to strengthening civic life in America.
Faculty and Staff | 23
Dr. Virginia Foley and Janet Stork were named to the All-Southern Conference Faculty and Staff Team. The team is comprised of two representatives from each of the 10 SoCon member schools. Honorees are selected by respective institutions based on demonstrated service, contributions to campus life, and the local community.
Three members of the ETSU community were honored by The Business Journal of the Tri-Cities in the 28th annual “40 Under Forty”: Whitney Goetz, Executive Director of ETSU’s National Alumni Association; Dr. Brooklyn Nelson (Gatton College of Pharmacy); and Adam Rosenbalm, a student in ETSU’s Roan Scholars Program. 24 | 2020-2021 Annual Report
Dr. Keith Johnson, Vice President for Equity and Inclusion, was selected for the Complete Tennessee Leadership Institute, and is among 32 higher education leaders in the U.S. selected by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities as a protégé for its Millennium Leadership Initiative.
Dr. Chassidy Cooper and Dr. Nicholas Hagemeier participated in the 2021 EAB Rising Higher Education Leaders Fellowship. This select group of leaders from across the country explores challenges and creative solutions in higher education.
Dr. Retha Gentry (Nursing) was named a 2021 Tennessee Rising Star Nurse Leader as part of the 40 Under 40 Nurse Leaders program.
The College of Business and Technology has filled two endowed chair positions. David Golden has been named Professor of Practice and Allen and Ruth Harris Chair of Excellence in Business, and Jim Harlan has been named Professor of Practice and AFG Chair of Excellence in Business and Technology.
The American Academy of Nursing named Dr. Judy Rice (Nursing) among 230 distinguished nurse leaders to join the 2020 Class of Fellows.
Dr. Cathy Galyon (Clemmer College) was elected incoming chair of the American Council on Rural Special Education (ACRSE).
Dr. Dana Harrison (Business and Technology) and Stanley P. Williams, Faculty Fellow, co-authored The Essentials of Marketing Analytics, a textbook that is utilized by students throughout the industry to gain insights into the most frequently applied marketing analytics techniques in today’s changing business landscapes.
Several Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Country Music Studies faculty and alumni took home International Bluegrass Music Association Awards, including program founder Jack Tottle, who was presented the 2020 IBMA Distinguished Achievement Award for his dedication to furthering bluegrass music and its artists.
Dr. Linda Latimer and Dr. Robert Pack (Public Health) were chosen for Leadership Tennessee’s class of 2020-2021. Latimer is current chair of ETSU’s Board of Trustees.
Dr. Ted Olson (Appalachian Studies) received the Appalachian Studies Association’s 2020 Stephen L. Fisher Award for Excellence in Teaching, as well as the Ramsey Award for Lifetime Achievement – the highest honor given by the East Tennessee Historical Society.
Dr. Istvan Karsai (Arts and Sciences) coauthored Resilience and Stability of Ecological and Social Systems, which he hopes will spur discussions on ways mathematics can help researchers better understand ecology, how ecology can provide new ways of thinking in mathematics, and more.
Dr. Martha Michieka (Arts and Sciences) and Dr. Judy McCook (Nursing) were named the 2020 Notable Women of ETSU by Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. This award recognizes the expertise and accomplishments of women faculty at ETSU whose work advances understanding of women and their lives. Dr. Natalie Smith (Clemmer College) has co-authored the book, Organizational Behavior in Sport Management: An Applied Approach to Understanding People and Groups. Geared toward undergraduate students, it discusses how sports organizations function, as well as how employees are motivated and work together. Faculty and Staff | 25
A Community Rooted in
SCHOLARSHIP
ONE ETSU
$54,873,805 in extramural research and sponsored programs funding awarded during 2020-21
215 new studies were approved by ETSU Institutional Review Board.
$272,400 awarded by the Research Development Committee (RDC).
Expanding Research Horizons
The College of Public Health launched two new research centers in the past year that will address pressing health concerns in Appalachia and beyond. ETSU received one of seven Rural Health Research Center grants, awarded by the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, to create the ETSU/NORC Rural Health Equity Research Center. The $2.77 million award, which ETSU won in collaboration with the NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis, part of NORC at University of Chicago, spans four years. The ETSU/NORC Rural Health Equity Research Center’s mission is to develop strategies and recommendations for policymakers, rural health care providers and rural communities to mitigate the individual and community-level impacts of substance use disorder (SUD), improve access to health care and social services, and improve population health. Research staff work to create policy solutions that are responsive to challenges rural communities face in addressing SUD and rural health care and social service issues. “A long-standing partnership between ETSU and the NORC Walsh Center led to this new award,” said Dr. Robert Pack, Director of the Rural Health Equity Research Center. “Our goal for the center is to conduct research that will improve the health and well-being of all rural Americans.”
26 | 2020-2021 Annual Report
The College of Public Health is also home to the new Center for Cardiovascular Risks Research (CCRR). This cross-disciplinary, interprofessional research center aims to reduce cardiovascular disease and associated risk factors in Central Appalachia, while addressing the health disparities and health care inequities experienced by residents of the region. CCRR will be dedicated to research in cardiovascular health and related risk factors and social determinants, mentoring of students/residents/ fellows, developing programs to improve cardiovascular health and reduce risks, and engage community-based and other stakeholders in research and programming. The center will focus particularly on patient-centered care, patient-centered outcomes research, and comparative effectiveness research. CCRR is currently part of Tennessee Heart Health Network, which is working to facilitate smoking cessation and hypertension control in Tennessee through a grant by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). “As this region is disproportionately burdened with cardiovascular disease and its associated health behaviors and conditions, it is vitally important to establish the infrastructure to support the research to discover the underlying causes that make nationally effective policies and programs less effective in this area,” said Dr. Hadii Mamudu, Director of the CCRR. Research | 27
The National Institute on Drug Abuse awarded a $2.6 million grant to researchers at ETSU and Virginia Tech to develop studies on how best to provide support services for individuals being treated for opioid use disorder.
In January, David Golden was Named Chief Executive Officer of the ETSU Research Corporation. Making Strides Studying the COVID-19 Pandemic Over the past year, researchers at ETSU’s Center of Excellence in Inflammation, Infectious Disease and Immunity (CIIDI) have made strides on studies related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
28 | 2020-2021 Annual Report
In summer 2020, ETSU and the James H. Quillen Veterans Affairs Medical Center at Mountain Home began seeking patients who had recovered from COVID-19 to donate a sample of their blood to be used for current and future coronavirus research. “We want to recruit as many recovered patients as possible who are willing to donate to our biorepository,” said Dr. Jonathan Moorman, Principal Investigator and Division Chief of Infectious, Inflammatory and Immunologic Diseases at ETSU Health. “People who give us their blood are giving us an opportunity to see what a successful immune response to this virus looks like. We need to look at these successes to discover how to treat and prevent the disease in others.”
Dr. Zhi Q. Yao (Quillen College of Medicine) utilized the biorepository for his study. Yao received a $100,000 grant from the American Diabetes Association (ADA) to explore the impact of diabetes on COVID-19 and the impact of COVID-19 on diabetes and related complications. In 2021, a paper emerging from his study was published in Scientific Reports. In summer 2021, ETSU began recruiting research participants who were diagnosed with COVID-19 and who have continued to experience ongoing effects 90 days after recovery for COVID-19 long haul research. The study will help them learn more about the longterm effects of the COVID-19 virus.
“With all of the many opportunities in our region to establish partnerships, innovate, and help drive prosperity, I feel strongly that ETSU should play an even greater role in this effort,” President Brian Noland said. “We have repurposed the ETSU Research Foundation and launched the ETSU Research Corporation, which will have a greatly expanded role to connect, convene, and create across our campus and our region. It will be a dynamic and forward-thinking partner as we work to enrich the region and impact the world.” Noland added that an overarching goal of the corporation is to enrich a culture of research on campus and support the faculty by creating internal and external partnership opportunities and assisting in innovation and economic development in Tennessee.
“The ETSU Research Corporation will also be a convener for STEM education by helping to accelerate ideas and generate new opportunities through the work being done by ETSU and community partners such as the Niswonger Foundation and STREAMWORKS as well as global platforms such as MATE II and BioBuilder,” said Golden, who noted that the corporation will also be strengthening work in experiential learning for students as well as workforce development. “We can already see early efforts paying off with the Niswonger Foundation’s recent announcement of an $8.8 million Department of Education grant working with partners at MIT, Purdue, and the University of Alabama at Huntsville.”
The Tennessee Institute of Public Health at the ETSU College of Public Health was awarded a second grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) to further expand the Correctional Career Pathways program.
Dr. Jodi Polaha and Dr. Matthew Tolliver (Quillen College of Medicine) received a grant to develop, implement, and evaluate a program for training and retaining a behavioral health workforce in Northeast Tennessee.
Research | 29
A study by Dr. Martin Olsen (Quillen College of Medicine) reveals new information about the prevention of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), which occurs when infants go through withdrawal from an addictive drug they were exposed to in the womb.
The university launched its inaugural ETSU Mentored Substance Use Research training program, designed to train substance use researchers across multiple disciplines in order to improve health outcomes in Central Appalachia.
Dr. Michael Kruppa (Quillen College of Medicine) received a grant from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, to study a global emerging fungal infection, Candida auris.
30 | 2020-2021 Annual Report
Dr. Kate Beatty and Michael Meit (Center for Rural Health Research) co-authored an article in the Journal of Appalachian Health titled “Rural Appalachia Battling the Intersection of Two Crises: COVID-19 and Substance Use Disorders.”
Dr. Erik Petersen (College of Public Health) received $300,000 to study Salmonella sensingbased antibacterials for use in poultry. The award is a collaborative bi-national grant with Dr. Erez Mills from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Rehovot, Israel.
Alumna Julia Schap and Geosciences faculty Drs. Josh Samuels and Andrew Joyner (Arts and Sciences) published a study in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, and Palaeoecology on how tiny mammal teeth reflect how climate has changed across North America over the past 37 million years.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded Dr. Chuanfu Li (Quillen College of Medicine) a $2.19 million R01 grant to research the role of lactate in sepsis-induced cardiovascular dysfunction.
Dr. Diego Rodriguez-Gil (Quillen College of Medicine) accepted an invitation from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Center for Scientific Review to serve as a member of the Neuroscience of Interoception and Chemosensation Study Section.
Dr. Christine Mullins, Dr. Teresa Carnevale, and Dr. Vallire Hooper (Nursing) received a grant from Sigma Theta Tau International, a global honor society for nurses, to allow them to implement an evidence-based suicide prevention program at four Health Wagon clinics in rural Appalachia.
ETSU researchers are part of an international team of scientists from Europe, South America, and the United States who have published a paper on new insights to how the human immune system recognizes the pathogenic fungus Candida auris.
The ETSU Center for Applied Research and Evaluation in Women’s Health (CARE Women’s Health) worked with clinical partners in South Carolina and Alabama to study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on contraceptive services in health department clinics and federally qualified health centers (FQHC).
Innovation Lab started off 2021 with a new member, Tendaya Technology, whose mission is to develop and commercialize novel materials for applications in green energy technology and medical technology platforms.
To address the growing need for remote and socially distanced learning during the pandemic, the College of Nursing ordered portable simulation kits that allow students to practice 16 different skills at home and in the classroom.
The ETSU Center for Applied Research and Evaluation in Women’s Health (CARE Women’s Health) worked with clinical partners in South Carolina and Alabama to study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on contraceptive services in health department clinics and federally qualified health centers (FQHC).
Dr. Dawn Rowe (Clemmer College) is participating in a research project to help persons with disabilities transition from K-12 to more independent life settings. Part of the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition for Students and Youth with Disabilities, the $4 million project grant includes $331,000 directly to ETSU. Dr. Manik Ahuja and Dr. Bethesda O’Connell (Public Health), Dr. Mimi Perrault and Dr. Wesley Wehde (Arts and Sciences) and Dr. Anca Traian (Business and Technology) were selected to participate in the inaugural Faculty Research Cohort, an initiative hosted by the Office of Planning and Decision Support, the Provost’s Office, and the Applied Social Research Laboratory. Research | 31
What’s That Ringing in Your Ears?
Dr. Mickey White (Clemmer College) continues his research into the experiences of queer and transgender persons, focusing on the journeys of those who work in the counseling profession as counselors, educators, or supervisors. He plans to conduct qualitative research interviews with counselors and educators to gain insights.
Dr. Aruna Kilaru (Arts and Sciences) and her team have been studying how to produce more “good,” monounsaturated fats found in plant oils, thereby combatting cardiovascular disease, through a $200,000 grant from the USDA. 32 | 2020-2021 Annual Report
Dr. Caleb Bazyler (Clemmer College) is researching whether it is best to keep training before a competition or if tapering is best for peak performance. Funded by the National Strength and Conditioning Association Foundation, the study will provide further knowledge on optimizing training practices for strength athletes.
Dr. Blaine Schubert (Arts and Sciences) was one of 50 researchers contributing to a study published in Nature revealing that Ice Age dire wolves were not, in fact, close relatives of today’s North American gray wolves, as had long been thought.
An animated educational video about tinnitus written by Dr. Marc Fagelson (College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences) has been viewed more than 1.5 million times since it was posted in August 2020 on the popular TED-Ed site. It also was ranked No. 8 in the 10 most popular TED-Ed animations of 2020.
Dr. Ted Olson (Arts and Sciences) hopes his 2020 Bear Family Records album “We Shall All Be Reunited: Revisiting the Bristol Sessions, 1927-1928” corrects common misconceptions about the historic recording sessions that are often considered to be the birth of country music.
Dr. Mildred F. (Mimi) Perreault (Arts and Sciences) has co-authored two artictles examining the work of journalists during the COVID-19 pandemic, which were published in Journalism Practice and American Behavioral Scientist.
Dr. Candace Bright (Arts and Sciences) is a member of a research team that was awarded a National Science Foundation grant of more than $500,000 to study “The Role of Museums in the Landscape of Minority Representation.”
Dr. Stacey Williams (Arts and Sciences), who researches the societal experiences of Appalachia’s LGBTQ community, most recently participated in an NIH-funded project to develop an online intervention that involved writing as a means of coping with minority stress.
Research | 33
A Campus Committed to
Service ServIce ONE ETSU
On the Front Lines
From the earliest COVID-19 vaccines administered in hospitals across the Appalachian Highlands to ongoing vaccination efforts throughout the community, ETSU Health has been on the front lines of getting shots into arms to combat the pandemic. In December 2020, student pharmacists from Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy began assisting with the region’s first COVID-19 vaccines at hospitals across the region in collaboration with Ballad Health. By January 2021, fourthsemester nursing students in ETSU’s College of Nursing also began serving in COVID-19 vaccination PODs (point of distribution). As the year progressed, additional opportunities arose throughout the community for ETSU Health to assist with vaccines. Student pharmacists and faculty volunteered at independent pharmacies, grocery stores, assisted living facilities, hospitals, and health departments. ETSU Health took on a larger role in community vaccination efforts when Dr. Adam Welch (Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy) and Dr. Leigh Johnson (formerly of Quillen College of Medicine/Director of ETSU COVID Response) were awarded a $1.1 million sub-award contract from the Centers for Disease Control and Tennessee Department of Health to establish a COVID-19 vaccination clinic at ETSU. Beginning in March, ETSU Health distributed the Johnson & Johnson Janssen vaccine in a series of clinics that continued throughout the spring and summer, when they began offering the vaccine during new student orientations. Dozens of student, faculty and staff volunteers from ETSU’s Gatton College of Pharmacy,
34 | 2020-2021 Annual Report
Quillen College of Medicine, College of Public Health, and College of Nursing volunteered hundreds of hours at the ETSU Health clinics. Throughout the summer, ETSU Health also participated in the Take a Shot on Life campaign to take the vaccine on the road to various community locations and festivals. As the fall semester drew near, ETSU Health expanded its vaccination offerings, providing both the Pfizer-BioNTech and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. “We are grateful to Ballad Health and First Tennessee Development District’s Take a Shot on Life for partnering with ETSU Health to allow us to offer a choice of vaccines,” said Donna Noland, manager of ETSU Health’s COVID-19 Vaccine Clinics. To further promote the vaccine on campus, in August, ETSU announced the ETSU Vaccine Challenge. Through this challenge, eligible students, faculty, and staff could voluntarily complete an online entry form to be entered into a raffle to win prizes. “Getting the vaccine is the best way for us to protect ourselves and each other,” said ETSU President Dr. Brian Noland. “Throughout the pandemic, our Academic Health Sciences Center colleges have worked together to promote and distribute the vaccine, filling a critical need in our region. I am grateful for the vision of Dr. Johnson and Dr. Welch to establish the ETSU Health Vaccine Clinic, and for the faculty, staff, students, and community partnerships that have made that vision come to life in our community.”
Service | 35
Work of Tennessee Climate Office
Street Medicine Student Interest Group A new student organization at ETSU is building bridges with community partners to help people who are experiencing homelessness to overcome barriers to health care.
After several years of careful planning, the Climate Office for the State of Tennessee has been officially recognized at ETSU by the American Association of State Climatologists (AASC). The Tennessee Climate Office (TCO) at ETSU has been fulfilling the basic responsibilities of a state climate office since its establishment in 2016, providing climate data services to state agencies, researchers and citizens and studying the impact of drought, extreme rainfall, severe storms and other hazards. An earlier state climate office had operated under the direction of the TVA but ceased operations in 2006. The TCO at ETSU is led by Dr. Andrew Joyner and Wil Tollefson, state climatologist and assistant state climatologist, respectively. Both are faculty in the Department of Geosciences. “Andrew and Wil have actively worked for the past five years to drive the vital plan to build the TCO at ETSU, and now it is established and received official recognition, said Dr. Arpita Nandi, Chair of Geosciences. “It is a significant accomplishment and point of pride for our department, college, and the university." 36 | 2020-2021 Annual Report
The Street Medicine Interest Group (SMIG), an interprofessional organization comprised of students from all five of ETSU’s health sciences colleges (Quillen College of Medicine, Gatton College of Pharmacy, College of Nursing, College of Public Health, and College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences), was formed by students who were looking for a way to make a difference in the community. The TCO is involved in research that enhances its capabilities to provide public service. It gives undergraduate and graduate students from ETSU and other universities across the state opportunities to participate in research and extension activities. To meet the needs of the entire state, the TCO has formed partnerships with climate data representatives at universities in each region of the state, including the University of Tennessee-Martin, the UT Institute of Agriculture, UT-Knoxville, the University of Memphis, and Vanderbilt University. “ETSU is the ideal university to host the state Climate Office and coordinate this partnership,” Joyner said. “This is because of the university’s commitment to public
service. The main goal of a state climate office is based on public service, centered on providing useful and applicable climate data and products to state and federal agencies, researchers, farmers, and others. In addition to continuing to provide a weekly drought input, monthly climate summaries, climate risk assessments, climate products, and Tennessee-specific climate research, Joyner says the next goals for the TCO include pursuing state-level support, developing collaborative grants, and building a statewide mesonet, or climate observation network. “We think there may be opportunities to incorporate the goals of the TCO into university-wide curriculum and program goals, as well,” he said.
“We started the Street Medicine Interest Group as a way to bring students together over a shared desire to care for those who are experiencing homelessness,” said medical student William Miller. “When you are in the middle of studying for weekly exams, it can be easy to forget why you wanted to come to school in the first place. SMIG became a way for us to refocus on what is important. We hoped that as our interprofessional group began to grow, we would find ways to make a difference in the local community. Part of caring for others involves meeting people wherever they are – sometimes that is not within the walls of a hospital or clinic.” The group is working with such organizations as the College of Nursing’s Johnson City Downtown Day Center to identify ways students can help the homeless community. SMIG hosted its first flu clinic in December 2020 at Munsey Memorial United Methodist Church in downtown Johnson City, providing donations of warm clothing to many and flu shots to 12 individuals. Service | 37
About the Martin Center 1200-Seat Foundation Grand Hall with proscenium stage, balcony, fly system, orchestra pit, theatrical lighting and sound, sound/ orchestra shell, and more 200-Seat Powell Recital Hall
The Department of Theatre and Dance is likewise thrilled with its new spaces in the Martin Center for the Arts. Its black box theatre will provide a high-tech, fully flexible space that can be set up in many configurations. Its scene and costume shops – as opposed to the repurposed locker rooms in Brooks Gym – are learning laboratories with the latest equipment and much more space in close proximity to the stage.
Curtain Rises as Martin Center Opens As enrollment grew in ETSU’s arts programs through recent decades, steadily outgrowing the aging facilities that were their longtime homes, faculty, students, alumni, and administrators began dreaming of the possibility of a new home – a new home with more space for performances and classes and with the state-of-the-art technology students need to learn to use. The ETSU Arts Initiative began in 2013 to raise funds for the center after ETSU gained 38 | 2020-2021 Annual Report
approval from the state of Tennessee and the Tennessee Board of Regents for its request for a partnership with the City of Johnson City to build a new facility for the arts. Ground was broken in 2017 on the 93,000-square-foot, $53 million facility across State of Franklin Road from the ETSU campus.
from their daughter, Sonia S. King. Nearly 600 supporters contributed to the effort.
The new center would come to be named the James C. and Mary B. Martin Center for the Arts following the leadership gift of $3 million from the Martins and an additional $1 million
“The Martin Center is beautiful inside, both aesthetically and sound-wise,” said Dr. Matthew Potterton, chair of Music. “The sound in the Grand Hall is spectacular."
Since the completion of the Martin Center in fall 2020, the university has seen this long-standing dream come to fruition as the Martin Center for the Arts has opened.
3,000-Square-Foot Tindall Lobby with box office Bert C. Bach Theatre Black box performing space with flexible staging and seating Sonia S. King Plaza Well-appointed dressing rooms
“The Martin Center gives acting and dancing students superior stages to perform on, and our design/production students state-of-the-art facilities and equipment with which to create,” Department Chair Karen Brewster said. “And all of our dance students, and perhaps especially the aerial dance students, can more fully realize their potential on the Martin Center stages.
Green rooms
“It will be a wonderful place for theatre-making, teaching our students, and entertaining our audiences. The Martin Center will allow our ETSU Theatre and Dance graduates to be truly competitive in a highly competitive world. What this facility will give our students – that is what we are most excited about.”
Office suite
The Martin Center is opening its doors to the community for their events and gatherings. To book an event, visit ETSUMartinCenter.org, email MartinBooking@etsu.edu or call 423-439-8588. To receive the latest news about the Martin Center, patrons can sign up on the website to receive Martin Center email updates.
Costume and dye shop Scene shop Music rehearsal and practice rooms
Designed by McCarty Holsaple McCarty, Knoxville Acoustical Design by Acoustic Distinctions, New York Constructed by Denark Construction, Knoxville
Service | 39
The Reece Museum received 50 artworks from the estate of Sammie L. Nicely, who was the museum’s artist in residence in 2014-15. The donated works include pieces by both renowned and unknown artists that Nicely – co-founder of the From Africa to Appalachia Foundation – purchased in his African and Caribbean travels.
Throughout the pandemic, ETSU College of Public Health has mobilized its expertise and resources, posting 140 COVID-related videos, including 59 weeks of “Weekly Updates” as of June 30, 2021. The videos have more than 35,000 views – a number which continues to grow weekly.
Housed at the Nave Center, ETSU’s Positive Eating Program is designed for children with behavioral and sensorybased feeding challenges. To continue serving children and their families during the challenges of the pandemic, the Positive Eating team came up with an innovative approach to offer their services via telehealth appointments. 40 | 2020-2021 Annual Report
After Noshi, the male American Bald Eagle whose Johnson City nest is watched by thousands through ETSU’s EagleCam project, disappeared in spring 2020, his partner, Shima, returned in the fall with a handsome new partner. By vote, EagleCam Facebook fans named the new male eagle Boone in honor of frontiersman Daniel Boone and for Boone Lake, which fronts the hillside nesting site.
Dr. Sarah Melton (Gatton College of Pharmacy) was awarded the Harold Love Outstanding Community Service Award by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. She is one of five faculty/staff recipients across Tennessee’s higher education institutions to earn the service award.
Dr. Daryl Carter (Arts and Sciences) was elected to a one-year term as Chair of the Humanities Tennessee Board of Directors after serving on the board since 2014. In addition, he was selected to serve a three-year term on the board of the Tennessee Historical Society.
ETSU Health reported over 356,170 patient encounters in 2020-21. More than $1.4 million in uncompensated care was provided by the College of Nursing Nurse-Managed Clinics.
Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy participated in the Drug Enforcement Agency’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, helping remove more than 730 pounds of unused prescription drugs from the region’s homes, providing an opportunity for Americans to prevent drug addiction and overdose deaths.
For a decade, Business student volunteers have offered free tax preparation assistance through the Internal Revenue Service Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program. This year, with COVID-19 limitations, the program filed 95 tax returns. Eight students, two alumni, one support staff, and three professors helped make the process happen.
Dr. Elwood Watson (Arts and Sciences) is coeditor-in-chief of the Current Research Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities. The journal is a distinguished international publication with editors and contributors from dozens of major colleges and universities worldwide.
ETSU’s Geoinformatics and Disaster Science Lab received national recognition from FEMA when it was featured in the federal agency’s Mitigation Planning Success Stories series. According to FEMA, ETSU’s hazard mitigation plan demonstrates best practices that can be used by other universities and municipalities in developing their own plans.
The ETSU Honors College opened the new International House in fall 2020 as a dedicated space where students can meet with their friends, study, talk with their advisors, and participate in new programs.
The Reece Museum and Slocumb Galleries received multiple honors from the Tennessee Association of Museums. The awards recognized the Reece’s “Local Art in the Age of the 2020 Global Pandemic” special collection and “Suffrage in Southern Appalachia” exhibit, as well as Slocumb’s “Visibility as Presence” exhibition series.
The College of Nursing celebrated two milestone anniversaries during the past year: the 25th anniversary of the Hancock County SchoolBased Health Centers and the 30th anniversary of the Mountain City Extended Hours Health Center. Service | 41
The newly renovated Model Mill Development is now home to the ETSU Foundation, the Office of University Advancement, and the ETSU National Alumni Association. “The restoration of the Mill has been a long anticipated project for this region, and we are honored to have a presence in the beautiful new facility and to be part of this historic move,” said Pam Ritter, ETSU Vice President for University Advancement and President/CEO of the ETSU Foundation. “Our advancement and alumni staff are engaged within the community 365 days each year, and our presence at the Mill positions us closer to our donors, alumni, and other friends within the community.” The Model Mill was constructed in the early 1900s and is located on the corner of Walnut and Sevier streets near the ETSU campus. Local business leaders Grant Summers and Rab Summers purchased the Mill in 2016 and began a massive renovation of the facility.
ETSU Foundation $136,260,175 Total fund balance as of June 30, 2021
$2,786,168 Awarded in scholarships in 2020-2021
$121 million raised toward The Campaign for ETSU
Day of Giving 2021
42 | 2020-2021 Annual Report
$310,000
990
898
raised
gifts
donors
One ETSU | 43
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