Midpoints

compiled by Gina E. Fann, Jimmy Hart, Gina K. Logue, Drew Ruble, and Randy Weiler A look at recent awards, events, and accomplishments at MTSU

From MTSU to the Nobel Prize

MTSU’s Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) hosted an academic conference in October to celebrate the centennial birthday of the late alumnus James Buchanan (’40), who received the 1986 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his leadership in developing the public choice theory of economics. Buchanan died in 2013 at age 93.

Peter J. Boettke of George Mason University’s Mercatus Center delivered a public lecture on “The Continuing Relevance of F.A. Hayek.” Jay Cost of the American Enterprise Institute and a columnist at National Review Online, discussed the U.S. Constitution during his presentation. PERI, led by Director Daniel Smith, an MTSU associate professor of Economics, was established with initial seed money from the Charles Koch Foundation in late 2016 as a joint venture between the Jennings A. Jones College of Business and the University Honors College.

The mission of the institute is to engage students with faculty in research that will further the understanding of business and economic principles, as well as their impact on regional, national, and international financial conditions and the wellbeing of society. The papers presented at the conference are under consideration for a special issue of the prestigious academic journal Public Choice.

MTSU’s hope is that events such as this, along with PERI’s fellowship and faculty support, will solidify MTSU’s Ph.D. in Economics program as a premiere place for studying public choice. The theory applies economic reasoning to the public’s understanding of political outcomes and the political institutions that influence those outcomes. Buchanan’s gift to the University Honors College at MTSU supports the prestigious Buchanan Fellowship program, MTSU’s top scholarship awarded to 20 freshman scholars each year.

Model University MTSU will present its program to help homeless students to other colleges and universities in Tennessee in an effort to serve this underserved student population. A new state law requires each state-funded postsecondary educational institution to designate a liaison to homeless students and to develop a program to provide them access to housing. MTSU’s program, which has been in effect since 2008, was chosen to serve as the model. The bill was sponsored in the Tennessee legislature by state Rep. Carson W. “Bill” Beck and state Sen. Jeff Yarbro, both of Nashville. Becca Seul, associate director of MTSU’s MT One Stop, and Danielle Rochelle, coordinator of outreach and support programs for MT One Stop, testified in support of the bill during the committee stage.

A Lending Hand

In an effort to help with the rising cost of textbooks, Walker Library developed a textbook affordability program that began in the Fall 2019 semester. The library identified and purchased a few copies of each textbook assigned for high-enrollment general education classes (over 500 students). The textbooks are on reserve and available for three-hour, in-library use checkout.

The second MTSU Veteran Impact Celebration at The Grove at Williamson Place last June raised more than $150,000 for the Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center on the MTSU campus. A way to say thank you to local businesses and community supporters, the celebration featured Charlie Daniels, a Country Music Hall of Fame member, and retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith M. Huber, MTSU’s senior advisor. Daniels’ foundation, The Journey Home Project, contributed $100,000 for the second consecutive year to the center, the most comprehensive veterans center on any Tennessee campus and one of the largest in the nation. Jimmy Hiller, founder and CEO of title sponsor Hiller Plumbing, Heating, Cooling, and Electrical, said 150 of his company’s 630 full-time employees are veterans. Some other key sponsors included Censis Technologies Inc., The Journey Home Project, and Dollar General. Later in the year, Huber and MTSU’s center were honored at an October Opry appearance by Daniels in Nashville.

The Fall 2019 entering freshman class was the largest that MTSU has enjoyed since 2011, setting new records for ACT scores and high school grade point averages. New freshmen were up 14.51%, totaling 3,259. Other enrollment highlights: Total new undergraduates rose 9.9%; new transfers increased 4.12% over last year; the ACT average for the Fall 2019 freshman class was 23.34, surpassing last year’s record-setting freshman ACT average of 22.87; the average high school GPA for the entering freshman class was 3.54, exceeding last year’s average 3.49; total transfer students enrolled (10,474) now represent 53.82% of the total undergraduate population; and this year’s class of dual enrollment students (1,221) is the largest in MTSU’s history. Positive Signs

Shrinking the Globe

About 40 visiting Chinese middle school students from Hangzhou Normal University’s Dongcheng Education Group participated last summer in a visit to MTSU, the eighth cultural exchange in a series of reciprocal visits between the institutions. “It’s wonderful to see youth from our two countries here together, smiling, having fun and playing games,” MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee said. “Events like these help make our world smaller and our hearts bigger.” Dongcheng is an affiliate of Hangzhou Normal University, MTSU’s partner in the creation and operation of the Confucius Institute on the MTSU campus. Dongcheng oversees a network of magnet-style schools in Hangzhou, China. It is the fourth time MTSU has hosted a Dongcheng delegation, which visited previously in 2013, 2015, and 2017. Students, parents, and teachers from Rutherford County schools were hosted by Dongcheng in China in 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018.

Rightful Place

MTSU’s world-renowned Department of Aerospace set up base at EAA AirVenture, a massive weeklong celebration of aviation attracting more than 500,000 visitors from 80 countries. Celebrating its 50th year in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, AirVenture is the annual convention and fly-in for the 200,000-plus member Experimental Aircraft Association. The event is billed by EAA as the “world’s greatest aviation celebration.” A team of about 10 MTSU students, recent graduates, and flight instructors planted True Blue flags and a giant tent with the Aerospace logo in a corner of the AirVenture grounds. Established in 1942, the MTSU Department of Aerospace is a signature department at the University and has grown into one of the most respected aerospace programs in the nation.

MTSU students filled sections of Floyd Stadium this football season and Murphy Center this basketball season as the Blue Zoo, a revived booster group, brought more pep into Blue Raider Athletics. Thanks to a strategy of targeting incoming freshmen and transfers in its first wave of memberships, the group is poised to become the largest registered student organization on campus. After the relaunch in May, organizers targeted freshmen at CUSTOMS orientation sessions last summer, registering more than 1,000 from the 2019–20 incoming class. Blue Zoo

Known locally as “Bridge Over Broad” since its construction, Murfreesboro’s $22.8 million urban interchange took on a distinctly MTSU flavor when it officially became Blue Raider Bridge during a dedication ceremony last September. Rutherford County Mayor Bill Ketron, an MTSU alumnus, pushed to name the bridge to honor MTSU due to the University’s community impact and because the bridge was one of the gateways to reach the campus. Community Hallmark

MTSU graduates are making noise in the music industry once again as the annual awards season began to gear up with nomination announcements. The 53rd annual Country Music Association Awards nominations included two alumni on the official list, and five more celebrated as part of CMA Award-nominated projects. Multi-Grammy and CMA winner F. Reid Shippen (’94, Recording Industry) was back in the nominee’s seat for mixing Dierks Bentley’s single of the year collaboration with the Brothers Osborne, “Burning Man.” Rob Williford (’16, Music Business) earned a song of the year nod for co-writing Luke Combs’ “Beautiful Crazy.” The MTSU contingent also included some repeat honorees who faced friendly competition in the CMA’s album of the year category: Clarke Schleicher, who engineered Dan + Shay’s self-titled album nominee; Luke Laird, who co-wrote “Things You Do for Love” on Thomas Rhett’s Center Point Road nominee; Dave Barnes, who co-wrote “Kingdom” on Carrie Underwood’s Cry Pretty album; and Jason A. Hall and Jimmy Mansfield, who engineered Eric Church’s Desperate Man project. In the Mix Again

Distinguished Professor

Former state Rep. Beth Harwell (center), the first female speaker of Tennessee’s House of Representatives, was formally introduced as a Distinguished Visiting Professor in Political Science in September. Harwell, who holds a doctorate in Social Science Education, also will contribute to other programs such as working with the MTSU chapter of the American Democracy Project and the Free Speech Center to help extend and refine dialogue and discourse in politics; mentoring student interns traveling to Nashville for the General Assembly’s upcoming session; advising MTSU’s delegation to the Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature; and working with the School of Journalism and Strategic Media class that focuses on coverage of the state legislature.

Piloting Change

The global demand for professional pilots helped propel a partnership between MTSU and Moi University of Kenya. President Sidney A. McPhee and Isaac Kosgey, Moi’s chief executive officer, signed a five-year pact that will allow their respective aerospace faculty to collaborate on teaching, research, and student exchanges. Moi University in Eldoret, near Kenya’s capital of Nairobi, boasts an enrollment of about 52,000. Moi’s aerospace school, established in 2009, has about 210 students and three training aircraft. Delta Air Lines, for example, projects it will lose 8,000 of its current pilots over the next 10 years because of retirements, while trends suggest that air passenger numbers could double to 8.2 billion by 2037.

Sports Industry

A new concentration and minor within MTSU’s College of Media and Entertainment will help fill the increasing need for sports media professionals throughout the country. The Sports Media program in the School of Journalism and Strategic Media started in the Fall 2019 semester, a part of a growing trend in higher education of formalized curricula for sports media. The goal is to make MTSU a destination institution for those who want to pursue careers in sports media. Using a hands-on approach through the University’s dedicated student media, students will have classes and experiences to help them launch careers in sports reporting, broadcasting, public relations, or sports information after graduation. After 20 years of providing resources for students to take out, MTSU’s James E. Walker Library is offering the community a chance to give back. In celebration of its 20th anniversary, the library is launching its “20 for 20” campaign to raise funds to continue current services and launch some new ones. Visited by 25,000 people each week, Walker Library provides a vast array of services, including reference, circulation, digital collections, open-access publishing, library instruction, and access to special collections of rare and old books. The library’s 20-year celebration began with the Fall 2019 semester, and special events in the work include a fundraising event this March. The building opened in 1999. A Crown JEWL

Closing the Gap

MTSU and Meharry Medical College solidified an innovative academic partnership to address the state’s shortage of rural doctors by formally recognizing the inaugural class of students accepted into the Medical School Early Acceptance Program. In October, Gov. Bill Lee (center), MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee (l), and Meharry President James E.K. Hildreth (r) presented certificates to six MTSU freshmen who will attend MTSU for three years of pre-med studies, followed by four years of medical school at Meharry. The students, who are receiving tuition aid from the state, are then required to do a two-year residency in a rural part of Tennessee.

Lofty Position

Diane Turnham is chair of the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Comittee.

In a long career of championing for women’s intercollegiate athletics, little has meant more to MTSU’s Diane Turnham than her recent election as NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee chair. Turnham, the Blue Raiders’ senior associate athletics director and senior women’s administrator, will serve as the voice of the committee that promotes the growth of women’s basketball and chooses the teams for the NCAA championship tournament. “I’ve been a member of the committee for four years, and to be selected by my peers to be the leader of this group for my fifth and final year is an incredible honor,” she said.

Anyone who’s around to listen will quickly learn Turnham’s passion for women’s athletics. In her 37th year with MTSU, she oversees all of the Blue Raiders’ women’s sports and is the deputy Title IX coordinator for the department. She also serves as administrator for women’s basketball and volleyball, in addition to other duties.

Turnham was previously on the NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Committee during 2004–08 and joined the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Committee in 2009–12. The national attention on Turnham also inherently shines a light on MTSU, something she's proud of. “I hope it brings some recognition to the University, because I think we’re a great example of people working really hard to be successful.”