MTSU Faculty Service to Students During the Pandemic Book (Vol. 1) by Middle Tennessee State University

SERVICE TO STUDENTS DURING THE PANDEMIC VOLUME 1

University President Sidney A. McPhee University Provost Mark Byrnes Faculty Senate President Rick Cottle Vice President for Marketing and Communications Andrew Oppmann Senior Director of Creative Marketing Solutions Kara Hooper Editor DeAnn Hays Contributing Editor Nancy Broden Designer Brittany Blair Stokes Photographers Andy Heidt, J. Intintoli, Cat Curtis Murphy Contributing Writers Skip Anderson, Stephanie Barrette, Gina E. Fann, Jimmy Hart, DeAnn Hays, Kobe Hermann, Matthew Hibdon, Gina Logue, Hunter Patterson, Carol Stuart, Patsy B. Weiler, Randy Weiler Special thanks to Kristy O’Neal

With a novel coronavirus hurling uncertainty at the world, MTSU had its share of obstacles to overcome in 2020. But in the face of the pandemic, University officials, staff, faculty, and students came together to persevere and accomplish things that would have seemed impossible just months earlier. From finishing the spring semester remotely, to hosting virtual graduation ceremonies, to bringing students back to campus in August, to holding the only in-person Commencement of 2020, and through everything in between, the University surmounted the uncertainties that the pandemic caused. While 2020 was one for the books, one thing remained the same—it was a good year to be #trueBLUE.

James E. Walker Library

College of Basic and Applied Sciences

College of Behavioral and Health Sciences

Jennings A. Jones College of Business

College of Education

College of Graduate Studies

College of Liberal Arts

College of Media and Entertainment

University College and Office of Student Success

University Honors College

M I D D L E T E N N E S S E E S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

JAMES E. WALKER LIBRARY

CHRISTY GROVES Interim associate dean throws students cyber-savvy lifelines during COVID-19 pandemic By Gina Logue When it came to coping with a transition to a more virtual environment, the James E. Walker Library already was ahead of the game. However, Interim Associate Dean Christy Groves never saw the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity for the library to settle for the status quo. “I got more involved in developing videos and doing online sessions via Zoom,” Groves said. “We’ve spent a good portion of time devoting our attention to making resources that students can utilize at a distance, the training materials we have so that students can have a good understanding at a point of need.” With more than 115,000 journals, 1 million books, 500 databases, and more than half a million electronic books, Walker Library is well stocked with the resources that the University needs. Now it’s a matter of making sure that the campus community can access them more safely than ever before.

To that end, Groves has facilitated a number of assessments and outreach initiatives that keep the library vital and more relevant than ever. One of these was an end-of-semester review of Spring 2020 to find out whether the library had met users’ needs at a time when the University was functioning mostly off campus.

“We’ve spent a good portion of time devoting our attention to making resources that students can utilize at a distance.” “We felt like everyone had an understanding about these unprecedented circumstances we were in, and I think it really showed that we, as a library, want to support our students,” Groves said. “We wanted to figure out a way that we could meet those needs and rise to that kind of challenge.”

In addition to the “pull-and-hold” practice of pulling items in the physical collections that students wanted to check out and dispensing them from the vestibule inside the front doors, the library discovered ways to continue partnerships with entities outside the University. Groves found that some adjustments were necessary to continue the library’s existing partnership with area high schools in which top achieving students, mostly seniors, are introduced to a college-level academic library. Before the pandemic, these students would receive an orientation led by Groves and User Services personnel. They would go on a field trip with chaperones and school media librarians. When COVID-19 became a major issue, this program was in limbo for a time while Groves worked with school media specialists to determine the students’ needs. Ultimately, the students, some of whom already were dual-enrolled, were given the opportunity to obtain a Walker Library card that would give them access to materials whether they were physically in the library or accessing materials through PipelineMT. Groves’ metrics show that the library website’s most popular pages are those related to databases or reserving what are now solo instead of group study spaces. Pages on how to borrow materials also are popular. Groves said logins to physical library computers are down 70%, but use of the JEWL search function on the website is down only 7%. “What that’s showing us is that people are still utilizing our resources, but they’re just not doing it from the building,” Groves said.

During the summer, chairs were removed, leaving one at each table, and computer use was restricted to every other carrel to meet social distancing protocols. Soft chairs were set apart for distancing purposes. However, to prepare for library use after the pandemic, Groves is assessing through unobtrusive observation where students who visit the building sit and which furniture they use. “That might help us with determining how we want to arrange seating when we come out of the pandemic,” Groves said. “It might help us determine if we want to reorganize the spaces that we provide for quiet study or for group studies.”

“People are still utilizing our resources, but they’re just not doing it from the building.” Groves said she could not have accomplished so much without the support of her colleagues. She singled out Jason Martin, the interim dean, for being flexible in accommodating employees’ needs in balancing at-home and on-site working arrangements. “Our goal is simply [to] emerge from this in a way that we can best position ourselves to be where people need us when . . . social distancing protocols end,” Groves said.

JASON ROBERT WILSON VANCE

DENISE KAREN QUINTEL DEARING

Librarians find new ways to provide user services safely, professionally By Gina Logue As the start of the Spring 2021 semester neared, the folks in User Services at the James E. Walker Library remained on the front lines of interaction with students and faculty. That made their transition from regular library use to pandemic protocols all the more important. In part, they have handled the transition by moving almost all of their in-person library instruction online. That’s not as easy as it sounds, even for one of the most technologically astute staffs at MTSU. “It’s not just a matter of doing your teaching in front of a camera,” said Jason Vance, interim User Services chair and information literacy librarian. “There’s a lot that goes into making those accessible, making sure that the lessons are still engaging and interactive in this new environment.” For some people, the personal touch is everything. Associate Professor Karen Dearing, a reference and instruction librarian, is grateful for the transition because she found

the spring 2020 shift to an all-distance learning environment difficult. “Right now, I’m doing a mixture of the Zoom instruction and working at the service desk downstairs,” Dearing said. “So I get a nice mix of both the online and the in-person research assistance.”

“Shifting from the in-person perspective just to the virtual has been a big adjustment because I really do miss that face-to-face contact.” Associate Professor Ashley Shealy, who also is a reference and instruction librarian, typically teaches in-person classes and works at the reference desk. Now she’s doing everything online. “Shifting from the in-person perspective just to the virtual has been a big adjustment because I really do miss that face-to-face contact,” Shealy said.

the online chat service, which remains very popular. “You can still get that college experience on campus even though you’re not in a physical classroom,” Vance said.

ASHLEY SUZANNE SHEALEY MANGRUM Shealy said she is always thinking about how to take difficult concepts and distill them in ways that students can understand. She has been in library instruction for 10 years, but she said she never has encountered anything like this. “Having to shift from doing it in person to online has been one of the biggest challenges of my career,” Shealy said. The flip side of all the understandable transition angst is that the pandemic has forced people to stretch themselves and their abilities in ways they never could have imagined. Their natural intellectual curiosity, nurtured by years in an academic environment, has invigorated even the most veteran librarians. “It’s been a challenge to my own skills in the way I’ve done things and gotten myself out of habits that I’ve had,” Dearing said. In some ways, Vance said, the pandemic has done a great deal to shine a light on services the library has been offering since long before the COVID-19 virus began dominating the news, including

Of course, the library is still open to serve students in person with the Plexiglass barriers and distancing protocols that have become societal standards. Contact-free book pickup is one big change in service methods. “It’s sort of like the online shopping or Kroger Clicklist where you can place your order and we’ll pull it for you and have it ready,” Vance said. “You can just come in and grab it without talking or touching anybody. We’ve seen a big uptick in that service.”

“You can still get that college experience on campus even though you’re not in a physical classroom.” Perhaps that level of engagement is also partly due to the library’s decision to be more lenient and accommodating when it comes to fines on overdue books. Some students have moved back home, meaning the library sometimes gets its books returned by mail or delivery service. Vance said the library just wants its books back.

ROBERT WILSON

DENISE DENISE QUINTEL QUINTEL

Library trio works through pandemic protocols to keep items accessible By Gina Logue Among the many people helping to maintain the James E. Walker Library’s status as a full-service resource for students and faculty are three staffers who work mostly behind the scenes. Systems Librarian Robert Wilson and Discovery Services Librarian Denise Quintel said their mission is not purchasing materials but making sure users have access to materials. The ways in which users access materials changed dramatically with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think streaming media was becoming a bigger and bigger thing . . . during the pandemic, and I expect it’s not going to go down after the pandemic.” “Especially in the early days, the first few months, there was a really high focus on communicating to everyone in

the library and ensuring that everyone felt safe doing their jobs,” Wilson said. The alterations included learning new tools for collaborating remotely and figuring out the best ways to manage projects. “We’re still doing our same jobs,” Quintel said. “It’s just so much more of it.” Quintel, who handles the Walker Library website and its search engine, was required in the early days of the pandemic to make weekly reports full of metrics to the library’s administrative council. She still files those reports monthly, but, in addition, the website itself had to be revised. “We had to create a remote services page, and we had [to find] resources that were free from publishers and vendors,” Quintel said. As acquisitions librarian, Suzanne Mangrum’s job is to purchase books and handle the library textbook program. This past fall, Mangrum earned an open educational

and asking them for permission to make their works available. “I found that authors have been very generous in allowing us to scan their work for students,” Mangrum said.

SUZANNE SUZANNE MANGRUM MANGRUM resources certification that enhanced her understanding of virtual materials. “I’ve been trying really hard to move every book I can find [to] an e-book instead of a print book,” Mangrum said. The textbook program, which began with the Fall 2019 semester, provides students access to textbooks and other reading materials for general education classes. Students can check out materials for three hours at a time, but they must use those materials in the library. The program is designed to help students who can’t afford to purchase their own textbooks and to aid in retention since lack of funding is one reason some students drop out. Subjects include astronomy, biology, chemistry, communication studies, economics, English, geology, history, mathematics, psychology, and theater. Copyright restrictions also can pose an impediment to access. Mangrum said she spent a lot of time in March and April 2020 contacting authors personally

Such personal contact with authors is unnecessary with open-source textbooks, which are licensed under an open copyright license. They can be used by students, teachers, and the public at little or no cost. “We have been trying to move so that we’re not just doing a textbook program, but that we’re also offering services to faculty to do open-source textbooks to save students money,” Mangrum said. Books aren’t Mangrum’s only concern. She also handles music and documentaries. She said she spends a good amount of time tracking down documentaries for professors, and those films have to be available online because of the pandemic. “I think streaming media was becoming a bigger and bigger thing . . . during the pandemic, and I expect it’s not going to go down after the pandemic,” Mangrum said. “I think faculty love to use it in their classrooms.” Mangrum, Wilson, and Quintel all praise library administrators who relaxed occupational constraints and gave them the leeway they needed to both keep their lives on track and get their jobs done. “We have been pushing our library systems in a way that was never expected, but they’re still working,” Wilson said. “It’s been kind of amazing how quickly everyone’s been able to adjust and how flexible how many of the staff are.”

M I D D L E T E N N E S S E E S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

COLLEGE OF BASIC AND APPLIED SCIENCES

DANIEL ERENSO Professor creates remote classroom in his garage to help Physics students thrive By Randy Weiler When the COVID-19 pandemic impacted MTSU during the 2020 spring break, technology-savvy Daniel Erenso got creative and did something out of the norm. The Department of Physics and Astronomy professor, now in his 17th year at the University, converted his garage into a classroom environment for remote learning for two upperdivision courses for Physics majors. Erenso, a theoretical physicist by training who evolved into an experimental physicist through the years, also began producing several YouTube videos for Introductory Physics II, making them available to students and the public for the fall semester. That’s not all Erenso accomplished during this strange year. With the COVID crisis still affecting MTSU in the summer, Erenso began writing a textbook for remote learning to open up previously canceled classes.

His idea was shared with Provost Mark Byrnes by department Chair Ron Henderson, who has asked Erenso to train fellow faculty members with this method. The book has been accepted for expedited publication by the Institute of Physics, a popular European publisher, he said.

“Challenges open the door to new opportunities, and opportunities lead to rewards.” Erenso’s 400-page book, Real and Virtual Lab for Introductory Physics II, includes embedded links for students to visit websites for their simulated labs. It met a January 2021 deadline and is now in production. Erenso said 2020 was “very challenging and exhausting,” adding: “I am very much looking for things to go back to normal.”

As for the garage classroom, Erenso said, he wanted “to figure out how to deliver material to students without losing the on-ground feeling”—and with only a week of extended spring break to make it happen. Erenso purchased and mounted six 8-by-4-foot dry-erase boards and added a Swivl robot, which holds an iPad and rotates to follow him as he moves around in his remote classroom. Erenso nicknamed it “Anticov.”

“My main goal during the pandemic was to make sure students did not miss things.” Erenso’s viewpoint on responding to coronavirus issues is optimistic: “Challenges open the door to new opportunities, and opportunities lead to rewards.” Erenso communicates with students and addresses their questions quickly by text or by phone. He made “a lot of experiments to make sure they are well suited for students,” he said. During the extra week of spring break last March, several students volunteered to remotely observe Erenso’s preparations for his online classes, helping him make sure he didn’t leave anything out. “My main goal during the pandemic was to make sure students did not miss things,” he said.

Research advances

Erenso is the recipient of a prestigious Fulbright teaching and research award—he taught two semesters and performed quantum optics

research at Addis Ababa University, his alma mater in Ethiopia—which led him to invite two Addis Ababa students to pursue physics graduate research work at MTSU. Physics and Astronomy hosted Endris Mohamed, who completed his doctorate in December 2019, and Mulugeta Seta, who Erenso anticipates defending his thesis and graduating within a year. Erenso has mentored both remotely during the pandemic. “This collaborative research has focused on the effectiveness of various curative and noncurative therapies used to treat hemoglobin disorders, specifically sickle cell disorders and various types of cancer, using a laser trapping technique,” he said. The goal is to improve diagnoses and treatments. This has led to recent “exciting and puzzling new physical processes that may be applicable in diagnostic medicine and electromagnetic energy generation and harvesting,” Erenso said. COVID-19 has not slowed his research. “Data is still being analyzed and manuscripts are being written for publication,” he said. Then there’s Erenso’s “other book,” which has been in the works since 2003, about the time he began teaching at MTSU. It is a six-volume book in Theoretical Physics. The first volume, Theoretical Physics Volume I: Mathematical Physics, which is about 700-pages designed for a three-semester course, is due in April 2021, but he may request an extension. “Every year, I have been changing it up and improving it,” he said.

CHRISILA PETTEY Computer science professor sets course for success, in person or online By Stephanie Barrette Chrisila Pettey, professor of computer science and former chair of the Computer Science Department, produced new materials and gave students options for class attendance to ensure they succeeded during the pandemic.

always have a seat, and I will be in the classroom, but I will have a Zoom session going at the same time. I will share my computer screen both in the class and in Zoom at the same time. Everybody who is coming in online sees what everybody in the classroom sees.’”

“When somebody is at home and the internet suddenly goes out or the dogs start barking. . . . Things happen at home that they don’t necessarily have any control over.”

Pettey organized an on-ground space in the Kirksey Old Main building that adhered to safety guidelines.

“I have a lot of students who were worried about coming in,” Pettey explained. “I gave them the option of coming in online, so I have people onground and online at the same time.” She continued, “I told all my students, ‘I will have class on-ground. You

“I have a seating chart where there is appropriate social distancing, and every student has a place in the classroom should they choose to come,” she said. Since she was unable to see all her students on Zoom while simultaneously broadcasting her computer screen, students joining online had to get used to speaking up. “We just laid ground rules,” Pettey said. “They just interrupt if they have a question, and the class can hear them because it’s coming across the speakers, and that’s what we do.”

Concerned about the students’ consuming Zoom lessons while in distraction-laden home environments, Pettey created extra materials to support their learning.

said. “Because it was part of the math department, you could take some of the computer science courses as part of your math degree. . . . I found it very interesting.”

“I felt like they needed to be able to have detailed lecture notes,” she said. “When somebody is at home and the internet suddenly goes out or the dogs start barking. . . . Things happen at home that they don’t necessarily have any control over. I want them to watch the video that I’m going to do, but I also wanted extra.”

After graduating from MTSU, she took a job teaching math at her alma mater and sat in on computer science classes on the side. It solidified her interest in the subject.

In addition, she overcame the challenge of producing complicated quizzes and tests and uploading them to the university’s online learning platform, D2L. “I have to do all of the tests by hand,” Pettey said. “I create these questions with their answers by hand and then screenshot them. . . . The last test took me 10 hours to create. That has never been the case in an on-ground [class], not even when I was brand new [as a professor] with a brand new prep.” Pettey earned her undergraduate degree in math education from Lipscomb University in 1978 and worked as a high school math teacher after graduation. “I was born in Florida, raised in Colorado, but I’ve lived in Tennessee most of my life,” Pettey said. She later left education in the midst of pursuing her master’s degree in math at MTSU. It was during this time that she first became interested in computer science. “When I was doing my master’s, computer science was actually part of the math department at that time,” she

“The last test took me 10 hours to create. That has never been the case in an on-ground [class], not even when I was brand new [as a professor] with a brand new prep.” “I realized, ‘You know what? This is going to take off,’” she said. “‘There’s going to be a computer science department (at MTSU), and they’re going to need faculty members, and I don’t have enough background, so I need to go back to school.’” She attended Vanderbilt University for her doctorate in computer science and graduated in 1990. She returned to MTSU as a computer science professor in fall 1992. Pettey closed out her career as a full professor with eight years spent as the department chair. She also spearheaded the department’s “hackathon,” called HackMT, that began in January 2016 and attracts tech-savvy students from MTSU and institutions throughout the region.

GINGER HOLMES ROWELL Professor applies games, Zoom tools to teach statistics remotely By Randy Weiler Ginger Holmes Rowell’s working world as a professor in MTSU’s Department of Mathematical Sciences involves statistics and statistics education. For the Fall 2020 semester, Rowell taught three courses: introductory Applied Statistics with 70 students and two graduate stats courses with roughly 110 students combined. Introductory Applied Statistics classes were taught remotely because of COVID-19, with instructor Sumeda Abeykoon and graduate assistant Jennifer Seat joining Rowell to remotely teach 200 students. “We are using new National Science Foundation active-learning materials, group work, and even project work in the remote setting to help engage students and help them think deeply about meaningful statistical concepts,” Rowell said. Rowell said it “seemed a little daunting, with the restrictions of the pandemic.” But with success in spring and summer using Zoom for remote classes, she

volunteered to try teaching a large section last fall. “We have used Zoom breakout rooms for student-to-student conversations and reporting back,” she added. They started using online statistical games supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to help students understand some of the challenges with collecting data, how to handle unusual observations and “messy data,” and how to use data to make decisions, Rowell said. Students worked together to write statistical reports and included next steps for the research, which they explored using the statistical game later in the semester. Praising MTSU leadership during pandemic, Rowell commends “the strong leadership of Dr. [Sidney A.] McPhee, Provost [Mark] Byrnes and others committed to keeping faculty, staff, and students safe while promoting the highest standards for student learning through this entire pandemic period.”

As one illustration of this guarantee for high standards, she cited the University’s immediate purchase of an enhanced Zoom license for the entire campus to enable faculty and students to have face-to-face teaching/learning interactions virtually.

student communications. She and colleagues Jim Hart, Alyson Lischka, and Rebecca Calahan supplied fellow faculty with a guide for communicating with students regarding academic issues as well as health and safety concerns.

Rowell also pointed to the immediate and continued support from MTSU’s Information Technology Division to help faculty improve their teaching by providing information about researchbased practices as well as lessons on how to best use technology to help students succeed in remote classes.

Calahan provided templates for faculty to email students at various key times during the fall semester— before the semester began, after the first test, midterm, and near the end of the term. The prototypes included wordings for students who were performing well in the course to provide encouragement, as well as phrasing for those who might be struggling with attendance, grades, or other things.

“And all of the work the University has done to ensure the safety of all is paying off,” Rowell said, pointing to the return of some in-person classes in the Fall 2020 semester. “There are challenges with technology, but there are also workarounds,” she added. “I have observed at MTSU both students and the faculty want to find those ways to make the remote learning environment the best it can be. It might take more patience or more creativity or more time to get it the way you want it to be, but the rewards of seeing the students have success learning make it worth it.”

Adapting, communicating with students After the Spring 2020 semester, Mathematical Sciences Department Chair Chris Stephens voiced a concern that because of remote teaching and the ongoing pandemic it would be easy to lose contact with students at a time when they needed it the most. Stephens asked Rowell to lead a departmental task force on teacher-

“Especially in a remote class with a large number of students, I have seen the value of having efficient means of communicating with students,” Rowell said. Rowell has served as associate and interim director of the Tennessee STEM Education Center from 2017–20, and interim director of the Middle Tennessee STEM Innovation Hub, a K–12 professional development concept for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education in 2017–18. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Birmingham Southern College and her master’s and doctorate from the University of Alabama–Huntsville. She spent 20 months as a National Science Foundation program director. Rowell’s research has focused on statistics education and graduation/ retention in STEM disciplines.

M I D D L E T E N N E S S E E S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

COLLEGE OF BEHAVIORAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES

JENNIFER AUSTIN Advisor, professor uses personal story to help students face pandemic challenges By DeAnn Hays While the way of life changed for everyone during the Spring 2020 semester, Jennifer Austin, an advisor and professor in the College of Behavioral and Health Sciences, has used her own story of perseverance to help students overcome the difficulties of life in a pandemic.

“I try to be as encouraging as possible, and I think a lot of times students come to me because of that.”

Even with it being such a hard time that we’re still going through, they really were great and did great. I think we’re trying to come out on the other side, but I think it requires a lot of empathy.” In 2006, while a student at MTSU, Austin was driving home when she was involved in a hit-and-run accident. “I’m a quadriplegic because of that,” said Austin, who is paralyzed from the midchest down. She continued, “Education really was what gave me so much of my independence back. After my accident, it took a few years, but I came back [to MTSU] in 2009 and finished my degree and went on to get my master’s.”

One of the first things you notice about Austin—even if you’re meeting her via Zoom—is her infectious personality and positive attitude.

Austin said she thinks students feel like they can come to her because they know she has faced and overcome her own obstacles.

“I try to be as encouraging as possible, and I think a lot of times students come to me because of that,” she said. “Students have been really on top of it.

“I do try to be as transparent as possible. I do think students come to me because they know I had my own hardships. . . . They know it hasn’t been

easy, but I am here and I’m doing it. With the pandemic, it’s very different than my accident, but I think students find it encouraging, and they do come to me, and I try to be as encouraging as possible. It may be rough for a little while, but it won’t be rough forever. It seems terrible now, but keep going because you have no idea what’s on the other side of that door.” As a professor and advisor, Austin says, she enjoys building different relationships with her students. As an advisor, “we’re with them sometimes for the full four years, and that’s really cool to watch them really grow as a person and get into their field of study and graduate,” she said. “Teaching has been cool because it’s a different level [of connection], I think. You see a different side of students sometimes.”

“In the interview [for the advising position], I was sitting with some of the people I knew from when I was a student, and it was like coming full circle. I was trying to explain why higher education was so meaningful in my life, and some of them knew me and knew my story, and understood it. I am sincere and genuine when I say it changed my life. I’m just appreciative for that.”

“Education really was what gave me so much of my independence back.” Austin has worked as an advisor for Human Sciences in the College of Behavioral and Health Sciences since late 2014.

“I think we’re trying to come out on the other side, but I think it requires a lot of empathy.” Whether in the virtual classroom or an online advising session, Austin says, she encourages her students to enjoy their time at MTSU. “I have students all the time who say, ‘I’m really trying to graduate early.’ And I tell them to stay in school as long as possible. Ride that train until the wheels fall off. Don’t rush it. It’s going to be there. Enjoy the ride.” Austin is proud of the role MTSU has played in her life, as a student and now as a University employee.

ELIZABETH WHALEN Professor says connection is key to helping students succeed during pandemic By DeAnn Hays The decision to come teach at Middle Tennessee State University in fall 2019 was an easy one, Elizabeth Whalen says, and MTSU students were the deciding factor.

soon as COVID-19 happened, I quickly switched to an asynchronous method for those classes we were already in,” said Whalen, who teaches courses in Tourism and Hospitality Management.

“I chose to come to MTSU—I had a number of different options—but I really loved the environment here, the community here. The students just, they’re just so connected, and they’re so interested in learning. The fact that they want this and really desire this was so impactful that it really drew me in.”

Drawing on her prior knowledge, Whalen says, she created a series of videos, changed assignments, changed the syllabus, and updated everything midsemester when COVID-19 closed the University.

When COVID-19 uprooted traditional college classes in March 2020, Whalen was more prepared than many. She had begun teaching online in 2015, while working at a university in Texas. “Back then [in 2015] it was a huge adjustment because it’s not so easy just to pick up and go online. It’s a whole different subset of skills. So, I was very fortunate for that. I have a lot of experience doing that, so as

“I chose to come to MTSU—I had a number of different options—but I really loved the environment here, the community here.” “I could only really do that because of my past experience,” she said. Things still look different than ever before, but Whalen is making the most of it. In the fall, she taught on campus

one day a week and had remote and online classes, too. Often, she works from her home office.

she is quick to say they’re doing the work, calling some of it the best she’s ever seen.

“I’m doing a little bit of everything and just trying to adapt to what the students really need. The students really miss the community, and they really miss being on the grounds, so my goal is to foster that as much as I can despite whatever method of instruction we’re using,” she said.

“They’re really invested, but they’re feeling overwhelmed,” she said. “There’s this weight on their shoulders that I’ve never seen before—a very old, adult weight on their shoulders—that before was more excitement for the future and anticipation. The world is sitting on them, and they can’t figure out where they’re going to go next.”

One thing Whalen has focused on is staying connected to her students, whether through email, text, or phone. “I just want them to know I am here for them even though we’re not in a traditional setting,” she said. “I’m finding that students really need that. They really need to know that they can just pick up the phone and call me, and we can have a quick conversation, because not all of them are as comfortable with writing an email. . . . I do care, and I do want them to do well.” She also makes a point to reach out to students individually if they perform poorly in class that week. “Anytime a student doesn’t perform that week, whether they performed poorly or they didn’t submit something, I send them an email individually,” she added. “A big thing for me is if a student really cares and they’re trying, I don’t penalize them because they got something wrong once. I’m fortunate enough to be able to say, ‘We didn’t do as well those last two assignments; let’s redo them.’ They still have to meet my standards in quality, but I’ll help you get there because you’re trying and doing what you’re supposed to be doing.” Whalen describes her students as different than ever before, though

“I just want them to know I am here for them even though we’re not in a traditional setting.” When asked what advice she would give her students during this unusual time, Whalen said, “I think the best advice I can have is, life is always going to throw you these curveballs where you have to pick yourself up and keep going. The thing I keep telling my students is the easiest way to eat an elephant is a bite at a time. So keep putting one foot in front of the other, and this too will pass, and something better will replace it because we keep striving to find that next better thing.” Like everyone, Whalen looks forward to students’ returning to campus and bringing the campus spirit back to life. “The spirit of being there with each other and coming into the classroom and being animated and talking. I miss the spirit and the camaraderie, the community, and the excitement that I hope we can bring back to campus when we can resume our lives again.”

ELIZABETH WRIGHT Criminal Justice professor focuses on communication, compassion to ease student stresses By Gina Logue For Elizabeth Wright, helping her students succeed during the COVID-19 pandemic is all about communication and compassion. The associate professor of Criminal Justice Administration puts a great emphasis on being responsive to students’ fears. She has come to realize that putting narration on the PowerPoints for her senior-level Research Methods with Computer Technology class, for example, helps students who are auditory learners comprehend the material more thoroughly. The addition of audio creates a similar feel to an inclassroom lecture, although it’s online. “I’ve also created PowerPoints that have all the assignments in there,” Wright said. “I go through a little bit more of a narrative. . . . One of my students who had taken a previous version of the course from me, but failed, wrote and said, ‘These narrated PowerPoints are really helping. It makes me understand everything a lot better.’”

Wright says she appreciates the angst her Research Methods students feel because she needed additional help in learning about crime statistics. “Statistics did not come easy to me,” Wright said. “Just running an analysis or looking at an Excel spreadsheet or anything like that didn’t click for me unless I had somebody talking me through it.” She said students might not know how essential statistics will be to their jobs. For example, if they are officers on patrol, they might be transferred to a different zone where there is more crime. Also, they might be transferred to different shifts because more crime is occurring during different parts of the day or night. Wright, who knows that millennial and Generation Z students, in particular, are more apt to text than use email, has given out her cellphone number to students so that they can text or call her within reasonable parameters. She says this helps students who feel stuck and

need to ask questions outside of class hours to complete assignments. To keep the material fresh, Wright throws some current events into the mix to make things especially pertinent, providing multiple examples instead of just one example. Unfortunately, this is not difficult to do in her Violence and Victimology class. Wright said the data she sees indicates that the numbers of victims of interpersonal and domestic family violence are on the rise, perhaps due to shutdown orders resulting from the pandemic making the usual outlets for frustration less accessible. Concurrent with this trend, Wright says, is the lack of funding for victim assistance programs.

“The interesting thing about masks is that it lends them a sort of anonymity. . . . I think that’s a challenge I didn’t anticipate.”

She says some of her students have told her that they contracted the coronavirus. Others told her that a loved one was contending with the virus. Wright says she wants to keep in mind that learning is the goal, after all. The feedback she has received from her students indicates that they are grateful. In her in-person class, where students are wearing masks and employing social distancing, Wright finds she must be creative in communicating with people whose faces she cannot see. “The interesting thing about masks is that it lends them a sort of anonymity,” Wright says. “In most of my face-to-face classes, I’m used to getting a lot more engagement from students, and then I can see if they really understand the material. . . . I think that’s a challenge I didn’t anticipate.” Wright says she uses additional verbal prompts to get the students to metaphorically drop their masks and participate in class discussions so she can determine whether they are absorbing the subject matter.

“I’m going to be interested to see what happens when we start opening doors a little bit more and the unemployment rate starts to decrease a bit,” Wright said. “I’m nervous about what this means.” As has been recommended by other pedagogues, Wright is not doctrinaire about deadlines. When students say they need a few extra days because they couldn’t complete assignments due to job or other stresses, Wright remains flexible about second opportunities for submissions.

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JENNINGS A. JONES COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

PAULA CALAHAN Advisor encourages students to find positives, even during pandemic By Kobe Hermann Jones College of Business advisor Paula Calahan is encouraging her students to focus less on the negatives and more on the silver linings during these unprecedented times. Not only that, but she also thinks the recent changes will make a positive difference for Jones College grads entering the workforce. While the current global job market is tougher than in typical years, new skills necessitated by the pandemic may add value to certain degrees and make a candidate more desirable. Calahan said she tells her students, “After the pandemic, your degree is going to mean something to employers. You had the resilience to get through college remotely in a pandemic.” While the pandemic has brought significant challenges for everyone involved, she has a point; this is the sort of learning experience that MTSU’s business school promotes.

One of the missions of Jones College is to “produce graduates from its bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, and executive/continuing education programs who are well prepared for challenges and advancements in their chosen careers.” As companies have adapted and innovated their operations for during and after the pandemic, MTSU graduates are going to be prepared for these newly defined needs. Whether companies are looking for employees who know how to conduct professional meetings remotely or someone who can get the job done from home, a Blue Raider will be ready to answer the call.

“After the pandemic, your degree is going to mean something to employers. You had the resilience to get through college remotely in a pandemic.”

Regarding the switch to remote learning for students, Calahan said, “They were disappointed at first, of course, but now that they have developed a new skill set, they have come to appreciate it. While they realize they are missing out on some things, they’re gaining new skills.”

“We have all had to implement major changes to the way we work and interact with students.” Another unintended benefit has been that students seem to be enjoying the convenience of remote advising appointments. Instead of finding time in their schedules to come to campus, find parking spots, and walk to the Business and Aerospace Building, students can simply interact with advisors via Zoom. Advisors play a crucial role in the college experiences of the students with whom they interact. From guiding them through their first schedules during CUSTOMS orientation to signing their intent to graduate forms, they are always there to guide and support students through one of the most exciting periods of their lives. “Seeing students succeed is my favorite part of my job,” she said. “To see them finish is very rewarding to me.”

“When I saw her name on the calendar, I thought, ‘I hope this isn’t bad news!’” she said. Instead of bad news, she was greeted with her student wearing her graduation cap, exclaiming, “We did it! I couldn’t have done it without you!” “Now that was a moment of celebration I will never forget!” On staff at MTSU for 17 years, including five years as an advisor in the College of Media and Entertainment and two in instructional design, Calahan believes the success of the University and its students during this time has been a complete team effort. “I know faculty, staff, and administrators who have been here for 30 years or more who have had to shift to remote delivery of courses and student

“Seeing students succeed is my favorite part of my job. To see them finish is very rewarding to me.” services,” she said. “We have all had to implement major changes to the way we work and interact with students. “It’s not about me, or about you, but it’s about the willingness of everyone pulling together to make our efforts toward student success achievable.”

Calahan recalls a story from 2020 when an appointment popped up on her calendar for a student one week away from graduation. Naturally, this was a red flag.

CARLOS CORONEL IT director pushes faculty “innovation”with technology support, training amid pandemic By Jimmy Hart With a three-decade career and counting at Middle Tennessee State University, Carlos Coronel has seen lots of the “latest” in technology in his role as director of the Jones College of Business IT Resources inside the Business and Aerospace Building (BAS).

“This is one of the best times to innovate, to update your skills, update your curriculums.” That wealth of experience became tremendously important for the Jones College and the entire campus last year as MTSU pivoted to all-online course delivery in the spring because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and then transitioned over the summer and fall to a mix of in-person, online, and hybrid courses—changes that posed steep learning curves for numerous faculty and staff.

“As you know, we probably had 10 days to do this,” said Coronel, referring to the University’s decision to switch to online classes in the spring to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus. This meant a crash course for some instructors on webcams, mics, lighting kits, and other tools not normally needed for an in-person classroom. “We put together workshop sessions for faculty. We put together different one-on-one trainings for faculty,” he said. “And we put together a collection of resources that we had here in the Jones College, and we showed them how to use it.” Although his IT Resources office focuses primarily on faculty, staff, and student support within the Jones College, its oversight and operation of the BAS computer lab means that it has impact on students across the University. And the technological training and support needs brought on by the pandemic have only increased Coronel’s role at a campuswide level.

Jones College Dean David Urban’s office described Coronel as “indefatigable ever since the onset of COVID-19”and praised his “extraordinary service orientation” as IT followed the University’s health and safety protocols while continuing to serve the campus community.

help them utilize technology more efficiently and productively.

Coronel praises faculty and staff for trusting his office to introduce new technology to help them improve the teaching and learning experience for students and also points to a strong partnership with the University’s Information Technology Division and the Learning, Teaching, and Innovative Technologies Center in bringing new digital tools online and setting up training sessions for faculty campuswide.

Yet with technology constantly changing, Coronel also keeps his eye out for emerging tools, platforms, and services that could be helpful in making the educational experience for faculty and students even better.

Coronel says the College of Business had been using the now seemingly ubiquitous Zoom videoconferencing platform for a few years before the pandemic, perhaps making the switch to virtual course delivery a bit smoother for many business faculty. In addition to Zoom and D2L— the University’s Desire2Learn online learning management system for students and faculty—Coronel has provided critical training support for Panopto, a video management system that allows instructors to create video presentations, capture and record lectures, add narrations to presentations, and more, enabling the University to offer a wide variety of hybrid courses. “I get calls every day about Panopto, how to do certain things. That’s another role that has expanded,” Coronel said. In addition, he’s developed a short video “tech tip” series available to Jones College faculty and others to

And with so many students now taking their courses remotely, Coronel says, he also fields their calls and those of students from the 2000-level courses in Computer Information Systems that he coordinates.

“In one of my trainings, I told the faculty, ‘This is one of the best times to innovate, to update your skills, update your curriculums,’” he said. “It’s prime time for us to step to the plate and come out with new ways, innovative ways, to teach and deliver your classes.” Coronel put action behind his words, developing an online booking system that allows students to schedule virtual meetings with their professors and instructors in defined time slots rather than faculty’s having the traditional office hours. “It’s been proven, study after study, that faculty or teacher availability is one of the critical factors for a student to succeed at a university,” he said. “The more access the student has to the teacher, the more likely they are to develop a relationship to be committed to the class, to be mentored by the faculty. And that’s what we need.” Coronel feels that many of the innovations developed during the pandemic, such as the online scheduling for students, will continue into whatever the new normal becomes as the University continues finding ways to improve engagement with students.

KEITH GAMBLE Finance professor uses virtual tools to give students maximum flexibility By Jimmy Hart Having successfully made a quick pivot to all online course delivery last spring because of COVID-19, MTSU finance professor Keith Gamble, chair of the Department of Economics and Finance, felt it was important to “prepare for all possibilities” after the University’s decision to pursue some form of in-person classes for fall 2020. Now in his fifth year at MTSU, Gamble had already fully embraced virtual technology in the development of his Finance 2010 Personal Financial Planning class. The all-online course produced a 500% increase in enrolled students and was among courses nominated for the University’s Outstanding Achievement in Instructional Technology Award last academic year. Gamble also offers a web-assisted section of the course that includes an in-person classroom component, but for the fall semester, he sought to maximize the flexibility for students so they could “move seamlessly” between on-ground,

remote, and online instruction regardless of the section they selected when enrolling.

“I wanted a seamless experience for students. I’m just going to try to provide the maximum flexibility I can.” Gamble’s in-person section met on Monday mornings inside a socially distanced Tucker Theatre, but he added a Zoom option for students who preferred a remote learning experience—whether live or recorded—because of health concerns or other reasons. And the fully online component of the course is still available and integrated into D2L, the University’s online learning management system for students and faculty. MTSU followed strict protocols to limit the risk of COVID-19 as

students returned and closely tracked coronavirus cases among employees and students in case a pivot back to an all-virtual posture was needed. With that possibility in mind, “I wanted a seamless experience for students. I’m just going to try to provide the maximum flexibility I can,” Gamble said. “So a student might show up in class the first week, then participate on Zoom the next week; show up back in class the third week; and maybe they just work with the online material the next week,” he said. “So they can kind of jump back and forth, which is something I’ve never offered in the past. I thought it fit.” It takes a bit of multitasking. “So when I teach in the classroom, I’m also on Zoom,” he said. “I’m looking at the chat, the things I put up on the projector, and screen sharing with students. So it’s like three different delivery modes are all happening at once, and students, regardless whether they’re registered fully online or the classroom experience, are there.” Gamble applauded the University, led by the Learning, Teaching, and Innovative Technologies Center, for hosting “fantastic” training sessions over the summer to help faculty with best practices for using virtual technology to keep the student learning experience as engaging as possible. Gamble participated in a virtual learning group of faculty who taught some of the larger courses to share strategies and tips for providing the best experience. “I never taught a Zoom class before this fall. So I really engaged in those training opportunities over the summer

to see what other people had figured out and learned,” he said. “And I’ve just gone for it. Like, let’s make this work, and it is a challenge to be in a classroom and teach in a classroom while you’re also interacting with students who are on Zoom. . . . And so I regularly pause and look at the chat to see if there are any questions. I look for raised hands in person and raised hands

“I think the pressure for me is just really internally wanting to do a good job, and I love to see students succeed.” on the Zoom.” And with students facing such an uncertain environment, from school to work to home, Gamble, like other faculty, is embracing the University’s multimillion-dollar investment in technology, coordinated by the Information Technology Division, to maintain a high quality educational experience, regardless of the method of course delivery. “I think the pressure for me is just really internally wanting to do a good job, and I love to see students succeed,” he said. “I mean, when I missed a class in college, that was it. You’re never getting that back and had better find some notes that someone took in class. It’s a different world for our students. You can get the full class experience online at a time of your choosing. It really is an amazing flexibility feature.”

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COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

KIMBERLY EVERT Ready2Teach coordinator coaches students to adapt and persevere By Stephanie Barrette Kimberly Evert, the secondary Ready2Teach program coordinator at MTSU’s College of Education, has gotten creative to provide her students with meaningful teacher training during COVID-19. “What we learned about COVID is it’s all about giving the students choice,” she said.

“What we learned about COVID is it’s all about giving the students choice.” When the opportunity for field placements in classrooms decreased because of the pandemic, she and others at the college came up with alternatives; they gave students the option to go the traditional placement route, to do a placement with a teacher they already had a relationship with, or to utilize a comprehensive database of high-quality teaching exemplars.

For spring 2021, Evert and other faculty members plan to continue the redesign of the placement program to make it even better. They also continue to adjust their instruction to their own students about best teaching practices in light of COVID-19 restrictions. “We’re trying to support them through all of this,” she said. When circumstances in the classroom change due to COVID-19 protocols, Evert leads her students by asking, “What did you originally have planned? What do you know the new reality is? Let’s adapt accordingly.” After a year as a professor in the College of Education, Evert stepped into the program coordinator role last fall. In addition to facilitating field placements in classrooms for her students in Pre-Residency and Residency I—student-teaching preparation courses—she teaches two education courses.

Originally from Madison, Wisconsin, Evert earned her bachelor’s degree from Knox College in Western Illinois, and then taught multiple levels of Spanish for five years in Cambridge, Illinois. While teaching, she earned her master’s in educational psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She left the K–12 classroom to pursue her doctorate in educational policy at Michigan State University and graduated in 2018. Before joining the MTSU faculty in 2019, she did a year of post-doctorate work at the University of Virginia on a project about novice teachers. “We followed them from their residency or student-teaching year through their first three years of teaching to look at what kind of opportunities to learn led to what we call ‘ambitious’ or ‘highleverage practices’ in their first few years of teaching,” she said. Her current role at MTSU also involves the recruitment of aspiring secondary education teachers. Since secondary education students major in a content area to teach in the future, Evert and other education faculty collaborate heavily with other departments on campus. She is paired with the arts and theatre content areas.

courses outside the world of education, they tended to have no strong connection to it. “Building a sense of community and recruitment go hand-in-hand,” she said. A new goal for her became “How do we make them [secondary education students] feel like the College of Education is also a home for them?”

“Building a sense of community and recruitment go hand-in-hand.” In the future, she and her colleagues plan to eliminate barriers that prevent secondary education students from entering the college as freshmen. She would also like to make the process of applying to the college more accessible and less intimidating, she said. In the wake of all the change of the last year, Evert’s motto for this semester is “something’s going to happen, we’re going to get an email, and we’re just going to go with the flow.”

“We’re trying to support them through all of this.” After participating in a Zoom session with theatre education students, she felt inspired to form a stronger sense of community within the College of Education itself. Since secondary education students spend their first years of study immersed in content-area

BOBBI LUSSIER Strong ties with local school districts prove vital for student-teaching By Stephanie Barrette Bobbi Lussier, executive director of professional laboratory experiences at the College of Education, knew education students had to get back into classrooms last fall. The clinical, or field placement, portion of the college’s elementary teacher preparation program was recently ranked among the nation’s best by the National Council on Teacher Quality. The arrival of COVID-19 in March 2020 stopped this part of the program in its tracks. No students were allowed back into schools after spring break.

“We need it [teacher preparation] to be the best program that it can possibly be.” “The second [student-teaching] placement never happened,” Lussier said. “The world stopped. COVID took over.”

Lussier and the faculty had to ensure COE students could experience the pivotal, in-person practice when schools reopened in the fall. Its impacts were further reaching than the final semester of student teaching: Students participate in several field placements throughout their years of study. “We need it [teacher preparation] to be the best program that it can possibly be,” Lussier said, “and we weren’t going to relent on the quality of the program or the services that we can provide the students.” Lussier credits the college’s strong partnerships with surrounding school districts for making the return to classrooms last fall possible. “We were very fortunate, extremely fortunate,” Lussier said of MTSU’s partnerships with Rutherford County Schools and Murfreesboro City Schools. “They welcomed us with open arms. . . . No one has said no to us for [any of] the practicum hours.”

Not every college had the same experience. Many have not been able to maintain practicum hours beyond student-teaching placements. As I have talked with other universities,” Lussier said, “what I kept hearing was, ‘Well they took our student teachers, but they won’t take anyone else.’” Lussier and the faculty also adapted aspects of the program—such as the number of field placements and the modality of the seminars—to be more conducive to the realities of COVID-19.

“We know that we have an ethical and a moral obligation to support our future teachers because it’s not just about them.” Lussier has worked in education for over 40 years. A Knoxville native, she began her career as a middle school teacher in Knox County. She later spent 19 years in Oak Ridge Schools as a middle school science teacher, assistant principal, and principal. After working in school administration, Lussier relocated to Nashville. Lana Seivers, Tennessee’s education commissioner at the time, approached Lussier about a job.

me to implement the statewide pre-K program. “We actually opened up almost 300 pre-K classrooms that first year in the state,” she said. Seivers, an MTSU graduate, was named dean of the College of Education in 2010. Lussier came to MTSU in January 2013 to implement the new Ready2Teach educator program. Lussier’s role at the University encompasses managing both clinical field experiences for education students and the ever-changing requirements for teacher licensure. Lussier expressed how important well-trained educators are for the community. “We know that we have an ethical and a moral obligation to support our future teachers because it’s not just about them,” Lussier said. “It’s about all the children that they’re going to touch when they get out into the classroom. It’s affecting communities. It’s affecting lives. . . .Those students deserve the best teacher in front of them that we could possibly give them. “It’s a commitment not just to our students but to our future.”

“We’re both from East Tennessee, but we had never worked together,” Lussier said. “When she found out I was moving to Nashville, she asked if I was interested in interviewing for a position with the Tennessee Department of Education, as (former) Governor (Phil) Bredesen was looking at instituting a pre-K program statewide. . . . She hired

KATIE SCHRODT Literacy advocate and her students get creative to keep books in children’s hands By Stephanie Barrette “Books are a great passion of mine,” said Katie Schrodt, assistant professor in MTSU’s College of Education. When the outreach she conducted with literacy nonprofit Read To Succeed was shuttered because of COVID-19, she knew it would be another obstacle to book access for local students. “We do family literacy nights at the schools,” she explained. MTSU graduate students help with the service project. “Well, of course that shut down with COVID,” Schrodt said. “Book access is a huge problem and a big concern when libraries shut down. A lot of kids don’t have a library in their home.” Believing in the importance of a physical book in a child’s hands, Schrodt got creative to ensure students had something new to read during lockdown. “We’ve been really trying to still host events without being there,”

Schrodt said. “MTSU students planned out some interactive read-alouds [online]. We actually gave them [participants] the book. We have hundreds of copies of books that we’ve been driving to schools and trying to get out to students.”

“Book access is a huge problem and a big concern when libraries shut down. A lot of kids don’t have a library in their home.” Schrodt also adapted her graduate courses in light of COVID-19 restrictions. Implementing specific technology has been effective for her classroom. Her students use a Google Jamboard— posting comments, questions, graphics, and more on a collaborative document— and asynchronous modules in

combination with meetings in-person or over Zoom. Some of her graduate students have even adopted this technology into their own classrooms while student teaching.

“It almost forced me to finish because I couldn’t do anything else,” she said. “I have a picture of myself with both of them on my chest, and I’m typing. They’re 5 years old now. They just started kindergarten.”

“We have hundreds of copies of books that we’ve been driving to schools and trying to get out to students.”

An assistant professor on the tenure track since fall 2018, Schrodt appreciates the many benefits MTSU offers that make it easy to continue her outreach to surrounding teachers and students to improve literacy.

Schrodt graduated with her degree in elementary education from the University of North Texas in 2005 and taught for four years. She moved to Nashville with her husband in 2009 and continued teaching in Franklin while earning her master’s degree in Literacy at MTSU.

“The way we’re situated in the middle [of the state] lends itself to partnering with teachers,” Schrodt said. “We [also] have the Center for Educational Media. They help us create teacher training videos for free. They also have a big space where we can host professional development for free. Last year, we had over 100 teachers come, and we gave them free books and hosted a training.”

The possibility of teaching at the college level was always at the back of her mind. “I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to be a professor?’ But I couldn’t imagine actually doing it,” she said. It was “really through some professors who encouraged me to keep going” that she pursued it and obtained her doctorate from MTSU in 2015. She neared the completion of her degree while pregnant with twins. “I ended up having my twins 10 weeks early,” Schrodt said. “When my twins were in the neonatal intensive care unit for five weeks, I literally wrote my dissertation there in the NICU of Vanderbilt.” Schrodt would sleep on the couch in the ward, change her babies’ diapers, and write.

“I will always want all of my research to go into teachers, all the money and the training.” Schrodt wants to continue her work at the University and within the community. “I will always want all of my research to go into teachers, all the money and the training,” she said. “I want to keep getting better at getting money for teachers, using my platform to promote the respect and value of teachers, and along with that, of course, children and books.”

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COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES

SESAN KIM SOKOYA Award-winning business professor teaches students to “embrace being adaptable” By Patsy B. Weiler It came as a complete surprise to MTSU professor of management Sesan Kim Sokoya when he was named a recipient of a 2021 Unsung Heroes Award in the area of education.

“Resiliency, dealing with uncertainty, ability to pivot quickly, and being resourceful are all transferable skills that the pandemic is teaching them or helping them to hone those skills.” The distinguished honor was presented at MTSU’s 2021 Unity Celebration, held virtually in February as part of the annual Black History Month activities. “It was very humbling. I did not know I had been nominated,” said Sokoya,

who has taught at the University for 31 years and is the associate dean for graduate and executive education in the Jones College of Business. “When it was mentioned the recognition had to do with my contribution to the Flex M.B.A. program, my immediate reaction was [that] its development, about six years ago, was a collaborative effort by many in the Jones College of Business. I am very grateful to them all. I was honored to receive the award.” The Flex M.B.A. enables students to earn their advanced business degrees online, so teaching in a virtual environment was not new to Sokoya when the pandemic hit, and he said making adjustments was not too difficult.

Teaching during the pandemic Because of COVID-19, Sokoya remotely taught more sections of his courses and found himself adapting some new technologies.

“I introduced more recorded videos into my courses,” he said. “In addition, I have more Zoom meetings with my students for office hours, and for those utilizing Zoom to take classes online, I tried very hard to make sure that they had very similar experiences to the students on campus.” Sokoya, who is also the University’s M.B.A. program director, focused on using the challenges brought about by COVID-19 as a teaching moment. “I try to impress on my students to embrace being adaptable,” he said. “Resiliency, dealing with uncertainty, ability to pivot quickly, and being resourceful are all transferable skills that the pandemic is teaching them or helping them to hone those skills.” He especially appreciates the tenacity he has found in his M.B.A. students. “Many of them have taken up the challenge of going back to school during the pandemic, and they often juggle the demands of earning their degree while working from home,” he said. “I am very motivated to help them be successful in their pursuits.”

me of what first graders have to do,” he said with a chuckle. “My students were good about it.”

Years of experience A tenured faculty member, Sokoya brings years of expertise in the areas of strategic and international management. His involvement in international education has led him to guiding numerous study abroad trips, and he is faculty adviser for Reformed University Fellowship, a campus ministry that has been unable to meet on campus because of COVID-19, which hindered some of its activities.

“I am very motivated to help them be successful in their pursuits.” “Our M.B.A. students have great attitudes, and they are adjusting to campus protocols,” he said. “In two semesters with required masks in class, I have not had a single complaint, and they all complied. I am very impressed with them.”

“For those utilizing Zoom to take classes online, I tried very hard to make sure that they had very similar experiences to the students on campus.” Sokoya smiled when recalling a classroom safety protocol that struck him as somewhat humorous. “While I knew it was necessary and a good thing, taking wet wipes to a graduate class to wipe hands and desks reminded

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COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS

JENNIFER RICE When pandemic strikes, advising team pivots to meet CLA students’ needs By Matthew Hibdon Jennifer Rice began her job as secretary in the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) advising center on January 5, 2020. It was the start of a new year and a new opportunity. With only a few weeks left until the start of the spring semester, Rice hit the ground running to help students get connected with their academic advisors. Then, halfway through the semester, Rice and the CLA advisors had to improvise—and do so quickly—to continue to serve students in the midst of a pandemic. “Jennifer has been a great fit from the start,” said Dr. Brad Baumgardner, CLA advising manager. “As the parent of a current student, she understands the opportunities and challenges that students face—both in typical semesters and during extenuating circumstances. She’s been a great addition to the team.” As part of MTSU’s response to the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, Rice had to start working remotely after just two months on the job. With priority registration for summer and

fall only weeks away, Rice and the advisors quickly transitioned upcoming in-person meetings to phone and Zoom appointments. Between March 11 and May 4, the CLA advising team meticulously created individualized registration plans, including specific course recommendations for each of their 320 freshman students, and held 1,625 distinct advising sessions. While the team was still busy with priority registration, it became evident that CUSTOMS, the University’s orientation for new students, also needed to be virtual. Rice was an integral part of CLA’s plan to continue offering one-on-one advising appointments to new students at orientation. She had participated in CUSTOMS with her daughter in 2019 and brought a great perspective to the discussions. Rice provided insight into her experience as a parent at orientation and created ways that still involved students’ families in the virtual CUSTOMS.

“When I arrived for CUSTOMS with my daughter in summer 2019, I did not really know what to expect. But I left feeling very confident we made the right decision,” Rice recalled. “Everyone genuinely cared about the success of the students, not just academic success, but holistically. They acknowledged the realities of life meant that problems would arise, but they would be there to offer help and guidance. Everyone had a clear understanding that college was not just about learning in the classroom but also about learning to become an independent adult. My daughter left knowing there were people other than me that she could ask for help, and I knew that she was well supported as she learned to navigate college and her future.” With her firsthand knowledge about what new students and families need, Rice went to work on making the sessions meaningful. She worked with CLA faculty and staff to prepare virtual packets for new freshmen and transfer students to help them feel more prepared, with context for their advising sessions and links to helpful campus services. In addition to creating these handy virtual resources, Rice quickly became the resident expert on Zoom meetings and breakout rooms. “I have always enjoyed learning new skills, so I was happy to support the team by learning Zoom. Our goal was to make it possible for students to still meet one-on-one with their advisors. With Peggy [Slater] and Ella [Weaver] taking on hosting duties, I was free to work on the logistical side of things and make sure the tech ran smoothly, which is more my strong suit,” Rice said. Her leadership in learning to use those tools made it easier to reproduce the

in-person experience. When it was time for their advising sessions, students virtually visited the CLA advising center lobby via Zoom. They were greeted by Rice and her colleagues—Slater, the CLA graduation analyst, and Weaver, the CLA internship coordinator. While Slater and Weaver gave the students an overview of what to expect during their appointments, Rice started the tedious process of checking students in and manually assigning them to their individual breakout room sessions for advising and registration. Rice provided logistical and technical support that was needed to make each session run smoothly. “I hoped to give other parents that same reassurance I received during CUSTOMS,” Rice said. “I know that starting college is a big transition for parents and students, so embarking on this experience during uncertain times might make it harder to feel connected. We all worked together to figure out how to best serve the students and welcome them to MTSU.” For Rice, more change came in August when the CLA advising center relocated to its new home on the first floor of Peck Hall, in the building’s “Earn a Living” branded section. Rice’s perspective of a “normal day at work” is based only on her experience during the first two months she was on the job; the evolving response to the pandemic has been full of pivots in her everyday processes. However, there is one thing of which she is certain. “We are all invested in the success of our students,” Rice said, “and we will be here to help them to overcome whatever challenges life may bring.”

ANGELA TIPPS With classes online and “mini” choirs in person, professor keeps music going By DeAnn Hays Teacher. Encourager. Supporter. Leader. These are just some of the words that come to mind when describing Angela Tipps in MTSU’s School of Music. And while things looked different for her classes for most of 2020, one thing that hasn’t changed is her dedication to her students, whom she often refers to as “my kids.” Tipps is responsible for coordinating the Introduction to Music classes. About 750 students take the course each semester. It’s divided over 20 sections, and taught by 10 adjuncts and four full-time instructors. “When we learned we were going remote for the fall, not one of them complained,” Tipps said. “Instead, they worked all summer—even adjuncts, who don’t get paid in summer—to gather resources, offer insight, and help one another. I couldn’t be more proud of my colleagues.”

Tipps also develops and provides curriculum, finds resources for teaching, and helps put out fires when needed, from helping with technology that doesn’t work to encounters with students and teachers. She also directs the Men’s Chorale and Women’s Chorale, and teaches conducting. In March 2020, Tipps said, things changed quickly for the School of Music, like all the colleges at MTSU, when the pandemic forced classes online, but everyone pulled together to make the changes and adjustments as smooth as possible for students. “D2L [the online learning management system] had been a primary part of what we do, so the structure was there, but no one was teaching totally remotely,” Tipps said. “When [MTSU] shut down, there was widespread panic about ‘How do I do this?’” The answer came in the form of technology—like most things these days.

“We did a lot of Zoom calls between all of the instructors to help facilitate what resources they could use,” she said. “Everyone worked together. Mostly, I was just trying to keep everyone calm.” And with Tipps’ expertise and calming nature, everything fell into place; the Spring 2020 semester continued, and she quickly began looking toward the fall. To help prepare, she took around 10 in-services with ITD so she could connect with her students even better and help other professors in the School of Music. “I was always learning about Zoom, YouTube, and captioning,” she said. “I certainly don’t know all the answers, but we figured it out together. By the time we were ready to go online for the first week of school [in the fall], everyone was way more comfortable than they were in March.” Besides getting her classes ready for an online format—which includes a dance party each week—Tipps decided to create “mini” choirs that would make it safe for her students to sing together in person. “We had to make significant shifts in the way we do things, but at least we’re still singing.” Following CDC guidelines, classrooms were set up where students could sit 6 feet apart, and everyone was required to wear a mask. “I’m so impressed with our kids,” Tipps said. “Just 100 percent—yes, we’ll wear that mask. I’ve never had anyone push me on that. They know it’s not ideal, but they’re just happy to be singing and to be together. There’s that natural high that comes from singing together, so I think that helps a lot.”

Tipps is a graduate of MTSU, and this is her 23rd year to teach at the University. While things still look different than before, she can’t say enough about her students. “They’re rock stars and know we’re doing the best we can,” Tipps said, adding that she also tries to be mindful of the work she assigns. “It can’t be like it is when it’s in real time because they’re not coming to campus and getting their work done at that time. It’s all on them all the time,” she said. “I’m trying to make it more user-friendly for them. I’m trying to make it where they self-motivate and don’t always have deadlines swinging in their face.” Whether it’s for an assignment, mental health, or just to chat, Tipps said, she makes sure her students know she’s there for them if they need her. “I’m very vocal about my own mental health. I see a therapist every three weeks just because it’s good to talk about things. I take antidepressants, and I’m very upfront with my students about that because I want them to know it’s ok to ask for help.” Looking to the future, Tipps said there are certain things that she can’t wait for—like singing without a mask and planning get-togethers with her beloved students. “Having the whole choir together in one room without a mask so that I can actually hear them, and loving on them and having get-togethers—that’s what I am most looking forward to,” she said. Until then, Tipps is ready to take on the challenges with her students and colleagues.

DAVID WILKERSON Theatre lecturer focuses on students’ mental health, finds way for show to go on By DeAnn Hays Although COVID-19 changed the way David Wilkerson teaches, the Theatre lecturer found a way for the show to go on—while making sure his students’ mental health was a priority. Wilkerson said he is mindful of the mental and emotional health of his students every semester, but especially so during the ongoing pandemic. “I just wanted to make sure they knew I cared about them as people . . . more than I did about the class, because I knew we were going to get the information across. I think that was the most important thing that happened, in my mindset,” he said. “We’re trying to teach and learn in this thing that has . . . never happened in my lifetime, and it certainly hasn’t happened in theirs.” To help take care of his students, Wilkerson said, he made sure they had access to Counseling Services, changed his expectations, adjusted assignments, scheduled more workdays, and allowed students to take mental health days if needed.

“Just admitting we were in an unprecedented time, and just hearing me say that, made it OK for them to admit it too, and go, ‘This is a really, really, really hard thing we’re trying to do.’”

“We’re trying to teach and learn in this thing that has . . . never happened in my lifetime, and it certainly hasn’t happened in theirs.” Wilkerson believes those adjustments led to a successful Fall 2020 semester. “Most people have had a day or two where they’ve called me and said, “Is the [mental health day] offer still good?’ and I tell them, ‘Absolutely. Just let me know after class what we need to do to get you caught up.’” Even with all the challenges students have faced while transitioning to the “new normal,” Wilkerson said he saw

excellent work from his students during the fall semester. “The work has been thoughtful and diligent, and just really impressive considering everything that’s been going on,” he said. And when student morale was low, Wilkerson said, he reminded them just how far they had come. “I’ve said, ‘You’ve done this amazingly, incredibly hard thing, and you’ve gotten to this point, and so very, very soon you’re going to be able to look back [and say] you got through.’” It’s not just academic challenges; the pandemic also changed the way students perform. “For Theatre majors and artists in general, this time has been especially scary because we don’t know if there is going to be theatre after this. The act of theatre coming together in a group with an audience and presenting a show—that hasn’t been able to happen,” he explained. Before COVID-19 and social distancing became part of everyday vocabulary, Wilkerson had worked for two years on what was supposed to have been the first show of the fall theatre season. “When I direct, I like to take probably two years to live with a play and get to know that play as well as I can, and get to know the story I want to tell, so I had done that,” he recalled. “After two years of work, we got to the spring, and we were like, this isn’t going to work, so then I had to pivot.” Enter Romeo and Juliet, set in modern time, complete with masks and social distancing. “I set it [so] in the world of the play there’s a pandemic too, and everyone has to wear masks, and no one can

touch,” Wilkerson said. “But what was most important was for our students to be able to come together—even in a weird way—and do theatre again. . . . We livestreamed it and we put it out there, and that’s what was so crucial. Even though I had to shift and throw away two years’ worth of work, it was still so important for the students [to be able to perform].” The show was a success, and Wilkerson said all of his students followed all the necessary safety precautions and took care of one another.

“The work has been thoughtful and diligent, and just really impressive considering everything that’s been going on.” “When they were waiting in rehearsals, they were sitting apart and all that stuff and wearing masks. They really took care of each other so well. It was hugely important and a big boost to morale,” he said. Like most professors, Wilkerson said, he is looking forward to when students can all come together on campus again and perform in front of an audience. “Just to look at each other and go, ‘We did that thing! That incredibly hard thing where I was only seeing you through the computer—we did it! Wasn’t that cool?’ That’s going to create a bond. Even the students I have in class can just look at each other and be like, ‘Remember last year? Remember that crazy thing? We did it!’ That’s going to be great.”

M I D D L E T E N N E S S E E S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

COLLEGE OF MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT

BOB GORDON Professor’s know-how shows TV students how to roll “a little differently”— even in a pandemic By Gina E. Fann MTSU professor Robert “Bob” Gordon Jr. has always encouraged his multicamera TV production students to be ready to change course when the unexpected happens, because it always seems to in TV. He didn’t expect “changing course” to become so literal. Gordon and his students, who produce live and scripted shows in several multicamera courses, watched the pandemic erase the live entertainment, sports, special events, and in-house series productions from their spring, summer, and fall 2020 calendars. Their in-class time, connected by video, was all that remained. Months later, on the other side of a reinvigorated event schedule and a slightly revamped way of teaching— and of learning—for his students, Gordon says he challenges “any other video and film program, anywhere, to say they do as much television as we do.”

Gordon, who coordinates the Live Production concentration of the Department of Media Arts’ Video and Film Production program, jokes that he thought about simply giving his spring 2020 students their grades at the halfway point, finagling a backup plan for summer courses, and hoping some miracle would save their fall semester. “But I thought, ‘Well, that’s pointless.’ So then I thought, ‘What can I do when we can’t do what we’re here to do?’” he recalled. “I felt this experience of having to stay home and teach online was different but not scary; I thought, ‘OK, things changed. Let’s go. Let’s do what we usually do, but a little differently.’” Gordon, a lifelong TV producer who brought his news, entertainment, and management expertise to the College of Media and Entertainment faculty in 2007, also serves as executive producer for Media Arts Productions, MTSU’s live TV production company, and faculty adviser for MT10, the studentrun TV station.

He has led the department’s annual coverage of the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival since 2015, along with MTSU’s once-in-a-lifetime “Great Tennessee Eclipse” 2017 live event. He is president-elect of the MTSU Faculty Senate and a founder of the Nashville chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, adept at using his career ties to help his students make their own connections. Gordon, a two-time winner of MTSU’s Outstanding Experiential Learning Faculty Award, used those industry bonds to bring even more top professionals into his virtual classroom via Zoom to talk with his students. Their guests have included the producer and director of the Oscars and the Tony Awards, the director of The Voice, the director of Jeopardy, the script supervisor for ABC’s Nashville series, and the producer of the Academy of Country Music Awards. He had his students study TV shows to evaluate which production elements worked and why. And they gathered during regular class times, virtually, to discuss how they’d handle a production once they were back on set. As MTSU eased back into in-person operations in the fall, opportunities returned to get Gordon’s students back behind the cameras. They’ve covered MTSU football for ESPN; livestreamed three Department of Theatre and Dance plays and four dance productions; and shot talk, game, and demonstration shows in the MTSU studios—all following health safety protocols.

Their once-empty fall 2020 calendar ballooned to 38 in-person, hands-on TV shoots, and . . . wait, make that 42, because his Media Arts Productions crews produced MTSU’s three November 21 Commencement ceremonies, which were livestreamed worldwide, and the MTSU-Louisville women’s basketball game for ESPN+. Producing shows again has meant some arduous 16-hour days for Gordon and his students. He’s reminding them, though, that once they’re in the field, especially if they’re freelancing, those days mean more experience, more reputation-building, and, ideally, more money. “In our field, doing live television, you have to have your Plan A and a Plan B and a Plan C and a Plan D, because all sorts of things aren’t going to work right,” Gordon said. “You can’t just freeze because it’s not the way you planned it. You have to be very flexible and very variable. “Sometimes when I talk to people, they’re impressed with our students’ responsiveness and flexibility to change and with the sheer amount of production they do in a semester. Though we normally do a lot, COVID-19, surprisingly, allowed us to do even more and different productions in completely different ways. “In addition to producing many types of television programs, the students learned to be nimble, think outside of the box, and perform very well in ways they never imagined. As a teacher, I find all of that, and their smiles, to be both rewarding and worthwhile . . . and fun.”

LAURA HELEN HUSBAND Advisor says listening is essential to helping students adjust to new normal By DeAnn Hays As an academic advisor, Laura Helen Husband is typically the first point of contact after admissions for hundreds of students in the College of Media and Entertainment. “I work every day helping students with what classes they’re going to take, where they’re going to go for different resources that we have on campus,” she said of her role. Like most things on campus, the way Husband advises her students changed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Meeting with students via Zoom and by phone instead of faceto-face has become the new normal. But one thing that hasn’t changed for Husband is supporting the 250 students she helps advise each semester. “Part of what we’re doing is nothing different at all. We’re still listening to their voice,” she said. “How can we still be their advocate? How can we still be supportive? And it seems to be not that much harder to be that. We may have different avenues in which we’re doing

it, but our passion for students is the same; our advocacy and hope for them is the same.”

“We may have different avenues in which we’re doing it, but our passion for students is the same; our advocacy and hope for them is the same.” An important part of Husband’s job is helping students navigate through their college careers as successfully as possible and listening when they need to be heard. One of her all-time favorite quotes focuses on just that—listening. “ ‘Be as passionate about listening as you are about being heard.’ That’s what we need to be doing—we need to listen,” she said. “If you give them a platform to tell you, then you usually get a good response, and they feel like

they’re being heard. I see resiliency in a large way with our students.” As Husband works with her students to adjust to the new normal, she said, she believes it’ll help them in the future as they continue with their college careers. “I think we may be creating one of the most versatile and resilient communities that we’ve seen in a long time,” she said. “Our role is showing them the possibilities and encouraging them to get to that point.” She said her students—ranging from freshmen to seniors—all have different worries and concerns. “I think it’s affected our freshmen and incoming freshmen in a big way because they have never been on a college campus before, and most of them still have not—they’re at home, or they’re here and they don’t quite know how to meet people. We can’t offer the same kind of interactions that we’ve had in the past. My seniors, their biggest stressor is graduation. They want to put on that cap and gown and walk across the stage.”

And even when things return to normal, Husband said, she’ll probably continue to offer Zoom sessions to students.

“I think, surprisingly, even though they have complaints, I feel their general attitude is a positive one.” “There are some things we’ll still implement after this is over, but I can’t wait for Wednesday Walk-in Days we have where anyone can come in,” she said. Husband has worked as an academic advisor for the College of Media and Entertainment since summer 2018. She works with students in the Recording Industry program, is the only advisor for Commercial Songwriting, and sees about half the alphabet from Music Business.

She continued, “I think, surprisingly, even though they have complaints, I feel their general attitude is a positive one. They’re trying; they’re all really trying to understand, and they do struggle with all these different times for everything. . . . They’re trying to readjust to things that they haven’t had to adjust to before.”

“I think we may be creating one of the most versatile and resilient communities that we’ve seen in a long time.”

MISTY JONES SIMPSON COVID-19 redefined lesson plans—could her innovative solution lead students to new realizations? By Skip Anderson Even before the coronavirus outbreak redefined how people function around the world, Misty Jones Simpson was very aware that people in the audio production profession were vulnerable to becoming isolated . . . depressed even. So much so that she wrote a practical book about ways to stay upbeat in a career that often entails deep concentration at a mixing board or other similarly solitary work.

“We had to look at how to use software to replicate virtually a hands-on experience with hardware.” “I wrote the book before COVID,” Simpson said about Decompressed: How to Find Joy as a Producer in a Flattened World, which was published in August 2020. “But now I’m using my

own words to keep my spirits up and share that with my students. I’m practicing what I preach.” Like her colleagues in MTSU’s Department of Recording Industry, as well as teachers across campus and spanning the globe, the Audio Production assistant professor was forced to teach the second half of the Spring 2020 semester online because of the pandemic. In her case, the challenge was to adapt a lesson plan that relied almost exclusively on hands-on experiences with novel electronic musical instruments and expensive hardware. “I was a bit panicked when COVID hit,” Simpson said. “I had to figure out how to make this translate in a meaningful way to my students. How am I going to provide this same experience now without the gear, which is so critical to the disciplines we teach?” In her Electronic Music and Controllerism class (RIM 4390), Simpson teaches students how

to use “controller hardware” such as the Ableton Push, a 10-by-10-inch techno-looking gizmo with 64 colorfully illuminated square buttons that, to a layperson of a certain age, might resemble a lighted dance floor from the disco era. Those buttons serve as a remote control for a nearby computer that synthesizes drum loops, electronic notes, and other sounds in real time.

“The second challenge was staying positive and high-energy . . . I very much tried to give them a bright and positive experience.” “The Ableton Push is not a typical instrument,” said Simpson, who is one of the few female Ableton Certified Trainers in the U.S. “It allows you to perform [electronic music] in real time with your peers.” In addition to teaching, she prioritized boosting her students’ morale while coursework was virtual.

or third Zoom class of the day on top of being stressed about COVID. So I very much tried to give them a bright and positive experience.” For the Fall 2020 semester, Simpson taught in person by splitting her 12-person classes into A and B groups, which met at separate times. Of course, everybody was socially distanced and wore masks. “I think the students realize that nobody asked for this,” she said. “I think they appreciate seeing that we’re trying to go the extra mile for them. Plus, this gives them another skill set for the real world. So much of music is created and performed on computers. Maybe some of these students will realize that they like to create music using software as opposed to hardware. For some, this opens up new opportunities.”

“I think they appreciate seeing that we’re trying to go the extra mile for them.”

“We had to look at how to use software to replicate virtually a handson experience with hardware, and we needed any solution to be free, or close to free, because we didn’t want to cost our students a bunch of money midsemester,” she said. “By using software, my students learned how to program a virtual ‘performance,’ and learned synthesis by using virtual synthesizers with digital knobs and keys on the computer screen. “The second challenge was staying positive and high-energy. I knew that my class might have been their second

M I D D L E T E N N E S S E E S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE AND OFFICE OF STUDENT SUCCESS

TARA PERRIN

KIM GODWIN

Instructional designers help professors make leap to online By Hunter Patterson Developing an online course takes time—about a year—and careful consideration of the curriculum for the class. When the University chose to transition to remote instruction in March 2020, two instructional designers, Kim Godwin and Tara Perrin, were forced to ramp up their workload like never before. The pair could see it coming, holding meetings a few weeks before everyone learned spring break would be extended. The biggest hurdle was making sure everyone, both students and professors, was comfortable with some version of a virtual format. They knew that not all professors had experience teaching online, so they developed two courses for faculty, a Remote Instructions Standards course and an Online Instructors Certification course. Since the spring, more than 900 faculty members have participated in the two courses. “While these are directed at faculty, anytime we can make faculty feel

more comfortable about the resources available, the better the student learning experience can be,” Godwin said. Perrin added that she felt the faculty really deserved a big shoutout for how hard they’ve worked the past several months. “I feel like we’re on a campus where our faculty has really tried their hardest, and I know that’s not the case on every campus,” she said. Godwin and Perrin also put together a document detailing the ins and outs of MTSU’s learning management system, what students know as D2L. They gave that document, written from a student’s point of view, to professors so they can better understand and utilize the D2L platform. Perrin said they wanted to do more than just tell people what resources were available. They wanted to maintain interaction and engagement. The faculty courses also focused on instructor presence, the importance

of feedback, and giving professors a foundation for interacting with their students. “I think we will start to see more standardization among online courses,” Perrin said, adding that they don’t ever want students to be caught off guard when starting an online course. “I am very student-centered and want the students to be successful.” Somehow, the two did all of this while working remotely, holding Zoom meetings with colleagues from their kitchens and living rooms. Although Perrin had started working at MTSU only seven weeks earlier, she quickly settled into her new job thanks to her experience as an instructional designer and her relationship with Godwin, whom she had worked with at two previous universities. Both agree that they complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses with their work. Because the two had worked together before, they were already familiar with each other’s communication styles, and they found it easy to adapt to the limitations COVID-19 created. “We trust each other so much, and that was a huge benefit,” Perrin said. “I don’t think some of the stuff we did early on would have been possible had we not had a developed relationship coming into all of this.” Still, starting a new job and then abruptly being told to work from home was an understandably tough transition. “It was not so much the mechanical parts that were overwhelming, although it was a lot of work,” Perrin said. “I had not had the opportunity to even develop relationships in our own college yet. I hadn’t had time to

develop connections on campus quite yet, so it was kind of isolating.” In the last eight months, Perrin says, she has been able to establish relationships with faculty in various colleges, and values those relationships because those may have not even happened without this situation. Godwin echoed that sentiment, saying she is so thankful that, despite everything, she has been able to show hundreds of professors what MTSU Online has to offer. “Because we have gotten to be involved with faculty not previously involved with MTSU Online, we met hundreds of faculty we would not have had the opportunity to meet,” Godwin said. “I don’t know if they would have come and started the development process had this not happened.” Professors who never considered developing an online course are leaning more into the idea. And while they are not diving in and starting the paperwork quite yet, Godwin said, they are having more in-depth conversations about what the course development process looks like. “This has really opened up a door of opportunity for both our current students and our future students, especially,” Godwin said, saying the courses would expand opportunities for both traditional and nontraditional students to finish the degrees they want without having to sacrifice any other obligations they might have. MTSU Online currently offers 15 fully online degree options and more than 550 courses. More information can be found at mtsu.edu/online.

RYAN KORSTANGE Professor uses lessons of spring to shape approach to fall classes By Hunter Patterson Since the COVID-19 pandemic began last spring, MTSU faculty, staff, and students have been finding new ways to teach and learn. Ryan Korstange, an assistant professor in the University Studies department, did his best to learn from the Spring 2020 semester how he could be most effective last fall.

“Everybody is struggling with how to teach during COVID because it is a hard thing to do.” In the spring, “it was about going with your first instinct and seeing what worked,” Korstange said. “That gave us a lot of experience to figure out what actually worked and what didn’t, and that gave us perspective.” Korstange says that having that perspective was important because, until last spring, he’d never been asked to alter his teaching methods so drastically. Likewise, his students

had never been expected to learn in such a strange, nontraditional setting. Through the trial and error of the spring semester, he was able to make informed decisions to minimize any missteps. Faculty members also have been leveraging a very important resource— one another—more than ever, Korstange says. Even though he’s working from home instead of his office on campus, he is still scheduling calls with his MTSU colleagues to discuss common challenges and how to overcome them. In addition, Korstange has spoken with professors in other parts of the country who are encountering similar challenges. “That helps a lot because sometimes it is easy to think the things we are struggling with here are particularly hard and unique to MTSU,” he said. “That’s not true. Everybody is struggling with how to teach during COVID because it is a hard thing to do.”

All of Korstange’s classes are “webassisted,” meaning they meet in the classroom for about half the amount of time they would under normal circumstances. Everyone in the class wears a mask, and they’re also socially distanced. “I work like crazy to present engaging and interactive information while maintaining distancing,” Korstange said. In his classes, he uses an approach based on problem-solving that’s designed to empower students to collaborate. “Not everything I try works because it’s hard to be interactive while keeping distance.” In addition to keeping his office hours from home and spending a lot of time in his recently renovated guest bedroom/office, Korstange has schoolage children at home who have been attending their classes virtually too. He says there’s no real “normal” day anymore, but that’s okay.

“I am trying to be ultra-responsive to students right now, especially those who are struggling.”

the University 1010 program who have questions they wouldn’t normally have.” Korstange says normalizing the idea that nobody knows what’s going on is important.

“When you are isolated, it is easier to think, ‘This is my struggle’ instead of ‘This is our struggle.’” “One of the byproducts of all the safety measures we have taken to slow the spread of COVID is everyone is a little bit more isolated,” Korstange said. “When you are isolated, it is easier to think, ‘This is my struggle’ instead of ‘This is our struggle.’” He wants students to know that faculty and staff understand that things are different and can be difficult. He hopes this connection between students, faculty, and staff will lead to more success in dealing with these unconventional times.

While it may be hard to predict what any given day will look like, Korstange says he tries to keep a loose structure to his workdays—answer emails, get the kids ready for school, prepare for his first class, and so on. He says part of getting through each day is recognizing the challenges immediately so you can face them head-on. “I am trying to be ultra-responsive to students right now, especially those who are struggling,” he said. “I also have faculty members that are part of

TRAVIS STRATTION Scholars Academy helps new Blue Raiders navigate college By Hunter Patterson Whether they’re clarifying details of an assignment with their professors or just trying to make new friends, communication is an essential skill for first-time freshmen on a college campus—and it’s even more important for students participating in the MTSU Scholars Academy. Students in the Scholars Academy are usually first-generation college attendees and/or Pell Grant-eligible students. As the assistant manager of the Scholars Academy program within the Office of Student Success, Travis Strattion is responsible for ensuring that those students are provided with a quality education and a supportive learning environment. Part of that role includes equipping students with the tools they’ll need for success at MTSU and beyond. “I am helping them with their challenges,” Strattion said. “I do my best to make sure they understand test-taking strategies, note-taking skills, time management . . . really anything

that will set them up to ensure they will have a successful semester and help them create relationships that are sustainable throughout their four or five years here.”

“We wanted to make sure we were understanding how the students were feeling.” When the COVID-19 pandemic began last spring, many of Strattion’s students were in their second semester and would soon encounter their first taste of college classes outside of the typical classroom setting. “For a lot of them, there was a big learning curve and a huge challenge,” he said. “We saw a lot of them struggling to keep up with the workload, but we did our best to provide them with support from different resources.” Strattion said he and his colleagues first had to figure out “who was doing

what” on campus to ensure a smooth transition from in-person classes to remote learning. They took advantage of the extended spring break period to develop materials and to look into some of the experiences the students were having.

students over the summer, he was able to intervene early in any challenges those students faced in the fall. With fewer students on campus, Strattion says, communication with students has changed how his days normally flow.

“We wanted to make sure we were understanding how the students were feeling,” Strattion said. “They needed to unpack everything that was going on because quickly the economy was impacted, and their families could’ve been impacted by that. We wanted to make sure we were doing everything we could to support them.”

“I believe institutions are mirrors of the larger society.”

Strattion and his team held weekly meetings with students just to check in and see how things were going. He said he also used those meetings to connect students to the people and resources they needed most. “I believe institutions are mirrors of the larger society,” he said. “You have to be transparent, and you cannot ignore the external factors. Having that awareness of what exactly is going on allows us to [help] our students be successful.” In the summer, Strattion and his team had to hold their Freshman Summer Institute virtually for the first time ever. The team utilized Zoom and tried to create a real “sense of belonging” by meeting with students regularly and getting to know them. “We wanted to be open and available to these students whether it was through text, a phone call, FaceTime, whatever,” he said. “We wanted to be creative and go overboard with communication.” Because he started forging relationships and open communication with his

“Because of the decreased density on campus, both with housing and classes, it is a different feel,” he said. “Some students are struggling with it, and it’s important we be there for them. That can sometimes extend past that 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. time frame, but it’s super important to understand who needs what and how I can communicate that to them. “The quicker we know what’s going on, the faster we can help them.” Strattion says he has been so impressed with the way students have risen to meet their challenges. Students in the Freshman Summer Institute were talking and getting to know one another via text and Facebook groups long before their classes even started. Strattion and his team used Google Classroom to foster that “sense of belonging” and encourage students to connect with one another. “I was blown away by that,” he said. “Still today those relationships are there. I am seeing these students supporting each other and them checking in on one another making sure they’re all okay.” Strattion says it takes a village, and it’s fulfilling to see students not only be peers but supporting one another through these times.

M I D D L E T E N N E S S E E S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

UNIVERSITY HONORS COLLEGE

DENNIS MULLEN Biology professor takes time to help students juggle challenging schedules By Carol Stuart Biology professor Dennis Mullen has had to adjust some of his instruction while teaching first-semester Honors Biology classes in the middle of a pandemic—but it’s communication with his MTSU students where he’s especially making extra efforts. In each of his Fall 2020 courses, the 20 students rotated 10 at a time by odd- and even-numbered weeks into in-person lectures in their Honors Building classroom, where they could interact with their professor. The other half could watch Mullen’s instruction remotely on livestream or later on video, and then the next week the groups switched. Students also alternated for the lab portion. “I think the biggest challenges are knowing where they’re supposed to be, when they’re supposed to be there, for each of their multiple classes,” Mullen said. “Their lives have got to be confusing and complicated. So, the thing that I’m trying to do more than anything else

is just constant communication . . . so they’re not surprised and they can plan for it.” Each Friday afternoon, Mullen emailed students outlining exactly what was happening the next week.

“Their lives have got to be confusing and complicated. So, the thing that I’m trying to do more than anything else is just constant communication.” And, during a Zoom meeting with 25 Biology Club members recently, he just asked, “How’s it going? What are your biggest challenges?” “That’s what they said—knowing what they had to do for each of their classes each week,” Mullen said. “I can imagine. It’s a challenge of coordination, planning, especially for

freshmen and sophomores who really have not ever had to do that in their lives before.” One day a commuter student from a neighboring county emailed and said, “Can we talk? I’m struggling.” Mullen quickly gave out his phone number. “We had about a 20-minute conversation about how to handle the stresses. She’s living at home, she has some classes on ground, some classes completely remote, and she just needed help with time management, being able to keep up with her classes and study,” he said. “Hopefully, I was able to help her organize a little bit better.” Each morning Mullen arrives an hour before class per his normal routine, but now he conscientiously checks not only on any labs but also technology (MTSU’s new Panopto video system equipped each MTSU classroom for livestreaming/recording. Mullen said he did have to post signs reminding him to wear the microphone!). And then, masked up, he waits for any student who arrives early to talk. As a department, Biology prioritized students’ getting some in-class instruction even with social distancing required—and opted to go with lab exercises that supplemented lectures rather than those reinforcing material. That meant rearranging the lab sequence and syllabus.

Mullen, likewise, appreciates teaching students in a classroom. The March 2020 shutdown was a shock to all when instruction suddenly went remote. “The biggest challenge was spring semester, going from being able to stand in front of my classes and deliver what I hope were coherent lectures and convey the information and ask questions and interact with the students, to sitting in my office and trying to deliver content in a meaningful quality, high-level manner without actually being able to make eye contact with my students,” Mullen said.

“I think the students really appreciate having some face time, being in room with the faculty.” Instead of his usual method of writing on the board and sharing images, he typed up a sentence-by-sentence “script” with visual links and emailed about 25 pages on weekends before class Zoom meetings in Spring 2020. Now, Mullen believes the COVID-19 crisis will make him more in tune with students and help him better “understand the stresses of their lives . . . even without the pandemic.”

“The extra part was just planning out how to conduct a semester . . . in a room that can only hold 10 students and do as much on ground as possible because I think it’s really important,” said Mullen, the department’s chair. “I think the students really appreciate having some face time, being in room with the faculty.”

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