Innovations All the Time Cutting-edge college keeps moving in COVID-19 crisis and beyond MTSU’s College of Basic and Applied Sciences barely skipped a beat when COVID-19 caused most of the world to stop. Whether in normal academic times or in a major pandemic, CBAS programs are always innovating and making an impact.
Soaring in a Storm One of the hallmarks of MTSU’s Professional Pilot students is their ability to successfully navigate unexpected challenges, including months of turbulence during the pandemic. In a year unlike any other, the Department of Aerospace’s flight school continued operating at Murfreesboro Municipal Airport after establishing daily protocols. Other Aerospace professors and students also continued hands-on education while adapting to more online learning as well. “In a normal academic year, pilots in training are usually delayed because of poor weather,” Pro Pilot program coordinator Tyler Babb said about facing COVID-19 challenges. Bill Allen, an associate professor in the Maintenance Management concentration, and other Aerospace faculty even taught unpaid as summer began to ensure their students met rigorous FAA requirements that cannot be circumvented. Over three weeks, Allen’s aircraft maintenance and airframe inspection classes made up labs missed during the spring 2020 shutdown.
28 | Innovations
While Babb added quizzes from the Kahoot! game-based platform and taught his fall Honors Theory of Flight in person, Technology concentration coordinator Nate Callender had already used a robot to record every class lecture the previous five years. Callender also included synchronous Q&A online sessions and assisted with technology at the Aerospace Mobile Classroom and a classroom at the new airport terminal. Kevin Corns, an Unmanned Aircraft Systems assistant professor, even sent an aircraft kit to a student’s New Jersey home to build and bring back for a week-long demonstration since it was the student’s only fall in-person course. In addition, the department received six new Diamond Aircraft 2020 DA 40 XLT airplanes for its student training fleet in 2020 and had 13 existing planes refurbished. MTSU, boasting one of the nation’s top aviation departments, also is one of only 12 universities selected for Delta Air Lines’ Propel Pilot program for a direct career pathway.
