JULY

Return to World’s Largest Aviation Gathering

MTSU’s Department of Aerospace returned to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for the world’s largest gathering of aviation enthusiasts, showcasing its recent investments in new training aircraft and the state’s recent decision to invest $62 million for a new flight training campus.

Students and instructors arrived July 24 at EAA AirVenture, a massive, weeklong aerospace celebration that attracts more than 10,000 aircraft to Oshkosh each year.

In addition to reconnecting with alumni, University administrators met with employers, including Delta, FedEx, Endeavor Air, and Republic Airlines. They also visited MTSU aerospace industry partners, including Diamond Aircraft, Piper Aircraft, and Garman flight navigation systems. And they connected with the Civil Air Patrol, the volunteer civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force and a partner with MTSU’s Department of Aerospace since 2014.

Data Science Master’s Program Launch

Data science and artificial intelligence will be key powers to develop technology and change the world in the future, according to Qiang Wu, director of MTSU’s new Data Science master’s program and professor. Having just graduated its first cohort of undergraduate degrees in the spring, MTSU launched the new master’s program—the first cohort started in fall 2022—to teach students advanced data science skills so that they are even more competitive when entering this burgeoning and innovative industry.

The creation of the master’s program along with the University’s already-existing graduate certificate, doctoral, and year-old undergraduate Data Science programs reflects the growing market demand for data science professionals.

The Bureau of Labor’s employment statistics project an increase in Tennessee’s data science-related employment growth greater than the national average. In addition, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission has been working with postsecondary institutions to increase the number of computer science and data analytics degrees.

Reducing Textbook Costs

The rising costs of textbooks have been a topic of conversation for years, but a group of MTSU faculty and staff is making it their mission to make course materials more affordable and, in turn, keep students on track to earn their degrees.

MTSU leaders have been using grant money to make required materials cost as little as possible using open educational resources (OER). Since 2019, that group has used $100,000 of grant funds through the Tennessee Board of Regents to save 2,500-plus students more than $150,000.

OER is defined as teaching, learning, and research materials that are either in the public domain or licensed in a manner that provides everyone with free and perpetual permission to retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute.

Erica Stone, an assistant professor of English and OER steering committee member, studied a segment of the MTSU student population and found that 42% of the students surveyed either had delayed access to their traditional study materials or were never able to afford them at all.

The students surveyed also said they had to prioritize what textbooks they bought, sometimes forgoing a book for an elective or a General Education course and instead spending the money on a textbook for a class in their major.

To combat costs, MTSU faculty members are using information already available free to the public or writing and publishing their own materials. In total, more than 70 faculty members in 25 different courses used OER in the most recent academic year.

MTSU’s James E. Walker Library is also shouldering significant responsibility in making these resources available for more students.

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100,000 awarded from the Tennessee Board of Regents

74 faculty

25 courses

2,450 students impacted by grant-funded OER adoption, adaptation, or creation

154,000 saved in textbook costs across Fall 2021 & Spring 2022 semesters