Budget Message
The Governor's message last night strengthened the case for recession. It was actually a somber message for the state of Tennessee's higher education community. With no new operating dollars proposed and no new capital projects proposed either, it is the slimmest of all projections, and actually means that we will have less money from the state to spend next year when you factor inflation into the mix. Just like at home, it costs the college more for electricity and gasoline each year, and our expenditures are quite large, over a million dollars just to pay our electric bill alone.

However, it wasn't a budget cut in the strictest sense of the word, and for that I am very grateful. It was not all that long ago that we did cut our state budget by 9 percent and that is something I don't ever want to repeat as a college president. Although we didn't cut any faculty slots during that time, we cut back sharply on staff positions, and I don't think that we have ever fully recovered from that loss. I am very glad to be spared real budget cuts this time around.

Capital Projects
Given that no new capital projects were funded for higher education in this budget, I am also grateful that the legislature funded the Blount County Campus last year. Although that campus was not in the Governor's original budget, the legislature added it to the list at the last moment. It would have been very disappointing not to be able to move forward with our plans for that new campus after 12 years of anticipation. We are very close to announcing the site selection and contractor for that new addition, and the people of Blount County are helping by raising money to furnish and equip that facility. Our goal for the Blount County campaign is $2 million.

Pay Raises
Governor Bredesen is proposing 2 percent pay raises for state employees, including higher education employees. The state will fund 2/3 of these raises and the school must fund the remaining 1/3 of the raises. For Pellissippi State, this will amount to approximately $126,000 plus benefits. This must be taken from other school budget areas.

New Salary Study
Pellissippi State contracted with compensation specialists from the University of Tennessee to assist in the development of a new salary schedule for all employees. Although our salary schedules are still competitive within the system, we have found that changes in job duties and descriptions and salary compression made it necessary to review the salary ranges. Our salary schedule for all employees has been outdated by inflation, poor funding years, and turnover. Although our salary schedule is competitive within the TBR system, we want to be among the leaders, and we have to change it to be sure that we maintain our position.

The college did ask the compensation specialists at the University of Tennessee to advise us regarding current salaries with respect to experience and education. The study identified a number of employees who should be adjusted and the college has done so with the amount of money that was allowed by the Tennessee Board of Regents salary structure. These adjustments were approved by the Tennessee Board of Regents and were implemented effective January 1, 2008.

In order to make further adjustments to faculty and staff salaries, we must have a new salary plan in place, and it must be approved by the Tennessee Board of Regents. Therefore, the college has again contracted with the University of Tennessee compensation specialist to continue a review of our salary structure. The results of this review will be submitted to the Tennessee Board of Regents at the December 2008 board meeting.

Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP)
This spring semester, Pellissippi State officially begins its preparation for our reaffirmation of accreditation. The on-site review team will be on our campus in the fall semester of 2011. This means that our compliance certification report (new name for the self-study) will be completed by March, 2011. The major focus of the reaffirmation process will be the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). The QEP topic must be identified through a college-wide process and it must focus on improving student learning. I believe that we have laid the groundwork for selecting a topic for our QEP through our efforts in Foundations of Excellence process, but we need to be sure that everyone, including faculty, staff, and students on all campuses, participates as we move toward reaffirmation.

K.D. Lawson was one of the first people I met when I arrived at this college in 1993. Here I was, first day on campus, and here he was, camera in hand, taking photos. He made me feel very much welcome and at ease with his great smile and great humor. I didn't really get to know him that first day, but I learned very quickly that he was a man that couldn't, and shouldn't, be ignored.

He was a fixture at Division Street Campus for many years. We didn't know we needed photography courses at the college, but K.D. knew it, and he did whatever it took to see that we offered the right ones. Back in the days of dark rooms, K.D. supplied whatever it took to equip and stock supplies to make it operational, and when we finally devoted a small space for a permanent dark room, K.D.'s classes really took off.

His classes were successful because of his expertise, his devotion to his craft, and because of his dedication to his students. He spent countless hours teaching, tutoring, and challenging his students to become better. And he was very, very good at it.

When he wasn't teaching his students, he was teaching us, his fellow faculty members, department heads, and me, how to work together to create something bigger than we had envisioned. He knew the importance of the digital age when he saw it, and Pellissippi State never really lagged behind the digital curve because K.D. wouldn't let us. He did it in his usual way - smiling, proposing, coaxing, instructing, and by leading us into paths we wouldn't go except for the fact that we trusted him.

We wouldn't have a photography program except for K.D. Lawson, and I doubt if our transition into a Media Technology program would have worked as well without K.D. at the table. I am so grateful that our paths led us to Pellissippi State where I got to know and interact with him over the years. He was a good man and I know that I am better off for having known him. Pellissippi State is certainly a better college because of his life and work.

The future is here. It's just not widely distributed yet. -- William Gibson

What a great time it is in America. We are living in a country whose economy is often described as being the best that the world has ever seen. We have low unemployment, low inflation rates, and actually have more jobs than we have workers.

At the same time that we are enjoying the fruits of past labors, there are alarm bells going off across the country about the state of our public educational systems. Why do so many of our students have to enroll in remedial education courses when they enter college? Why are our high school graduates so unprepared for work or higher education?

Of course, we only hear the negative cries for the most part. In reality, many of our students are getting an excellent education and are performing brilliantly in colleges and universities across the state and nation. The real problem for Tennessee is that not enough students are prepared to compete in college classrooms or in the workplace. In fact, Gary Nixon, Executive Director of the state school board says that overall, in Tennessee, the problem is one of rigor. He says that we are covering the right stuff in public schools, but that we are not covering it at the right level to prepare students adequately.

Nixon, who spoke recently at the Knox Chamber Partnership, says that of 100 Tennessee ninth-graders, only about 35 will enroll in postsecondary education and about half of those students will need to enroll in developmental classes in English or math. Subsequently, only about 16 of those initial students will earn a degree within six years. Knox County fares better than does the state overall, but the success rate is still not acceptable if we are to prepare our students to be good, productive citizens in the future.

As the current chairman of the Knox County Great Schools Partnership and as President of Pellissippi State, I understand the problem all too well. At Pellissippi State, it is far too common for area high school students to earn ACT scores which will place them into developmental courses in English or math during their first semester or two. I believe that these problems can be corrected, as does Dr. Nixon, by putting a more rigorous curriculum for ALL students into place in our high schools. Not only will the 20 percent who have been taking the rigorous curriculum all along get a good education, but so many more students will graduate with the skills necessary to compete successfully in college and career.

While I understand that the ACT is not a perfect measure, it does provide useful information for comparing the scores of our students with other students across the country. ACT Testing Service has also established benchmarks in four scholastic areas: 18 in English composition, 22 in algebra, 24 in biology, and 21 in social sciences. These benchmarks indicate the level at which 75% of the students will, on average, earn a C or better in that subject area. Again, Knox County students perform at a higher level than Tennessee students do overall, but only 20% of Knox County students meet the benchmarks in all four areas.

This figure presents us with a grim reality: 80% of local students exit the doors of their high schools inadequately prepared for the future they face. While we should certainly celebrate the achievements of the 20% who are ready to move forward with confidence, we must find a way to strengthen the academic foundation of the vast majority of Knox County graduates.

As we begin to confront this challenge, I think that Dr. Nixon has provided an excellent starting point for us. With his background information in mind, I offer the following goal for the Knox County School system: Within 10 years, 70 percent of our Knox County high school seniors will meet or exceed the four ACT Benchmark scores.

The simplicity of the “10-4” goal provides a couple of distinct advantages. Because students already take the ACT, measuring “10-4” presents no additional financial or administrative burden on the school system. In addition, familiarity with the test and the accompanying benchmarks on the part of teachers, administrators, school board members, students and the general public will make it easier to galvanize a system into action.

It is also important that this goal not come at the expense of retention. All students, regardless of skill level or test scores, benefit from more time in the classroom, and retention rates should increase even as the system sets its sites on the “10-4” goal.

Dr. Nixon recommends a course of studies in high school which closely correlates to success on the ACT benchmarks. For instance, a student who takes biology, chemistry, and physics will score, on average, seven points higher on the ACT than the student who just takes biology. There are recommended curriculum requirements for math, social sciences, and English as well which correlate highly to increased scores on the ACT. I think that Knox County should adopt Dr. Nixon’s curriculum suggestions as a first step toward reaching the “10-4” threshold.

Critics may argue that “10-4” is too difficult to reach, but without a clearly defined and stated goal, our operating objective becomes “We will do the best we can with what we have under the circumstances.” I believe we must set higher goals, for all our sakes.

We are at a point in our organizational life that we are seeking to become something more than we have been. I know that we have always been good and always true to our mission and to our community. But now, I think we realize we have everything in place to be a really great institution of higher learning and have committed to becoming that.

I saw evidence of this throughout this past week as faculty prepared for and delivered the first class sessions of the semester. There was little, if any, of the usual shuffling of students in and out of rooms once class began. I saw students in their seats, fixated on the task at hand, and I saw faculty hard at work delivering on the charge to make it the most important day of the semester. It was an impressive first day.

I think that our first President's Convocation will be an important event as well. Our students will get to come together, as they rarely do, and join us in our quest on that day. We are providing them with one of our very best in Ed Francisco to guide them during this time, and I believe that we will be a better institution at the end of the day.

I hope that you will join us on September 8 in the PAC. Encourage your students to join us. We will begin promptly at noon.

I met the most wonderful people in S. Africa. A memorable guide was named Louis, a retired naval officer who spent the day showing us around villages and introducing us to people that we would have never met without his assistance. Another South African I met was a young man working as a cashier in a shop. He was wearing a badge designating him as a trainee. When I casually mentioned to him that I knew he would be happy when he didn't have to wear the "trainee badge" anymore he said, "No sir. I am very proud to be a trainee with this great company. If they want me to wear it for two years, it will be ok with me." It was a reminder that I was not in America.

I am also so impressed with the organization and dedication of the faculty and staff in making it all work. Our event only takes about an hour and fifteen minutes from start to finish. However, long hours have gone into making sure that grades are in on time, that students know when and where to be during the evening. I was amazed to watch Dr. Margaret Ann Jeffries decorating the stage before this year's ceremony. She had cut great boughs of magnolia from her mother's tree and had cut peonies from her own garden to decorate with great southern style. Truly an amazing job by an amazing person!

The reception after the ceremony is as much fun as graduation itself with all the famiies around taking photos and hugging each other. It is too easy to forget how much it means to have a college graduate in the family for the first time. That cap and gown are symbols of hope for so many of our students. May it always be so.