{"id":2087,"date":"2024-08-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/blogtest\/fall-2024-academic-updates\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T10:22:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T15:22:34","slug":"fall-2024-academic-updates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/fall-2024-academic-updates\/","title":{"rendered":"Fall 2024 Academic Updates"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Each of the colleges and academic units at MTSU maintains a high level of activity and produces news worth crowing about. It is very difficult to select just a few highlights from across the colleges! Here are just a few examples of the remarkable work we have recently performed on the campus of MTSU.<\/span>\u00a0
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University Wide<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Princeton Review\u2014one of the nation\u2019s leading education services companies\u2014included MTSU in its 33rd annual <\/span>Best Colleges rankings for 2025, the sixth consecutive year <\/span><\/strong>that the institution has been recognized. Unlike college rankings derived solely from institutional data and college administrator peer reviews, the Princeton Review rankings, tallied in multiple categories, are derived from student reports of their experiences at the schools.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

MTSU\u2019s Board of Trustees identified the<\/span> pursuit of a professional school as the first of four objectives <\/span><\/strong>that it feels should be the institution\u2019s top priorities. During the board\u2019s March meeting, trustees put MTSU\u2019s continued inclusion in the Princeton Review\u2019s top colleges list, movement toward designation as a top research institution, and securing more funding to renovate the 51-year-old Murphy Center among other top priorities. The board was tasked with ranking the top four among 20-plus goals put forward in a survey as the University\u2019s priorities for 2024.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Three faculty members have an opportunity to take their research and teaching passions overseas after being selected as Fulbright Scholar Program recipients for the 2024\u201325 academic year. Social Work professor <\/span>Sylvester Lamin <\/span><\/strong>will head to Sierra Leone in West Africa; the transcontinental country of Georgia in Eastern Europe and West Asia is the destination for Journalism professor <\/span>Gregory Pitts<\/span><\/strong>; and Center for Asian Studies Director <\/span>Guanping Zheng <\/span><\/strong>will travel to Taiwan in East Asia.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program offers U.S. faculty, administrators, and professionals grants to lecture and\/or conduct research in a wide variety of academic and professional fields, or to participate in seminars. The program awards more than 1,700 fellowships each year, enabling 800 U.S. scholars to go abroad and 900 visiting scholars to come to the United States.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A cohort of MTSU faculty recently landed a $3 million National Science Foundation grant to develop local middle school teachers in the subject areas of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) into data science instruction experts and leaders who will go on to develop educators in their communities. <\/span>Gregory Rushton<\/span><\/strong>, director of MTSU\u2019s Tennessee STEM Education Center, leads the five-year grant project in collaboration with faculty across the University\u2019s colleges: <\/span>Ryan \u201cSeth\u201d Jones<\/span><\/strong>, associate professor with an expert research background in data science education from the College of Education; <\/span>Kevin Krahenbuhl<\/span><\/strong>, director of a College of Education Ed.D. program that works heavily on research and training with local school districts; and <\/span>Keith Gamble<\/span><\/strong>, director of MTSU\u2019s interdisciplinary Data Science Institute and an Economics and Finance professor in the Jennings A. Jones College of Business. Rushton said their hope is to further the burgeoning field of data science education in the community through equipping these local educators with high-quality, research-backed data science instruction tools.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Work on behalf of telling the stories of numerous colleges and units of our University were recognized in the 2024 Tennessee College Public Relations Association. <\/span>MTSU was the most-honored institution in the competition<\/span><\/strong> among the state\u2019s private and public universities, as well as the Tennessee Board of Regents and University of Tennessee system offices and the community colleges, receiving 16 awards (eight of them Gold, the highest honor). Notable wins included: MTSU magazines took the top two honors (Gold, for MTSU <\/span>Research magazine<\/span><\/em>; Silver for <\/span>Innovations<\/span><\/em>, the College of Basic and Applied Sciences magazine); the president\u2019s two primary communications products (his newsletter and annual report) received Gold awards; our digital advertising for Admissions received Gold Awards in two different categories.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

MTSU alumni captured several Grammys during the 66th annual Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. <\/span>Julien Baker<\/span><\/strong> (above, right), a 2019 English graduate, captured three Grammys out of six nominations as a member of boygenius, an indie supergroup with Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus. Two-time winner and alumnus <\/span>Lecrae <\/span><\/strong>(right) won two more Grammys for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance\/Song for \u201cYour Power\u201d and also for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album for <\/span>Church Clothes 4<\/span><\/em>. Joining Lecrae in the album Grammy win is first-time winner <\/span>Connor Back<\/span><\/strong>, a 2018 Audio Production graduate who earned a Grammy for his mixing engineering work on <\/span>Church Clothes 4<\/span><\/em> and earned a certificate for his engineering work on the song \u201cYour Power.\u201d Back works for Reach Records, Lecrae\u2019s independent record label. <\/span>Jason Hall<\/span><\/strong>, a 2000 Recording Industry graduate, and <\/span>Jimmy Mansfield<\/span><\/strong>, a 2014 Audio Production graduate, won Grammys for engineering, mixing, and vocals work for Lainey Wilson\u2019s Bell Bottom Country, which won Best Country Album. While not singled out for a nomination,<\/span> Josh Kear<\/span><\/strong>, a 1996 History graduate with a Recording Industry minor, co-wrote the song \u201cWatermelon Moonshine\u201d on <\/span>Bell Bottom Country<\/span><\/em>. Seven students from MTSU\u2019s College of Media and Entertainment represented the University\u2019s ninth trip to the music industry\u2019s biggest awards weekend. In addition to working at the pre-Grammy MusiCares event, students toured recording studios and iconic music venues and met with recording industry professionals.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

MTSU\u2019s College of Behavioral and Health Sciences welcomed <\/span>Peter W. Grandjean<\/span><\/strong> as the new dean beginning July 1. Grandjean has spent more than 30 years in education, most recently as dean of the School of Applied Sciences and professor of Exercise Science at the University of Mississippi. Other appointments of note:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n