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Table of Contents

  • 3: President's Message
  • 4: Alumni Award Winners
  • 7: Who Is Claudius Clemmer?
  • 8, 30: Unique Alumni
  • 10: Campus Briefs
  • 13: Advancement
  • 16: Homecoming
  • 18: Sports Spectrum
  • 22: Classnotes

ETSU President

Paul E. Stanton, Jr.

Managing Editors

Richard A. Manahan; Robert M. Plummer

Contributing Writers

Jeff Anderson; Emily Feeney; Jesse Foltz; Carol Fox; Debi Frakes; Kristn Fry; Deena Gonzales; Jennifer Hill; Jennifer Hodge; Patricia Holland; Donna Howard; Richard A. Manahan; Lisa Otradovec; Robert Plummer; Pamela Ripley; Janell Rowe; Fred Sauceman; Joe E. Smith; Joe L. Smith; Matt Snelling; Amanda Vance; Mike White; Lee Ann Willis

Photography/Art

Robert Plummer; Jim Sledge; Larry Smith; Lee Ann Willis

Publication Date

Fall 2004

President's Message

The legislative session that concluded in the spring of 2004 brought much-needed hope and some tangible results to higher education in Tennessee. Realizing that work still must be done, we are greatly appreciative of the salary improvements that were approved for our faculty and staff. ETSU also succeeded in acquiring some $11 million in capital outlay funding to renovate the old Sherrod Library, providing critically needed space for our College of Nursing. We have the largest nursing enrollment in Tennessee, and we have plans to increase enrollment in the B.S.N. program by 50 percent, a major step in our continued aggressive response to the national nursing shortage. Likewise, $4 million has been allocated by the state to build a Forensic Center that will serve several counties in Northeast Tennessee. ETSU will receive approximately $5.3 million in capital maintenance funds to address such projects as electrical repairs, roof replacement, mechanical updating of steam, and electrical upgrades. The effectiveness of ETSU’s network of regional partnerships is evident through our continued success in private fund-raising. For example, the long-term friendship between the university and the late United States Congressman James H. Quillen of Kingsport resulted in the largest gift ever received by ETSU, approximately $14.6 million. This generous bequest will allow us to establish two scholarship endowments in the ETSU Foundation. Total private giving for 2003-2004 is estimated to exceed $20.1 million, a solid indication of the respect we enjoy across this region. In the spring, we honored and memorialized the many partners who helped create the James H. Quillen College of Medicine, as we celebrated the 30th anniversary of the establishment of that college by the Tennessee General Assembly. On the day of the celebration we received word that the College of Medicine was ranked number three in the nation by U.S. News & World Report for excellence in rural medicine education. One of our most long-standing and productive partnerships is our relationship with the Veterans Affairs Medical Center at Mountain Home, which recently joined with us to create a doctoral program in audiology. I am pleased to report to the campus community that we are now working with the VA on a future transfer of over 70 acres of property and 24 buildings to the university, which will allow us to build the new forensic center, a student center, and an infectious disease unit. Further, the VA is the proposed location for another exciting initiative, a college of pharmacy. Responding to a severe scarcity of pharmacists, particularly in rural, underserved areas, we are approaching private sector partners to cover a startup cost of some $10 million and operating expenses of some $6 million annually. The amount of support for a college of pharmacy in the region’s health care community has been most encouraging. Our inventory of graduate-level programs has grown in stature and in number in recent years. In January of 2004, ETSU welcomed the inaugural class of students in the new Doctor of Physical Therapy (D.P.T.) program, a partnership between the university and several local hospitals, including Johnson City Medical Center, Wellmont-Holston Valley Medical Center, Wellmont-Bristol Regional Medical Center, and the James H. and Cecile C. Quillen Rehabilitation Hospital. Twenty-two students are currently enrolled, and we have already extended offers to next year’s class. The College of Public and Allied Health is developing a unique doctoral program in public and environmental health sciences. Students interested in research may elect for the Ph.D., while those preparing to be practitioners can choose the Dr.P.H. degree. Our Department of Social Work's Master of Social Work (MSW) program has been granted candidacy by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), the national accrediting body for this field. The admission into candidacy status is the culmination of years of effort by individuals and organizations dedicated to the development of a graduate social work program at ETSU. Frontier Health and Mountain States Health Alliance each provided financial support to assist with the initial creation of the new MSW program. The Roan Scholars Leadership Program graduated its first class of students during commencements in fiscal year 2003-2004. This fall, 15 students are enrolled in this prestigious program. The achievements we have seen in Roan Scholars, our University Honors Program, and the various opportunities for honors students available at the departmental level have demonstrated the need for a formally structured Honors College at ETSU, and it is our intention to announce its establishment during the next calendar year. At the annual faculty convocation in August, I announced another record-breaking year in funding for research and sponsored program activity. During 2003-2004, ETSU faculty and staff brought in a total of $36,329,045, an increase of 2.2 percent, or $782,939, over the previous year’s $35,546,106. Since 1995-96, we have increased the level of research and sponsored program activity at ETSU nearly three-fold. Renovation of the ETSU Innovation Laboratory, on Market Street, has now been completed, with the help of a grant from the Tennessee Valley Authority. The new space was leased out immediately to six client companies. As companies grow and mature, they will occupy space in the university’s Innovation Park, to be located behind the lab, as part of the Middle Anchor of our Med-Tech Corridor. For the first time in the history of the university, we have, in our hands, a long-range, 20-year master plan for intercollegiate athletics and our programs in physical education. This plan takes into account our anticipated needs to maintain competitive programs, the prospective location of those programs, in renovated or new facilities, and how new programs and facilities integrate with the campus master plan. In August, I was privileged to join current and former Buccaneer golfers and coaches, and supporters of the ETSU golf program, for the dedication of The Frederick B. Warren-William B. Greene Jr. Golf Center, honoring one of the most successful collegiate golf coaches in the country and one of the ETSU golf program’s strongest benefactors. Supported through private contributions, the center provides a place for our men’s and women’s golf teams to polish their skills. The exterior practice area was designed by world-renowned golf architect Tom Fazio. And, we’re sprucing up our student residence halls. The university is following a 15-year plan to renovate most of our student housing, beginning with Davis Apartments. Ellington and Clement halls will be torn down and replaced by one new residence hall, which should be opened in the fall of 2006. On another front, the fossil site in the Gray community continues to yield valuable treasures from our past that none of us would have imagined back in 2000, when the location was discovered by Tennessee Department of Transportation road crews. Two visiting scientists from the Florida Museum of Natural History unearthed the remains of an ancient, short-legged, grass-eating rhinoceros that may help further refine estimates of the site’s age. The Gray site is believed to contain the world’s most prolific deposits of fossilized tapir material. We will break ground this fall for a 50,000-squarefoot visitors center and research complex there, supported by an $8 million federal transportation grant and private matching funds. Our history, from normal school to teachers college to university with a major academic health sciences center. Our location among the verdant hills and valleys of Southern Appalachia. Our mix of degree programs unlike any regional university in the country. Our wonderful people—students, faculty, staff, alumni, community partners. They’re all part of the story of ETSU. It's a powerful story of enrichment, enlightenment, service, and the fulfillment of hope. - Paul E. Stanton, Jr., President, ETSU

ETSU Today - Fall 2004

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