Oak Ridge Today

Roane State receives $27K grant for outreach, support for adult students

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Roane State Community College Harriman Campus

The main Roane State Community College campus in Harriman. The college also has a branch campus in Oak Ridge.

Roane State Community College has received a $27,310 Tennessee Higher Education Commission Ready to Reconnect grant to support adult students.

The grant will fund communication tools (email newsletter, texting services, and mailings) that will help adult students better understand their degree options and how to navigate the enrollment process. The grant will also pay for training that will teach faculty how to assess whether adults’ work experience could count toward college credit.

“Increasing outreach to adult students and improving the process for awarding adults college credit for their work experience are two key areas that can lead to more adults completing degrees,” said Diane Ward, Roane State vice president for student learning. “With the Ready to Reconnect grant, we can take major steps forward in these areas and better serve adult learners in our communities.” [Read more…]

SL Tennessee honored for support of higher education

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SL Tennessee Award

The East Tennessee College Alliance honored SL Tennessee for its support of higher education. From left are Roane State President Chris Whaley; Yeonsoo Chung, human resources manager at SL Tennessee; Scott Laska, SL Tennessee business development manager; Y.K. Woo, SL America president; Kim Harris, Roane State job placement director; and Maria Gonzales, Roane State director of student enrollment and recruitment. (Photo by Roane State)

 

Automotive parts manufacturer SL Tennessee has received an East Tennessee College Alliance 2015 Corporate Award.

The alliance is a collaborative association of higher education institutions dedicated to providing educational opportunities for working adults.

The Corporate Award recognizes business that support higher education’s crucial role in workforce development and economic growth. [Read more…]

Roane State employees honored

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Jala Daniel

Jala Daniel

Roane State Community College faculty member Jala Daniel and staff members Darren York and Diane Cox have been honored for their work.

Daniel, assistant professor of biology, received the 2015 Sarah Ellen Benroth Award for Outstanding Teaching.

York, coordinator of instructional technology, was named the college’s 2015 administrative staff member of the year. [Read more…]

Roane State to offer extended business hours beginning Aug. 17

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Roane State Community College will offer extended business hours to help students get ready for the start of fall classes.

Extended hours for the Roane County and Oak Ridge campuses are:

  • Monday, August 17-Thursday, August 20, from 8 a.m.-6 p.m.;
  • Saturday, August 22, from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.; and
  • Monday, August 24-Thursday, August 27, from 8 a.m.-6 p.m.

[Read more…]

Smith of ORFD named Roane State paramedic student of year

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Joey Smith Roane State Paramedic Student of Year

Roane State paramedic student of the year Joey Smith (center) is congratulated by Roane State President Chris Whaley (left) and Roger Brooksbank with TeamHealth Emergency Medicine. (Photo by Roane State Community College)

 

Joey Smith of the Oak Ridge Fire Department has been named Roane State Community College’s paramedic student of the year.

Roger Brooksbank with TeamHealth Emergency Medicine presented the award to Smith during Roane State’s annual Knoxville paramedic program luncheon. Students completing the paramedic program were recognized at the event, which was sponsored by TeamHealth.

Smith has been an emergency medical technician for eight years. He decided to go back to school last fall to become a paramedic. Smith said he appreciated the support he’s received from the Oak Ridge Fire Department and from his family as he has juggled work and school. [Read more…]

Foundation for Geriatric Education donates $2,000 to Roane State PTA program

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Roane State PTA Donation

Paul Phillips (left), executive director of the Roane State Foundation, and Dr. Michael Laman (right), Roane State dean of allied health sciences, accept a $2,000 donation from The Foundation for Geriatric Education, represented by Jeff Tambornini (center) of NHC HealthCare, Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)

 

The Foundation for Geriatric Education donated $2,000 to help purchase equipment for Roane State Community College’s physical therapist assistant, or PTA, program.

“We greatly appreciate the foundation’s support for Roane State physical therapist assistant students,” said Dr. Michael Laman, Roane State dean of allied health sciences. “PTAs play a critical role in healthcare, and thanks to the foundation’s support, we will be able to provide our students with new learning tools to help them succeed in this important field.”

The Foundation for Geriatric Education is a nonprofit organization started by Dr. Carl Adams, founder of National HealthCare Corporation. Founded in 1982, the Foundation for Geriatric Education provides funding to schools and organizations to enhance their geriatric curriculum. [Read more…]

Mapping a Difference: Roane State student charts Remote Area Medical services

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Chris Zerr

Chris Zerr

Roane State Community College Geographic Information Systems (GIS) student Chris Zerr said she has “loved maps since I was a little kid.”

“They’re like putting together a puzzle that has lots of pieces. Maps allow you to discover what’s there and what’s not there,” she said.

Maps that Zerr recently designed are helping people discover where they can find affordable and often much-needed medical care.

As an honors project for Roane State, Zerr focused on an organization that benefits thousands of people. Remote Area Medical, or RAM as most people know it, was established in 1985 by Stan Brock to provide basic medical care through mobile clinic events in underserved, isolated or impoverished communities. [Read more…]

Roane State Community College to host free Summer Bridge Program

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Roane State Community College will host a free Summer Bridge program for Tennessee Promise students July 13-31 at the college’s main campus in Harriman.

The free three-week program prepares students to potentially test out of learning support (remedial) courses and start their freshman years college-ready.

Roane State has 60 openings for its Summer Bridge program. The deadline to apply is June 15. Spots can fill up quickly. [Read more…]

Roane State-ORHS dual credit ceramics class gives students new perspectives

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Bryan Wilkerson and Katie Stewart in Ceramics Class

Roane State art professor Bryan Wilkerson works with student Katie Stewart during the college’s dual credit ceramics class at Oak Ridge High School. (Submitted photo)

 

For now, Oak Ridge High School ceramics students create sculptures, bowls, and figures.

Maybe later, they’ll create new businesses, innovative products, and groundbreaking technology.

Either way, the process is the same. Start with mush—clay for the moment. Use creativity, problem-solving, and analysis to turn the mush into something special. That’s the lesson Roane State Community College art professor Bryan Wilkerson wants the Oak Ridge students to learn in his dual credit ceramics classes.

“I treat this no differently than all of my classes,” Wilkerson said. “I want them to come away with an understanding of techniques. I’m also trying to help them develop their own artistic direction, creative problem-solving, how to start with an idea and see it through to a finished piece.” [Read more…]

Roane State students awarded NASA scholarships; more available for summer, fall

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Jeffrey Burks

Jeffrey Burks

Roane State Community College student Jeffrey Burks earned his GED six months before he started college. He’s on his way to a mechanical engineering degree.

A typical workday for Blake Stewart lasts 15 hours—job in the morning, classes at night.

Corey Stafford works to pay for school. Any help with costs, he said, is a relief.

Burks, Stewart, and Stafford are all receiving extra financial assistance with their college education. They are the first recipients of $1,250 NASA scholarships awarded to Roane State students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) fields. More NASA scholarships are available for summer semester and for fall semester. Students in STEM majors are encouraged to apply. [Read more…]

Roane State hosts Tennessee Promise day in its Community Garden

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Promise Garden

Front from left, students Shelley Edwards, Angelo Ferrante, and Jeremiah Johnson work to get Roane State’s Community Garden ready for its next crop. Food grown in the garden is donated to local charities. In back from left, Roane State President Chris Whaley and alumni relations director Tamsin Miller also pitch in. (Submitted photo)

 

Service is becoming an important part of Jeremiah Johnson’s education.

“You do not really think about all the needs in the community until you serve in the community,” said Johnson, a Roane State Community College freshman. “It has opened me up to things. It has helped me as a person.”

Johnson receives the tnAchieves scholarship, which offers two years of community college tuition-free. The statewide Tennessee Promise program was based on tnAchieves. [Read more…]

Roane State, TCAT hosting job fairs to seek instructors

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Roane State Community College and the Tennessee College of Applied Technology in Harriman are hosting job fairs to seek instructors for courses.

Instructor positions are available on an as-needed basis and are not full-time positions.

A job fair will be held on Saturday, May 16, from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at Roane State’s Oak Ridge campus at 701 Briarcliff Avenue. A second fair will be held on Thursday, May 21, from 4-7 p.m. at the college’s Knox County Center for Health Sciences at 132 Hayfield Road.

Instructors are sought for courses in the following areas: computer skills, leadership, communication skills, supervisory training, team-building and motivation, customer service, lean manufacturing, quality control, management, practical nursing, nursing aide, IV-push certification, phlebotomy, welding, industrial electricity, industrial automation, and other subjects.

For more information, contact Sonya Parker at (865) 481-2031 or parkers@roanestate.edu.