Oak Ridge Today

Roane State graduate looks forward to career in journalism

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Kaleigh Jenkins

By Bob Fowler
Roane State staff writer

From the start, Kaleigh Jenkins knew Roane State Community College was right for her. After all, both parents attended Roane State and strongly encouraged her to consider the nearby community college.

“I thought going to a four-year school was not the right step for me,” the 20-year-old said.

So after graduating from Harriman High School, Jenkins enrolled at Roane State and hasn’t looked back. She graduated this summer and is looking forward to her future, which she hopes involves journalism.

She received an associate degree in mass communications and is enrolled this fall at University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where she’ll be pursuing a bachelor’s degree in communications.

[Read more…]

Lecture to discuss ORNL work for NASA’s space nuclear thermal propulsion program

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Thomas Harrison

Thomas Harrison, a group leader at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, will give an overview this evening of the work that ORNL performs for NASA’s space nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) program, a press release said.

ORNL performs research on materials, fuels, instrumentation and control components and techniques, and systems analysis, all of which are vital to the successful deployment of NTP, the press release said. Harrison will also describe some of the challenges facing the technology and the methods that ORNL researchers are using to overcome them.

Harrison is currently the Advanced Nuclear System Safety and Licensing Group Leader at ORNL, the press release said. [Read more…]

Roane State announces winner of annual adjunct faculty teaching excellence award

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Roane State Community College English instructor Wendy Bennett is the recipient of the college’s annual award for teaching excellence by an adjunct faculty member. (Photo by Roane State)

Roane State Community College English instructor Wendy Bennett is the recipient of the college’s annual award for teaching excellence by an adjunct faculty member.

The announcement that Bennett won the Clyde James “Jim” Dunigan Adjunct Faculty Award was made during fall convocation on Wednesday, August 11, a press release said. The event was held on the Roane County campus and streamed live online.

Originally titled the Adjunct Faculty Award, the honor was renamed for Dunigan, who was the first recipient of the accolade. He taught as an adjunct from Spring 1989 to Spring 2016. He died in June 2016.

His widow, Flory Dunigan, an advisory member of the Roane State Foundation, presented Bennett with the award, which includes a plaque and $250. Finalists Martha Trisler, Scott Jamison, and Debby Sexton received $150 checks, also courtesy of the Roane State Foundation.

[Read more…]

ESPN writer to speak at benefit for AC Middle College students at Roane State

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

ESPN Senior Writer Chris Low will be the featured speaker at a September luncheon to benefit Anderson County Middle College students attending Roane State Community College.

The Anderson County Chamber of Commerce has partnered with Roane State Community College Foundation and Anderson County Schools to host the luncheon. It’s scheduled from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, September 15, at The Hollingsworth Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, also known as Junior Achievement of East Tennessee, at 2135 North Charles Seivers Boulevard in Clinton. Individual tickets are $30, and tables of 8 are $250, a press release said. Tickets are available at https://tinyurl.com/RSCCMiddle.

Low has been covering college sports for more than 34 years, a press release said. Before he joined ESPN in 2007, Low worked at The Tennessean in Nashville for 10 years covering University of Tennessee athletics. A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Low was born in St. Charles, Missouri, and he grew up in Rock Hill, South Carolina. He lives in Knoxville will his wife Julie, and they have three sons, Josh, Adam, and Sean.

[Read more…]

Roane State recommends face masks indoors

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Roane State Community College has updated its COVID-19 response plan to include the recommendation that all students, faculty, staff and visitors wear face masks when indoors on campus.

This change is in response to a number of factors, including a recent surge in COVID-19 cases locally, the new Delta variant, and new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Tennessee Department of Health, and the Tennessee Board of Regents, a press release said.

The updated face mask recommendation applies to anyone who enters a building on a Roane State campus, regardless of vaccination status. New signs are being posted on campuses to reflect this information, and the entire campus community has been notified of the request, the press release said.

[Read more…]

Roane State partners with Tennessee Tech for new dual enrollment program

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Roane State Community College Technology Building
The Technology Building at Roane State Community College’s main campus in Harriman is pictured above. (Photo by Roane State)

A new program designed to provide a smooth transition from Roane State Community College to Tennessee Tech University will launch this fall. The program, dubbed “Roane to Tech,” ensures that all Roane State graduates have guaranteed admission to Tennessee Tech, a press release said.

“The strong relationship we’ve built with our friends at Tennessee Tech has allowed us to provide yet another path for our students to receive a world-class education,” Roane State President Chris Whaley said. “The goal of this program is to remove the misconception of difficult transfers and reduce anxieties for transfer students.”

Roane to Tech students will be known as “Golden Raiders,” a combination of Roane State Raiders and Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles. Through the new program, students have multiple opportunities to take advantage of dual enrollment benefits, the press release said.

Those in Agriculture, Biology, Business, Psychology, or Sociology programs will be considered students at both institutions, receiving predefined degree plans, advising services from both schools, special access to events, waived application fees, and free Roane to Tech gear, the press release said.

[Read more…]

Triplets tour Roane State as they look ahead to college

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Roane State’s Jack Parker talks with the Dunsmore family during their tour of the Coffey/McNally Building, in background, and the Goff Building on the Oak Ridge Branch Campus. From left: Jack Parker with Megan, Todd, Jennifer, Jacob, and Luke Dunsmore. (Photo by Roane State Community College)

By Bob Fowler
Roane State staff writer

Roane State employee Jack Parker has been giving prospective students tours of the community college for years, but this was a first for him.

Parker recently provided a detailed overview of the Oak Ridge Branch Campus to triplets, all of whom came away with upbeat opinions of their upcoming collegiate experiences.

Following him through the corridors and into the classrooms and high-tech labs in the Coffey/McNally and Goff Buildings were triplets Jacob, Megan, and Luke Dunsmore, along with their parents, Jennifer and Todd Dunsmore.

The Dunsmores are residents of Knox County’s Fountain City area, and their children graduated in May from the First Baptist Academy in Powell. The trio attended that private school from kindergarten through their senior year.

[Read more…]

Roane State’s Herron wins EMS Advocate honor

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Pictured, from left: John Fitzsimmons, retired director of Lincoln Medical Center EMS, Roane State’s Thomas Herron, and Rick Valentine, director of the Sevier County Ambulance Service. (Photo courtesy Linda P Photography)

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

Roane State’s Thomas Herron knows first-hand the trauma that EMS personnel can experience as part of their jobs.

Twenty-four years ago, he and a partner responded to an emergency call for a nine-year-old who did not survive. “I knew it bothered me, but I never realized how deeply at first,” Herron said.

Then, in March 2019, he learned that his partner from that call had taken their own life. A note was found that “mentioned me and that call,” said Herron, a Roane State assistant professor and clinical coordinator.

The incident was seared into his psyche, prompting Herron to launch a campaign to make EMS personnel aware of the “exploding problems with mental health issues” also faced by firefighters and law enforcement personnel.

“We’ve always told ourselves we’re supposed to be tougher,” Herron said, “but there’s so much research showing we’re missing the early warning signs of mental health issues.”

[Read more…]

Madison Lamon wins President’s Award, Roane State’s highest student honor

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Madison Lamon

By Bob Fowler
Roane State staff writer

It was the perfect setting for a surprise announcement: surrounded by her teammates and coach at a team cookout.

Madison “Madi” Lamon watched on a YouTube livestream on Awards Night that she had been named the winner of Roane State Community College’s highest student honor – the President’s Award.

“I was very surprised,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting it at all.”

Lamon, 19, a pitcher for the Roane State Raiders softball team, is the latest recipient of the award, and on an auspicious occasion – the 50th anniversary of the community college. Current Roane State President Chris Whaley won the award as a student in 1989.

[Read more…]

AT&T’s ‘Believe Tennessee’ campaign partners with Roane State Community College to support area students

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The AT&T Foundation is helping support Roane State Foundation’s Pay-It-Forward Emergency Aid fund with a $5,000 donation. AT&T employees and students from Roane State also collected school supplies for students at Ridge View Elementary in Rockwood, where the check presentation was recently held. TBR Assistant Vice Chancellor for Strategic Advancement Cris Perkins, Roane State Foundation Executive Director Scott Niermann, Roane State President Chris Whaley, and Roane County Director of Schools LaDonna McFall are joined by local elected officials Sen. Ken Yager and Rep. Kent Calfee along with members of the Roane State golf team, Ridge View Elementary staff, and representatives from AT&T Tennessee. (Submitted photo)

Donation to support Student Emergency Fund at Roane State Community College and school supplies for Ridge View Elementary students

Harriman—AT&T said it has a long-standing commitment to the future of Tennessee and through its initiative – Believe Tennessee – the AT&T team is working with community leaders and organizations to remove barriers to academic success and engage youth to have an impact in their communities.

As part of this effort, the AT&T Foundation has donated $5,000 to Roane State Community College’s nonprofit Foundation to support the Pay-It-Forward Emergency Aid fund. This fund ensures students receive the support they need in times of financial distress, a press release said. Additionally, AT&T employees and students from Roane State have collected school supplies for students at Ridge View Elementary.

“We are thrilled to see AT&T expand their commitment to community engagement through this project,” said Chris Whaley, president of Roane State Community College. “Our local students will benefit greatly from this gift and AT&T’s continued support of higher education.”

[Read more…]

Rockwood celebrates 50th anniversary of Roane State, Harriman TCAT

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Banners in Rockwood celebrate the 50th anniversary of Roane State Community College and Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Harriman. (Photo courtesy RSCC)

By Bob Fowler
Roane State staff writer

Banners commemorating the 50th anniversary of Roane State Community College and the Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Harriman now line Rockwood’s main thoroughfare.

The 10 large banners are on utility poles from Wheeler Street to Rockwood Street on Gateway Avenue near the downtown district. Each features a photo of a graduate of either Roane State or TCAT-Harriman in wardrobes representing professions in which they acquired expertise during their studies.

The signs are also on display on the college’s flagship campus in Roane County.

“Roane State and TCAT-Harriman have been community partners with all of us for all these years,” said Becky Ruppe, Rockwood city administrator and recorder.

[Read more…]

RSCC dual enrollment students earn national recognition

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Susan Dale artwork (Photo by Roane State Community College)

Two of Roane State Art Professor Bryan Wilkerson’s dual credit students can say they’ve been part of a prestigious national exhibition.

Dual credit students are taught by Roane State Community College educators and receive both college and high school credits for their work.

Susan Dale, who graduated last year from Oak Ridge High School, and current ORHS student Alex Dahl had their creations displayed in the 23rd Annual National K-12 Ceramic Exhibition held in Richmond, Virginia, a press release said.

The exhibition was for ceramic artwork created in the 2019-20 academic year. “The work they were making during that academic school year was exceptional,” Wilkerson said. “Just being included in the exhibition is quite an honor.”

[Read more…]