Middle Tennessee Education Center moves towards fall classes

Middle Tennessee Education Center, the new Middle Tennessee State University/Motlow State Community College joint venture in Shelbyville, is continuing to move toward offering classes this fall.

The facility is located in the Medical Arts Building on Dover Street, behind the old Bedford County Medical Center. Offices are already open, and the plan is to have classrooms set up and ready for use by September.

MTSU plans, depending on interest, to begin offering master's-level education classes this fall, including classes toward:

• A Master of Education (M.Ed.) degree;
• The Education Specialist (Ed.S.) degree, which follows the master's level but is less than a doctorate;
• A Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis on reading; and
• The Master of Science in teaching mathematics.

Interest meetings about the first three programs have been held with area teachers, and information about the fourth has been sent out to teachers, according to Molly Culbreath, who is coordinating the facility for MTSU.

MTSU would also like to offer the prior learning assessment course for its Adult Degree Completion Program. That course would be offered as a hybrid of classroom instruction and online learning. The Adult Degree Completion Program is geared toward working adults who have previous college credit, military experience or work-related experience and training that can help get them closer to a college degree.

Motlow will offer four courses at the site this fall, with hopes of expanding the program further in the future, according to Rhonda Cotham, director of advisement. The courses will be:

• Economics I, Thursdays from 6 until 8:45 p.m.
• Developmental writing, Mondays and Wednesdays from 6 until 7:15 p.m.
• Developmental math, Mondays and Wednesdays from 4:30 until 5:45 p.m.
• Introduction to sociology, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:30 until 5:45 p.m.

The economics and sociology classes would be suitable for high school students to take as part of a "joint enrollment" program. This is a program which allows students to start earning college credits even while they are in high school. "Joint enrollment" differs from "dual enrollment," which gives the student both high school and college credit for the same course.

Culbreath has been keeping office hours in Shelbyville on Mondays and Wednesdays from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. or by appointment. She is taking applications, handing out information and helping put students in touch with the correct MTSU officials in Murfreesboro.

Rhonda Cotham said that Renee Cotham, another Motlow staff member, will begin keeping office hours in Shelbyville next week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:30 until 6:30 p.m.

Culbreath said she is interested in talking to any potential students, not just those who would be interested in taking this fall's education classes. In some cases, there are online courses already in place for students in other fields of study, and Culbreath can help get students started on an online study program. MTSU may take student interest into account when deciding what classes to offer here in the future.

Culbreath said the Shelbyville site can even be a non-threatening way for any student to learn a little bit more about MTSU and its course offerings without making the trip to the big campus in Murfreesboro. She has MTSU course catalogs and other literature which, on the main campus, would require trips to several different offices to collect.

"It's a good way a person can come in and begin to be introduced to the university," she said.

MTSU had announced last October that it was seeking input at a newly-created web site on the proposal to open a satellite campus in Shelbyville. Later, the program was formally announced as a joint venture of MTSU and Motlow. Both parent schools are under the auspices of the Tennessee Board of Regents.

The relocation of Bedford County Medical Center to a new facility, called Heritage Medical Center, has caused some doctors to leave the county-owned Medical Arts Building, freeing it up for other uses. Bedford County has moved some administrative offices, such as the finance department and the zoning and codes department, into the two-story portion of the building, and MTEC will operate in the older, single-story portion.

What you can do

For more information on MTEC or to schedule an appointment, call 685-4444. Additional information will be posted at www.mteducationcenter.com, which currently has a sign-up form for a mailing list about available programs and activities.