Tennessee Board of Regents
Encyclopedia
The Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) is one of the two systems of public higher education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...

 in Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

. The TBR was authorized by an act of the Tennessee General Assembly
Tennessee General Assembly
The Tennessee General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional structure:According to the Tennessee State Constitution of 1870, the General Assembly is a bicameral legislature and consists of a Senate of thirty-three members and a House of Representatives of...

 passed in 1972. According to its own figures, it is the sixth-largest system of public higher education in the United States, supervising all public higher education institutions in the state that are not governed by the University of Tennessee system
University of Tennessee system
The University of Tennessee system is one of two public university systems in the state of Tennessee. It consists of three primary campuses in Knoxville, Chattanooga and Martin, a health sciences campus in...

, including comprehensive four-year universities, all of the state's community college
Community college
A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries.-Australia:Community colleges carry on the tradition of adult education, which was established in Australia around mid 19th century when evening classes were held to help adults...

s, and all of the Tennessee Technology Centers (formerly called "technical institutes" and "State-Area Vo-Tech Schools").

Originally founded as the State University and Community College System of Tennessee, the TBR currently comprises six universities
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

: Middle Tennessee State University
Middle Tennessee State University
Middle Tennessee State University, commonly abbreviated as MTSU, is a public university located in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, United States....

, University of Memphis
University of Memphis
The University of Memphis is an American public research university located in the Normal Station neighborhood of Memphis, Tennessee and is the flagship public research university of the Tennessee Board of Regents system....

, Tennessee Technological University
Tennessee Technological University
Tennessee Technological University, popularly known as Tennessee Tech, is an accredited public university located in Cookeville, Tennessee, US, a city approximately seventy miles east of Nashville. It was formerly known as Tennessee Polytechnic Institute , and before that as Dixie College, the...

, East Tennessee State University
East Tennessee State University
East Tennessee State University is an accredited American university located in Johnson City, Tennessee. It is part of the Tennessee Board of Regents system of colleges and universities, the nation's sixth largest system of public education, and is the fourth largest university in the state...

, Austin Peay State University
Austin Peay State University
Austin Peay State University is a four-year public university located in Clarksville, Tennessee, and operated by the Tennessee Board of Regents. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools .-History:...

, and Tennessee State University
Tennessee State University
Tennessee State University is a land-grant university located in Nashville, Tennessee. TSU is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennessee.-History:...

, 13 community colleges, and 27 technology centers. The technology centers were added to TBR control in 1982. Unlike the situation in most states, TBR component institutions do not have their own board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...

, board of trustees or similar bodies at the campus
Campus
A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...

 level; the TBR hires institution presidents and approves the promotions of senior faculty
Faculty (university)
A faculty is a division within a university comprising one subject area, or a number of related subject areas...

 and staff. This centralized system has frequently come under serious criticism and there are frequent proposals to replace the TBR with a system under which each component school, or at least each of the universities, would have its own independent board; thus far no such proposal has been enacted.

The professional head of the TBR system is referred to as its "Chancellor," a title granted by many systems (including the University of Tennessee system) to the head of a campus. The leaders of TBR universities and community colleges are referred to as "Presidents." The TTCs are led by "Directors." Some of the Regents who serve on the TBR are active and identifiable political
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...

 supporters of the governor who appointed them or are granted membership by another office held by them. Regents represent both major political parties in the state.

The competition for limited state dollars between members of the Regents system and the University of Tennessee system is an annual event before the General Assembly; to mitigate this somewhat there also exists the Tennessee Higher Education Commission
Tennessee Higher Education Commission
The Tennessee Higher Education Commission is the established by the Tennessee General Assembly in 1900, primarily to achieve coordination between the various public higher education institutions in the state.-Composition:...

, which serves, among other functions, to coordinate the activities and goals of the two systems to a degree. This body has representatives from both systems; unsurprisingly this three-pronged approach to higher education management in the state is frequently widely criticized, but appears too politically entrenched to seem likely to be changed at the current time.

Composition

The Tennessee Board of Regents system is governed by 18 board members. The board meets four times each year at regularly scheduled meetings, and the chairman may call additional meetings during the year as needed. The 18 members of the board consist of: 12 lay citizens appointed for six-year terms by the governor, with one each from the state's nine congressional districts and three grand divisions; one faculty member from among the system institutions appointed by the governor for a one-year term; one student from among the system institutions appointed by the governor for a one-year term ; and four ex-officio members--the Governor of Tennessee, the Commissioner of Education, the Commissioner of Agriculture, and the Executive Director of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, who is a non-voting member.

Current members

  • The Honorable Bill Haslam
    Bill Haslam
    William Edward "Bill" Haslam is the 49th and current Governor of Tennessee. A member of the Republican Party, Haslam was elected to office in 2010...

    , Governor (Ex-Officio)
  • VACANT, 7th Congressional District
  • Gregory Duckett, Vice-Chair, 9th Congressional District, 2006-2012
  • Barry Gidcomb, Faculty Regent, 2010-2011
  • John Farris, At-Large West Tennessee, 2008-2014
  • Tom Griscom
    Tom Griscom
    Thomas Cecil "Tom" Griscom was the executive editor and publisher of the Chattanooga Times Free Press in Tennessee, United States from October 1999 to June 30, 2010.-Life and career:...

    , 3rd Congressional District, 2010-2011
  • The Honorable Julius Johnson, Commissioner of Agriculture (Ex-Officio)
  • Jonas Kisber, 8th Congressional District, 2008-2014
  • Fran Marcum, 4th Congressional District, 2010-2016
  • Paul W. Montgomery, 1st Congressional District, 2007-2013
  • Casey McCullum, Student Regent, 2010-2011
  • John S. "Steve" Copeland, DVM, 6th Congressional District, 2009 - 2012
  • Richard Rhoda, Executive Director, Tennessee Higher Education Commission (Ex-Officio)
  • Howard Roddy, At-Large, East Tennessee, 2010-2016
  • Emily J. Reynolds
    Emily J. Reynolds
    Emily J. Reynolds was the Secretary of the United States Senate from January 7, 2003 to January 3, 2007. She was appointed Secretary of the Senate when the United States Senate convened on January 7, 2003, for the 108th Congress. Prior to her appointment as Secretary, Reynolds was the chief of...

    , At-Large, Middle Tennessee, 2010-2012
  • Robert P. Thomas, 5th Congressional District, 2009-2015
  • Danni B. Varlan, 2nd Congressional District, 2010-2013

External links

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