Nashville State Community College is a comprehensive, regionally accredited, two-year community college in Nashville, Tennessee operated by the Tennessee Board of Regents. Nashville State shares a 109-acre (0.44Â km2) campus with the Tennessee Technology Center at Nashville. The Nashville State facilities include 239,000 square feet (22,200Â m2) of space for classrooms, labs, offices, student services, and a library. Nashville State offers a wide array of programs and degrees including: degree and certificate studies, university parallel transfer programs, continuing education, adult education, MNPS's Middle College High School, Dual Enrollment and community service programs.
Nashville State serves a seven county service area of Middle Tennessee, which includes Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Houston, Humphreys, Montgomery, and Stewart counties. Nashville State is an open-entry postsecondary institution offering almost 50 majors of study toward an AA, AS, AST and AAS degree and 12 certificate programs. In addition, Nashville State offers continuing education courses ranging from technical skills to management training and programs providing training in such areas as computer-aided drafting and office technology.
History
It has its origins in a planned redevelopment of a campus on White Bridge Road which was formerly the site of Thayer Hospital, a hospital operated by what is now the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. When the hospital was relocated adjacent to Vanderbilt University and its Medical Center in the 1960s, part of its former campus became the home of Nashville State Technical Institute.
NSTI or Nashville Tech, as it was generally known, was formed to supply the training needed for positions requiring only the Associate's degree or professional certificates, but also to provide the beginning years of a more advanced technical education. At first, liberal arts offerings were essentially the minimum required for the institution to meet these goals, but the plan was always for NSTI to become a full community college. Nashville State opened in 1970 with an enrollment of 398 students.
As time went by, and liberal arts offerings increased somewhat, the school was used more and more by students who were looking to complete the first two years of a four-year degree at a more affordable cost. Some of these students found that credits earned at NSTI were hard to transfer to other accredited schools outside of the Tennessee Board of Regents system. A revamping of the curriculum was put in place to address this concern, and concurrently the institution was renamed Nashville State Community College, a pattern which had already been established at the other, similar urban technical institutes in the state.
Unlike other community colleges operated by the Tennessee Board of Regents, Nashville State does not conduct any intercollegiate athletics programs. Under the terms of a judicial consent decree, Nashville State must carefully tailor its offerings so as not to be in direct competition for students with Tennessee State University, a historically black university also located in Nashville, which has been ordered by federal court to achieve a higher degree of racial integration.
Administration
Dr. George H. Van Allen, who has served as president since 1992 will retire in December 2017. A presidential search is currently being conducted.
Previous presidents
-Dr. Edward Weld
-Dr. Howard Lawrence
-Dr. Richard Turner
Campuses
Nashville State offers classes and programs throughout its seven county service area. There are five campuses offering classes: the main campus, Cookeville, Humphreys County (in Waverly), Southeast Center (in Nashville), and the newest site in Dickson. The college has an enrollment of over 8,000 full- and part-time students enrolled at its campuses and other locations.
Main campus
The main campus of Nashville State is located at 120 White Bridge Rd.
Cookeville
The Cookeville Campus is located at 1000 Neal Street. Students at the Cookeville Campus can take the General Education core as well as study for A.A.S. Degrees in Business Management, Computer Technology, Electrical Engineering Technology, General Technology, Office Administration, Police Science and Social Services. Students can also study towards technical certificates, ESL, and CISCO.
Humphreys County
The Humphreys County Campus is located at 695 Holly Lane in Waverly. Students at the Humphreys County Campus can take courses applicable toward an Associate of Applied Science in Process Control Technology, General Technologyâ€"Options: Business or Technical Concentration, Business Managementâ€"Options: Business Administration, Entrepreneurship, Financial Services, and Marketing, as well as the General Education core leading to an Associate of Arts, or Associate of Science degree.
Southeast
The Southeast Campus is located at 5248 Hickory Hollow Parkway in Nashville. Students at the Southeast Campus can take courses applicable toward an Associate of Applied Science, Associate of Arts, or Associate of Science degrees. Students can also enroll ESL classes and College Prep classes.
Dickson
The Dickson site is located at The Renaissance Center, 855 Highway 46 South. Students at the Dickson Site can take courses applicable toward an Associate of Applied Science, Associate of Arts, or Associate of Science degrees.
Clarksville
The Clarksville Campus is located at 1760 Wilma Rudolph Blvd. Clarksville, TN 37040.
External links
- Nashville State website
- Tennessee State Board of Regents website
