Gov. Bill Haslam signs the FOCUS Act at an event at Tech, hosted by President Phil Oldham.
TECH GETS NEW GOVERNING BOARD
UNIVERSITY TO SEPARATE FROM TBR AND GOVERN ITS OWN AFFAIRS
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fter more than 40 years of governance by the Tennessee Board of Regents, Tennessee Tech will be governed by its own Board of Trustees. The Tennessee General Assembly passed the FOCUS Act last session. The act, one of Gov. Bill Haslam’s legislative priorities, allows the TBR to focus its efforts on community colleges and the Tennessee College of Applied Technology while providing greater autonomy for TBR’s four-year state universities. “With the passage of the FOCUS Act, Tennessee Tech will be embarking on a new chapter in its history,” said Phil Oldham, Tech’s president. “This gives us the autonomy to move freely, thoughtfully and quickly to adapt to changing public needs, providing the most relevant, cost-effective educational opportunities to drive Tennessee’s future economies.” There are 10 members of Tech’s board; nine voting and one nonvoting. The governor appointed eight of the members last fall (six who are alumni). The two members not appointed are a Tech faculty member, who was elected by the Faculty Senate, and a Tech student. The student is the nonvoting member and will be selected by the board from a list of three students provided by the university’s Student Government Association.
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TECH’S INAUGURAL BOARD Dr. Barbara Fleming
Fleming, Biology ’71, has been a physician, administrator and researcher during a career of public service. During the course of her career, she has received numerous awards and honors, including the Surgeon General’s Distinguished Service Medal for Contributions to the Health of the Nation, which is the highest award given by the U.S. Surgeon General. Melissa Geist
Geist is a professor in Tech’s Whitson-Hester School of Nursing, but her impact on the university is cross-disciplinary, often collaborating with faculty members in the colleges of Education, Engineering, and Interdisciplinary Studies. Along with her teaching experience, she has 20 years of experience as an emergency department/urgent care nurse practitioner.