Research
“This elite status places us among a select group of only 3% of institutions nationwide to earn the R2 designation.”
As a publicly supported institution of higher learning, we take our role to serve the state of Tennessee very seriously, which includes preparing undergraduate and graduate students to enter the workforce well educated and skilled. However, this role also involves conducting research and creative activities that produce knowledge, information, data, technologies, know-how, and other outcomes that are disseminated from MTSU to the whole state to help improve the economy, services, and quality of life for all Tennesseans.
In March 2022, we celebrated our advancement to an R2–high research activity doctoral university designation in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. This elite status places us among a select group of only 3% of institutions nationwide to earn the R2 designation. The MTSU Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) is building the foundation to expand the research enterprise at MTSU, including supporting wider participation and increased dollar amounts in grants brought to the University. These activities continue to provide our students with ever-expanding opportunities to participate in research projects, and many of these projects impact our community in significant ways.
MTSU doubled its proposals for National Science Foundation funding July 1–Dec. 31, 2022, with more than $10 million in proposed projects thus far in fiscal year 2023 (over the first six months in fiscal year 2022).
External funding proposals increased by approximately 39% in the current fiscal year as compared with the first two quarters of last fiscal year.
The ORSP is currently managing a grant portfolio of just over $59 million in external funding for fiscal year 2023. Much of our research output emanates from our Graduate Studies program and faculty-student collaborations.
Highlights of our Graduate Studies efforts in 2022 included the launch of our Physician Assistant Studies master’s program, which included an inaugural cohort of 30 diverse students (19 of whom are from Tennessee) who aim to serve rural communities where high-quality health care is not currently available. Their impact on the Midstate region and beyond will be significant. The program—the first public PA program in middle Tennessee—is unique in the state, offering the lowest tuition, an innovative curriculum, and a commitment to admitting 30% of its students from diverse backgrounds.
MTSU also launched an M.S. in Data Science. The success of our Data Science graduate certificate program led us to offer a master’s program in this important field that is in high demand across the state. Students who have already received certificates may take the remaining courses to obtain their M.S. degrees. (A Ph.D. in Computational and Data Science is also available.)
The University also created a stand-alone M.S. in Supply Chain Management at a time when supply chain disruptions, product shortages, and delivery delays continue making headlines.
MAY
Physician Assistant First
MTSU’s new Physician Assistant Studies, graduate program had been a decade in the making, and the University marked the occasion with a grand opening event May 13.
Held in the lobby of the Cason-Kennedy Nursing Building on campus, the celebration included a ribbon-cutting and tour of the new lab space.
It’s the only public program in middle Tennessee.
Successful candidates in the 27-month program will earn a Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies.
Physician assistants are licensed to diagnose and treat illness and disease, prescribe medication, and perform procedures. They work in collaboration with licensed physicians in a variety of settings, including hospitals and clinics.
Physician assistant (PA) is one of the fastest-growing occupational sectors in the Midstate, with a growth rate of 42% and with one-third of all PA positions in Tennessee located in the Metro Nashville area.
Support for Free Speech
In May 2022, internet entrepreneur Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, and his philanthropic foundation presented a second $25,000 gift to help the MTSU Free Speech Center expand its programs and services.
Craig Newmark Philanthropies, known for funding Newmark's longtime support of journalism initiatives, said MTSU’s Free Speech Center, which works to educate the public about the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment, “plays a serious role” in preserving democracy.
The nonpartisan public policy center, based in MTSU’s College of Media and Entertainment, serves myriad audiences but focuses on high schools and colleges across the country to build students’ understanding of the First Amendment’s guarantees of free speech, press, religion, assembly, and petitioning the government.
The Newmark organization previously invested in the center’s work with a $25,000 gift to the Free Speech Center in October 2020.True Blue Pathway” agreement.
American Idol
In advance of her appearance in the season finale of American Idol, MTSU alumna Hunter Wolkonowski went home to Winchester, Tennessee, Tuesday, on May 17 to bask in the love and support of her fellow Franklin Countians.
Popularly known as HunterGirl, the 23-year-old country singer-songwriter would eventually finish second in the talent competition program.
Wolkonowski, who graduated from MTSU in spring 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in the Department of Recording Industry’s Music Business program, took a songwriting class from Odie Blackmon, an associate Recording Industry professor, in 2019. Blackmon presented her with an honorary professorship from her alma mater during the celebration of her Idol success outside the Oldham Theatre on the public square of her hometown.
