Clarksville, TN – Leadership Clarksville’s Class of 2023 recently visited Austin Peay State University (APSU) to gain a deeper understanding of the campus’s impact on its students and the surrounding community, an annual tradition for the program.
During Leadership Clarksville Education Day, business and community leaders toured campus, formed connections with University officials and learned about several ways Austin Peay State University contributes to Clarksville’s economic and cultural vitality.
“Getting community leaders on campus is a great way to share information with them,” said Dr. Carol Clark, chief government and community relations officer and secretary to the APSU Board of Trustees. “In learning more about the University and being here, they can meet some of our thought leaders and people who are making things happen. Those initial connections can help us identify opportunities to partner, collaborate and share resources.”
Clark said the goal was to showcase Austin Peay State University’s newest initiatives, buildings and success stories – from the innovations being driven by the Colleges of Education and STEM to the accomplishments of the ROTC and athletics programs.
One of the latest developments is the Eriksson College of Education’s first-of-its-kind teacher pipeline program. Dr. Prentice Chandler, dean of the Erikkson College of Education, outlined the initiative during Leadership Clarksville’s visit.
“What we care about is ensuring that people who want to be teachers can be teachers,” Chandler said. “In 2018-19, we had the idea of creating a program … to fund students to go to school for free to become teachers while working in the school district for pay and benefits, and to receive a college education for free.”
Chandler said the program served 40 students in each of its first two years, matching them with some of Tennessee’s highest-performing teachers. Since then, the University has partnered with community colleges and rural counties to grow the program, with approximately 200 students expected to begin the pipeline in May.
“This led to Austin Peay State University and Clarksville-Montgomery County being named as the first registered teaching apprenticeship out of the Department of Labor in history,” Chandler said. “That happened early last year. The reason this is a big deal is that once you’re a registered apprenticeship with the federal government, you can apply for money to pay for all of [the program costs.]”
Traci Koon, part of Leadership Clarksville’s Class of 2023, already works closely with the College of Education on the program as an educator pipeline facilitator for the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System (CMCSS).
However, she was able to learn valuable information about opportunities within the APSU College of STEM and the scope of APSU’s ROTC program while touring campus.
“[ROTC] connect[s] with the activities I do in the community with the military, and with what I now know about the APSU College of STEM I can help CMCSS understand what’s available for students at the university level,” she said. “That’s important because we want to keep people in our community if it’s at all possible.”
University Athletics also showcased its commitment to building the community with its move to the new F&M Bank Arena, a 250,000 square-foot facility that will begin hosting events for the University and its surrounding areas in July 2023.
“The partnership that athletics is doing with the new F&M Bank Arena is something that’s just phenomenal for the University, so I was happy to hear about that,” Koon said. “Just the leadership overall stood out – every single department we went to talked about how to best support and grow students, and to me that was the most impressive thing about the APSU visit.”
Leadership Clarksville’s visit also provided valuable insights for members who work at Austin Peay, including LaNeeça Williams, the University’s chief diversity officer and Title IX coordinator.
“It was a terrific opportunity for us to learn more about specific programs on campus,” she said. “I think when you work at a university there should always be opportunities to learn about what’s happening because there will eventually be a student, parent or someone in the community you can connect with a program or a contact.”
Williams will graduate from Leadership Clarksville in May alongside her classmates, and she’ll have the opportunity to continue supporting the program as future cohorts visit Austin Peay State University.
“We try to reengage our alumni whenever we host Leadership Clarksville because part of the whole experience as a participant is building your network,” Clark said. “Not just within your class, but your community.”
While the Leadership Clarksville class spent a half-day on Austin Peay State University’s campus for Education Day, presenters from the College of Business, the Newton Military Family Resource Center, and other areas of the University addressed them during other class sessions this year.
For more information about Leadership Clarksville, visit https://leadershipclarksville.com.
