CSCC Voted College Of The Year By College System Of Tennessee

During the first Statewide Outstanding Achievement Recognition (SOAR) event held Wednesday night in Nashville, the College System of Tennessee honored Cleveland State as College of the Year taking home the gleaming new College Cup. CSCC was the first to have its name engraved on the Cup that it will display on campus until next year’s SOAR awards. 

More than 300 students, faculty, presidents and staff from the system’s 13 Community Colleges and 27 Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology, state legislators, public officials, philanthropists and other guests attended the event at the DoubleTree Hotel Downtown Nashville. 

Accepting the award for Cleveland State was President Bill Seymour who stated, “Awards like this don’t just happen. Our faculty and staff have worked tirelessly for years. Dedication to pathways and college completion have permeated our campus for years. We have changed our culture to make sure we are totally focused on student success. This award goes to over 300 people back in Cleveland, Tennessee.”

TBR Chancellor Flora Tydings, who presented the award to Cleveland State President Bill Seymour, said the college has not only grown its enrollment, but has also had significant improvements in retention and graduation rates, particularly for minority students, helping to close equity gaps. The college increased the number of Associate degrees and certificates awarded by 10 percent. 

Ms. Tydings stated, “Notably, CSCC has grown its Honors program from 14 to 100 students in three years and is the only TBR college with an Honors articulation agreement with the University of Tennessee Knoxville.”

The other two College of the Year finalists were Pellissippi State Community College and Tennessee College of Applied Technology Elizabethton. All three colleges advanced through a review of institutional data on three key metrics: performance improvement, overcoming obstacles and program expansion.