The University of Tennessee at Martin Faculty and Staff Newsletter | October 12, 2015

addendaUT Martin reunites Vanderbilt fossil collection,

owns largest in Tennessee

PREHISTORIC REPTILES – Gibson is shown holding a plaster cast replica of an early crocodile relative. The cast was made in the early 1900s.

VARIETY – UT Martin’s new collection contains original fossil shells from the Coon Creek Formation in McNairy County, which scientists believe to be approximately 72 million years old. Gibson displays (l-r) the inside of a clam shell, a coiled snail and an oyster drill snail.

UT Martin is the new owner of the Vanderbilt University fossil collection, which contains between a quarter and a half-million specimens collected as early as the 19th century. Scientists believe many of the fossils themselves to be nearly 500 million years old.

The Vanderbilt University Department of Earth and Environmental Science is home to one of the oldest geology programs in Tennessee, but the collection was relocated in recent years due to space reallocation.

Dr. Michael Gibson, professor of geology at UT Martin and associate curator with the Pink Palace family of museums in Memphis, originally split the

specimens between the two institutions. However, the entire collection was reunited at UT Martin shortly before the start of the fall 2015 semester.

“We now have the largest single fossil collection in the state of Tennessee … and it’s a historical collection. There are specimens from Paris (France) and around the world. Most of it is from Tennessee and our region, but there are items from other places, too,” said Gibson. “Some of these fossils were actually on display at the Tennessee Centennial in 1896 in Nashville.”

The Vanderbilt collection has been combined with many other specimen donations made to UT Martin over the years and

will be available for research and classroom use by university students, as well as examination by the public and outside scientists to aid in geological discovery.

The UT Martin fossil archives include examples of shells, plants, and vertebrate and invertebrate animals, as well as many types of minerals and inorganic materials. Several items are currently on loan for display at the Discovery Park of America in Union City.

“The goal is, now that we’ve got these piecemeal things, is to start to thread all this into one great big facility,” said Gibson.

For more information, contact Gibson at 731-881-7435 or mgibson@utm.edu.

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YoUTMs faculty and staff excellence

Dr. Sean Walker, assistant professor of management, recently presented two papers at the Academy of Business Research Conference in Indianapolis, Ind. The first, titled “The What, Who, When, Where, Why, and How of Workplace Bullying,” received a “Best Paper Award” for the management/strategy division based on votes from session attendees. The second paper was titled “Workplace Bullying: Talk is more than just Talk.”

Dr. Lynn Alexander, professor and dean, College of Humanities and Fine Arts, presented a paper at the Victorians Institute Conference held Oct. 2-3 at Converse College in Spartanburg, S.C. Alexander’s paper, titled “The Corruption of Idleness: Why the Sons of Industry Fail,” examines the influence of Thomas Carlyle on condition-of-England novelists and explores the apparent failure of early industrial leaders to produce a second generation of leadership. The paper is part of a larger project on working-class masculinity in the Victorian novel.

Jason Stout, associate professor of art, currently has artwork included in two national juried shows, “Irene Rosenzweig Biennial 2015” at the Arts and Sciences Center for Southeast Arkansas in Pine Bluff, Ark., and “New Horizons: Contemporary Landscape” at the Community Arts Center in Danville, Ky. Stout also has an upcoming solo exhibit titled “Domestic Turbulence: Paintings and Drawings by Jason Stout” at the REM Gallery in San Antonio, Texas.

He has also worked with Lauren Bean, community development director for Dresden, to develop a proposal for the 2016 Creative Placemaking Grant, distributed by the Tennessee Arts Commission. As part of this grant, Stout and the UT Martin League of Striving Artists will create a public mural for the Dresden city park pavilion. Stout serves as the organization’s faculty adviser.

In addition, he was recently named the 2015-16 Art Educator of the Year by the Tennessee Art Education Association. More information on Stout’s artwork can be found in this month’s home and garden issue of the Tennessee Alumnus Magazine.

PICTURE OF HEALTH – Students from the nursing 341 mental health class helped provide free health screenings for Special Olympic athletes during the first annual health fair Sept. 11. They are pictured with (second row, from left) Dr. Mary Radford, associate professor and department chair; Dr. Julie Floyd, associate professor; and Christy Blount, lecturer at the UT Martin Parsons Center.

The Departments of Nursing, Educational Studies, and Health and Human Performance, along with the students of Kappa Delta Pi, the international honor society for education, hosted the first annual Special Olympics Health Fair on Sept. 11 in the Student Life Center.

UT Martin students and faculty members provided more than 60 free physicals and health screenings for Special Olympic athletes.

“Many of our athletes do not have access to proper health care so this was a great opportunity to make sure our athletes are ready for upcoming competitions,” said Dr. Clinton Smith, assistant professor of special education and area director for Special Olympics of Upper West Tennessee.

The Louisiana-Mississippi-West Tennessee Kiwanis District Foundation provided $1,300 to fund the project.

Faculty and students help

Special Olympics

Send your Addenda news to Nathan Morgan at nmorga15@utm.edu

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ALUMNI HONORS – (l-r) Duane Campbell, Reginald Hill and Kent Landers were recognized as 2015 alumni award recipients during the homecoming football game Oct. 10 against Tennessee State University.

Campbell, Hill and Landers receive alumni awards during homecoming festivities Oct. 10

Duane Campbell, formerly of Microsoft; Reginald Hill, of LifePoint Health; and Kent Landers, of The Cola-Cola Company, were honored as 2015 alumni award winners during the homecoming football game Oct. 10 against Tennessee State University.

Dr. Bob Smith, interim chancellor, presented the awards during the Chancellor’s Brunch and Awards Program in the Paul Meek Library on Saturday morning. The individual awards were as follows:

•Duane Campbell, Outstanding Alumni Award, which recognizes an alum for outstanding achievement in his/her chosen profession;

•Reginald Hill, Chancellor’s Award for University Service, which recognizes exemplary service to the university;

•Kent Landers, Outstanding Young Alumni Award, which recognizes outstanding

achievement in the recipient’s chosen profession (recipient must not be more than 40 years of age).

Campbell worked with Microsoft Corporation from 1985-2013 as a software development engineer, engineering lead, technical lead, development manager and director of development. He spent a majority of his tenure helping to develop the Microsoft Word and Excel programs.

The Saulsbury native graduated from UT Martin in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in music, with emphasis in piano. He then received a Master of Arts degree in mathematics with a concentration in computer science from Memphis State University in 1983. Campbell and his wife, Anita Sasser Campbell (UT Martin, 1981), have two children and a grandson. They currently live in the Seattle, Wash., area.

Hill has been named chief compliance officer by LifePoint Health. He leads the company’s ethics and compliance department, overseeing compliance initiatives for LifePoint and its nearly 60 hospitals.

Before joining the LifePoint staff, Hill spent more than 30 years working with Waller, Lansden, Dortch and Davis attorneys in Nashville, where he was a partner and former co-chair, as well as head of the firm’s health-care industry group. He has served as senior counsel to a number of publicly traded health-care companies, has helped take other companies to the public markets or sell to private-equity firms, and has advised boards on corporate governance matters such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

Landers serves as group director of corporate media relations for The Coca-Cola

Company at its corporate headquarters in Atlanta, Ga. He has been responsible for overseeing global media relations since 2011 and completed a one-year international assignment as vice president of public affairs and communications for the company’s Japan business unit in December 2014.

Before starting his career with Coca-Cola, Landers served as director of external communications for Delta Air Lines at its world headquarters, also in Atlanta, Ga. During his 12-year tenure, Landers served on the core communications team that defeated a hostile takeover attempt of Delta in 2006, managed communications for Delta’s chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in 2005, led communications during the airline’s successful re-emergence from bankruptcy and relisting on the New York Stock Exchange in 2007, and set communications strategy during the company’s merger with Northwest Airlines in 2008.

Landers is an accredited member of the Public Relations Society of America and has served on the board of directors of the PRSA-Georgia chapter and the national PRSA Foundation. He served as national president of the Public Relations Student Society of America during his time at UT Martin and has since served as a national co-chair for the Champions for PRSSA. He was also named among Georgia Trend magazine’s “Top 40 under 40” in 2008.

For more information about the alumni awards, contact the Office of Alumni Relations at 731-881-7610 or by email at alumni@utm.edu.

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Second Fall Preview Day slated for Oct. 24

The last 2015 Fall Preview Day will begin at 9 a.m., Oct. 24. High school students interested in attending UT Martin are encouraged to register for the event. Students and their parents/guardians can tour the campus and receive information on a variety of topics alongside other potential students.

Registration at 9 a.m. will be followed by an official university welcome at 9:30. Attendees will be given a tour of the UT Martin

A BREATH OF FRESH AIR – The quad comes to life as students find their way to classes.

campus at 10:30 and have the opportunity to speak with current students and faculty members from all five academic colleges at the academic and administrative fair beginning at noon. Representatives will also be available to discuss financial aid options, housing, meal plans, special programs and campus life activities.

All activities will take place in the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.

Advance registration is required and there is no fee to attend. Students may register up until the morning of the event. To register, visit www.utm.edu and select “Fall Preview Day Registration” under the “Discover” menu. Students may also call the UT Martin Office of Undergraduate Admissions at admitme@utm.edu or 731-881-7020 for additional details.

Rent a Geek!

Students from the University Scholars Organization will be available to complete yard work, house work and any other tasks Oct. 24-25 for an hourly donation.

If you are interested in “renting a geek,” contact Lauren Maddox, USO fundraising chair, at (256) 230-5203 or email laupmadd@ut.utm.edu.

Fall Break will be

Oct. 17-20

The percussion ensemble presented their “Roots of Rhythm” performance to nearly 3,000 West Tennessee students and community members Sept. 21-22. The 11th annual Roots of Rhythm tour included stops at the Milan, Selmer, Bells and Medina elementary schools and a public concert in Selmer’s Rockabilly Park. Drs. Julie Hill, professor and interim chair, UT Martin Department of Music; and Dan Piccolo, lecturer and

Roots of Rhythm tour a successassistant director of percussion, direct the ensemble. The 2015 Roots of Rhythm tour is sponsored by the UT Martin College of Humanities and Fine Arts, Zildjian Cymbals, Innovative Percussion, Amro Music, Evans Drumheads and the UT Martin Percussion Society. For more information on the tour or to inquire about upcoming performances, contact Hill at 731-881-7418 or by email at jhill@utm.edu.

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NATIONAL CHEMISTRY WEEK – Pictured at the proclamation signing are (seated, l-r) Dr. David Wing, Kentucky Lake Section chairperson and professor of chemistry at Union University; Jake Bynum, mayor, Weakley County; Randy Brundige, mayor, city of Martin; Layla Gargus, UT Martin SMACS president; (standing, l-r) Dr. S. K. Airee, professor of chemistry and SMACS faculty adviser; Dr. Abigail Shelton, assistant professor of chemistry and KLS chair-elect; Dr. Charles Thomas, chair, Department of Chemistry and Physics; Jessica Hightower, teacher, Westview High School; and UT Martin students Lucas McClure, Rachel Whiteman, Will Bratton, Tamara Sterrett, Jacob Thompson, Ginnie Geddie, Wilson Ross, Amber Taylor, John Sterrett, Phillip Pierce and Sam Toney. The students are all Martin residents except Whiteman, of Paris; Thompson, of Linden; and Ross, of Gleason.

National Chemistry Week includes special events Oct. 18-24Weakley County Mayor

Jake Bynum and Martin Mayor Randy Brundige have proclaimed Oct. 18-24 National Chemistry Week in Weakley County.

Members of the UT Martin chapter of the Student Members of the American Chemical Society and the Westview High School Science Club will host special chemistry demonstrations at 7 p.m., Oct. 22, in the Boling University Center’s Watkins Auditorium.

The demonstrations will focus on the week’s theme “Chemistry Colors Our World.” This event is held in conjunction with the Kentucky Lake Section of the American Chemical Society’s National Chemistry Week celebrations.

WUTM participates in World College Radio Day on Oct. 2

INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING – Pictured with the local proclamations are (front row, l-r) Sydney LaFreniere, of Oak Ridge, support and development director; Julia Ewoldt, of Savannah, business and traffic director; Tori Seng, of Union City, news director; (back row, l-r) Mayor Randy Brundige, city of Martin; Chuck Hammer, of Martin, program director; Ashley Shores, of Lebanon, administrative assistant; Ashleigh Burton, of South Fulton, production director; Kayla Harmon, of Lewisburg, sports director; and Dr. Bob Smith, interim chancellor. Not pictured is Toshya Leonard, of Jonesboro, Ark., digital media director.

The fourth annual World College Radio Day on Oct. 2 included “a unique 24 hours of college radio broadcasting, embracing different languages and cultures around the globe.”

The event had a West Tennessee connection thanks to WUTM 90.3 FM “The Hawk.” The station and staff participated in the international programming and served as state headquarters for World College Radio Day in Tennessee.

Martin Mayor Randy Brundige and Weakley County Mayor Jake Bynum issued proclamations recognizing the event within the local area and acknowledging the station’s many accomplishments.

WUTM has been recognized with awards from regional, national and international judging bodies and is the

Continued on page 6

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current “Best College Radio Station in the South,” as named by the Southeast Journalism Conference in March. The station has received this award five times since 2007.

WUTM staff members Ashleigh Burton, production director; Chuck Hammer, program director; and Tori Seng, news director; began the day with an appearance on “Good Times in the Morning” on WCMT/Mix 101.3.

Later that day, Dr. Bob Smith, UT Martin interim chancellor, made a special appearance in the WUTM newsroom to deliver the hourly news report to the campus.

For more information on World College Radio Day, visit www.worldcollegeradioday.com. For information on WUTM or the broadcasting concentration for communications majors, contact Dr. Richard Robinson, associate professor of communications and WUTM faculty adviser, at 731-881-7555 or by email at rrobins@utm.edu.

Continued from page 5

A WORTHY CAUSE – Members of the UT Martin staff attended the United Way First Ladies Luncheon at the Jackson Fairgrounds on Oct. 1. Attendees were able to meet Miss Tennessee Hannah Robison, a senior chemistry major at UT Martin, and discuss her platform “Campaign Against Pain: Arthritis Awareness” and her job as spokesperson for Tennessee’s Children’s Miracle Network hospitals. Pictured from the Office of Extended Campus and Online Studies and extended campus centers are (standing, l-r) Alan Youngerman, director, McNairy County Center/Selmer; Dr. Tommy Cates, executive director, ECOS; Robison; Dr. Bob Smith, interim chancellor; Jackie Johnson, dual enrollment coordinator, ECOS; (seated, l-r) Dr. Adam Wilson, interim director, Somerville operations; Kayce Beam, director, Jackson Center; Erica Bell, director of central office, ECOS; and Dr. Kelli Deere, director, Parsons Center.

The University of Tennessee at Martin

Published weekly during the academic year and biweekly during the summer by

UT Martin, Martin, TN 38238

• Dr. Joseph DiPietroPresident, University of Tennessee System

• Dr. Robert M. Smith - Interim Chancellor

• Nathan Morgan - Addenda Editor

UT Martin is an EEO/AA/Title VI/Title IX/Section 504/ADA/

ADEA employer.

E05-0425-00-001-16

addenda

Calendar•Oct. 13 – Faculty Showcase; Blankenship Recital Hall; 6:30 p.m.•Oct. 15-17 – Rodeo at Murray State University; Murray, Ky.•Oct. 16 – Soccer vs. Jacksonville State; Skyhawk Soccer Complex; 7 p.m.•Oct. 16 – Volleyball at Eastern Illinois; Charleston, Ill.; 7 p.m.•Oct. 17-20 – Fall Break•Oct. 17 – Rifle at Jacksonville State; Jacksonville, Ala.•Oct. 17 – Cross-country at Evansville Invitational; Evansville, Ind.•Oct. 17 – Volleyball at SIU Edwardsville; Edwardsville, Ill.; 2 p.m.•Oct. 17 – Football at Austin Peay State University; Clarksville; 4 p.m.•Oct. 18-20 – Golf at APSU Intercollegiate Tournament; Clarksville•Oct. 18-20 – Tennis at Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regional Tournament; West Lafayette, Ind.•Oct. 18 – Soccer at Belmont; Nashville; 2 p.m.•Oct. 19 – Rifle at North Georgia, Dahlonega, Ga.

“Questions and Answers” about UT Martin

•Question: The 2015 Fall Break dates are Oct. 17-20. How are Fall Break dates determined, and how far ahead are they set?

•Answer: The University Calendar Committee is responsible

for recommending all class scheduling dates, including when classes begin and end, semester breaks, study days and commencement exercises, for UT Martin. These dates must conform to the Faculty Senate designated instruction time for semester weeks and class minutes. The University Calendar Committee is chaired by the provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs and composed of 12 additional members, including the vice chancellors for student affairs and finance and administration, registrar, faculty senate president-elect, chair of the Committee on Instruction, two SGA representatives, and five faculty representatives, one from each college. Typically the committee meets annually and establishes a two-year working calendar, which is published on the website and in the university catalog each fall. The proposed calendar may be changed with the approval of the University Calendar Committee, as long as the dates conform to the Faculty Senate designated instruction time.

Submit your questions to the Suggestion Box link at www.utm.edu.

YoU Tell Me

Sick Leave BankThis is the first quarter of the fiscal

year, so quarter and year-to-date values are the same.

Report for period ending Sept. 30

MembershipBeginning 221Additions 16Terminations 7Ending 230

No requests made, granted or denied.

BankBeginning balance 6,525.39Enrollment assessment 372.00Needs assessment 0Sub-total 6,897.39Ending balance 6,897.39

Report compiled by J. Phillip Bright, director, Human Resources

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The week of Oct. 11 is National Vet Tech Week, and the university would like to recognize licensed veterinary health technologists (above, l-r) Erica Carroll, Renee Stubblefield, Amanda Waldron and Tara Woods, who will finish her licensing requirements in January, for their dedication to UT Martin students. The UT Martin Veterinary Health Technology Program is an option under the animal science major and is one of only 30 programs nationally offering four-year academic preparation in this area.

A look back at homecoming 2015

National Vet Tech Week, Oct. 11-17