Middle Tennessee State University unveils ‘Career EDGE’, next steps at QEP town hall

MURFREESBORO, Tenn — Dozens of Middle Tennessee State University faculty, staff and students received an overview of progress thus far and discussed the next steps in the school’s latest Quality Enhancement Plan concept at a QEP town hall hosted Wednesday, March 5, on campus.

Held inside the School of Concrete and Construction Management Building, the meeting featured QEP leadership sharing drafts and research from its committees and gathering feedback from the campus community about the goal of the QEP — career readiness.

Also revealed was the official name for the QEP, “Career EDGE,” with EDGE as an acronym for excellence, development, growth, and empowerment (though that verbiage could change.)

Middle Tennessee State University public health professor Chandra Story, left, speaks to faculty, staff and students who attended a Wednesday, March 5, town hall to discuss the university’s new Quality Enhancement Plan, or QEP, called “Career EDGE” built around the concept of career readiness. Seated up front, from left, are QEP committee members and faculty, Jenna Gray-Hildenbrand, Grant Gardner and Shannon Harmon. Story, who serves as the QEP director, asked for feedback during the town hall, which was held in Room 105 of the School of Concrete and Construction Management Building on the MTSU campus in Murfreesboro, Tenn. (MTSU photo by J. Intintoli)

Under guidance from the Provost’s Office, the Quality Enhancement Plan is a requirement for the university’s accreditation through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, or SACSCOC. A pilot Career EDGE program is set for this fall, with the remainder of spring and summer semesters devoted to finalizing details. The program is set to be reviewed by SACSCOC accreditors in March 2026.

Dr. Chandra Russell Story, professor in MTSU's Department of Health and Human Performance and graduate director of the department's interdisciplinary PhD program — Dr. Chandra Russell Story

Chandra Story, public health professor and QEP director, opened the town hall with introductions of various committee and subcommittee chairs and the intentions behind the “career readiness” concept. Among the goals is to help students: improve critical thinking skills; construct and work in teams; elevate their professional skills; enhance career and self development; and sharpen their communication skills.

Mary Beth Asbury, professor and chair of the Department of Communication Studies, served as moderator for the event.

“We always want to make sure that we are meeting goals set by our accrediting body,” Asbury told the audience. “However, because they are campus goals, we need feedback from everyone. So we need feedback from students, we need feedback from instructors, we need feedback from staff. And so this is your chance to give us feedback on what we have developed so far.”

Middle Tennessee State University communication studies professor Mary Beth Asbury speaks to faculty, staff and students who attended a Wednesday, March 5, town hall to discuss the university’s new Quality Enhancement Plan, or QEP, called “Career EDGE” built around the concept of career readiness. Asbury, who served as moderator for the town hall, asked for feedback during the town hall, which was held in Room 105 of the School of Concrete and Construction Management Building on the MTSU campus in Murfreesboro, Tenn. (MTSU photo by J. Intintoli)

‘… Put it into action’

Seated at a table in front of the meeting room, committee members Jenna Gray-Hildenbrand, religious studies professor, Grant Gardner, biology professor, and Shannon Harmon, associate education professor, discussed their involvement in the process as it relates to planning, research and logistics.

The committee presented data gathered at MTSU and around the country about the effectiveness of career readiness programs currently in place. They also discussed the proposed goals of the program, along with the potential strategies to achieve them.

Dr. Grant Gardner

“Our main goal into digging into the MTSU institutional data is to try to identify needs within the MTSU community as it relates to career readiness,” Gardner said. “And so we have been asking ourselves where do we see student populations that might have a greater need here at MTSU to enhance their career readiness? Where do we see services that might need more support to enhance their career readiness?”

Dr. Jenna Gray-Hildenbrand, religious studies professor — Dr. Jenna Gray-Hildenbrand

Added Gray-Hildenbrand: “So ultimately what we wanted to do is to create a program where we could enhance the the current career and next destination resources that were currently available and make them more available, more accessible to students. So data was showing that some students were using the things that were available on campus, but others weren’t. And we want to understand why that’s the case.”

The meeting provided plenty of time for questions and feedback from attendees. Concerns were brought up about the form career readiness will take when implemented into each college or major. The committee agreed that one challenge would be creating a design that is broad enough to apply to the entire university while being tailored to bring success to every department.

Middle Tennessee State University students, faculty and staff attend the Quality Enhancement Plan town hall on Wednesday, March 5, in Room 105 of the School of Concrete and Construction Management Building on the MTSU campus in Murfreesboro, Tenn. The name of the QEP was unveiled as “Career EDGE,” built around the concept of career readiness, with hopes for the pilot program to start this fall. (MTSU photo by J. Intintoli)

One suggestion was to tap into or scale up the “pockets of excellence” already occurring on campus, particularly through the work of the Career Development Center led by Beka Moore, but also some of the professional development work that has been occurring within the Jones College of Business and coursework within other academic colleges that emphasize preparing students for professional careers.

Social work assistant professor Carmelita Dotson noted that her department has intentionally partnered with the Career Development Center to have its staff visit her classrooms to work directly with her students on workforce preparation and career advising.

Harmon, co-chair for the Strategy and Implementation Planning Committee, spoke about the next step for the committee.

“We have got to take all of this input and put it into action,” said Harmon. “The next steps are thinking about the specific planning, and how do we measure each one of these proposed outcomes?”

Middle Tennessee State University College of Education associate professor Shannon Harmon speaks at the Wednesday, March 5, Quality Enhancement Plan town hall in Room 105 of the School of Concrete and Construction Management Building on the MTSU campus in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Harmon, who serves as co-chair of the QEP Strategy and Implementation Committee, was among committee leaders providing an overview of the new QEP, which will be called “Career EDGE” and is built around the concept of career readiness. (MTSU photo by J. Intintoli)

‘It is an opportunity’

Student Government Association President Michai Mosby commented on the potential the career readiness plan has for graduating seniors.

“A program like this gives students the opportunity to make sure that their lives are secure, and their futures are secure by the time they leave our university,” said Mosby, who graduates in May.

Middle Tennessee State University Student Government Association President Michai Mosby asks a question during the Q&A portion of the Quality Enhancement Plan committee’s town hall held Wednesday, March 5, Quality Enhancement Plan town hall in Room 105 of the School of Concrete and Construction Management Building on the MTSU campus in Murfreesboro, Tenn. (MTSU photo by J. Intintoli)

Mary Hoffschwelle, vice provost for planning and effectiveness, oversees the university’s reaccreditation processes that includes the QEP. She noted the successes of previous QEP efforts MT Engage and its predecessor Experiential Learning, or EXL, both now permanent parts of the university’s academic programming.

“The QEP is a lot more than a requirement or a responsibility … it is an opportunity,” she said. “(Career EDGE is) an opportunity to show our commitment to students. It’s an opportunity to include students, staff and faculty in identifying new goals and spelling out the steps to achieve those goals. It’s an opportunity to build on our strengths to reach new heights in student success and student learning.”

Story noted that the new name from the program arose from a branding session by students from Ever Blue Branding, a student-powered communications agency within the School of Journalism and Strategic Media under the guidance of associate journalism professor Tricia Farwell, who attended the town hall along with some of her students.

Suggested names were voted on via an online survey which included several proposed names by the branding agency for the career readiness QEP, with Career EDGE emerging as the top choice. Ever Blue Branding will continue to provide marketing and public relations services for Career EDGE.

The campus community is encouraged to visit https://www.mtsu.edu/qep/ for updates and opportunities to provide feedback about Career EDGE.

— Jordan Reining (Jordan.Reining@mtsu.edu) and Jimmy Hart (Jimmy.Hart@mtsu.edu)