MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — The May episode of “Out of the Blue,” Middle Tennessee State University’s television magazine program, features a conversation about academic growth, innovation and preparing students for the future with Provost Mark Byrnes.

Program host Andrew Oppmann, vice president for marketing and communications, spoke with Byrnes, MTSU’s provost and chief academic officer, about the university’s more than 330 academic programs, evolving workforce needs, and MTSU’s commitment to student success.

A Murfreesboro native and MTSU alumnus who joined the faculty in 1991, Byrnes reflected on the university’s growth over the years and the role the Division of Academic Affairs plays in supporting students across a wide range of disciplines.

Byrnes said MTSU continues to expand and adapt its academic offerings to meet changing workforce demands while also helping students build long-term skills that extend beyond their first job.

“It’s not only training them on the content area,” Byrnes said. “We also have to train them for content that we don’t know yet, that’s not been invented yet.”

The conversation also highlighted the university’s investment in modern academic facilities, including the Applied Engineering Building, the School of Concrete and Construction Management Building, and future cybersecurity training spaces designed to give students hands-on experience.

“I love the institution. I believe in our mission,” Byrnes said. “Students are fantastic, and our employees are a dedicated bunch, and we’re doing our best to serve those students.”

You can watch the segment below:

To watch, listen

• “Out of the Blue” is available anytime on the university’s YouTube channel, the True Blue TV channel, Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV.

• It also airs on Murfreesboro cable Channel 9 daily at 6 a.m., 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.; NewsChannel5+ at 6:30 p.m. Sundays; WKRN+ at 7 p.m. Thursdays and noon Sundays; and streamed on the MTSU Jazz Network through WMOT.orgat 7 a.m. on the first Sunday of each month; and on other cable outlets in Middle Tennessee, so check local listings.

• It is also available as a podcast on iTunes and Google Play and as individual interview segments on Spotify athttps://spoti.fi/453hxg3.

Watch previous episodes of “Out of the Blue” at https://mtsunews.com/out-of-the-blue.

— Karli Sutton (Karli.Sutton@mtsu.edu)