All current and past MT Engage students are invited to attend the second annual spring reception from 1 to 3 p.m. Thursday, April 12, in the Student Union Ballroom.

Students attending Thursday’s reception, which will include refreshments, are encouraged to dress their best because the first 100 students will receive a free professional headshot for their e-Portfolios. All students will receive a T-shirt and be entered for prize drawings. MT Engage will announce winners of its inaugural scholarships from 1:30 to 2 p.m.

The event also will feature displays from MT Engage students participating in the Reading History Initiative, is an MTSU program that links reading and U.S. history courses for college freshman who require additional literacy skills.

The goals of MT Engage, which launched in fall 2016, include fostering a culture of engaged learning and integrative thinking, enhancing student satisfaction with that learning, and increasing student retention and graduation rates.

Since the program started, it has attracted almost 5,750 unique students in MT Engage classes, with a current enrollment of 2,857 students in 162 course sections.

Scholarship applicants were required to create an e-Portfolio presentation to submit with their application. The e-Portfolio serves as an electronic record, created by students throughout their academic journey, that helps market them toward a career or graduate degree.

MT Engage is the university’s latest Quality Enhancement Plan. The QEP is a requirement by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, or SACSCOC, the regional accreditation body for higher education institutions in the South.

To help celebrate Thursday’s inaugural scholarship awards, MT Engage also invited featured speaker, Candyce Reynolds, a professor and chair of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy in the Graduate School of Education at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon.

Dr. Candyce Reynolds

Reynolds has a bachelor’s in Psychology and Social Welfare from the University of California at Berkeley and a master’s and doctorate from the University of Oregon in counseling psychology.

She has had a wide variety of experiences in higher education and beyond, working in student affairs, departments of psychology, business and management consultation, general education, a peer mentoring program and in faculty development.

Her scholarship has primarily focused on student-centered pedagogy, authentic student learning assessment and the role of reflective practice in facilitating student learning. In recent years, her work has focused on the use of the e-Portfolio to promote student learning and program assessment.

The MT Engage staff includes Director Mary Hoffschwelle, Assistant Director Lexy Denton, Assessment Coordinator Scott McDanieland Secretary Jayme Brunson. The office is located in the James Union Building, Room 306. Call 615-898-2761 or 615-904-8281 for more information.

— Jimmy Hart (jimmy.hart@mtsu.edu)