MTSU faculty and staff appeared on WGNS Radio’s “Action Line” program recently to talk about a boost to the new concentration in human resource management, published cave research involving undergraduate students and a new major in supply chain management.

The live program with host Bart Walker was broadcast on FM 100.5, 101.9 and AM 1450 from the WGNS studio in downtown Murfreesboro. If you missed it, you can listen to a podcast of the Aug. 16 program here.

MTSU faculty and staff appeared on WGNS Radio’s Aug. 16 “Action Line” program with host Bart Walker. Guests included, from left in order of appearance, Dr. Kristie Abston, associate professor, and Dr. Dan Morrell, professor, from the Jones College of Business Department of Management; Dr. Mark Abolins, geosciences professor; and Dr. Cliff Welborn, associate professor of management. (MTSU photo illustration by Jimmy Hart)

Guests included:

• Dr. Kristie Abston, associate professor, and Dr. Dan Morrell, professor, in the Jones College of Business Department of Management, discussed MTSU’s new concentration in Human Resource Management being recently aligned with the Society of Human Resource Management.

MTSU’s Jones College of Business was notified this summer that it is now among more than 500 programs in approximately 425 educational institutions throughout the world that have met the guidelines to become SHRM aligned. The guidelines were developed by SHRM, an HR professional organization considered a gold standard in the industry, to define the minimum HR content areas that should be studied by HR students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Learn more here.

• Dr. Mark Abolins, geosciences professor, who discussed how worked with MTSU undergraduates to contribute to published research as part of his Geoscience of Caves course. Abolins is an instructor of the Geoscience of Caves and Field Methods in Geology courses.

Students helped with data entry on a project that digitally assessed and mapped the geologic folds — rock structures made by flat rock deformed by stress and pressure — at Snail Shell Cave. National Science Foundation and Faculty Research and Creative Activity Committee grants funded the project.

In spring 2021, the International Journal of Speleology published the research, a first for MTSU. Speleology is the scientific study or exploration of caves. Albert Ogden, emeritus geosciences professor, contributed to the research and co-authored the paper. Learn more here.

• Dr. Cliff Welborn, associate professor in the Jones College of Business Department of Management, who discussed MTSU’s concentration in supply chain management becoming a standalone major.

The major was approved earlier this year by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. This burgeoning professional area continues to grow in importance, as evidenced by the supply chain challenges and disruptions throughout the pandemic. Over the next two years the concentration will be phased out and all new admits will be under the Supply Chain Management major, with successful students earning a Bachelor of Business Administration degree upon completion.

Students, faculty and staff who are interested in guesting on WGNS to promote their MTSU-related activities should contact Jimmy Hart, director of news and media relations, at 615-898-5131 or via email at jimmy.hart@mtsu.edu.