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As college costs are rising two schools in West Tennessee are partnering to make a higher education easier than ever.

Hello, I'm Peter Noll.

On this edition of Tennessee is Talking On Location at Jackson State Community College.

The topic is the Jackson State UTM partnership.

What is it and how can students and families take advantage of it?

Let the conversation begin.

That's so cool.

Then that's when I said that.

Here's what I think about it.

Wow, that was amazing.

Then I came up with a solution.

What was that about?

Now we're talking.

West Tennessee PBS presents Tennessee is Talking On Location.

Let the conversation begin.

Thanks for joining the discussion for this special edition of Tennessee is Talking On Location here at Jackson State Community College.

Hello, I'm Peter Noll.

There's a big event happening here today with leaders from both Jackson State and the University of Tennessee Martin about the strengthening of their partnership in making a higher education easier than ever.

Let's listen in and find out more.

Good morning everyone and thank you for being here.

It's certainly a beautiful day to celebrate with friends and colleagues our long-standing relationship between Jackson State and UT Martin.

We're so proud to have UT Martin right here on our campus at Jackson State.

It's very convenient for our students and for our community.

You may have seen us out together on our Go Green Tour talking to potential students and handing out joint scholarships.

Over the years, we've seen more than 1,000 students transfer from Jackson State to UT Martin successfully.

Chancellor Freeman and I are relatively new in our positions to lead these stellar institutions, but we know and appreciate our history and strongly believe in continuing our partnership both for our students and for our community.

That's why we're here today to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to support student success and community prosperity by renewing and reconfirming this partnership.

Looking to the future, we are excited to establish a new dual enrollment agreement signifying our promise to provide seamless pathways for students to achieve higher education by empowering them and achieving their academic and career goals.

This agreement is more than just paperwork.

It's about providing a clear path for our students, ensuring that they can seamlessly transfer, earning both an associate's degree at Jackson State and a bachelor's degree at UT Martin along the way.

We recognize that education is not just about classrooms and textbooks.

It's about empowering individuals to reach their ful.. and making a positive impact on our communities.

That's why this agreement is so important.

It's about giving our students tools and support they need to succeed.

A dual admission agreement goes beyond the normal 2 + 2 transfer agreement by granting participating students privileges at both institutions simultaneously.

Meaning that when a student begins their educational journey at Jackson State, they are both a Green Jay and a Skyhawk.

They will have the support of two campus communities cheering them on.

Sometimes we hear people say, "College isn't for everyone."

They reference ROI or cost of tuition, but they ignore the long-term benefits of individual and global benefits that those students receive.

We need to reframe that statement.

Excuse me.

[clears throat] It's not about college, it's about education.

Education is for everyone.

Education is a direct path for achieving your goals and living out your best life, which makes a transfer pathway from Jackson State to UT Martin even more important and valuable.

A student can start their journey with Jackson State with little cost using Promise or ReConnect, and then transfer to a storied institution where they can receive an excellent education and also receive scholarships and UT Promise there as well.

This is the formula for an elite education with a high ROI.

To the students who will benefit from this agreement, know that the future is bright and that the possibilities are endless.

As I said previously, you now belong to two families.

Seize this opportunity to pursue your dreams.

We are here to guide and support you.

This partnership not only benefits our students but also strengthens our communities and our economies.

By providing students with access to a broad range of academic programs and resources, we ensure that they are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and credentials needed to be competitive in today's workforce.

As we move forward, let's remember the real impact of this partnership.

It's about changing lives, opening doors, and building a brighter future for all.

To the faculty, staff, administrators, and community members who have supported our students and our institutions, I extend my deepest gratitude.

Your dedication and commitment have made this partnership possible, and in closing, let us embrace the spirit of collaboration and cooperation that defines our partnership with UT Martin.

Together, there's no limit that we can't achieve.

Thank you, and here's to a future filled with promise, opportunity, and boundless potential.

Hello, it is great to be here.

I am thrilled to be in Jackson and to be here representing UTM in this agreement.

I will say to you, a special thank you to President Rothstein.

We are excited for you and excited to have you here and in this place.

Thank you for this agreement and for the partnership with Jackson State Community College.

My first question to her was, how does that fire hose taste?

Because we are both new presidents and so in a lot of ways, to have the experience and to walk into two incredible institutions has been wonderful.

It's great to be here with you.

I will say she is a powerhouse leader.

I've heard many, many wonderful things about her.

I followed her a little bit while she was with Nashville State Community College and Jackson State is in incredible hands, wonderful hands overall.

UTM is proud to partner with you.

Also, I would be remissed if I did not thank the folks from UTM who are here and the folks who worked on this agreement.

Erica Bell and Dr. Jamie Mantooth and others who are here from UTM who worked on this agreement and made it possible.

Thank you very much.

I owe you a debt of gratitude in doing it.

I'll share three quick things and you should be happy that I have some written notes because most of you know I like to talk, and so the guidance with the written notes will help tremendously.

I'll share three quick things.

First, UT President Randy Boyd always walks around and he says, "This is going to be the greatest decade in the history of the University of Tennessee."

Meaning 2020 to 2030.

I have followed it to say that it cannot be the greatest decade in UT history without a strong contribution from UTM.

I will follow that to say UTM can't make a strong contribution without our higher education partners.

We are thrilled to partner with Jackson State Community College on this agreement in making this the greatest decade in the history of higher education here in the state of Tennessee.

Second, I will say to you that students have an incredible opportunity for training, gaining credentials, and also getting degrees in West Tennessee.

Anything and everything we can do to make that process seamless should be our primary priority.

Higher education can be incredibly bureaucratic.

Sometimes we make it really tough for students to be able to navigate through.

It can be incredibly bureaucratic and tied down with policies and hurdles.

In fact, one of the major keys to student success is removing artificial and arbitrary barriers from students that were intended in the previous days to weed students out.

All of you probably remember the days of look to your left and look to your right, one of these students will not be here when you graduate.

Those days are gone.

We have to continue to remove those barriers from students so that they can be successful.

Let's find a way to say yes.

This agreement creates a pathway to yes.

Last, I do want to dispel a myth, and I need all of you here to help me with dispelling a myth, and that myth is that a college degree is no longer valuable.

The fastest growing job market after the last two recessions in this country have been for folks who have had a credential or a college degree, a two or four-year college degree.

It has direct implications on not just earning potential, lifetime earning potential, but also health outcomes for our community.

It is vitally important that we encourage those students who can get a degree to go and do so.

It is worth the investment.

It is worth the time overall.

I will say to you last that I am a first-generation college student and college graduate.

My philosophy about higher education has been that we ought to make the process so easy, so seamless that a kindergartener could follow it.

I'm excited about this agreement because it offers from the very beginning of a student's time at Jackson State, support from both institutions.

The degree maps that we have set out for students will allow them to seamlessly follow a degree path and check off courses as they complete them.

This agreement is a good thing for Jackson State Community College.

It's a good thing for the University of Tennessee at Martin.

It is a good thing for students.

It is a good thing..

Thank you for this partnership.

[applause] Now it is my pleasure to introduce one of our students.

Her name is Ashley Horton.

She is a native of Jackson, Tennessee.

She graduated from Jackson State Community College in 2020 with her associate in social work and graduated in 2022 from the University of Tennessee at Martin, in Jackson with her bachelor's degree in social work.

Ashley is now serving her Jackson community by working as a domestic violence response specialist at REP.

Her work at REP is a testament to her educational journey and the importance of partnerships, such as the one between Jackson State Community College and the University of Tennessee at Martin.

Please join me in welcoming Ashley to the podium.

[applause] Hello.

Good afternoon.

Definitely wasn't prepared for this, but hey, we're going to go with it.

I started my journey in 2015 with Jackson State.

I had experienced a traumatic injury.

I was sitting around not sure what I was going to do, just contemplating life.

I was like, "Why not?

Let's go back to school."

I will add that I am the first of my family to graduate college, the first of my family to graduate high school, so it was a really big deal.

Coming to Jackson State, I was unsure of what I was going to do.

I was just going along with it.

I started out with-- I always wanted to be a nurse.

When you get into Jackson State and you're doing your general studies, you learn really quick to have a backup plan.

It's all they preach, back up plan, back up plan.

You want to make sure you're covered.

I did that.

I contemplated and I contemplated.

It wasn't until career fair, I believe, with Jackson State at UT Martin was there.

I met them, and I knew instantly what I wanted to do.

Social work was my passion.

Everybody from that point on, the advisors, the staff, they knew my heart.

They knew what I was good at.

They helped guide me in the correct direction.

I am very, very blessed and thankful for having the opportunity to go through Jackson State and the ability to stay local and go to the school of my choice, my journey in UT Martin.

[clears throat] I am a full-time mum.

I have been.

I was during that time frame.

My kids were young, so the possibility of going to school and having to go outside of Jackson was extremely difficult.

The fact that I was able to stay in Jackson and continue through with UT Martin made things even better for me, a lot easier.

I am very blessed.

I have the utmost respect for faculty and staff with Jackson State in UT Martin, and I cannot say enough how grateful I am for the experience I've had.

I did graduate in 2022 with my bachelor's and I immediately started working.

I did my internship.

I knew where I was meant to be, and that's where I've been.

I do plan on continuing my education to get my master's hopefully through UT Martin.

My daughter will start Jackson State in the fall with the expectation of continuing locally with UT Martin for her bachelor's and social work as well.

Again, that's my story.

I'm very grateful for my opportunities and very blessed to have met everybody along my path.

Thank you all.

We're here with Jackson State Community College President, Dr. Carol Rothstein.

-You have been here how long?

-Five months.

Five months.

This is big news for five months.

Tell us about this new partnership.

It's not really new, but it's a stronger partnership.

It is.

We're building on our long history with UT Martin.

Jackson State and UT Martin have always had a partnership.

They've been on our campus with one of their centers.

We've had our articulation agreements in the past, but now we want to go above and beyond that.

We want to add the support behind that, the benefits for both institutions, two families cheering on a student and helping them to achieve their goals.

We heard from one of the alumni that her daughter is now going through the program and is going to be starting it here at Jackson State and then going on to UTM.

How does this program make a higher education financially feasible for a lot of families?

First, they can come to the Jackson State Community College, and they can use Promise, or they can use Reconnect and really get their associate degree for relatively low costs.

Then through this partnership they can transfer and all of those credits are going to go with them.

They go to UT Martin and they can use scholarships, they can use UT Promise.

UT Martin's tuition is not exorbitant.

Even if they have to pay some there, you're cutting the cost of a four-year degree to very little while increasing that return on investment, knowing that you have all of these options to help you pay for college.

Are you seeing students enrolling at Jackson State because of that Promise, because of this really affordability?

Yes, because they're looking at value.

Students now are very savvy.

They're looking for everything that they do, a way to get the value for a lower cost.

This is a smart choice.

Coming to a community college first, you have all of those financial aid options to help pay for your education.

They're smart.

They know that, and they want to pick that benefit and then move it on to their four year.

Yes, I see a lot of the students coming here because there are those opportunities to pay for education.

We're now honored to be joined by Dr. Yancy Freeman.

How long have you been on the job?

Oh, gosh, this is my ninth month.

I started as the 12th chancellor of the University of Tennessee at Martin August of 2023.

I am a steel deer in the headlights.

You and your partner in crime, Dr. Rothstein, both very new.

Very new president and chancellor of the two and four year institution here in West Tennessee.

I am excited to have her.

She is a ball of energy and creative and innovative, and I'm happy to partner with her.

How often do you guys talk?

We try to get together as much as we can.

Of course, the scheduling calendar is really, really busy.

We've had maybe three or four conversations so far.

I'm happy to be here in Jackson so that we get to see each other face to face.

We're going to go enjoy some lunch and have a chance to talk about future partnerships here in just a little bit.

Where are you going to lunch?

I don't know yet.

We'll see how that goes.

[laughs] I'm not a choicy person.

This partnership, UTM and Jackson State have been working together for a lot of years, but this takes it to a new level.

Tell us about that?

It does.

This agreement, this dual admission, dual enrollment agreement that we have is a re-energized agreement.

There is beauty in having new leadership for both institutions.

We want to re-energize that partnership, in particular with Jackson State and UTM.

This new agreement gives us a chance to do that.

It gives us a chance to put out there the value of higher education, the value of attending both institutions, the value of not stopping.

Many students think, "Oh, my gosh, I get a high school diploma and I can stop."

Or, "I get a two-year degree and I have to stop."

We are making it possible for them to continue with a four-year degree from the University of Tennessee as well.

That's the beauty of this partnership.

What is amazing and what makes it different than some of the other institutions out there that have a similar partnership with the community college is they never have to leave Jackson, Tennessee.

They can do everything that they need to do for 10 degree programs right now.

We hope to add more, but they can do everything they need for 10 degree programs right here at the Jackson State Community College Campus.

That's unique, and something that we want to boast and brag about and put out there, so the folks in this community are aware.

Tell us about what this program means to families that maybe think a higher education isn't in our budget.

Oh, my goodness, it is-- Hopefully, what this signifies is that it is possible, absolutely possible for them to get a quality degree from two quality institutions located right here in their backyard.

It is absolutely possible.

President Rothstein talked about the Tennessee Promise and how it makes it affordable for students to attend Jackson State Community College.

We have something called the UT Promise that's also a last-dollar scholarship for families who have an adjusted gross income less than $75,000.

That happens to be almost 70% of the Tennessee population, have that adjusted gross income, who would qualify for a last-dollar scholarship around tuition.

What I hope that says is that it's affordable.

You can get there, you can get your degree and not come out with overwhelming debt.

That is one of the myths that's out there is, "Oh, my goodness, it's so expensive, and you just can't afford it."

It is affordable, it can be done.

Let us help you with doing it.

I know there's been a lot of talk about today's students and their families saying there's not a return on investment.

When you look at the jobs they're getting that are well-paying.

Those are jobs that will AI be doing that or a robot in 5 to 10 years?

The other myth that's out there is the investment is not worth that you can't get a job.

The fastest growing market after the last two significant recessions in this country have come for folks who have a credential, folks who have a two-year and a four-year degree.

It is the fastest-growing area.

It has direct implications on lifetime earning potential, on health outcomes.

It really is the pathway to a better life.

It is affordable.

You can do it, the value is there.

Companies are looking for folks who can critically think.

What better way to do it than in a college atmosphere in a college classroom?

That's what we are generating are folks who can critically think about some of humanity's biggest issues and finding a way to resolve them.

My folks always said, "Jobs can come and go, but an education lasts forever."

It lasts forever.

It is something that can never be taken away from you because it is the optimal goal for higher ed is to teach you how to critically think about issues in a way that we've never thought about.

There are new jobs that will be created that we haven't thought about.

There are new opportunities that will come that we haven't even thought about.

That ability to critically think about how we navigate the next steps, and what will happen to us next is in my humble opinion, the value of higher education and what we do really, really well here in Tennessee.

Thank you for joining us.

Good luck.

Thank you so much.

That does it for this Tennessee is Talking On Location from Jackson State Community College.

We want to thank Dr. Rothstein from Jackson State and Dr. Freeman from UTM for joining us today.

We want to thank you for watching.

Remember, you can stream today's program as well as all local channel 11 programs on the PBS app, our YouTube channel, and westtnpbs.org.

Keep the conversation going by following us on social media.

Thank you for watching.

Until next time, I'm Peter Noll.

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