Faculty – TrevEchoes Online

Admissions pushes through pandemic to bring in new students

25Feb

By Grace BecknerNo Comments

Admissions pushes through pandemic to bring in new students

Next year's freshman class is on track to surpass the numbers of the freshman who came to Trevecca in 2020. “Based on what I am seeing, it looks like the pandemic may have affected us more in the fall of 2020, than it is going to affect us in the fall of 2021,” said Melinda Miller, executive director of traditional admissions. Trevecca admissions officials say they have admitted 985 freshmen as of Monday, Feb. 22, while at the same time last year they had admitted 765 freshmen. They attribute this increase of admitted students to their test optional policy adopted for the fall of 2021. This fall, 350 freshmen and 66 transfers enrolled at Trevecca. That's about 61 fewer than the 392 freshmen and 85 transfer students in the fall of 2019, the year before Covid-19. For the coming f...

Administrators emphasize student responsibility in COVID-19 town hall

10Sep

By Caitlin LassiterNo Comments

Campus News, Coronavirus, Faculty

Administrators emphasize student responsibility in COVID-19 town hall

Students’ willingness to wear a face mask in class and around campus is the key to keeping the fall 2020 semester in-person, Trevecca faculty said during a COVID-19 Town Hall meeting on Thursday. “We are all in this together. We are all required to wear a mask and we are all required to participate in these practices that will keep us safe here on campus and in our city.” Dean of Student Development Jessica Dykes said. Requiring the use of face masks is just one practice Trevecca staff has implemented in their efforts to keeping students safe this semester during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to social distancing, contact tracing, daily health screenings, reduced class sizes and a 7-7 week schedule that lowers the number of people in a building at one time, Trevecca’...

29Apr

By Grace BecknerNo Comments

Campus News, Coronavirus, Faculty, Features

Students, faculty members adjust to online classes amid pandemic

When Trevecca first announced they were extending spring break, Carlos Lopez was initially relieved. “It would have helped with some work that had to be done and overall seemed like an extended vacation,” said Lopez, senior information technology major. But once he heard that Trevecca was making the move to online courses for the rest of the spring semester, Lopez’s feelings quickly changed. “When I heard this, I was a bit overwhelmed because I was used to the class routine,” said Lopez. Trevecca's 1,310 undergraduates who were enrolled in traditional, face-to-face classes all transitioned to online classes last month. For many students and faculty, the switch from in-person to online classes required some getting used to and will power to cope....

Track and field brings familiar face to coaching staff

31Mar

By trevechoesonlineNo Comments

Campus News, Faculty, Sports

Track and field brings familiar face to coaching staff

By Adam Goolsby Trevecca alum and former track and field athlete Sydney Burdge is back on campus to help coach the track team. Burdge, who graduated last spring and holds six school records in track and field, hopes the familiar venue will help her out as a new coach. “I think I got a good understanding of Trevecca as an institution and what we stand for and how things work around here,” said Burdge. Head Coach Austin Selby is happy to have another assistant on the staff, she said. “It helps each athlete get the focus and attention they need… I think we’re all ready to see the benefits of that,” he said. Burdge said she has a good understanding of the track and field aspects as a coach. She currently holds records in the 60-meter hurdles (10.4), 100-meter hurdles (17.35), long jump (...

4Mar

By trevechoesonlineNo Comments

Campus News, Faculty

Search in progress for new international student advisor

By Mindy McDowell Trevecca administrators are beginning a search for a new international student advisor to advise around 80 international students on campus after the December resignation of Maria Petty. “I have resigned from Trevecca this week! This was earlier than intended but the decision brought me an immediate peace and hope again. It has been awhile since I’ve felt that! I will miss working with my international students SO much. They were the highlight of my day,” Petty posted on Facebook on Dec. 19. The international student advisor guides students through the entire college process from recruitment to preparing for graduation. They are responsible for advising students on processes such as securing and maintaining visa status, coordinating services that help students adjust t...

New farm manager excited to be part of Urban Farm team

29Feb

By Grace BecknerNo Comments

Campus News, Faculty, Features

New farm manager excited to be part of Urban Farm team

Tristan Abbott makes his way up towards the barn, bundled up in a heavy jacket and scarf, eating an apple, with an occasional protest against the weather recently taking a bitter turn. Abbott, 25, started his position as farm manager on Jan. 6, and is the newest member of the team dedicated to maintaining Trevecca’s Urban Farm.As farm manager, Tristan takes care of the day-to-day operations, working hands on to make sure the livestock and the plants are all healthy, doing maintenance work and assigning the student workers to various tasks around the farm. His labor allows Adkins to do the more administrative work to help grow the farm and to spread the word about what they are doing at Trevecca. “It’s nice to work somewhere where we take this really seriously—being a part of a big...

9Oct

By Naomi OverbyNo Comments

Campus News, Faculty, Spiritual Life

Space for prayer and discussion offered by faculty to students during chapel

Around 20 students and faculty and staff gathered in the Fireside Room in Bud Robinson to talk and pray during chapel on Tuesday. The event was hosted by a few faculty members who had heard from students that they were uncomfortable attending chapel if Gov. Bill Lee was speaking. Some students on campus expressed concern about Lee’s views on issues like immigration and tuition for DACA students. “When the chapel schedule came out…we just started listening to students, having conversations with each other. There were faculty that were being curious about how to be a part of charitable discourse but also how to support students,” said Elizabeth Nunley, assistant professor of social work. Twelve students and 10 faculty and staff members attended the meeti...

Trevecca grad named interim chief financial officer

26Sep

By trevechoesonlineNo Comments

Alumni, Campus News, Faculty, Features

Trevecca grad named interim chief financial officer

By Audrey Yawn An audit, a new food service provider, and two remodels; this summer presented a set of unique and pressing situations for Mariano Monzu to step into as the unverisity’s interim chief financial officer. A close partner to former CFO, David Caldwell, Monzu was appointed as interim CFO by President Dan Boone at the end of June. Caldwell served as the university’s chief financial officer for more than nine years. Boone chose Monzu based on his familiarity with Caldwell’s work and experience, he said. “Summer is the time Trevecca does its audit,” said Boone. “You would never try to bring a new CFO into the beginning of an audit… Mariano has a backbone; you have to be able to say, ‘No, that’s not in the budget.’” Monzu said it’s been an easy adjustment after seven years of w...

Trevecca welcomes new dining services director

26Sep

By Naomi OverbyNo Comments

Campus News, Faculty, Features

Trevecca welcomes new dining services director

Matt Highley’s journey to the culinary world received its motivation to start at age 15 after he was told he wouldn’t make it. At 19 years old, he was named the executive chef of Appleby’s Cafe & Wine Cellar. “I love to cook. Love the chef life,” Highley said. “When I was 15, I worked at Sonic Drive-In. I remember saying ‘I want to try to be a chef one day’, and my manager told me ‘You’ll never be a chef.’ So, I left Sonic, got into a real restaurant and stayed there until I went to culinary school. All it took was someone telling me I wasn’t going to do it.” Today, Highley is working to transform a new setting: Trevecca’s. Just last month, Highley began working as the new director of dining services under Chartwells, Trevecca’s first new food service provider in 45 years. ...

6May

By trevechoesonlineNo Comments

Campus News, Faculty

SAAC president works overtime

By Miriam Kirk Adi Hale, a senior majoring in social work, came to Trevecca because she had the opportunity to play basketball and be the first in her family to earn a college degree. She didn’t think she would become the president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and the first African American president at that. “I’m honored to be the first African American president of SAAC. With Trevecca making this push to be inclusive of all ethnicities I feel that it’s accurate that we have an African American leading the SAAC committee,” Hale said. (more…)