CLARKSVILLE, TN – Austin Peay State University recently received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Philanthropy from the Tennessee Board of Regents for their partnership with the Tennessee College of Applied Technology Dickson.
Dr. Mike Licari, Austin Peay State University president, accepted the award on behalf of APSU at a ceremony hosted June 6 at TCAT Dickson’s Clarksville campus.
“This is humbling. I’m very proud of our efforts,” Licari said. “I always say that public universities should be doing public things. We need to be a resource for the community, not just for campus but for Clarksville, Montgomery County, Middle Tennessee and beyond. This relationship allows us to do these kinds of public things, and it goes well beyond just me.”
Dr. Arrita Summers, TCAT Dickson’s president, nominated APSU for the award due to the University’s impact on TCAT Dickson’s main campus and its Clarksville location.
“Most often, a partnership is designed to be mutually beneficial,” Summers said. “Each party derives some benefit from the activities that they’re involved in. Typically, we would see that Austin Peay would gain as much out of a partnership with us as we might from them. However, in reality, I would say to you that it is more of a one-way street in which TCAT Dickson is a benefiting party from that of Austin Peay.”
Summers said APSU has assisted TCAT Dickson in several ways, from offering a professional development training program for faculty members to providing study space at the Newton Military Family Resource Center.
“[APSU’s] commitment to TCAT Dickson has been varied, it’s been ongoing, and it’s provided to us [with] little to no forethought or concern of whether or not it will reap a benefit for them,” she said. “We have benefitted greatly, most notably in respect to our veteran students as a result of [APSU’s] support through grants that they’re receiving to offer some counseling to our students.”
TCAT Dickson has also entered a grant which allows its Clarksville campus’s students and faculty to receive treatment at APSU’s Boyd Health Services. Furthermore, APSU has donated furniture and equipment to both TCAT Dickson locations at no cost.
“Students achieve more when an educator helps provide focus, clarity, and an obtainable vision – and moreover, when inspiring institutions are behind them,” said Ray Noblin, a diesel-powered equipment instructor at TCAT Dickson’s Clarksville campus. “It is for this that we thank APSU for their partnership with our faculty development and helping provide counseling opportunities for our students.”
The TBR began presenting the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Philanthropy in 2001. The award recognizes organizations, companies, and individuals who go above and beyond to donate their resources, finances and personal time to TBR schools.
For more information about the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Philanthropy, visit https://www.tbr.edu/advancement/strategic-advancement.
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