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Pellissippi State and Knoxville Museum of Art to join forces in offering new class

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

Ever wondered what it would be like to work in a museum? In spring 2010, 15 students from Pellissippi State Community College will get the opportunity to learn firsthand how a museum functions and view from behind the scenes the role it plays in the life of a community.

In collaboration with the Knoxville Museum of Art, Pellissippi State is offering a new 3-credit art course, Museum Studies at KMA. Students will spend one day on campus and one day at the museum during most weeks of the course.

At Pellissippi State, they will discuss art history, the role of artists and the purpose of education in a museum. At KMA, students will tour the facility, meet with staff and explore career options in the museum field.

A special emphasis will be placed on the importance of interacting with museum visitors. Students, assisted by KMA staff, will lead tour groups and engage with the public by talking about exhibits. The tour sessions will prepare students to become leaders in their community and help them become confident with public speaking. Those who prefer to be excused from the public speaking portion may opt to prepare educational information for student groups.

Instructors are Alison Oakes, adjunct faculty member in art at Pellissippi State, and David Butler, KMA’s executive director. Class size is limited to 15. Classes meet every Tuesday and Thursday, 3:30-4:50 p.m., beginning Jan. 14.

Registration for spring 2010 semester runs through Jan. 11.

For additional information, visit www.pstcc.edu/admissions or call (865) 694-6400.

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Pellissippi State expands green energy courses with grant

Friday, November 6th, 2009

Pellissippi State Community College’s green energy course offerings will grow this year, thanks in part to a $40,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission.

The ARC grant was awarded in October to help fund the expansion of courses for green certification, such as Weatherization Energy Auditor and Photovoltaic System Design and Installation.

The courses are taught through Business and Community Services. BCS already offers several green energy and sustainability courses online, and the college expects to train about 100 students during the grant period.

The grant-funded classes will take place in a retrofitted residential structure now used as a training and demonstration center at the Pellissippi Campus on Hardin Valley Road.

Visit www.pstcc.edu/bcs/ to learn more about the courses, or call BCS at (865) 539-7167.

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International female string quartet to perform at Pellissippi State

Thursday, November 5th, 2009

The members of the all-female Delights String Quartet may be based in Knoxville, but their individual travel itineraries span the globe … literally.

Performances have taken place in Austria, Italy, Japan, Korea, Vienna, Kansas. Kansas? Cellist Stacy Nickell Miller is from Salina, and the women toured as a group there last summer.

It’s a testament to their popularity that they’re already booked for a winter performance in Knoxville at Pellissippi State Community College. Scheduled for Dec. 11 at the Magnolia Avenue Campus, the free concert will serve as “a celebration of the fall semester and a welcoming of the holiday season,” according to Rosalyn Tillman, assistant dean of the campus. The public is invited.

In addition to cellist Miller, members of the Delights String Quartet include violist Eunsoon Lee-Corliss and violinists Ikuko Koizumi and Lisa Muci Eckhoff, the group’s founder. The quartet has performed in Knoxville previously at WDVX radio, ETPtv television, the Knoxville Museum of Art, the McClung Museum, East Tennessee Children’s Hospital and Tennessee School for the Deaf. Each of the women is a performing artist with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra as well.

Individually, the members have performed around the world. Eckhoff traveled to Austria with the Vienna Boys’ Choir and played at the Olympic Arts Festival in Korea. Koizumi, who began playing the violin at age 3, has played extensively in the country of her birth, Japan. Lee-Corliss, a native of Seoul, Korea, has toured Austria and performed in Italy’s Spoleto Festival. It’s no surprise that the group’s music has been described as “eclectic” and “nontraditional.”

The Magnolia Avenue Campus is located at 1610 Magnolia Ave. The performance begins at 11:45 a.m. in the Community Room.

For additional information, contact Tillman at rtillman@pstcc.edu or (865) 329-3100.

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Pellissippi State Magnolia Avenue Campus hosts SOCM environmental speaker

Thursday, November 5th, 2009

A representative of the group Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment, or SOCM, will speak Nov. 18 at Pellissippi State Community College about two critical issues in East Tennessee: mountaintop removal mining and green-collar jobs. The free presentation takes place at 10:45 a.m. on the Magnolia Avenue Campus.

The speaker, Ann League, has been an active supporter of SOCM for many years. Her talk is part of Pellissippi State’s Common Academic Experience, which centers on the issue of coal mining in the Southeast. The college’s 2009-2010 Common Book is Denise Giardina’s “Storming Heaven,” the story of the negative impact a coal company has on a small West Virginia community.

SOCM, originally known as Save Our Cumberland Mountains, started as a grassroots community group based primarily in poor, isolated coalfield communities in the Cumberland Mountains and on the Cumberland Plateau. The group’s membership and campaigns have expanded to Middle and West Tennessee, so the name was recently changed to correspond to the growth.

SOCM is a member-run organization that encourages civic involvement and collective action so that citizens have a greater voice in determining their future. The organization now has more than 2,000 members, says League.

“Mountaintop removal is impacting the more poverty-ridden counties in Tennessee,” she said. “It is affecting the water quality in well water in those counties. Green-collar jobs can bring environmental justice and a sustainable economy to these rural communities.”

For more information, contact the Pellissippi State’s Magnolia Avenue Campus at (865) 329-3100.

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Pellissippi State hosts Veterans Day events, receptions

Thursday, November 5th, 2009

Pellissippi State Community College’s four campuses will recognize Veterans Day on Nov. 11 with displays and receptions, and the public is invited.

The Pellissippi Campus on Hardin Valley Road will host a display of military memorabilia 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Nov. 10-12. Contributions are from Pellissippi State students, faculty and staff who are either veterans or family members of veterans.

The campus also will host a reception with cake and punch 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Nov. 11. Both the display and the reception take place in the Goins Building College Center.

Events are scheduled at the college’s other sites as well:

• The Magnolia Avenue Campus is hosting a Veterans Day ceremony at 9:45 a.m. Nov. 11 in the Lobby. The ceremony includes refreshments and a display of veterans’ memorabilia.

• The Blount County Center plans to honor all members of all the armed services. The celebration is at 11 a.m. on the 11th in the Student Lounge. Refreshments will be provided.

• The Division Street Campus marks Veterans Day with a celebration and refreshments at 11 a.m. on the 11th.

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Pellissippi State makes veterans’ education more accessible, affordable

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

The number of veterans enrolled at Pellissippi State Community College this semester is up 15 percent from spring and 20 percent from last fall, and the institution has put in place a number of resources to make their experience a success.

In anticipation of the increase—which stems in part from changes in benefits in the GI Bill—the college convened a work group to study services provided to veterans and learn how to better coordinate programs for students in and discharged from the military.

The first action the group took was to create a brochure targeting the special needs of veterans. The brochure outlines the resources available at Pellissippi State to current and former military personnel. It explains how to apply for U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs educational benefits. It also details services offered in the areas of admissions, financial aid and veterans’ assistance, assistance with a disability, and personal and career counseling.

“Creating the brochure is a first step,” said Rebecca Ashford, the college’s vice president of Student Success and Enrollment Management.

The college has a full-time VA certifying official, Sharon Shastid, to support student veterans. Shastid works in Pellissippi State’s Financial Aid Office.

The college also distributed a survey to veterans this semester to learn what their experiences have been at Pellissippi State and what additional services need to be provided. Survey results continue to come in and be assessed.

Three student advising sessions aimed specifically at helping veterans have been conducted on the Pellissippi Campus, and a fourth is scheduled at the Division Street Campus on Friday, Nov. 6. A veterans’ student organization has recently been formed as well.

Pellissippi State is also one of four Tennessee community colleges participating in the Yellow Ribbon Program, a provision of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008.

The program helps pay tuition and fees that exceed the highest public in-state undergraduate rate, which, in Tennessee, is $6,850 at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Because the costs of attending Pellissippi State are among the lowest in the state, the program benefits mainly veterans who pay out-of-state tuition and fees.

Qualifying students receive $1,000 per semester, with $500 coming from the VA and the other $500 from Pellissippi State. (The funding doesn’t cover the international fee.) The money covers 25 veterans each semester on a first-come, first-served basis.

For more information about how Pellissippi State can help with veterans’ needs, call or e-mail Shastid, (865) 694-6472 or seshastid@pstcc.edu.

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Pellissippi State’s student Small Instrument Ensemble to perform Nov. 17

Friday, October 30th, 2009

Pellissippi State presents a Small Instrument Ensemble concert, showcasing the talents of the school’s music students, on Tuesday, Nov. 17. The event is part of the 2009-2010 free concert series.

The Small Instrument Ensemble performs at 7 p.m. in the Clayton Performing Arts Center at the Pellissippi Campus on Hardin Valley Road.

The performance is the first this year to focus on instrumental music. Past concerts have featured the vocal talents of Pellissippi State faculty, as well as those of the 50-voice Concert Chorale and 38-voice Variations student ensembles.

Music on the 17th will include brass, guitar, percussion, bluegrass and a mixed instrumental ensemble. Additional concerts in the Pellissippi State series:

  • Dec. 10, Holiday Spectacular
  • Feb. 23, Winter Choral Concert
  • March 4, Student Honors Recital
  • March 30, Jazz Band and Bluegrass Ensemble Concert
  • April 15, Small Instrument Ensemble
  • April 29, Spring Choral Concert

All concerts in the series are open to the public, and parking is free, plentiful and convenient.

Donations will be accepted at the door for the Pellissippi State Foundation, on behalf of the Music Scholarship fund.

For additional information, contact Bill Brewer, Music program coordinator, at (865) 694-6701.

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Social networking for business offered at Pellissippi State

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

Social media marketing is one of the biggest trends in business, and Knoxville-area business owners will have a chance to get a firsthand education in the phenomenon through a seminar being offered by Pellissippi State Community College’s Business and Community Services.

Mark Schaefer, a 28-year marketing veteran and executive director of Schaefer Marketing Solutions, will conduct the seminar, “Social Media Marketing Strategy and Twitter for Business.”

The three-day, three-part class is designed for small-business owners who want to find and serve new customers. Schaefer will introduce sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn, and he will help participants decide which media are right for them.

“Having a Web site just isn’t enough anymore,” Schaefer said. “People are spending less and less time on Web sites and more and more time on the social web.”
Unfortunately, he says, many business owners aren’t familiar with social networking sites, when their competitors may already be there.

“It’s like having a competitor advertise on television, and you don’t even know what television is,” he said. “You need to at least be aware of this new marketing channel so you can make the right decisions for your business.”

Schaefer, who was recently quoted in a Forbes magazine article about Twitter, will place special emphasis on that service during the sessions: “Twitter has become a serious business tool. This is not kid stuff. It is literally transforming the way customers listen, react and communicate with customers.”

Pellissippi State, in conjunction with the Tennessee Small Business Development Center, an affiliate of the college, is conducting the seminar twice daily on Thursdays, Nov. 12, Nov. 19 and Dec. 3. Time choices are 8:30-10:30 a.m. and 7-9 p.m.

The cost of the class, which takes place on the Pellissippi Campus, is $150. Space is limited.

Call (865) 539-7167 to register. For more information, call (865) 539-7166.

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Pellissippi State presents Fall Choral Concert

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

Pellissippi State Community College presents its annual Fall Choral Concert on Oct. 29, with two student music groups performing a host of choral literature from various stylistic periods.

The concert, which is free and open to the public, features the 50-voice Concert Chorale and the 38-voice Variations Ensemble. Student soloists also will perform.
Music periods range from Renaissance to Baroque, and styles include everything from classical to Scottish traditional.

A special finale combines both choral groups for a rousing rendition of the great African-American spiritual “Ezekiel Saw De Wheel.”

The hourlong concert begins at 7 p.m. in the Clayton Performing Arts Center on the Pellissippi Campus on Hardin Valley Road. Plenty of free parking is available.

Donations will be accepted at the door to go to the Pellissippi State Foundation for Music scholarships.

For additional information, contact Bill Brewer, associate professor and Music program coordinator, at (865) 694-6701.

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Musik Meisters, Italian Folkloric Dancers to perform at Pellissippi State Oct. 28

Monday, October 12th, 2009

October is both German and Italian Heritage month, and Pellissippi State Community College is celebrating with the Musik Meisters German band and the Italian Folkloric Dancers.

Pellissippi State’s Access and Diversity Office invites the community to enjoy an afternoon of polka music, the ballet of Southern Italy and light refreshments at the Pellissippi Campus on Hardin Valley Road Wednesday, Oct. 28.

Polka band the Musik Meisters has entertained the public and been the featured house band at the historic Gerst Haus restaurant in downtown Nashville for many years. The group will perform in Tyrolean attire—Alpine hats, lederhosen, peasant shirts—and sing in German 11-11:45 a.m. and 12-12:45 p.m. in the Goins Building College Center.

The Italian Folkloric Dancers is a Knoxville troupe under the direction of Gwendolyn Johnson Delaney, owner and director of the Tennessee Conservatory of Fine Arts. From 1:15 to 2:15 p.m., the dancers will perform a “tarantella,” a fast-paced, high-energy ballet that incorporates the whirling folk dance of Southern Italy, accompanied by tambourines. The dancers twirl and leap, as legend has it, in a furious attempt to expel the poison of the tarantula from their bodies.

The performances and parking are free. Parking is available in any lot designated “Open.” For more information, contact Gayle Wood, director of Access and Diversity, at (865) 539-7160 or gwood@pstcc.edu.

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