Hoisting a flag for Pellissippi State’s ‘FLAG’ program

Not everyone who comes to college is fully prepared for the demands of math and English as taught at the college level. Not everyone who comes to college has the time to go to classes throughout the day and hit the books in the evening.

Those students don’t necessarily need their hands held every step of the way. But they often can use a little extra assistance—such as the “FLAG” program at Pellissippi State. The program, the only one of its kind in East Tennessee, marked its first anniversary during the spring semester.

“I think the FLAG program is great,” said Cindy Vanosdale, a Pellissippi State student. “The program offers many benefits, including flexibility of schedule, and we can study one-on-one with tutors who help you understand the concepts you need to know.”

The FLAG program (which stands for “flexible learning for achievement and growth”) could be described as an innovative way to deliver a series of “developmental courses,” ones that help students catch up on the content of courses that they might have missed or had only marginal success with in secondary school.

Pellissippi State describes the program as “a bridge between high school and college-level courses for students not adequately prepared to go straight into freshman-level course work.”

So far, developmental courses are offered in math, writing, reading and study skills. Those courses are offered in classrooms and online, as well as being part of the FLAG program.

The FLAG offerings—math and writing now, with reading to be added in the fall and study skills to be added next spring—differ from more traditional courses, however, in that they can be provided on a flexible schedule, to suit the needs of particular students.

Students come to the FLAG Center to spend three hours a week in a computer lab in lieu of a regular class, on a flexible schedule and with tutors available. Flexible starting dates are available for students to begin their work in the center, which is open six days a week.

“The student’s hours can be one block of time or divided into sections at his or her discretion during the hours of operation,” said Betty Bumgarner, FLAG program coordinator, who also teaches the writing course in the FLAG Center.

Bumgarner and Caroline Best, an associate mathematics professor who started the FLAG program, say the program targets a specific student: the one with work or family scheduling demands that might prevent regular classroom attendance.

Those students are ones who might need additional tutoring but still have the kind of independence and maturity to want to complete course assignments. They cannot have failed the course earlier, and they must go through an application and screening process.

“My math class lecture seemed like a waste of time, so I decided to venture into the FLAG course,” said Vanosdale, who is completing her first year at the College. “I am an older college student who has raised my two kids. I wanted to pursue a career in law, like paralegal studies. This was something I always wanted to do but never pursued until my kids were grown, and I was tired of dead-end jobs with no future.”

In the spring 2005 semester, 36 Pellissippi State students were participating in FLAG courses, bringing to more than 100 the number of students who have taken part since the program began in spring 2004.

“This program is beneficial to both high school students coming to the College and older, returning students,” Bumgarner said. “The teaching methods incorporate the use of videos to show the concepts (for math) and other audiovisual materials in writing.”

“We’ve had students who said they just couldn’t come to class anymore. At least now we have an opportunity to offer this kind of study on a weekly basis,” said Best, who teaches the FLAG math courses.

Best is the one who told Vanosdale about the FLAG program, and Vanosdale couldn’t be happier.

“Because of time restraints, and trying to find convenient time to study, I was having difficulty fitting in the math class. And it was one that I had to have. My FLAG course is wonderful, and I’d recommend it to anyone.”

"Inside Pellissippi" is a bi-monthly electronic publication produced by the Community Relations Office for the faculty and staff of Pellissippi State Technical Community College, 10915 Hardin Valley Road, P.O. Box 22990, Knoxville, Tennessee 37933-0990. All suggestions and comments should be sent to Julia Wood (jwood@pstcc.edu).

For past issues, visit the Inside Pellissippi Archive.