M.S.C.C. Statement of Mission

Motlow State Community College, an institution governed by the Tennessee Board of Regents in the State University and Community College System of Tennessee, is a public, comprehensive, two-year, open-access college founded in 1969. The college awards the Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, Associate of Applied Science, and Associate of Science in Teaching degrees and certificates of credit.

Motlow College strives to develop the cultural, intellectual, and career opportunities of the people in its Southern Middle Tennessee eleven-county service area, which includes Bedford, Cannon, Coffee, DeKalb, Franklin, Lincoln, Moore, Rutherford, Van Buren, Warren and White Counties. The college is committed to achieving a diverse student body, faculty, and staff. The college recognizes the significance of this diversity by providing a broad spectrum of services to respond to a variety of needs in the learning process and educational opportunities from developmental to advanced programs. 

Motlow College is a multi-location community college providing: 

• degree programs designed for transfer to other colleges and universities;
• degree and non-degree programs designed to develop immediate job readiness skills and competencies; and
• public service, lifelong learning, and workforce development programs to promote personal enrichment and economic and community development.

To establish a firm foundation for liberal learning, the college requires a strong core curriculum in degree programs complemented by cultural, scientific, social, and community service activities. In particular, Motlow College is unique in that it provides a comprehensive, interdisciplinary Honors Scholar Program integrated with a strong cultural series. The versatile curriculum, qualified faculty and staff, and related resources, strengthened by innovative technologies, prepare students for success in the global community. To support these initiatives, a continuous cycle of planning, evaluation, and response promotes institutional effectiveness and efficiency.

Motlow College encourages student success through critical thinking, clear communication, ethical behavior, respect for others, civic responsibility, problem solving, effective functioning in individual and team situations, and an appreciation of one’s own heritage as well as that of others.

Motlow College promotes and maintains alliances with business, industry, government agencies, and other educational institutions to enhance programs and services. 

As a dynamic institution of higher learning, Motlow College enriches and empowers its students and the community it serves.

Motlow State Community College remains committed to the education of a non-racially identifiable student body and promotes diversity and access without regard to race, gender, religion, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status. 

The mission of Motlow State Community College is to enrich and empower its students and the community it serves.

To be the area’s recognized center for life-long learning and growth opportunities.

In 1992, the college instituted a Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) program. The college also developed its guiding principles–the ways in which we support our mission and vision statements, achieve our desired outcomes, and incorporate our core values in serving our customers.

1. Motlow College is committed to student learning as our primary focus.
2. Motlow College is committed to excellence, creativity, trust, respect, diversity, teamwork, integrity, knowledge, honesty, civility, and the free exchange of ideas.
3. Motlow College is committed to continuous improvement, institutional effectiveness, and efficiency.
4. Motlow College is committed to our stakeholders and to the total development of individuals and their quality of life; we strive to enhance student competencies and to further the cultural development of our service area.

The course offerings and requirements of Motlow State Community College are continually under examination and revision. This catalog presents the offerings and requirements in effect at the time of publication but is no guarantee that they will not be changed or revoked. However, adequate and reasonable notice will be given to students affected by any changes. This catalog is not intended to state contractual terms and does not constitute a contract between the student and the institution.

Motlow State Community College provides the opportunity for students to increase their knowledge by providing programs of instruction in the various disciplines and programs through faculty who, in the opinion of the college, are qualified for teaching at the college level. The acquisition and retention of knowledge by any student is, however, contingent upon the student’s desire and ability to learn and his or her application of appropriate study techniques to any course or program. Thus, Motlow State Community College must necessarily limit representation of student preparedness in any field of study to that competency demonstrated at that specific point in time at which appropriate academic measurements were taken to certify course or program completion.

The central campus of Motlow State Community College is located on 185 acres of beautifully wooded land in Moore County. It is approximately 5 miles from Tullahoma via either State Route 55 or State Route 130, approximately 8 miles from Lynchburg via State Route 55, and approximately 12 miles from Shelbyville via State Route 130. Other locations include:

MCMINNVILLE CENTER - 225 Cadillac Lane; McMinnville, TN 37111

Construction of a 14,000 square foot instructional facility in McMinnville was completed for opening in the fall of 1988, and an expanded day and evening program was delivered at the facility in 1988-89. To expand the instructional program further, an addition of 2,992 square feet, including a 28-station computer lab and a 24-station biology lab, was completed in the spring of 1996. The Tennessee Higher Education Commission approved Center Status for the McMinnville Site in January, 1990. Center status indicates that students can complete an Associate of Arts or Associate of Science degree in General Studies or an Associate of Applied Science degree in Business Technology at that location.

FAYETTEVILLE CENTER - 1802 Winchester Highway; P.O. Box 618, Fayetteville, TN 37334

Located on a beautiful 20-acre site 2.5 miles east of downtown Fayetteville, the 14,000 square foot instructional facility opened for classes in the fall of 1992. Construction of this million-dollar facility cap-stoned an initiative undertaken by Fayetteville-Lincoln county residents beginning in 1988. The Tennessee Higher Education Commission approved Center status for the Fayetteville Site in July, 1997. The Don Sundquist Center of Advanced Technologies, completed in August 2001, is located adjacent to the Fayetteville Center.

SMYRNA SITE - 5002 Motlow College Boulevard, Smyrna, TN 37167-2015

In a continuing effort to fulfill its mission statement, Motlow State Community College began offering evening classes at Riverdale High School in Murfreesboro in 1998. To support the rapid growth and to fulfill the needs of its students who required day classes as well as evening classes, Motlow became partners in education with the Tennessee Army National Guard in Smyrna and began offering day classes to the citizens of Rutherford County in January 2000. Fall semester 2006, the college moved into a new 17,500 square foot facility where Motlow continues to enrich and empower the students and community it serves.

MIDDLE TENNESSEE EDUCATION CENTER - 841 Union Street, Shelbyville, TN  37160-2610

Students seeking higher education now have more options closer to home with the opening of the Middle Tennessee Education Center, a new higher-education facility in Shelbyville.  MTEC, created by a partership between Middle Tennessee State University and Motlow State Community College, houses classrooms as well as administrative and advising offices for both institutions to offer assistance and education for their students.  The center is located in the former Medical Arts Building.  For more information on MTEC or to schedule an appointment, please call 931-685-4444.

A study, “Public Higher Education in Tennessee,” initiated in 1955 and concluded in 1957 by the Legislative Council of the Tennessee General Assembly is widely regarded as the cornerstone of the two-year college movement in Tennessee. The first three community colleges were located in Cleveland, Columbia, and Jackson, one in each grand division of the state. At a called meeting of the Tennessee Board of Education on June 13, 1967, officials of the cities and counties in the Elk River Development area asked that a community college be located in Moore County near Tullahoma, Tennessee. The Tennessee Board approved this request.

The 187-acre site for the college was donated by the Motlow family of Lynchburg, Tennessee. Because of this generous gift and because of Senator Reagor Motlow’s contributions to education in Tennessee, the college was named Motlow State Community College. 

Ground for the college was broken in November 1967. Yearwood and Johnson, Architects of Nashville, Tennessee, designed the campus. The principal construction contract was awarded to Martindale Construction Company of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, at a cost of approximately $2,700,000. Actual construction was begun on five buildings in March 1968.

Dr. Sam H. Ingram, formerly Dean of the School of Education at Middle Tennessee State University, was appointed president of the college. He opened temporary offices for administrative personnel in the First Baptist Church building in Tullahoma in February 1969. The administrative staff moved into the Administration Building on the campus in August 1969. Other buildings on the campus were completed soon thereafter; and the college opened in September 1969, with 551 students and 18 full-time faculty members. At that time, the college offered the two-year university parallel Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees and four two-year career programs.

In January 1975, Dr. Ingram resigned to become Commissioner of Education, and the following March, Dr. Harry Wagner, Vice President for Student Affairs at Middle Tennessee State University, was appointed president. In 1983, Motlow’s service area was expanded from seven to eleven counties, and Motlow assumed the lead institution role for identifying the educational and training needs of its area. A major campus expansion project was implemented including major renovation of the student center, renovation of the maintenance complex, and construction of a new building. The new facility provided a 280-seat theater/auditorium, instructional support areas for nursing and engineering, and an office complex for the Basic and Applied Science and Business Division. 

In May 1986, Dr. Wagner resigned to become President of Chattanooga State Technical Community College and Dr. Wade Powers, Dean of the College at Volunteer State Community College, Gallatin, Tennessee, became interim president. That same year in a joint dedication ceremony, what had been known simply as the classroom building was named Simon Hall, to honor Morris E. Simon who was instrumental in the early development of Motlow College, and the new building was named Eoff Hall, in honor of Mr. J.C. Eoff, a former member of the Tennessee Board of Regents and a lifelong supporter of education.

In April 1987, Dr. A. Frank Glass, academic dean since 1975, became the third president of the college. Credit and non-credit courses, seminars, and workshops drew increased enrollment for several semesters, and by 1994 the college had experienced 10 consecutive terms of enrollment increases.

A $1.6 million Title III grant awarded in October 1987 provided for acquisition of state-of-the-art equipment for a model Computer Integrated Manufacturing Center. The college’s Center for Information Systems, funded through the Tennessee Board of Regents Centers of Emphasis program, resulted in program revisions, increased faculty/staff development activities, and linkages with area businesses and industries.

A 14,000 square foot instructional facility in McMinnville opened in the fall, 1988, and an expanded day and evening program was delivered in 1988-89. An addition of 2,992 square feet, including a 28-station computer lab and a 24-station biology lab, was completed in the spring of 1996. The Tennessee Higher Education Commission approved center status for the McMinnville site in January 1990. 

The college expanded its evening program in Fayetteville and initiated a day instructional program there in fall 1988. A 14,000 square foot instructional facility located just east of Fayetteville on highway 64 opened in fall 1992. THEC approved center status for the Fayetteville site in July 1997.

In 1988, the Student Center on the Moore County campus was named Forrester Student Center in honor of Mr. G. Nelson Forrester, a long-time supporter and champion of Motlow College. In July 1992, the Crouch Library was dedicated in honor of Senator Earnest Crouch, a state legislator and advocate for Motlow College. For the next 16 years, the Crouch Library continued as a primary academic support center during a time of progressive student growth, physical expansion, and technological advancements at the college.  In 2008, a new library, Clayton-Glass Library opened.  The Crouch facility was completely renovated to house a “one-stop Student Services Center.”  To continue the legacy of Senator Crouch, the new center is named the Crouch Center.  The Center, which houses Admissions and Records, Financial Aid, Counseling and Testing, Advising and Career Planning, and the administrative offices of the Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs, opened Spring Semester 2010.  In April 1993, the administration building on the Moore County campus was named the Ingram Administration Building in honor of Dr. Sam Ingram, first president of Motlow College.

In September 1998, ground was broken for construction of the new Nursing and Technology Building on the Moore County campus. The facility houses state-of-the-art business, industrial and computer technology, the nursing education program including the latest in nursing laboratory equipment, and offices for the Information Technology and Telecommunication Services Department, the Center for Information Systems, and Division of Basic and Applied Science and Business. In April 2001, the facility was dedicated and named the Marcum Technology Center in honor of Dan and Fran Marcum for their many contributions to Motlow College.

Construction of the Don Sundquist Center of Advanced Technologies, located adjacent to the Fayetteville Center, was completed in August 2001. The 32,500 square foot facility is equipped with the latest in industrial and computer training equipment to meet workforce development needs.

In January 2003, Dr. Glass retired as president and Dr. Arthur L. Walker, Jr., Vice President for Academic Affairs, became Motlow’s fourth president. Under Dr. Walker’s leadership, construction began on the first phase of a Smyrna facility that opened in July of 2006. He also oversaw plans for a new library building on the Moore County campus and for an addition to the McMinnville Center.

In June 2006, Dr. Walker retired as president, and in July 2006, Dr. MaryLou Apple, Vice President for Academic Affairs at Walters State Community College, became the fifth president of Motlow College. The Clayton-Glass Library opened in January 2008. The McMinnville Center addition opened fall 2008.

The lead institution concept, developed by the Tennessee Board of Regents, assigns to an institution the responsibility for identifying the appropriate level of sub-baccalaureate education and training needed based upon the area’s employment demands. Motlow College has been assigned the role of lead institution for the Tennessee Technology Centers in McMinnville, Murfreesboro, and Shelbyville and is charged with the responsibility of overseeing the development of a cohesive plan for the delivery of vocational, technical, and career programs in its eleven-county service area. Motlow assists the Technology Centers in program planning, accounting and budgeting, purchasing, personnel, student records, student financial aid and institutional research, and serves as a catalyst to strengthen the relationship between the area institutions of post-secondary education and business and industry.

Motlow State Community College intends to comply with Executive Order 11246, as amended in its entirety; all pertinent, subsequent amendments; and any superseding Executive Orders concerning Affirmative Action. Furthermore, Motlow State Community College intends to comply with Title IV of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964, as amended; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; Sections 503 and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended; the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, as amended; the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990; subsequent amendments to these acts; Title VI; and all other current state and Federal laws and regulations regarding equal employment opportunity and/or affirmative action. The Executive Director of Human Resources located in Simon Hall (telephone number 931-393-1542) is responsible for the coordination of policies and procedures for compliance with the aforementioned Acts.

Motlow State Community College prohibits the unlawful possession, use or distribution of illicit drugs and alcohol on the campus property or on institutionally owned, leased, or otherwise controlled property or as part of any activity of MSCC. All faculty, staff, and students are subject to applicable federal, state, and local laws related to illegal use and possession of controlled substances and alcohol. Additionally, students found in violation of the Drug-Free Communities Act will result in disciplinary action set forth in the Student Handbook.