MEMPHIS, Tennessee, May 20 -- The University of Tennessee Health Science Center issued the following news: Richard Walker, MD, chair of emergency medicine and director of the emergency medicine residency program at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, watched Monday as the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers handed off the newly completed alternate-care hospital in the former Commercial Appeal Building on Union Avenue to state and local leaders for use to treat COVID-19 patients if the   more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, May 21 -- Vanderbilt University issued the following news: Andrea Bordeau, global safety and security manager for Vanderbilt University, has been appointed the inaugural cof Pulse: International Health and Safety Professionals in Higher Education. Pulse, which became fully incorporated in April, includes professionals focused on international health, safety and security in academic travel. The organization now has 125 positions at 78 institutions and recently welcomed its  more

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee., May 23 -- Chattanooga State Community College issued the following news release: Chattanooga State Community College previously communicated that CARES Act funds would be distributed by the end of May. However, late yesterday evening (May 21, 2020), the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) announced changes to CARES emergency grant payment eligibility. All title IV eligibility-related requirements, other than citizenship, have been rescinded. This means that additional   more

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee., May 23 -- Chattanooga State Community College issued the following news release: Chattanooga State's Economic Workforce Development Division encourages you to consider working on a new career or advancing your skills - at no cost. A series of ten non-credit, self-paced, and completely online classes are offered free through June 30, 2020. Founded in 1997, ed2go delivers flexibility to more than three million students seeking to advance personal and professional develop  more

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee., May 21 -- Chattanooga State Community College issued the following news release: Chattanooga State will begin disbursing CARES Act funding to qualifying students by the end of May. The Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act is federal emergency financial assistance for students approved by Congress. The funds are intended to help qualified college students cover expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus, including cost  more

JOHNSON CITY, Tennessee, May 21 -- East Tennessee State University issued the following news: The Tennessee Poll, conducted late last month by the Applied Social Research Lab at East Tennessee State University, sought to take a snapshot of the state's potential voters in advance of the 2020 general election. At this time, it is impossible to predict who will vote in November, but 52.8% of the eligible voting population in Tennessee cast a ballot in 2016, so turnout could be similar in 2020. T  more

CLEVELAND, Tennessee, May 23 -- Lee University issued the following news: Dr. Susan Ashcraft has been appointed to serve as Director of Alumni Relations at Lee University and will assume her new position immediately. Ashcraft's appointment was announced by Lee President Dr. Paul Conn following a recent board meeting. "I am thrilled that Dr. Ashcraft is joining the University Relations team," said Dr. Brad Moffett, vice president for University Relations at Lee. "Susan will bring energy, care,   more

OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma, May 23 -- The Oklahoma State Senate issued the following news release on May 22: Oklahoma is on its way to having its own Imagination Library--a literacy program providing free books to encourage children to read. Sen. John Haste, R-Broken Arrow, and Rep Tammy Townley, R-Ardmore, are principal authors of SB 1803, creating the framework for Oklahoma's Imagination Library, modeled after a program founded by entertainer Dolly Parton in her home state of Tennessee. The gove  more

MEMPHIS, Tennessee, May 23 -- Rhodes College issued the following news: Rhodes College is now accepting applications for the new Summer Scholars Program (SSP). The program provides current high school students and recent high school graduates meaningful, credit-bearing pre-college experiences. Students enroll in two-week, credit bearing courses that will prepare them for college-level instruction in a liberal arts context. Small classes will be taught in a variety of subjects by Rhodes professo  more

MEMPHIS, Tennessee, May 23 -- Rhodes College issued the following news: As COVID-19 continues to spread, it is disrupting daily life including healthcare, the economy, education, and mental health. The virus' rapid onset and significance in human life raise natural questions that are best answered with expertise. Rhodes College is offering a series of four free Zoom webinars open to the general public. These webinars will take place on Wednesday evenings, and feature panels of college and comm  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, May 20 -- Gov. Bill Lee, R-Tennessee, issued the following news: Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced the final distribution of $10 million in Small and Rural Hospital Readiness Grants to support smaller hospitals that are facing financial strain due to the ongoing response to COVID-19. "Our small and rural hospitals play a critical role in their communities, providing both necessary care to patients and good-paying jobs to residents, and we're proud to support these hos  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, May 21 -- Gov. Bill Lee, R-Tennessee, issued the following news: Tennessee continues to advance the state's reopening plan under the Tennessee Pledge, as the Economic Recovery Group issued updated guidelines for restaurants and retail, along with new guidelines that enable attractions and larger venues to reopen with social distancing and capacity restrictions on or after May 22. The State continues to meet the White House gating criteria with a downward trend in case grow  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, May 21 -- Gov. Bill Lee, R-Tennessee, issued the following news: Tennessee Governor Bill Lee's Unified Command Group (UCG) is coordinating with the Chattanooga Housing Authority to provide free COVID-19 testing available to families and residents who would like to receive a test at four CHA communities on Thursday and Friday. "This will be our fourth testing event with housing authorities in Tennessee's major metropolitan areas in our effort to expand COVID-19 testing in   more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, May 19 -- Gov. Bill Lee, R-Tennessee, issued the following news: Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and a delegation of Shelby County leaders and U.S. Army Corp of Engineers service members will mark the completion of a significant project in Tennessee's COVID-19 efforts with a joint review of the equipping and readying of the Mid-South region's COVID-19 alternate care site at 495 Union Ave., in Memphis, Tenn. "Our work in Shelby County represents an effective local, state, and fede  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, May 21 -- Tennessee State University issued the following news: Tennessee State University has long-term plans to continue outreach to Nashville families, especially underserved communities hit hardest from the novel coronavirus with the newly established COVID-19 Academy. "TSU has established the COVID-19 Academy to continue efforts to help the Nashville community as it recovers from the pandemic," says TSU President Glenda Glover. "The academy will work to bridge the h  more

MEMPHIS, Tennessee, May 22 -- The University of Tennessee Health Science Center issued the following news: A UTHSC researcher has been awarded an R15 grant from the National Institutes of Health for her work to identify and understand trends in age-related multimorbidity. Charisse Madlock-Brown, PhD, assistant professor in the Health Informatics and Information Management Program is the principal investigator on the study titled "Data-Driven Identification of Costly Multi-Morbidity Groupings an  more

JACKSON, Tennessee, May 20 -- The University of Tennessee's Institute of Agriculture issued the following news release: The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has awarded nearly $400,000 to provide experiential learning opportunities at University of Tennessee AgResearch and Education Centers in West Tennessee. The Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduates (REEU) grant will offer agricultural workforce development, as well as research   more

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee, May 20 -- The University of Tennessee's Institute of Agriculture issued the following news release: The University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine has named Dr. David Anderson as its new Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies. Anderson had previously served as department head of the college's Large Animal Clinical Sciences for eight years. Dr. Jim Thompson, college dean, praises Anderson's leadership abilities. "Dr. Anderson has effectively led our d  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, May 23 -- Vanderbilt University issued the following news: Incoming Chancellor Daniel Diermeier, an internationally renowned political scientist and management scholar, explores the essentials of crisis management and offers advice to business and political leaders on handling the COVID-19 pandemic in a newly published article and podcast. In "How leaders can rise to the challenge of COVID-19," published May 21 in Chicago Booth Review, Diermeier outlines the tools and per  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, May 19 -- Vanderbilt University issued the following news: Parents with greater depression symptoms report experiencing less empathy--even toward their own children, according to a new Vanderbilt report published in PLOS ONE. This phenomenon could lead to significant long-term negative impacts for these children, the researchers say. "Feeling understood and accepted is important for everyone, but especially in the context of the parent-child relationship," said senior aut  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, May 23 -- Vanderbilt University issued the following news: South Africa has more HIV/AIDS patients than any other country and is home to the world's largest antiretroviral program. According to the World Bank, as of 2018 the prevalence of HIV among South Africans ages 15 to 49 was 20.4%. Nearly one in three pregnant women attending antenatal care in South Africa is living with HIV. As South Africans with HIV move around the country, there is a risk they will disengage fro  more