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Academic RegaliaThe black gowns and colorful hoods traditionally worn inMiddle Tennessee State University commencementceremonies have their origins in the Middle Ages.A statute in England in 1321 required that all “Doctors,Licentiates, and Bachelors” wear gowns. In the secondhalf of the 14th century, the statutes of certain collegesforbade “excess in apparel” and prescribed the wearingof a long gown. Scholars were often clerics, as well, andthey adopted costumes similar to those of monasticorders. While the special attire covered rank or socialstatus, thus lending a uniform look to ceremonies, italso served another purpose: warmth in drafty,unheated buildings.As the universities began to pass from the control ofthe church, colors often were added to the somberrobes and hoods, eventually signifying the degree andspecialization.The cut of the gown, which is usually black, also varieswith the degree held—pointed sleeves for the bachelor’sdegree; long, closed sleeves with a slit in the arm for themaster’s degree; and round, open sleeves for the doctoraldegree. While the bachelor’s and master’s gowns have noornamentation, the doctoral gown is faced down the frontwith velvet and has three velvet bars across the sleeves.At Middle Tennessee, hoods are worn by holders of themaster’s and doctoral degrees, with the latter being longer.Hoods are lined with the official colors of the universitythat conferred the degree; thus holders of degrees fromMTSU wear hoods lined in blue and white. The velvetedging on the hood, and often the velvet edging on thegown, represents the candidate’s major academic field.Further, the velvet bars on the sleeves may be either blackor the same color as the discipline color of the hood.Colors associated with various subjects follow:Agriculture - MaizeArts, Letters, Humanities - WhiteCommerce, Accountancy, Business - DrabCriminal Justice - Midnight BlueEconomics - CopperEducation - Light BlueFine Arts - BrownHome Economics - MaroonJournalism - CrimsonLaw - PurpleLibrary Science - LemonMusic - PinkNursing - ApricotOratory (Speech) - Silver GrayPhilosophy - Dark BluePhysical Education - Sage GreenScience - Golden YellowSocial Work - CitrineThe black cap, either a mortarboard or a tam, iscustomarily worn. There is no general rule for the positionof the tassel. In practice at Middle Tennessee StateUniversity, the tassel is worn on the right. It may be shiftedto the left after the degree is awarded. December 2020graduates have received an MTSU blue tassel with 2020drop to recognize their unique place in MTSU history.Undergraduate Latin honor graduates are distinguishedby the stoles added to their gowns based upon theinclusive GPA: gold for those graduating summa cumlaude, 3.90 to 4.0; silver for magna cum laude, 3.75 to3.89; and white for cum laude, 3.50 to 3.74.Graduating from the University Honors College isan additional merit awarded to students who havecompleted the Honors program, defended a thesis, andhave a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 or higher.Graduates of the University Honors College who havecompleted at least 29 hours with a 3.25 average in theHonors program will receive blue and white cords. Thosewho have maintained a minimum average of 3.65 in theHonors program are graduating the University HonorsCollege with distinction.Since 1993, graduates of the University Honors Collegehave received the official Honors medallion inrecognition of their final thesis defense and completionof special requirements of the college. The medallion isa replica of the official seal of the University HonorsCollege and depicts a lighted torch, three Ionic columns,and a lightning bolt. Respectively, these symbolize thesearch for truth and knowledge, the stability andunwavering commitment to pursuing knowledge, andthe flash of enlightenment or creative energy.Some academic honor societies and programs mayprovide cords, ribbons, medallions, or lapel pinsdesignating the achievement and involvement oftheir members.Military veteran students are distinguished by speciallydesigned red stoles in recognition of their admirableservice to their country.13

Experiential Learning Scholars are distinguished byblue, silver, and white cords. These scholars completedEXL-designated hands-on learning courses, an off-campusservice activity, an on-campus service activity, and aportfolio of reflections on their EXL activities. The EXLprogram provides students with opportunities for hands-onexperience, valuable networking, and an opportunity toexplore career paths through real-world experience.MT Engage Scholars are distinguished by royal blue,white, and gold cords. These students completedMT Engage-designated courses that promote activelearning and integrated their learning by reflecting onconnections across disciplines and between theiracademic and cocurricular experiences. MT Engagestudents showcased their integrative learning in anePortfolio that documented their community and campusinvolvement as well as the academic knowledge andskills they gained during their time at MTSU.International students may wear colorful sashes thatrepresent their country of origin. Each sash symbolizes,in color and design, their country’s flag.Most American colleges and universities have adopteda uniform code. However, at any academic gathering,costumes often are worn that are not described by theseguidelines. Some of these may be from foreignuniversities, with others from American institutions thathave preferred to remain with the European tradition ofallowing each school to determine its own costume.Silver medallions worn by faculty denote 15 years ofservice, and gold medallions represent 25 years.Academic BannersThe banners carried and displayed at commencementrepresent the University; its nine colleges (Basic andApplied Sciences, Behavioral and Health Sciences,Business, Education, Liberal Arts, Media andEntertainment, Graduate Studies, University College, andUniversity Honors); Walker Library; and the FacultySenate. Art Professor Janet Higgins, her student KristiBaughman, and Darrell Callis Burks, designer in CreativeMarketing Solutions and 2000 B.F.A. graduate, designedand executed the banners. The colors used in eachbanner represent disciplines within the colleges. TheUniversity seal appears in the center of each banner,symbolizing that the whole is greater than any of its parts.HONORARY BANNER CARRIERSCollege of Basic and Applied SciencesDr. Racha El Kadiri is an assistant professor who appliesmachine learning, remote sensing, geographicalinformation systems, and computational methods toaddress a wide range of hydrological and environmentalproblems. These include the spatio temporal evaluationof water-driven natural hazards such as landslides andfloods, the assessment of climate change impacts onagricultural watersheds, and the prediction of coastalhazards such as algal bloom onsets and the long-termimpact of hurricanes on water quality.Currently, El Kadiri is working on projects sponsored bythe U.S. Department of Agriculture and the NaturalResources Conservation Service to maximize and14conserve soil and water resources in agriculturalwatersheds. She also is involved in educational projectsin hydrology funded by the National Science Foundation.College of Behavioral and Health SciencesDr. Sandy Neal earned her bachelor’s (‘76) and master’s(’77) from MTSU and her doctorate from the Universityof Tennessee. She has been accredited by the NationalCommission for Health Education Credentialing since2008. During her tenure in the Department of Healthand Human Performance since 1992, she has been a rolemodel and mentor for numerous faculty and students.Neal also has been instrumental in developing andrevising new health programs and curriculum.A letter-winner in tennis at MTSU for four years, Nealmade the team as a walk-on in 1972. She improved tothe point that she played No. 1 singles and doubles forthe Lady Raiders. In 1975, MTSU awarded scholarshipsto female athletes for the first time in school history, andNeal was a recipient. After graduation, she became headcoach of the women’s tennis team (1976–92), leadingthe Lady Raiders to both Ohio Valley Conference regularseason and tournament championships in 1980, ’82,and ’90. Neal also was named OVC Coach of the Yearfour times (1980, ’82, ’89, and ’90) and coached 16 allconference players and one All-American. Additionally,she took on the responsibility of coaching the MTSUvolleyball team during its first two seasons and is creditedwith beginning the program.

Jennings A. Jones College of BusinessFaculty SenateDr. Sarah Garven is an assistant professor in theDepartment of Accounting. She holds a Ph.D. inaccounting from the University of Alabama, an M.B.A. anda B.A. in Spanish from the University of Tennessee, and aB.S. in accounting and management from LipscombUniversity. Prior to joining MTSU, she served on thefaculty at Ohio University and Morehead State University.Garven is an active certified public accountant (Ohio) andhas auditing experience in both Big 4 public accountingand industry.Dr. Rick Cottle, the 2020–21 Faculty Senate president,is a veteran of the textile industry for more than 25 yearsand an associate professor for the Department of HumanSciences. He earned a B.S. from Auburn Universityin 1984, an M.B.A. from the University of Phoenix in2003, and a Ph.D. from Auburn University in 2012.Cottle joined MTSU’s College of Behavioral and HealthSciences in 2013 and teaches all aspects of the textileindustry to apparel and interior design students.Garven currently teaches financial accounting andinternal auditing to undergraduates and internal auditingin the Master of Accountancy program. She is coordinatorof the Internal Auditing Educational Partnership programat MTSU, faculty advisor for the Institute of InternalAuditors student chapter, and a member of the MTSUInternal Auditing Advisory Board. Garven’s primary areaof research focuses on the impact of corporate governancemechanisms, especially auditors, on the management offinancial results in both the for-profit and nonprofitsettings. Her research has been published in journalssuch as Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory,Managerial Auditing Journal, Current Issues in Auditing,Nonprofit Management and Leadership, Journal of SmallBusiness Strategy, Academy of Accounting and FinancialStudies Journal, Internal Auditing, Journal ofAccountancy, and The CPA Journal.College of EducationMs. Holly Hebert, an assistant professor, earned a B.S.in sociology from Abilene Christian University, a masterof library and information science from Wayne StateUniversity, and an M.S.Ed. with a concentration in onlineteaching and learning from California State University–East Bay. Since joining the MTSU faculty in 2017, Heberthas taught a variety of courses in the Master of LibraryScience program. She also advises students through theprocess of creating and building their ePortfolio, which isthe capstone project in the M.L.S. program.Hebert’s previous experience in academic and publiclibraries gives her special insight into those types oflibraries. In addition, she spent several years workingfor a library vendor, which gave her a broad knowledgeof the publishing industry and how librarians selectmaterials and build their collections. Hebert maintainsmemberships in both statewide and national libraryassociations and has presented several times at theTennessee Library Association annual conference. Shealso has reviewed books for Library Journal since 2009.His research focuses on three-dimensional body scanningas it pertains to the fit of apparel items to the humanbody, human health, and human wellness. Cottle’steaching philosophy includes human, environmental, andeconomic sustainability.College of Graduate StudiesDr. Jenny Sauls, M.S.N., R.N., CNE, is director of theSchool of Nursing and has been an MTSU faculty memberfor 30 years. She received the Outstanding TeacherAward twice (1996, 2007) and has served on numerouscommittees, including the Faculty Senate Liaison andSteering committees. Sauls is a member of the AmericanHeart Association Rutherford County Board of Directorsand TriStar StoneCrest Hospital Board of Trustees. She alsois a leader at the international level for Sigma Theta TauInternational, the nursing honor society.Sauls previously practiced as a certified critical care nurseand continued that practice well into her academic life.Her research interests include predictors of student successin nursing and student study habits. Sauls graduated fromMTSU in 1981 with an associate degree in Nursing. Sheearned a baccalaureate degree in nursing from TennesseeTechnological University in 1984, an M.S.N. from VanderbiltUniversity in 1988, and a Ph.D. in Nursing Education fromthe University of Alabama–Birmingham in 2000.College of Liberal ArtsMs. Tanya Tewell, a professor in the Department of Artand Design, has taught for over 30 years. She holdsan M.F.A. in painting and drawing from Arizona StateUniversity (‘92) and earned her bachelor’s degree fromIndiana State University (‘82). Tewell previously workedas an illustrator in Phoenix.With a specialty in painting and drawing people, Tewellhas exhibited her work in many venues around theUnited States. She is currently working on a solo showin Italy for 2022 based on her studies of Etruscan wallpaintings in central Italy. Tewell enjoys working withstudents, and her love for teaching has not diminished15

over the years. She has worked with many diversepopulations, from prison inmates to children on theNavajo reservation.College of Media and EntertainmentDr. Keonte Coleman is an assistant professor in theSchool of Journalism and Strategic Media. Coleman lovessharing his passion for media with students and helpingthem find their voices as storytellers. He formerly servedas interim dean of the Professional Studies division andchair of the Journalism and Media Studies Department atBennett College.University CollegeColeman was an Edward R. Murrow and multiple EmmyAward-winning television news producer while workingfor Hearst Television before transitioning to the classroom.Dr. Matthew D. Duncan is an assistant professor in theUniversity Studies Department teaching mathematics andstatistics. In his 13th year of service at MTSU, he currentlyteaches prescribed mathematics courses.The Tupelo, Mississippi, native earned his Ph.D. in highereducation administration at the University of NorthCarolina–Greensboro, an M.S. in broadcast journalismfrom the Newhouse School of Communications atSyracuse University, and a B.S. in mass communicationsfrom Jackson State University. Coleman’s researchinterests lie at the intersection of media, diversity, highereducation, and leadership.Duncan earned his B.S. and M.S. in Mathematics atJacksonville State University in Alabama, where hisgraduate work focused on theoretical algebra. Additionally,he recently completed a Ph.D. with a concentration inmathematics education here at Middle Tennessee StateUniversity. Duncan has published several articles innational journals and has presented numerous times at avariety of national, regional, and local conferences.University Honors CollegeJames E. Walker LibraryDr. Mary A. Evins is a research professor in the UniversityHonors College and the Department of History. Sheearned her Ph.D. and A.M. in cultural history from theUniversity of Chicago and M.A.T. and B.A. in history andanthropology from Vanderbilt University. Evins’ historicalresearch centers on Tennessee women’s social, political,and economic agency at the turn of the last century. Sheedited the 2013 anthology Tennessee’s New Women inthe New South during the Progressive Era and is co-editinga companion volume on the activism and advocacy ofTennessee women leading up to the ratification of the19th Amendment. Before coming to MTSU, Evins heldfellowships for five years at the Smithsonian Institutionin Washington, D.C. She has conducted internationalresearch supported by the Oriental Institute, Universityof Chicago; Semitic Museum, Harvard University; FrenchNational Center of Scientific Research, Paris; and AmericanResearch Institute in Ankara, Turkey.Ms. Ashley Shealy holds a B.A., in English from AppalachianState University, an M.A. in English from ClemsonUniversity, and a master’s in library science from theUniversity of North Carolina (UNC). Before joining thelibrary faculty at MTSU, she worked as a freshmancomposition instructor at Clemson, graduate researchassistant at UNC’s Wilson Special Collections Library, andreference and instruction librarian at Wingate University.Since 2014, Shealy has served as a reference and instructionlibrarian in Walker Library’s User Services Department. Inthis position, she teaches library instruction sessions forstudents in a variety of subject areas, focusing oninformation literacy concepts and research strategies. Shealyalso assists students and faculty with research help at thelibrary’s reference desk and provides one-on-one researchassistance for students in several academic departments.In 2009, Evins became coordinator of the MTSUAmerican Democracy Project, and she presently serveson the American Democracy Project national steeringcommittee for the American Association of State Collegesand Universities. She has been a history faculty membersince 2005 and resident faculty in the Honors Collegesince 2017. Evins was co-facilitator of the long-runningMTSU faculty learning community on civic learning andco-professor of a nine-year Raider Learning Community16organized around citizenship. She also was principalinvestigator of the National Endowment for the Humanitiesstatewide Bridging Cultures in Tennessee program (2015–17), assisting Tennessee Board of Regents faculty in alldisciplines in incorporating civic learning and democraticengagement into coursework across the curriculum. Evinswas awarded an MTSU women’s Trailblazer award in 2019and the Honors College Exemplary Faculty Service awardin 2020.While at MTSU, her research has focused on libraryinstruction assessment, student engagement with onlineinformation literacy modules, and pedagogy in the libraryclassroom. For a number of years, Shealy was associateeditor for Tennessee Libraries, the official academic journalof the Tennessee Library Association (TLA), and a memberof the TLA editorial board. Since 2015, she has served asthe primary faculty administrator and editor of WalkerLibrary’s online FAQ platform Ask Us!, a service thatprovides remote assistance to the campus communitythrough a bank of searchable frequently asked questionsand answers.

THE COLLEGE OFGraduate StudiesDoctor of EducationJoe Lucious Fitzgerald IIIM.Ed., Middle Tennessee State UniversityB.A., Maryville College“Unsung, Unheard Narrative: Living in theShadows”Dissertation directed by: Kevin Krahenbuhl/Lando CarterMichelle L. LoweryEd.S., Middle Tennessee State UniversityM.Ed., Middle Tennessee State UniversityB.S., Middle Tennessee State University“How Do Teachers Perceive EffectiveTeaching in a Small, Urban District?”Dissertation directed by: Kevin KrahenbuhlJames Benjamin JohnsonM.Ed., Cumberland UniversityEd.S., Tennessee Technological University“Culture for Learning: A Theoretical Modelof Learning Through the Lens of EffectiveAthletics Coaches“Dissertation directed by: Kevin KrahenbuhlDoctor of PhilosophyNan ChenM.S., Middle Tennessee State UniversityB.E.E., Hangzhou Normal University“Design, Modeling, and Simulation of Piezoelectricand Magnetoelectric Devices for Multimodal EnergyHarvesting Applications”Dissertation directed by: Vishwas BedekarRebecca Key DukeM.A., Jacksonville State UniversityB.F.A., Jacksonville State University“Dewey to Skyline Farms: Progressive Education inNew Deal Resettlement Communities”Dissertation directed by: Carroll Van WestNatalie Melia GriffinM.Ed., Vanderbilt UniversityB.A., Vanderbilt University“The Impact of Growth Mindset Intervention onVocabulary, Comprehension, Persistence, andSelf-Perception”Dissertation directed by: Amy EllemanKristin S. HartlandM.S., University of Massachusetts–LowellB.S., University of Texas–El Paso“Elementary Mathematics Teachers’ Feedback Practices:A Multiple Case Study”Dissertation directed by: Alyson LischkaMelanie Elvia HauptM.A.Ed., Virginia Polytechnic InstituteB.S., Middle Tennessee State University“Lesson Study as an Induction Program forNovice Teachers”Dissertation directed by: Rongjin HuangElizabeth Elaine JohnsonM.A., Arkansas State UniversityB.A., California State University–Long Beach“Buying into the Culture: Jewish Entrepreneurs andthe Theater Owners’ Booking Association”Dissertation directed by: Carroll Van WestDanielle Elizabeth LauberM.S., Middle Tennessee State UniversityB.S., Indiana University Bloomington“Operation Song: Exploring Social and ResiliencyFactors in Community Reintegration”Dissertation directed by: Steven EstesMasoud Mahmoodi-ShahrebabakiM.A.T., University of TehranB.A., University of Tabriz“The Associations among Literacy Teachers’ GradeLevel, Teaching Experience, Work-Family Conflict,Bu

Alumni Association, please contact the Offi ce of Alumni Relations at 1-800-533-MTSU (6878) or visit mtalumni.com. Welcome to the future and to your National Alumni Association. Jimmy White ('97) President, MTSU National Alumni Association Board, 2020-21