Motlow College History
Activities ultimately leading to the creation of Tennessee's community college system began in the mid 50's. 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. As a result of this study, a public mandate emerged toward establishing new state colleges. The first three community colleges were located in Cleveland, Columbia, and Jackson, one in each grand division of the state. In 1967 the General Assembly authorized the construction of three additional community colleges in Tennessee. 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, Governor Buford Ellington and Commissioner of Education, J. Howard Warf, recommended that the college be named Motlow State Community College.
Ground for the college buildings was broken at a ceremony in November 1967, on the site. 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 of the college 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. Since that time, other new career programs have been added, along with a very active program of continuing education, measurably increasing the institution's service to students and to the community.
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 Career Education and Workforce Development 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.
Activities funded by a $1.6 million Title III grant awarded in October 1987 strengthened the student academic advisement system and provided for acquisition of state-of-the-art equipment for a model Computer Integrated Manufacturing Center. Related activities of 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.
Construction of a 14,000 square foot instructional facility in McMinnville was completed for opening in the fall, 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.
The college expanded its evening program in Fayetteville and initiated a day instructional program there in the fall, 1988. Concurrent with the expanded program, an initiative was undertaken by Lincoln county residents to fund a new facility. This effort reached fruition with the opening of a 14,000 square foot instructional facility located just east of Fayetteville on highway 64. The Tennessee Higher Education Commission approved center status for the Fayetteville site in July 1997.
As the College approached its silver anniversary of service to southern middle Tennessee, several events of note recognized the contributions of those who had been instrumental in the early history of the College. 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. The library was officially named the Crouch Library in July 1992 to honor Senator Earnest Crouch, a state legislator and advocate for Motlow College. 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.
Campus expansion was undertaken once again in September 1998 when ground was broken for construction of the new Nursing and Technology Building on the Moore County campus. The vision of providing a 21st Century facility with design options for preparing students for careers requiring new technology and enhancing current technology was realized when Motlow College was named among the "most wired campuses" by PC World magazine. 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 Computer Services Department, the Center for Information Systems, and Division of Career Education and Workforce Development. 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. When the Career Education and Workforce Development division moved into new quarters in the Marcum Technology Center, space in Eoff Hall was renovated to accommodate the new Humanities and Social Science division.
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. The primary focus of the Center is to offer both credit and non-credit courses to meet the workforce development needs of Lincoln and surrounding counties.
