Background

In April, 2002, The Tennessee Board of Regents began a project entitled, Defining Our Future, in response to the legislative mandate to study operations to determine how Tennessee higher education institutions can operate more efficiently with more limited resources. NETRAN is East Tennessee's response to this mandate.

NETRAN, the Northeast Tennessee Academic Node, held its first meeting in May 2002. From that first meeting in May 2002, attended by 10 individuals, NETRAN has grown into an extensive network of staff members across the member campuses of East Tennessee State University, Northeast State Community College, and the Tennessee Technology Center at Elizabethton.

One NETRAN member says, “This process has enabled us to begin thinking on a regional basis as opposed to an institutional basis. The improved communication has made individuals realize they are not alone in their problems and the benefits that can be derived from the sharing of ideas and processes."

Innovation

NETRAN improves educational services in the region while minimizing cost. The organization identifies and implements new efficiencies, while improving the learning and service environment for our constituents.

Potential areas of efficiency include sharing:

• Facilities
• Faculty and course development
• Purchasing, publications, printing, student counseling, legal affairs, support services, The Writing and Communication Center, marketing, grant writing
• Faculty and staff training and workshops
• Articulation aggreements
• Accreditation standards
• External fund raising
• Mantenance and contractual arrangements, including utilities and waste management, grounds service, and motor pool activities
• Staffing consolidations
• Registration, financial aid
• Creative work arrangements in remedial and developmental studies
• Collective approach to summer school session
• Expanded use of distance education and televideo conferencing