The Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence is a $1 million prize awarded to a school demonstrating superior student success.

The funding will help Associate Professor of Biology and Environmental Science Dr. Yi Charlie Chen research targeted treatments for chemotherapy-resistant ovarian cancer.

The Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP) grant funding will implement the school’s Southern Health Pathways: Nursing and Allied Health Student Success project.

The Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) has granted the program initial accreditation and the next evaluation visit is scheduled for Spring 2031.

The university is the first in the state to receive permission from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission to begin developing a proposal for a reduced-credit bachelor degree program.

The grant funding will assist the university’s Office of Veteran Services in providing military-connected students with mental health and wellness services.

The endowed professorship will be housed within the Thomas F. Frist, Jr. College of Medicine and was established thanks to a $1.5 million gift from Drs. Michael and Rowena Dolor Cuffe.

The new funds have been established to assist nursing students and to enhance student leadership opportunities.

The new Division of Health Sciences will be led by Dr. Mark Browne, the university’s chief administrative officer for health sciences.

Dr. Gearldean Johnson is an alumna and former faculty member who established the scholarship to benefit students in the College of Agriculture’s Department of Human Sciences.