Tusculum University launches initiative to grow academic teams and provide scholarships for participants
The initiative is intended to drive enrollment at the university, with students being able to pursue their interests and obtain scholarships much like students involved in athletics are able to do.
Tusculum University is focusing on expanding its offering of academic competition teams for the 2025-2026 school year as a means of boosting enrollment and providing more opportunities for students on campus. Along with the expansion and addition of these competitive academic teams, the school is also launching a $2,000 scholarship for those students who participate on the teams.
The school plans to first focus on expanding its existing quiz bowl and esports teams, and then will later move on to expanding the debate team and establishing a mock trial team. The faculty members involved with the teams are working on outreach and recruitment strategies to help high school students become aware of the available academic competition teams and to bring them on board to enroll with the school. Additionally, the assistant deans of various departments have been asked to look into what types of academic competition teams exist at the high school level to consider bringing to Tusculum, as well.
According to an article on Tusculum University’s website, Dr. David Cook, the university’s provost and vice president of academic affairs, was quoted as saying of these efforts and their purpose, “Many students like to demonstrate their knowledge and skills and feed their competitive spirit. The enhanced methods we are creating will provide an outlet for them to showcase their academic talent and computer skills while also creating additional diversity in our student body. Plus, the scholarships we plan to offer these students will make Tusculum even more affordable, particularly for students whose families are not blessed financially.”
The scholarships are expected to be available in the Fall 2025 semester for students who participate on these academic competition teams. They will average about $2,000 per student, and are intended to help interest more students in coming to Tusculum University.
The mock trial team is still in the initial planning stages and does not yet have a number of students it would like to have participating in it nor has a coach been selected to run the team. Dr. Chuck Pearson, who is the assistant dean of the Math and Science Division and a professor of natural sciences, is the coach of the quiz bowl team. Dr. Nick Davidson, an assistant dean of the Sport Science Division, and Dr. Harold Branstrator, an associate professor of management, coach the esports team together. Dr. Kurtis Miller, the assistant dean of the Humanities Division and an associate professor of communication, currently coaches the debate team, though the debate team itself to this point has been an informal one made up of students taking debate classes. As part of this initiative, the debate team will become a more formal endeavor.
As a means of getting the initiative off the ground and bringing in more students to populate these academic teams, and in turn, the university, the school has begun to pair the academic coaches with the school’s athletic coaches to work together in the recruitment process, an idea conceived of by Josh Ealy, Tusculum University’s vice president of athletics.
“We already have athletic coaches who are in schools and have relationships that can help reach students and other people at these institutions who can be helpful. Dr. Cook and I discussed potential strategies to support efforts for these academic teams, and we thought a good approach would be to have an athletic coach come alongside the academic coaches to help them in their recruiting efforts. That way, we get the best of both worlds – additional resources and contacts from the athletic coaches and the expertise of the faculty member coaching the academic team,” said Ealy.
So far, two athletic coaches are signed on to the recruitment efforts: head women’s lacrosse coach Jenna Agostino and head coach for the men’s and women’s golf team Hunter Chandley. Agostino is focused on recruiting for the quiz bowl team and Chandley is helping to recruit for the esports team, with a search for athletic coaches to help with the mock trial and debate teams still underway.
Agostino noted that she is glad to be able to help bring more students onto Tusculum’s campus. She said, “I love the idea of helping Tusculum grow and diversify our student body. I’m also passionate about introducing high school students to Tusculum’s amazing campus and academic possibilities. Being able to help students find their future ‘home away from home’ is extremely rewarding, and I’m excited to continue these efforts with TUs Quiz Bowl team.” Agostino added, “I hope to help Dr. Pearson build his dream team for our 2025 Tusculum Quiz Bowl program and introduce dozens of future prospects to what their future successes can hold by receiving a degree from Tusculum and immersing themselves in the Pioneer experience.”
In addition to bolstering enrollment rates, the university is hopeful that more students will be able to find a community on campus they can be passionate about participating in through the expansion and addition of more academic competition teams.
“This can be a game-changer for Tusculum. We have outstanding faculty to serve as coaches, and the academic environment at Tusculum with our focus on research for undergraduates and new programs such as our game design minor will position us to attract students who will flourish. We are energized by the limitless possibilities of these academic teams and look forward to watching these students in action,” said Dr. Cook.
For more information about Tusculum University, visit the school’s website.