Dr. Flora Tydings
Dr. Flora Tydings, chancellor for the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR), will be the speaker at the Rotary Club of Cleveland luncheon on Tuesday, at the Museum Center at 5ive Points. Prior to the Rotary meeting, Chancellor Tydings will also have an opportunity to meet with President Seymour’s cabinet at CSCC.
“Originally, this came about when I was asked to sponsor a program for our club,” said Dr. Bill Seymour, CSCC president. “I thought rather than me personally doing another presentation that I would invite the chancellor, and I was pleased that she accepted our invitation.”
Dr.. Tydings will be providing a general update on “The New TBR” after the FOCUS Act changes including some of the system’s new priorities and the impact this will have on CSCC. Dr. Tydings will also include a status report on the funding request for the new building and renovations on CSCC’s campus. The TBR recommended $25 million for Cleveland State campus revitalization project that included a new Health and Sciences building and renovation of the Mary T. Barker Humanities Building.
In addition, she will also be discussing the new warranty for graduates of its colleges’ technical programs that was approved at the TBR quarterly meeting last month. This warranty guarantees that future graduates of technical training programs demonstrate skills identified in their curriculums and provide tuition-free retraining for those who don’t. The warranty is valid for one year from the date of graduation.
Dr. Seymour said, “We are excited that the chancellor is coming to Cleveland. This is our first Rotary meeting of 2018, and I think it’s a great way to start the new year.”
Dr. Tydings was appointed chancellor by the Tennessee Board of Regents in a unanimous vote on Dec. 27, 2016, effective Feb. 1, 2017. As chancellor, she is chief executive officer of the Board of Regents system, managing operations of the system office and providing strategic leadership for the system’s institutions in accordance with the board’s policies and direction and with Tennessee law. She arrived as the board and its institutions continue the transition into a more unified community and technical college system under the FOCUS (Focus on College and University Success) Act of 2016. The TBR system is also the primary driver in Tennessee’s Drive to 55 initiative.
Dr. Tydings earned her Doctor of Education degree in Occupational Studies at The University of Georgia; her Master of Education degree at Mercer University, and her Bachelor of Science degree in education, with an emphasis in behavioral science, at Georgia Southern University.
Her career in higher education leadership began in 1996 as director of curriculum and staff development at Macon Technical Institute. She became vice president for academic affairs at Central Georgia Technical College two years later, and served in that position until her appointment as president at Athens Technical College in 2003. She served there until moving to Tennessee in 2015 as president of Chattanooga State Community College.