President Coker: MC emerging from pandemic ‘an even stronger institution’
May 28, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic made the 2020-2021 academic year like none other at Maryville College, but Dr. Bryan F. Coker, president, told the College’s constituents this week that there was much to celebrate.
In separate year-end reports addressed to the College employees and alumni and friends, Coker, who began the 12th presidency on July 1, 2020, said that despite unprecedented challenges posed by the pandemic, the College is “emerging from COVID-19 as an even stronger institution, with new strategic initiatives in the works for our future.”
Strategic initiatives are able to move forward due, in part, to the College’s strong financial health. Drawing comparison to the pandemic-induced budgetary crises of other institutions across the country, Coker said Maryville College “will finish this fiscal year in a positive financial position, in compliance with all our debt covenants, and our endowment value reached its highest point ever recently, at the $120 million mark. I am thankful for the prudent financial stewardship of Past President Tom Bogart, as well as Jeff Ingle, our VP of finance and administration.”
Fundraising also has been strong in 2020-2021, with the College’s Advancement Office having met annual goals ahead of the May 31 fiscal year end. A Tartan Tuesday day of giving event back in April resulted in more than $450,000 from 894 donors.
“Your support will continue to be imperative for our success, especially as we launch new strategic initiatives, focused on the future and relevance and sustainability of the College,” Coker wrote to alumni and friends. “As we conclude this academic year, I am immensely proud of Maryville College’s fortitude, resolve and resilience, and I hope all of you are, as well.”
Successes from the year
In the reports, Coker detailed several successes from across campus and shared updates of various projects and initiatives.
In 2020-2021, the College’s Board of Directors approved three new or revised majors: Elementary Education, Developmental Psychology and Environmental Science. Most notably, it was announced just this week that the College and the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont intend to partner for the purposes of shared space, positions and programming (including graduate programs).
Despite the stress and strain of all sports competing in the Spring because of the USA South’s postponement of fall athletics due to COVID-19, Maryville College brought home three conference championships – in men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball – and celebrated other teams’ wins. In the letters, Coker cited those successes, and also the commitment of the College to transition to a full-time athletics director model (promoting Sara Quatrocky into the position), and welcoming several new coaches, including Head Football Coach Ben Fox.
The College’s steam plant was made more reliable with the installation of two new natural gas steam generators, and the energy consumption has decreased by 21 percent, due to the change.
The College was able to make investments in technology, most notably installing 10-gigabit fiber optic cable across campus and adding several wireless access points that enable students, faculty and staff to connect to the internet from any outdoor location within the main campus grounds.
Navigating the reassignment of the RT Lodge lease was another success that Coker included in his year-end reports.
“Ruby Tuesday’s bankruptcy proceedings this year placed the Lodge’s future in question, and led to months of legal wrangling,” he said. “Ultimately, the end result was very positive, with the leave now being held by a group of Knoxville investors [Beth McCabe Holman and David and Annie Haslam Colquitt] who understand the Morningside legacy and its importance to the College and region.”
Expiration of the lease agreement with U.S. Bank for the building at 826 East Lamar Alexander Parkway led to the College’s decision to acquire the 4,600-square-foot facility for use by the Alumni Affairs and Advancement offices.
Addressing the impending vacating of Willard House, where many Alumni Affairs and Advancement staff members now work, Coker explained in the year-end report that it would be renovated to become the new home for Admissions, “functioning as our ‘front door’ to new students and families, providing a beautiful view of the mountains and our athletic fields, as well as a sense of MC’s rich and storied history.”
Initiatives underway and on the horizon
Employees and campus visitors can already see construction crews in various campus locations now, and they should expect to see and hear them all summer. In his year-end reports, Coker outlined the donor-funded capital improvements and deferred maintenance projects slated for completion before the start of school in August. Those include a reposition and overhaul of the College’s soccer field, structural and cosmetic improvements to the interior of Cooper Athletic Center, exterior work to Carnegie Hall and a new roof for Beeson Village.
Coker reported that the President’s Advisory Board for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and related workgroups had begun meeting in the spring and had already made preliminary recommendations but would continue assessment and planning in the areas of student recruitment and retention, faculty/staff recruitment and retention, academic programs and curriculum, non-academic programs, and college policies and procedures.
To complement new branding that was launched last year, Coker reported that work was underway on a new College logo that should be ready for unveiling later this summer.
“We are honing our visual identity,” he stated in the report to alumni and friends, “to better convey what differentiates us within a crowded higher education marketplace.”