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SEGMENT ONE
GUEST: Dr. Anne Anderson, finance professor and the Weatherford Chair of Finance in the Jones College of Business
TOPIC: Financial Literacy Week at MTSU
MTSU will celebrate Financial Literacy Week, as declared by the Tennessee General Assembly, Monday, April 4, through Friday, April 8, with several enlightening events to better educate students about finances in college and beyond. All events are free and open to the public.
Anne Anderson, holder of the Weatherford Chair of Finance in the Jennings A. Jones College of Business, and Maria Edlin King, a professor of economics, are co-organizers of Financial Literacy Week.
MTSU economics professor Charles Baum, who also is a state representative, helped guide a proclamation making Financial Literacy Week official through the state legislature in 2021.
Highlights for the week include:
• Brock Fortner, an MTSU alumnus, will present “Financial Foundations and a Step Beyond” at 4:30 p.m. Monday, April 4, in Room N127 of the Business and Aerospace Building. Fortner, an award-winning financial professional, owns two Nashville-area companies, StoneCentury Financial and Pro Legacy Capital.
• A panel of financial planners will discuss “Careers in Financial Planning” at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 5, in Room N127 of the Business and Aerospace Building. The panelists will explain what they do in their jobs and how they pursued their careers with a q-and-a session to follow.
• Troy Jones, co-founder and chief executive officer of the sports technology gaming company StatusPRO, will deliver the keynote address “Crafting YourSuccess!,” at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 6, in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building. Registration is required at tinyurl.com/bdffhu9w. This event is co-sponsored by the MTSU Distinguished Lecture Fund and Ascend Federal Credit Union and follows a midday discussion by Jones strictly for high school students.
• “Financial Simulation—The Game of Life” is slated for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, April 7, in the gymnasium of the Campus Recreation Center. This hands-on event will provide students with perspective on how their future salary would match up with their monthly expenses.
Participating students will navigate through nine stations, coping with student loans, unexpected life events and various types of month expenses as they try to stay within their post-graduation budgets.
Eligible students will be able to apply for $1,000 Ascend Federal Credit Union scholarships by writing reflection papers on the Jones event and either the Fortner event or the Game of Life. All applications and papers must be submitted by 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 13. Applications are available at https://tinyurl.com/ye262yvy.
Financial Literacy Week is presented in conjunction with MTSU’s Jennings A. Jones College of Business and the Department of Economics and Finance with support from Ascend Federal Credit Union. For more information, go to https://tinyurl.com/bdffhu9w or contact Anderson at 615-898-2365 or anne.anderson@mtsu.edu.
SEGMENT TWO
GUEST: Dr. Jennifer Vannatta-Hall, Interim Director, MTSU School of Music
TOPIC: The School of Music’s online Master of Music Education program, other activities
The fully online Master of Music degree program with a music education specialization is designed for music educators who are currently teaching in K-12 music settings and intended to provide them with tools and perspectives to pursue positions of leadership in the field of music education, specifically in the areas of pedagogy, research, and advocacy.
Those interested must have a bachelor’s degree in music from an accredited university or college, at least a 3.0 GPA and be concurrently teaching in a K-12 music setting — with at least one year of experience in the classroom — while enrolled in the degree program.
K-12 music educators who qualify include band, orchestra, choir and general music teachers. Since the program is 100% remote, it is accessible to teachers across the country. For this program, the university has made its e-rate available to out-of-state students which will result in a savings of $3,400 per semester.
“This program is very targeted. Every single course is specific to music education,” Vannatta-Hall said. “For most music education programs at the master’s level, students take a set of general, core music courses, then they take courses for their specialty. At MTSU, we have designed every graduate music education course to be practical and applicable for practicing K-12 music educators.”
Courses encourage students to use their current teaching contexts to generate perspectives on philosophy and pedagogy while learning to apply new resources and frameworks. Graduates will gain experiences with conducting and consuming research appropriate for pursuit of terminal degrees. Further, they will develop an awareness of issues and tools regarding music and education and will be equipped to lead in responding to professional challenges.
Learn more at https://www.mtsu.edu/music/ and click on the “Academic Programs” tab and the “Graduate” sub-tab.
Read more: https://mtsunews.com/online-master-music-for-teachers/
SEGMENT THREE
GUEST: MTSU Police Officer Katelynn Erskine
TOPIC: Erskine’s certification as a defensive tactics instructor, the first female officer to earn that certification within the department
MTSU Officer Katelynn Erksine knows female officers like herself play a vital role in the world of law enforcement.
“I think it’s important to recognize that females can do just as good of a job in this profession as males can,” Erskine said. “We can offer a different perspective to certain issues. Victims can feel more comfortable speaking to a female officer. Escalated individuals can respond better to a female officer’s temperament.”
Erskine recently expanded her role at the MTSU Police Department, earning her certification as a defensive tactics instructor — the first female officer in the department to do so.
“The certification will allow me to teach my coworkers the skills that I have learned that can be potentially lifesaving on the streets for both officers and suspects,” she said.
The designation includes endorsements in both pressure point control tactics and jiujitsu, the latter a system of unarmed combat and physical training that is popular with police departments to help decrease the use of deadly force.
Erskine hopes her new accreditation will give more visibility to female officers in the department, showing them that they too can succeed in even the more physical aspects of the profession.
Read more: https://mtsunews.com/first-female-defensive-tactics-instructor/
