ELAM TRANSFER PROMISE BENEFITS TRANSFER STUDENTS ATTENDING UT MARTIN

ELAM TRANSFER PROMISE BENEFITS TRANSFER STUDENTS ATTENDING UT MARTIN
MARTIN, Tenn. — Drs. Allana Hamilton and Keith Carver share much common ground in their first
year of leading their respective institutions. Hamilton, Jackson State Community College president, welcomed
Carver, University of Tennessee at Martin chancellor, and other higher education officials to the JSCC campus
Wednesday to formalize a partnership through the university’s Elam Transfer Promise scholarships that will
benefit Tennessee Promise students who pursue a four-year degree at UT Martin.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by Dr. Flora Tydings, Tennessee Board of Regents
chancellor, Mike Krause, Tennessee Higher Education Commission executive director, and Carver makes UT
Martin the first four-year public university in Tennessee to formalize an extension of the Tennessee Promise
scholarship program. The announcement and signing ceremony were held in the Jim and Janet Ayers Center
for Health Science.
UT Martin offers three tiers of Elam Transfer Promise scholarships for those who qualify with the goal
to benefit more transfer students. The scholarships are named for the late Kathleen and Tom Elam, of Union
City, longtime UT Martin and University of Tennessee supporters.
The Tennessee Promise is both a scholarship and mentoring program focused on increasing the
number of students that attend college in Tennessee. The program covers tuition and mandatory fees not
covered by the Pell grant, the HOPE scholarship or the Tennessee Student Assistance Award. Students can use
the scholarship at any of the state’s 13 community colleges, 27 colleges of applied technology or other eligible
institution offering an associate degree program.
Hamilton told those attending the event that approximately half of Jackson State students plan to
transfer to a four-year college or university. “So, here at Jackson State, we view that as our responsibility to
help develop pathways, to help develop seamless transitions from Jackson State to four-year colleges and
universities,” she said. “And with our guests today, I’m going to say from Jackson State to UT Martin.”

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ELAM TRANSFER PROMISE, PAGE 2

Krause, founding executive director of the Tennessee Promise and Drive to 55 before his appointment
to lead THEC, sees the partnership as a natural extension of the Tennessee Promise. “First and foremost,
what’s going to happen today is an opportunity for us to build a bridge in West Tennessee between Jackson
State students to UT Martin students,” he said. “If you think back to the original idea behind Tennessee
Promise, it was really to change how students thought about their future.” He recognized Jackson State’s
success retaining more that 80 percent of Tennessee Promise students who attend the community college.
“I’m excited about what’s going to happen in West Tennessee with these two leaders specifically
(Hamilton and Carver) and then with Chancellor Tydings leading at the system level,” Krause said. “What I
know from all three of these leaders is this is only about students. That’s it. That’s what they’re about, and that
student focus in West Tennessee will be transforming.”
Carver said that the agreement is an extension of a long-standing relationship with Jackson State.
“And to be able to really say to all of our partners in the Tennessee Board of Regents, we’re here for you when
you want to continue on, and we’re going to provide some financial aid and scholarships to aid you in this
journey,” he said.
“So the UT Martin Elam Transfer Promise scholarships, I hope, will send a signal not just to West
Tennessee, but also across the state … that we want to be a destination for your students, and we’re going to
continue to provide the same type of student service and focus on quality instruction that the students are
getting at Jackson State and other places,” Carver added.
Tydings credited Hamilton and Carver for their leadership in being the first to formally connect the
Tennessee Promise to a four-year public university. “They took the initiative to put this down in a formal
process where we had a lot of students that have taken part in the transfer before,” she said. “This
formalization of it (the process) will now help students to understand the (transfer) pathway, not just for
Jackson State, but for all of our 40 institutions across the state of Tennessee.”
Information about the Elam Transfer Promise scholarships is available at utm.edu or by calling the UT
Martin Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships at 731-881- 7040.