The new $16.9 million Bartlett campus of the Tennessee College of Applied Technology Memphis is set for its first full semester of classes this fall.
A grand opening ceremony took place at the campus at the corner of Appling Road and Brother Boulevard Thursday, July 14, and included several local and state elected officials.
He was heavily involved in the project, dating back to his time as Senate majority leader.
“The facility we’re dedicating here today is the exciting end result of nearly a decade of hard work,” Norris said.
The nearly 49,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility includes seven classrooms, seven training labs, a student lounge and a multi-purpose room for student and staff gatherings.
“The primary reason this building stands today is that several like-minded individuals understand and valued the influence of collegial partnerships,” TCAT Memphis President Roland Rayner said.
The campus actually began open enrollment in early January and did conduct classes during the first half of the year.
“At that time, we didn’t have all of our faculty onboard, so we gradually brought them onboard,” Rayner said. “We’re up and running 100% now.”
The school had some challenges finding skilled instructors simply because private companies pay better than the state, but Rayner feels the school is in good shape now.
For the upcoming fall semester, the campus will be able to accommodate up to 180 students in six competency-based programs — automotive technology, heating and air conditioning, welding, machine tool technology, heavy equipment and mechatronics (building robots combining machine tool technology, welding and electronics).
TCAT VP of Workforce Development and Murfreesboro President Carol Puryear says their goal is to “make sure that our students don’t just come through this door, but when they leave, they have a credential to help them be successful. It’s about building a strong Tennessee workforce and a strong Tennessee economy.”
TCAT Memphis provides career, technical and workforce training, with 25 career and technical education programs. The Greater Memphis Medical Device Council, Associated Equipment Distributors and other industry leaders are helping shape the curriculum.
“I’m excited because the medical device people wanted a place to have training,” Bartlett Mayor A. Keith McDonald said. “Now, we haven’t gotten all of the wrinkles out of that yet, but we’re looking forward to. If we can figure out a way to pay the instructors more … so that some of the folks would be interested in passing it along to other generations, that would be great.”
He hopes that whoever is elected mayor of Bartlett next will take on that initiative.
The Bartlett Campus is TCAT Memphis’ fourth teaching site, in addition to its main campus at 550 Alabama Ave. in Downtown Memphis, its Aviation Extension Campus at 3435 Tchulahoma Road near the airport and its Instructional Center at Bartlett High School.
The new building is named the Haas CNC Technology Center in recognition of the Haas Foundation’s support, including a $1 million donation toward the project.
Additional funding for construction of the project included $1 million from the City of Bartlett, a $4 million state Labor Education Alignment Program (LEAP) grant and $11.5 million from the state.