Photo caption: Dr. Barry Gidcomb, history professor at Columbia State, holds the certificate issued by State of Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen officially recognizing him as a member of the Tennessee Board of Regents. Gidcomb, who has been at Columbia State for 25 years, will serve a one-year term as Faculty Regent. For more information on the Tennessee Board of Regents, please visit http://tbr.edu.

Columbia State Community College is proud to announce that Dr. Barry Gidcomb, professor of history, has been appointed to the Tennessee Board of Regents as Faculty Regent. Governor Phil Bredesen announced on July 19, that Gidcomb would join the 18 person group that makes up the Board of Regents.

"It is an honor to be selected to represent my Tennessee TBR faculty colleagues," said Gidcomb, who has been at Columbia State since 1985. "This is a nice surprise at this point in my career."

Gidcomb, who recently completed a two-year term as Columbia State's faculty senate president, was nominated by Columbia State President Dr. Janet F. Smith, who had the following to say about him: "During my time at Columbia State, I have found Barry to be open to new ideas and supportive of both the College and the State of Tennessee. He is pro-student, which is evidenced by his caring attitude and the success of his students. His broad support for students and student learning is felt across campus and includes sponsorship of the Beta Kappa Theta Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, committee leadership and participation, faculty leadership, commitment to and innovation for excellence in teaching and learning, and enhancement of the college learning experience through extracurricular programs such as athletics, the arts, and lectures. He is supportive in all ways and is the ideal of what a community college faculty member should be."

Gidcomb's first higher education experience was as a community college student at Columbia State. He graduated and went on to earn degrees at both Middle Tennessee State University and Illinois State University.

He will serve a one-year term on the Board of Regents and has been assigned to the Academic Policies/Student Life Committee and the Ad-hoc Committee for Strategic Planning. He joins fellow Columbia State alum and current State Commissioner for Education Tim Webb on both committees.

The faculty regent position rotates on an annual basis between an appointed faculty member at TBR universities, community colleges and technology centers.

The Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) system consists of 45 institutions with a combined annual enrollment of over 190,000 students, making it the nation's sixth largest system of public higher education. TBR's six state universities, 13 community colleges, and 26 technology centers offer classes in 90 of Tennessee's 95 counties. The TBR system is a $2.2 billion per year enterprise.

The mission of the Tennessee Board of Regents system is to educate more Tennesseans in order to provide Tennessee with the workforce it needs for sound economic development. Technology centers are exclusively focused on workforce development, which is also a major emphasis in community colleges. The latter also provide degrees designed for transfer to a university. At universities, the priorities are student preparation and research, with five of six universities granting doctoral degrees.

Columbia State is a two-year college, serving a nine-county area in southern Middle Tennessee with locations in Columbia, Franklin, Lawrenceburg, Lewisburg and Clifton. As Tennessee's first community college, Columbia State is committed to increasing access and enhancing diversity at all five campuses. Columbia State is a member of the Tennessee Board of Regents, the sixth largest higher education system in the nation. For more information, please visit www.columbiastate.edu.