ETSU president highlights enrollment gains, $2.5M state support for pharmacy and Voyager modernization

President Nolan told the Board of Trustees the university is in a strong position but watching industrywide financial and enrollment trends. He reported a 3.25% increase in applications that, if sustained, would help the university reach its freshman enrollment goal and noted that transfer enrollments are up as well. "Our apps are up. They're up 3.25%, which means if they hold, our freshman class will be larger than last year's," he said.

Nolan reviewed the legislative session and funding outcomes. He said trustees Ramsey and Stegall Jones were confirmed by the Tennessee General Assembly and noted state budget actions that affect ETSU, including a $500,000 supplemental to the Quillen College of Medicine and a larger statewide capital focus on Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology. He told the board the supplemental budget included a $2,500,000 investment for the Gatton College of Pharmacy that will change the college's status and "make their way to students," and that the board would hold a special mid‑May meeting to present a revised Gatton budget and revised tuition recommendations.

The president also reported progress on enterprise modernization: the Voyager project will replace the institution's Banner system with Oracle cloud systems; Nolan said the project is on time and on budget and is scheduled to go live in December. He highlighted recent external reviews, noting a clean SACSCOC visit and a successful College of Public Health accreditation review that returned no findings.

Separately, Dr. Mike Hock presented results from a campus survey with 2,935 unique responses. Hock said 95.5% of respondents indicated the university achieves its mission, 70% believe ETSU is headed in the right direction, and 76% believed the university is equipped to handle mental health — a noted area for improvement. Hock said the administration will publish a dashboard and make open‑ended responses available online.

Nolan closed by describing campus initiatives tied to academic alignment, quality enhancement and partnerships intended to sustain enrollment, retention and outcomes for the region.