by jowens | Dec 10, 2019
Last week American School and University Magazine released its 2019 “Architectural Portfolio,” which awarded Welch College’s new campus its “Outstanding Design” citation, according to President Matt Pinson.
Joe Agron, the magazine’s editor, said the annual “Architectural Portfolio” issue “has showcased the best of education facilities for more than 35 years. As the first, largest, and most prestigious education facilities awards competition, it is the ultimate resource to find examples of learning spaces that you can glean ideas from for your next construction project. With more than 100 projects featured, this year’s competition exhibits some of the best in education facilities planning, design, and construction.”
Pinson said, “We’re delighted to have been selected, along with 35 other colleges and universities, from among the thousands of recent construction projects in higher education, for this prestigious publication that focuses on academic architecture and construction.”
Welch moved to Gallatin from its previous campus on West End Avenue after 75 years because of steep land prices and strict zoning ordinances that prohibited expansion. In late 2017 it completed construction on phase one of the completely new campus in the growing suburban-Nashville community of Gallatin and Sumner County.
The design team consisted of Jim Sherrer, Jr., the CEO of the architectural firm in charge of the project, Design Development Architects of Raleigh, North Carolina. Sherrer’s staff, including Tom Wells, Jonathan Medlin, T. J. Mulder, and Trevor Cundiff, were joined by historical design consultant Michael Marzialo of Nashville. The architectural team was assisted by Fluhrer-Reed Structural Engineers of Raleigh, NC; Crenshaw Consulting Engineers of Raleigh; and Civil Design Consultants of Nashville. Focus Design Builders of Wake Forest, North Carolina, was the general contractor, while SouthLand Constructors of Brentwood, Tennessee, served as project manager.
“We are thankful to Jim Sherrer and his team at Design Development, as well as historical design consultant Michael Marzialo,” Pinson said. “Jim and the staff at Design Development were so easy to work with. They held our hands through the entire project and made this a wonderful campus that will give glory to God for years to come.”
To see the “Architectural Portfolio,” see pages 97-98 at https://secure.viewer.zmags.com/publication/8492d42a#/8492d42a/97. To give to the Building on the Legacycampaign to fund the new campus, visit https://welch.edugive/building-on-the-legacy/.
by jowens | Dec 10, 2019
Welch College has entered into a partnership with White & Associates of Hendersonville, Tennessee, to provide managerial oversight of its Physical Plant department, according to Craig Mahler, Vice President for Financial Affairs. After the retirement of Mr. Sandy Goodfellow, long-time Director of Plant Operations, college leadership explored multiple options, including outsourcing, for this important role critical to the effective stewardship of the college’s new campus.
A family-owned firm, White & Associates provides a full array of property management services, including cleaning, grounds, and maintenance and has served churches, educational institutions, and businesses across Middle Tennessee for over a decade. Prior to founding White and Associates, Mr. DeWayne White, Principal, led the property management division of a large Middle Tennessee construction firm for over 25 years.
The role of White & Associates at Welch will be to provide supervision of and support for the college’s current cleaning, grounds, and maintenance employees; implement a new work order system; and develop plans for the ongoing stewardship of college facilities. “We are delighted to welcome these seasoned professionals to our Physical Plant team both to support current college personnel and aid the college with adoption of an effective program to maintain and care for the college’s beautiful new campus for many years to come,” Mahler said.
The phased transition to White & Associates management of Physical Plant sub-departments will begin January 1, 2020, with the goal of fully transitioning to oversight of all aspects of the Plant function on or by June 1, 2020.
by jowens | Nov 22, 2019
Athletic Director Greg Fawbush announced that Abigail Warren has resigned as volleyball coach for Welch College. A former student at Welch, Coach Warren led the Lady Flame for the past two seasons. She is also an elementary physical education teacher for Davidson County. Time commitment to her teaching responsibilities is the reason for her resignation.
The FlamesVolleyball program showed great improvement under Coach Warren’s leadership. She used her platform to help build Welch’s volleyball program into a competitive program in the NCCAA Mideast. The Lady Flamesvolleyball teams finished both seasons with a winning record under her leadership. She produced several all-regional players and help lead the program to several historic wins.
“Coach Warren was a constant mentor to the young ladies in the volleyball program, stated Coach Fawbush. “She challenged them physically, academically, and, most importantly, spiritually. Coach Warren demonstrated how winning can be accomplished by applying a work ethic that does not compromise on integrity.”
by jowens | Oct 26, 2019
The South Georgia Association Ignite the Flame dinner recently raised over $31,000 for Welch College according to David Williford, Vice President for Institutional Advancement.
Williford said, “Welch College is thankful for the tremendous work the South Georgia Association has done over the last eight years in raising over $188,000 for the Ignite the Flame dinners in their area. The twenty-one churches in the association began working with Welch Fund director Mike Edwards in 2012 to raise $10,000 that first year.”
In 2013, a donor pledged to match $10,000 if the association could raise at least that much, and they succeeded! This challenge has continued since that time, and the churches have responded and increased their support, bringing in over $31,000 at this year’s dinner.
Edwards said, “The South Georgia Association dinner success is largely credited to the hard work of the dinner co-chairmen Rick Cason (Ebenezer Free Will Baptist Church) and Wayne Miracle (New Life Fellowship Free Will Baptist Church) and their willingness to promote the dinners.”
Seven states currently have Ignite the Flame dinners (AR, GA, IL, MO, MS, NC, SC). “Welch College is thankful for the support from all the different churches and associations and would love to start dinners in more locations,” Edwards said.
The Ignite the Flame dinners provide an opportunity for Welch to promote a growing relationship with local churches, share college programs of study with high school students, report on Welch events, and supply a unique way for churches to invest in the lives of our students.
For more information on how your association and state can host an Ignite the Flame dinner, please contact Mike Edwards at mike.edwards@welch.edu.
by jowens | Oct 4, 2019
Welch College received notification that the institution ranks 16th among “Regional Colleges South” in U.S. News & World Report’s 2020 edition of America’s Best Colleges rankings, according to Welch president Matt Pinson.
The “Best Regional Colleges” category where Welch is ranked includes 273 institutions that focus on undergraduate education and offer a range of degree programs in the traditional liberal arts as well as in professional fields such as business, nursing, and education. Colleges in this category are ranked within four geographic regions: North, South, Midwest, and West.
U.S. News rankings offer opportunities to judge the relative quality of institutions based on widely accepted indicators of excellence: peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, alumni giving, and more.
“We are delighted about this high ranking in U.S. News and World Report’s Best Colleges,” Pinson said. “It shows our quality to prospective students and their parents, as well as to alumni and supporters. It shows that academic excellence can coexist with a strong commitment to Christian faith and life as the center of the Welch College experience.”
“The first time we were ranked in this publication, back in 2010, we ranked 54th,” Pinson mentioned. “And even that was in the top half of all the Southern schools ranked in the Best Regional Colleges category. So in 10 years we’ve gone from 54th to our ranking of 16th for 2020. To put this in perspective, the next ten colleges in the list that Welch outranked had an average enrollment more than five times our enrollment and an average endowment almost nine times our endowment.”
Welch received especially high marks in five strategic areas. Compared to the other 123 institutions in the Regional Colleges South category, Welch ranked:
#1 in faculty-student ratio
#3 in the percentage of classes under 20 students
#4 in students who were in the top 25% of their high school graduating class
#5 in first-year student retention rate
#10 in alumni giving rate
Welch Provost Matthew McAffee said, “We are grateful to have this evaluative benchmark for our institution. It provides us with an external measurement that helps us to evaluate our quality as an institution of higher learning. Our faculty and staff are to be commended for their effort in helping us attain this level of excellence.”
More information is available about the rankings and methodology in the annual America’s Best Colleges guidebook at: www.usnews.com/collegemeth. For more information about Welch, email gotowelch@welch.edu or visit www.welch.edu.
