The University of Tennessee at Martin Faculty and Staff Newsletter | February 8, 2021

addendaUT Martin students, professor work Super Bowl LV

Thirteen UT Martin students, along with Dr. Dexter Davis, associate professor of sport business, experienced the largest single day sporting event in the United States firsthand as they assisted NFL staff Feb. 7 at Super Bowl LV.

The group left Wednesday, Jan. 27, to work with the Host Committee at the NFL Experience and other events to help enforce COVID-19 safety guidelines, especially social distancing and mask regulations. They also worked inside Raymond James Stadium on Super Bowl Sunday, and provided operational support to supplement the stadium staff throughout the event.

“We’re going to be helping do things like mask patrols and handing out hand sanitizer and doing what the NFL needs us to do to make sure this is a safe environment. Our responsibilities this year are focused on making sure we’re doing everything we can to stop the spread of the pandemic,” explained Davis before the Super Bowl. “This will not be the Super Bowl of the past.

This event is still going to go on; there are still going to be 20,000 people in the stadium. They still need staffing to make sure the event runs smoothly, and that’s our role, to help the local organizing committee put on the best possible event.”

The students also had the opportunity to tour other sites, including IMG Academy, where UT Martin alumnus Dan Kerwin works as a Team Training Advisor. Kerwin provided them with insights into how IMG functions and discussed some of the challenges the sport industry has faced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kerwin graduated from UT Martin in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in sport management.

Students attending this year are Logan Alfano-Webb, of Counce; Timothy Dye, of Murfreesboro; Jackson Hopper, of Tiptonville; Lauren Hutchinson, of McEwen; Lucas Istre, of Centerville; Parker Kendall, of Hornbeak; William Oglesby, of Toney, Alabama; Quinn Reed, of Batavia, Ohio;

Kristen Rice, of Lebanon; John Sullivan, of Lexington; Wes Sutherland, of Mt. Juliet; Jennifer Vesey, of Bartlett; and Peyton Wolfe, of Ramer. Hutchinson, Istre and Wolfe all attended the event in previous

years.For more information on the

trip or the UT Martin sport business program, housed in the College of Business and Global Affairs, contact Davis at ddavis78@utm.edu.

UT Martin earns state, national rankingsUT Martin recently received

several state and national rankings for its affordability and accessibility, as well as for various graduate and undergraduate programs.

UT Martin was ranked eighth in bestvalueschools.org’s Top 15 Most Affordable Colleges in Tennessee in 2021 list. The university received the ranking

for its accreditation, student-to-teacher ratio, per-credit tuition cost, fees, degree recognition and more.

The university also received numerous rankings by intelligent.com, including 12th in the Best Colleges in Tennessee list for its flexibility, faculty, course strength, cost and reputation; 44th in the nation

in the Most Affordable Colleges category for the dual enrollment program; third in the Best Master’s in School Counseling Degree Programs category; and 14th in the Best MBA Programs category.

Study.com ranked the UT Martin finance program 28th in the nation in the 2021 Best Degrees in Finance for

the networking opportunities and student-managed stock portfolio.

For more information, reference the individual ranking websites or contact the Office of University Relations at 731-881-7615.

Dr. Clinton Smith, associateprofessor of educational studies, will have an article he co-wrote with a colleague from Vanderbilt titled “Increase Student Engagement through Student Relationships While Teaching Online” published in the KappaDelta Pi New Teacher Advocate upcoming spring 2021 issue.

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YoUTMs highlighting the excellence of our faculty and staff

Dr. David Coffey, professor of history, presented “Myths, Monuments, and Misinformation: Confederate Memory in America” at the 2021 UT Martin Civil Rights Conference on Feb. 3. Coffey discussed the “Lost Cause of the Confederacy” and how the historically inaccurate narrative continues to influence society today.

David McBeth, professor of art, served as the Phi Kappa Phi annual Muriel Tomlinson Memorial Lecture keynote speaker Feb. 4. McBeth discussed the positive impact handmade objects, such as bowls and mugs, have on society through his presentation “Cuppa Humanity.”

NO SHAVE NOVEMEBER - The UT Martin Department of Public Safety participated in No Shave November, which also extended into December, to raise money for a charity of the winner’s choice. Sgt. Jacob Blanton won the competition and awarded the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network with the $260 raised by the participating officers. Pictured are Director of Public Safety Monte Belew and Blanton. For more information about the challenge and donation, contact Belew at 731-881-7777.

Morton is the newest member of the UT Martin Department of Public Safety. He joins campus as a therapy dog and can be found visiting with the campus community to bring comfort and joy to all Skyhawks. A fun fact about Morton: He was raised as a puppy by country music star Hank Williams Jr. Morton will be escorted around campus by Director of Public Safety Monte Belew.

Public Safety establishes pay-it-forward program in exchange for

forgiven citationsThe UT Martin Department

of Public Safety Traffic Office is launching a new pay-it-forward program that will allow university students, faculty and staff members with a current parking citation to donate five nonperishable food items to Captain’s Pantry in exchange for one voided ticket.

The first pay-it-forward food drive will begin March 1, and campus community members have until March 12 to donate canned goods at the traffic office in public safety. Only one citation will be eligible for consideration per pay-it-forward event per individual. Handicap

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Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Adnan Rasoolpage 3 | addenda | Feb. 8, 2021

From running national policy to running a classroom, Dr. Adnan Rasool has done a number of things in search of happiness, which he says he ultimately found right here at UT Martin.

Rasool, originally born in Pakistan, started his career in London’s financial sector. As his work became increasingly unfulfilling, his interests shifted toward public policy, which was fueled by the political inactivity he witnessed working with government agencies. He worked with the United States Agency for International Development, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to promote worldwide economic health.

“At that point of time, I dealt with politicians, I dealt with bureaucrats... It got to the point where I was so frustrated on why they wouldn’t do anything,” Rasool said. “It just frustrated

me for so long that I dedicated a majority of my life trying to understand, ‘Why don’t they do these things?’ and ‘Why don’t things work out in politics the way they should?’”

After his time at USAID, Rasool went on to serve on Pakistan’s five-year planning committee and worked as a head of policy leading up to Pakistan’s 2013 election. It was at this point he realized if he wanted to simply do what made him happy, something would have to change.

“My dad simply asked me, ‘Do you want to do this for the rest of your life, where half the country hates you and nothing you do is going to be ever acceptable for at least 50% of this country, or do you just want to go do your own thing and do stuff that makes you happy?’ and I said, ‘No, I just want to do stuff that makes me happy, and that’s when I mentally decided teaching is all I want to do,” Rasool said.

For Rasool, teaching is what brings him joy. As an assistant professor of political science, he loves working with students and giving them a toolkit of all of the information and resources they need to come to their own conclusions about the subject matter.

“As a teacher, the thing that makes me excited every single time is looking at my students and seeing how they use those

tools in completely different ways,” Rasool said. “I teach the exact same thing to 20 kids; every single one of them is going to use it completely differently, and there is nothing more fun and enjoyable than seeing your students take something that you gave them, and you expected them to use it in a certain way, completely go another route.”

He also strives to make politics a concept people can interact with on a more personal level. As a member of Georgia State University’s Innovation Fellows, Rasool, inspired by his love of hip-hop duo OutKast, created a set of maps centered around the lyrics of OutKast, Ludacris and Childish Gambino to illustrate issues like gentrification and redlining in Atlanta.

“The music has policy prescriptions in it. It tells you everything. It’s just that nobody takes it seriously because everyone thinks because it’s rap and hip-hop, it’s all fun and games, and there’s nothing in there, and there’s no story,” Rasool said. “So my whole thing was there is a story. If we can suck out the story from the lyrics and map it, and then put economics on top of that, you have this beautiful grid of how the city is evolving over a period of time.”

Even now, his use of music in his curriculum stays strong. He and Dr. Carrie Humphreys,

an assistant professor of political science and international relations, have added an assignment to their Introduction to World Politics class in which students write about international relations theories from the lens of a musician they love.

After teaching at Georgia State, Spelman College, and Agnes Scott College, Rasool came to UT Martin after being chosen from a national search. For him, the feeling that Martin was where he was supposed to be was instant. The kindness from colleagues, the Martin community and the feeling of safety that he experienced was enough that he knew that this was the place for him.

“You know when you go home and you close your door, and you feel safe? Martin feels safe for me. I’ve lived in Pakistan in three different cities; ...I’ve lived in London; I’ve lived in Atlanta; and I tell you, I’ve never felt that feeling in my life anywhere,” Rasool said. “It’s like the version of reality that you wish was everywhere.”

Through his passion for teaching and his experiences in different fields all over the world, Rasool cultivates relationships with students and gives them the tools to do what they love.

tickets are not eligible for dismissal.

Captain’s pantry is a food pantry operation open to all enrolled students regardless of housing situation. Students in need can pick up food items between 8 a.m.-11 p.m. daily in

the lobbies of either Ellington or Cooper halls.

The preferred list of food includes packages of individually wrapped apple sauces, mini bags of chips, boxes of instant potatoes, macaroni and cheese, rice, crackers, oatmeal, pastas, easily storable snacks, and cans

of chicken or tuna. Future events will include a

Lifeline Blood Drive donation or proof of attempted donation.

For more information, contact the traffic office at 731-881-7778.

Continued from Page 2COVID-19 Reporting

All UT Martin employees are required to submit a daily COVID-19 health screening that can be found in the MyUTMPortal before arriving

on campus.

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addendaPublished weekly during the academic year and biweekly during the summer by UT Martin, Martin, TN 38238

Randy Boyd – President, University of Tennessee System • Dr. Keith Carver Jr. – Chancellor • Sarah Knapp – Addenda Editor UT Martin is an EEO/AA/Title VI/Title IX/Section 504/ADA/ADEA employer. E05-0415-00-002-21

Upcoming Events

You Tell Me

•Question – How do I get my department’s events this semester on the campus calendar?

•Answer – UT Martin has worked for the last two years to implement a new calendaring system through the program Runway. Runway offers a robust website and corresponding Corq app that students and faculty have widely adopted. As ITC &Web Services began phasing out the Google Calendars that appear on the UT Martin website in February, all upcoming campus events will now be featured through a Runway calendar on the homepage and will be managed by the Office of University Relations. All departments and areas are encouraged to use Runway, and training opportunities are available. For questions or to express interest in training, please contact Rebekah Lewis rlewis15@utm.edu or Rachel Stephens rstephe5@utm.edu.

Submit your questions anonymously to the Suggestion Box link at www.utm.edu/suggestionbox.

E gage the timesNNoon on Fridays via Zoom; visit

utm.edu/engage/times.php for more information.•Feb. 12: Is the Current American Prison System Just?

•Feb. 19: Can You Be Civil and Offensive? The Problems of Just Being Nice•Feb. 26: The Role of The Arts in Society

•March 5: New Technologies, New Opportunities and Problems: CRISPR-Cas9

•March 12: The #MeToo Movement Today•March 19: Loneliness in The Age of Computerized Super-Connectedness

•March 26: Why Should We Care About the Past?•April 16: Pandemic Fatigue

•April 23: Environmental Health Check

•Feb. 9: Lifeline Blood Drive, 11 a.m.- 4 p.m.;•Feb. 11: “Local Lynchings and Why They Still Matter,” Weakley County Reconciliation Project, 7 p.m.;•Feb. 12: “Take Heart- We’re All Connected” Working Women’s Conference, 8:30 a.m. - 3 p.m.;•Feb. 16: Jarrod Benjamin, 7 p.m., “Change Agent Leaders: From Oppressed to Success”;•Feb. 18: Van Jones, 7 p.m., “Rebuilding the Dream: The Next American Economy”;•Feb. 23: Dr. Robin DiAngelo and Michael Eric Dyson, 7 p.m., “Long Time Coming: Reckoning with Race in America”; “White Fragility”;•March 1: Midterm progress reports due;•March 16: Live from the Tent: Wind Ensemble and Choir Concert, 6 p.m.;•March 25: Live from the Tent: Small Jazz Group, 6 p.m.;•March 29 - April 2: Spring Break;•April 10: Live from the Tent: Northwest TN Arts Festival, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.