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TSU Student Leadership Group Visits Headquarters of WM, Leading Provider of Environmental Services

NASHVILLE, Tenn.  (TSU News Service) – More than 30 Tennessee State University (TSU) students recently traveled to Houston, Texas, to visit the WM corporate headquarters and meet with the company’s senior leadership team. The students, accompanied by Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Frank Stevenson, are participants in Leadership TSU, one of the university’s most selective student leadership programs.

Leadership TSU students,  and L to R, Dr. Napoleon Harris ( Coordinator of Student Support), Molly Morrissey (Sr. Community Relations- WM), Frank Stevenson (Associate VP and Dean of Students),  and Eddie McManus (Mid-South Area Vice President- WM), take a Group picture in the WM Corporate Headquarters office in Houston. (Submitted Photo)

During their visit, the students heard from members of WM’s executive leadership team about the personal and professional experiences that have impacted their success, the company’s approach to sustainability, and more.

“It was just very mind-blowing and very impactful seeing those [executives] and what WM is doing,” said Anarra Williams, a senior food and nutritional science major from Daytona, Ohio. “When I first got there, I just thought those were people who pick up our trash, but they really are honing on their sustainability piece, something I want to be a part of.”

WM President and CEO Jim Fish shares a moment with some members of Leadership TSU during the group’s visit. (Submitted Photo)

Nykole Allen Clark, a senior business administration major from Las Vegas, Nevada, added, “That exposure to them and the company itself totally changed our perception of WM. As a business major, I saw a lot and heard a lot to help me in my preparation as a student and as a leader. It was an aha moment for me.”

In their day-long visit, the students met with WM’s top executives on key topics, including the company’s approach to sustainability and how this focus shapes its operations. For example, WM focuses on materials recovery solutions at its area landfills, such as its 183-acre site in Nashville, home to the only mixed construction and demolition (C&D) materials recovery facility in Davidson County. Students also engaged in a robust Q&A with each of the WM leaders. Tamla Oates-Forney, who oversees WM’s people team, fielded questions from students about her experience as a black female executive in corporate America, sharing why education is an opportunity equalizer and why diversity and inclusion are important in leadership and the workplace

WM Chief People Officer Tamla Oates-Forney engages with Leadership TSU students. (Submitted Photo)

“The Houston trip was amazing. To have WM roll out the red carpet of leadership experience for our students was simply breathtaking,” said Stevenson. “They were intentional about making sure our students had a glimpse into their company’s culture. It was amazing conversation and dialogue between students and the WM executive team. I think our students were surprised at all of the components of WM.”

The Leadership TSU visit is an extension of a three-year partnership between WM and TSU first announced late last year. Through that partnership, WM has committed $300,000 to TSU; half of that funding will be directed toward sustainability research conducted in collaboration with TSU’s Colleges of Agriculture and Engineering, and the other half will provide need-based scholarships to up to 10 students each year attending TSU from the Nashville area.

“The energy and curiosity of these student leaders was truly inspiring,” said Eddie McManus, Mid-South area vice president, WM. “This visit was a great way to kick off our relationship with TSU, and we look forward to all that is ahead, including building out the research program and getting to know more students through the internship and scholarship opportunities.”

Visit TSU online at tnstate.edu, and to learn more about WM and the company’s sustainability progress and solutions, visit sustainability.wm.com.

Department of Media Relations

Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331

About Tennessee State University

Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a premier, historically black university and land-grant institution offering 39 bachelor’s degree programs, 24 master’s degree programs, and eight doctoral degrees. TSU is a comprehensive research intensive institution with a R-2 Carnegie designation, and has a graduate school on its downtown Avon Williams Campus, along with the Otis Floyd Nursery Research Center in McMinnville, Tennessee. With a commitment to excellence, Tennessee State University provides students with a quality education in a nurturing and innovative environment that prepares them as alumni to be global leaders in every facet of society. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.


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TSU’s Frank Stevenson Selected to Participate in Leadership Nashville’s 2019-2020 Class

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Frank Stevenson, TSU’s associate vice president and dean of students, has been selected to participate in the 2019-2020 class of Leadership Nashville. Stevenson was one of 44 individuals selected from among 280 applicants to participate in the program’s 44th class, which starts in September.

Frank Stevenson

For more than 40 years, Leadership Nashville has organized an intensive program that assists community decision-makers. Over nine months, participants learn about pressing issues affecting their community and gain an in-depth understanding of the nature of those problems. The nonpartisan group refrains from taking positions on issues, and does not endorse political candidates. 

Stevenson said he is excited to be selected for this year’s class.

“I am honored to be chosen out of a very competitive  process,” said Stevenson, who recently reinstituted Leadership TSU, a top training program that has received national recognition. “I believe I will benefit immensely from this cohort of amazing leaders from across the city.”

Jerry Williams, executive director of Leadership TSU, said selection for the 2019-2020 class was “especially difficult” because of the large number of very qualified applicants.

“We do not attempt to pass out solutions,” Williams said. “In fact, our participants are so diverse that they would never agree with each other. Instead, we expose them to various viewpoints on each issue, believing that Nashville will be stronger because decisions these leaders make in the future will come from a broadened, enlightened perspective.”

The nine-month program aspires to cultivate community leaders. Participants are educators, doctors, bankers, artists, business people, rabbis, ministers, lawyers, and representatives of labor, public service, international communities and the volunteer sector.

In January, Stevenson, a longtime Nashvillian and senior pastor of Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, reinstituted Leadership TSU in partnership with FedEx. The program trains and develops students with top leadership skills to help them be more competitive in the workforce. Forty students – from freshmen to seniors – with demonstrated ability to lead, are participating in the program.

Department of Media Relations

Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331

About Tennessee State University

Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a  premier, historically black university and land-grant institution offering 38 bachelor’s degree programs, 24 master’s degree programs, and seven doctoral degrees.  TSU is a comprehensive research intensive institution with a R-2 Carnegie designation, and has a graduate school on its downtown Avon Williams Campus, along with the Otis Floyd Nursery Research Center in McMinnville, Tennessee.  With a commitment to excellence, Tennessee State University provides students  with a quality education in a nurturing and innovative environment that prepares them as alumni to be global leaders in every facet of society. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.

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TSU Students Engage in Lawmaking at State Capitol, Discuss and Debate Bills on House Floor

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – For nearly two hours, the Tennessee General Assembly looked like a classroom with 28 individuals discussing major bills on the House floor, except this time, the people debating the bills were not lawmakers. They were students – Tennessee State University students.

They were part of “Leadership TSU,” a top training program. The students spent nearly four hours at the State Capitol on Friday, Feb. 1, touring and receiving lectures from lawmakers and government officials, including a representative for newly elected Gov. Bill Lee.

Just like lawmakers, the students engaged in an exercise of discussing, debating and voting on bills actually pending before the General Assembly.

State Rep. Harold Love, Jr., facilitates a discussion on a bill with Leadership TSU students on the House floor of the State Capitol. (Photo by Emmanuel Freeman, TSU Media Relations)

“From today’s exercise, I learned a lot about how much thinking goes into considering a policy or a bill,” said Maria Rhodes, a sophomore political science major from Memphis, Tennessee. “Specifically, one has to think about who it will affect, who it will benefit – the positives, the negatives, the outcomes – and who the bill is geared toward.”

Leadership TSU, considered the highest level of leadership training at TSU, comprises 40 students – from freshmen to seniors – with demonstrated ability to lead. The program is sponsored by FedEx, which is exposing the cohorts to “some of the company’s best practices in leadership,” according to Frank Stevenson, dean of students and a coordinator of LTSU. The goal is to train and develop students with top leadership skills to help them be even more competitive in the workforce.

Stevenson said Friday’s exercise on the House floor was intended to “stretch the students’ thinking outside the box” in preparing them to be able to analyze policies.

Four students make their case for a bill during discussion on the House floor, as Dean Frank Stevenson, and a House aid, back row, look on. (Photo by Emmanuel Freeman, TSU Media Relations)

“We gave them four current legislative bills around higher education and funding models, to debate and discuss,” he said. “They were charged with digging into those and creating a policy position on each one of those bills and coming out with what they think would be the best funding model for higher education.”

State Sen. Brenda Gilmore, Rep. Harold Love, Jr., two TSU alums, and Joseph Williams, director of external affairs in the Governor’s office, were among officials who welcomed the students to the Capitol.

“One of the benefits of having Leadership TSU down here today is that it continues TSU’s tradition of training leaders for the current and next generation,” said Love, who facilitated one of the group’s discussions. “To have these students here engaging in the process of making policy like we do everyday at the General Assembly does nothing more than brighten my heart because I see the next generation of leaders being trained right here.”

Charlie Green, Jr., an architectural engineering and urban studies major from Jackson, Tennessee, said the discussion helped him sharpen his skills in public speaking and debating.

“It also helped me to be able to think about things from different perspectives, and that is something all students should be exposed to,” Green said. “Things affect people on different levels, such as from being a student to going into professional life.”

TSU Assistant Dean of Students, Erica Gilmore, who is also at-large council member; and Ashton Cleveland, assistant dean of student life and engagement, accompanied the students and helped to facilitate the discussions.

Students interested in being selected for the 2020 class of Leadership TSU should contact the Office of the Dean of Students at (615) 963-2154 or fsteven1@tnstate.edu.mailloc.

Department of Media Relations

Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331

About Tennessee State University

With more than 7,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 38 bachelor’s degree programs, 24 master’s degree programs and seven doctoral degrees. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.

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TSU, FedEx Partner to Conduct Top Leadership Training Program

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Tennessee State University is partnering with FedEx to reinstitute a program that trains and develops students with top leadership skills to help them be even more competitive in the workforce.

Called “Leadership TSU,” 40 students – from freshmen to seniors – with demonstrated ability to lead, have been selected as the first cohorts of the program, which kicked off Jan. 20.

LTSU, considered the highest level of leadership training at the university, with 27 learning outcomes that have been modeled around the nation, closed out about seven years ago, according to Frank Stevenson, TSU’s dean of students.

“We are bringing it back under the same idea of developing top leaders at the university.  We secured the funding and created the opportunity,” he said. “We pitched the idea to FedEx about creating an opportunity for students to learn some of their best practices, they immediately were on board.”

He said in addition to material and other support, FedEx will expose the cohorts to “some of the company’s leadership practices that fit in with what they do.” TSU faculty and national leadership training experts are also participating in the training.

Dr. Joseph Walker III, Chairmain of the TSU Board of Trustees, right, meets with Dean of Students Frank Stevenson during the LTSU cohorts’ visit to Dr. Walker’s residence. (Submitted Photo)

A component of the training program, Stevenson said, is to connect cohorts to successful individuals and groups “to share with our students and cohorts the habits of successful people.”

For instance, on Jan. 19, TSU Board of Trustees Chairman, Dr. Joseph Walker III, and his wife, Dr. Stephanie Walker, hosted the inaugural class of LTSU at their home. Dr. Joseph Walker, pastor of Nashville’s Mt. Zion Baptist Church, is presiding bishop of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International, as well as chairman of the TSU Board of Trustees. His wife, Dr. Stephanie Walker, is a top pediatrician. They are authors of several books and publications.

“Leadership TSU is a game changer,” Bishop Walker said. “Dr. Stephanie and I were honored to host this group of extraordinary students. Their stories are powerful and their drive for success is contagious. The future looks bright and this program will be a major contributor.”

LTSU is a one-year program. To be nominated, students must maintain a minimum 2.5 grade point average. Stevenson said the current cohorts have a combined average GPA of 3.2, and were nominated by their deans, vice presidents, and the president.

“We wanted them (nominators) to identify those students who had already exhibited incredible leadership skills, and who really celebrate the best of TSU culture in terms of how they carry themselves. We asked them to also nominate those students, who in their mind, would best benefit from this training or this opportunity,” Stevenson said.

Donovan Stewart, the current Mr. Sophomore, is a member of the reinstituted LTSU. He said he is serious-minded and happy to be a part of such a diverse group of fellow students.

“It is a great feeling to be selected,” said Donovan, a nursing major from Birmingham, Alabama. “It is a great feeling to be acknowledged, not only for academics, but also leadership. And it is a good thing to get people from different backgrounds.”

As part of their initial activities, the group will visit the Tennessee State Capitol on Feb. 1 to hear about law and policy making from top elected officials, Stevenson said. In March, they will “make a social justice learning trip” to Washington, D.C.

TSU Assistant Dean of Students, Erica Gilmore, who is also at-large council member; and Tasha Andrews, director of student activities, coordinate LTSU along with Stevenson. Andrews spoke about the caliber of students in the program and why they were selected.

“As student affairs practitioners, we really understand that being a student leader goes beyond academic excellence. It is more about being well rounded and well cultivated,” she said. “We have students with 2.7 or 2.8. Some of them may have a low GPA, but they excel in other ways. It was important that we had a very diverse group. All of those students bring leadership traits that we admire and that are unique to each of them.”

Students interested in being selected for the 2020 class of Leadership TSU should contact the Office of the Dean of Students at (615) 963-2154 or fsteven1@tnstate.edu.mailloc.