NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) � Tennessee State University is giving its alumni and others affected by the coronavirus an opportunity to retool. The University is partnering with Apple to help those individuals learn how to code and design apps.
The �Everyone Can Code and Create� course will be offered online in the fall through TSU�s National Center for Smart Technology Innovations, which is supported by the tech giant. Scholarship applicants must show how they have been impacted by COVID-19.
Dr. Robbie Melton, the center�s director, says many people have lost their jobs or been furloughed as a result of the virus. The course gives them an opportunity to retool or gain a new skill so that they can get back into the workforce and be even more competitive, says Melton.
�TSU is the only institution that is taking what I call a comprehensive approach to help all of our stakeholders of alumni, faculty, students, staff and community,� she says. �We�re not leaving anyone out, due to the fact that COVID-19 hasn�t left anyone out.�
Michael Davis, Jr., a science teacher with Metro Nashville Public Schools, says he and his wife plan to take the class in the fall. In addition to improving his own skill set, Davis says he wants to pass what he learns on to his students.
�This is so beneficial for me as an educator because I can share this with my students,� says Davis. �It�s so important that they learn this.�
His wife, Keyosha, is a stay-at-home mother with their seven children, three of whom have special needs.
�When my husband told me about this opportunity, I thought, this could help me finish my degree where I can be at home with my kids, and I can also teach them,� says Keyosha, who currently has an associate�s and is planning to get her bachelor�s at TSU. �I can teach my 8-year-old, who loves STEM.�
TSU and Apple launched the �Everyone Can Code and Create� initiative last year through the university�s National Center for Smart Technology Innovations. Another initiative offered by the Center is a dual enrollment program with three major school districts in Tennessee that offers high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to earn college credits while enrolled in high school.
�We are positioned to provide coding and creativity on site and online, for high school students to have a pathway to our computer science and �Everyone Can Code and Create� curriculums at TSU,� says Melton.
Here�s a list of some online programs at TSU for Fall 2020, beginning with the coding courses:
PROFESSIONAL STUDIES-DEVELOPMENT
UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS
GRADUATE CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS
GRADUATE PROGRAMS
For information about more programs, visit http://www.tnstate.edu/online/.
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 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.