Nick Shelton, a Tennessee Reconnect student majoring in accounting at Roane State Community College’s main campus in Roane County.
May 28, 2020
By Bob Fowler
Roane State staff writer
His plans for higher education were derailed when a for-profit technical institute he had attended went belly-up, but Tennessee Reconnect student Nick Shelton said he’s back on the right track at Roane State Community College.
The only trouble, he said, is balancing his studies at the college’s flagship campus in Roane County with his full-time job working second shift as a housekeeper at Ft. Sanders Regional Medical Center in downtown Knoxville.
“I’m getting just enough sleep,” he said of his busy schedule.
Shelton, a resident of the town of Oakdale in Morgan County, enrolled in ITT Technical Institute after graduating from Oakdale High School but quickly realized “that wasn’t for me.”
“I didn’t feel I was getting the ‘Grade A’ education that I thought I was going to get,” he said.
So he left ITT just before the for-profit institute went bankrupt under a cloud of suspect financial dealings and shut down in September 2016. ITT Tech was among the nation’s largest for-profit college chains before it closed.
“I decided to take some time off,” Shelton said, “and I didn’t want to rush back into something.”
Shelton said he saw an announcement about the Tennessee Reconnect program, where older adult students can return to college tuition-free, “and that was the spark to go back to school.”
Getting in the Reconnect program “wasn’t difficult at all,” he said. “You just fill out a basic application, and the next thing I know I’m sitting with a success coach.”
Those coaches are trained experts in admissions, records and financial aid. A success coach is the go-to person during a Roane State student’s first year of college. The success coach program was launched in 2016 and was a ground-breaking initiative among the state’s community colleges. The success coach model even helped gain recognition for Roane State as the 2020 Community College of the Year from the College System of Tennessee.
Shelton enrolled through Reconnect in the fall of 2018 and has kudos for his success coach, Sharalynn D. Campbell. “I was a little worried about going back [to college], but she was extremely helpful every step of the way,” he said. “She made sure I met deadlines and had what I needed.”
He’s majoring in accounting and is doing well with a 3.8 grade point average. He cites humanities adjunct faculty member Andrea Alexander as one of several outstanding Roane State educators he’s experienced.
Shelton said he intends to graduate in May 2021 with plans to go to University of Tennessee and obtain a bachelor’s degree, followed by his master’s. Long term, Shelton said, he’d like to get his Certified Public Accountant certificate and work in the Knoxville area.
Roane State is a two-year college providing transfer programs, career-preparation programs and continuing education. Founded in 1971, the college has locations in Roane, Campbell, Cumberland, Fentress, Knox, Loudon, Morgan, and Scott counties as well as a branch campus in Oak Ridge. For more information, visit www.roanestate.edu.
Remember, eligible adults can now attend Roane State tuition-free with the new Reconnect grant. Learn more at www.roanestate.edu/reconnect.
Roane State Community College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, ethnicity or national origin, sex, disability, age, status as protected veteran or any other class protected by Federal or State laws and regulation and by Tennessee board of Regents policies with respect to employment, programs, and activities. View full non-discrimination policy.
