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MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TN (October 26, 2001) — The Paul Clark Teacher Education Center at Milligan College was dedicated today at an 11 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony in memory of Milligan’s late teacher education director, Dr. Paul Clark, who died in 1999 after a lengthy battle with cancer. Milligan’s education faculty held the ribbons as Mrs. Barbara Clark cut the ribbon to dedicate the center in memory of her late husband.
“This facility will strengthen our already-strong program, to ensure that each teacher candidate will gain the knowledge, skills and dispositions needed for success as a professional educator,” said President Don Jeanes. “It is only fitting to dedicate this building in the memory of someone who was a tremendous asset to Milligan’s academic success in the area of education. Paul was a good friend to so many of us.”
The 3,000 square foot addition to the Baker Faculty Office Building includes a technology classroom, a conference room, several faculty offices and a kitchen area. The technology classroom is designed to mirror a public classroom and provide students with hands-on technology experience. The room is equipped with computers for students, a teacher’s computer station, video conferencing equipment, and software that interfaces with the campus computer network.
Dr. Phil Roberson, director of teacher education at Milligan, explained that at various points in the education sequence, teacher candidates are introduced to the latest educational software and ways to incorporate it into classroom instruction.
Milligan’s teacher education curriculum is one of the largest programs at the college, and its strong regional and national reputation has contributed to increasing enrollment in both the undergraduate and graduate education programs.
“Many students who train in this classroom will put their knowledge to use as teachers in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia,” said Roberson. During the 2000-2001 school year, more than 300 Milligan alumni were teaching, coaching or working as administrators in Tennessee public schools.
Dr. Rich Aubrey, a member of the education faculty, gave a tribute to Dr. Paul Clark at the dedication. Clark began teaching at Milligan in 1965, served as the director of teacher education for over 30 years, and retired in 1998 only due to ill health.
“As a professor, we knew Dr. Clark to be knowledgeable, well-read and caring. As a colleague, we knew him as a scholar who studied, wrote and worked tirelessly,” said Aubrey, who in 1998 presented Clark with the Fide et Amore award for his committed service to the college. “As a friend, he was engaging, inspiring and endearing. He brought a ‘good for you’ spirit to many of life’s endeavors.”
Under Clark’s leadership and perseverance, Milligan received national accreditation for its teacher education programs and secured grant funding for the education of minority candidates in the teaching profession, including a $22,000 grant report written from his hospital bed the year before he died. Clark also secured funding for the initiation of a master of education program, which has prospered since its beginning in 1988.
Jeanes explained that the majority of costs for the education center were underwritten by gifts from alumni and friends of the college, as well as from private foundations.
“We are committed to ensuring that young men and women in our education program are experienced in the use of the latest technology that can be employed to enhance and improve education,” said Jeanes.