ETSU President Brian Noland With less than a week from the first day of classes, ETSU President Brian Noland is looking ahead at the new academic year and said that there are great things in store. “I’ve had the honor to serve as president of this institution for more than a decade, and I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited for an academic year than this year,” Noland said. “This is a year when a lot of the pieces of a puzzle come together.
” Ahead of the official start of the fall semester, Noland took the time to reflect on the previous academic year and share his hopes for the 2024-25 school year, as well as some advice for students. Last fall, ETSU welcomed the largest class of incoming freshmen that the institution had ever seen. Noland said that this year’s freshmen class is on par with their predecessors, with an estimated number of 2,050 to 2,100 students.
“We’ll probably have one of the five largest freshmen classes in the history of the university,” Noland said. Although officials have yet to determine if this year’s freshmen class will break last year’s record, the university is set to shatter another record this year–the number of students living on campus. Noland shared that there will be 3,400 students living on campus, according to the latest count.
This number is 400 more than the university had last year, and almost a thousand more than a decade ago. “That’s going to bring a sense of energy, a sense of opportunity, a sense of engagement that I think has the real potential to be transformative,” Noland said. Noland added that the influx of students flocking to fill the university’s residence halls and dormitories is reflective of the shift in ETSU’s institutional identity.
“If you were to ask people 20 years ago to describe ETSU, they would say, you know, nice regional commuter school with the health care infrastructure attached to it,” Noland said. “We’re no longer a commuter school–this is a destination residential institution, and you’re seeing that with the record number of students who want to be part of the experience here.” Noland said that the campus is also experiencing a physical transformation with all of the ongoing facility upgrades and those still in the works.
Construction continues on the future Academic Building. Some of the larger ongoing projects include the construction of the new Academic Building, located at the site of the former Campus Center Building, which is on track to be completed in 2026; renovation of Burleson Hall, which will see completion in Spring 2025; and phase two of the University Commons, serving as an expansion of greenways, pedestrian traffic and social spaces, which will be completed this fall. The complete renovation of Burleson Hall (pictured) is still a work in progress with estimated completion in Spring 2025.
Noland added that the university intends to start work on a number of other projects in the coming months, as well. Among those will be the new integrated health sciences building, which Noland said crews will break ground on within the next year. Renovations at Brown Hall, home to the departments of biological sciences, physics and astronomy and chemistry, along with work to complete the transitions of Yoakley Hall and Stone Hall into updated residence halls will all also begin within the next year.
There are many ongoing facility projects at ETSU that will eventually transform the campus. Noland said that he will be monitoring the progress of various university initiatives throughout the coming academic year, including salary enhancements for faculty and staff, the Quality Enhancement Plan, implementation of the college reorganization and growth in the university’s research portfolio. Additionally, Noland noted the importance of ensuring that the campus culture at ETSU is supportive, especially due to the unavoidable tension present during an election year.
“Another big initiative for us is to continue to support a culture on this campus in which everyone, regardless of background, regardless of perspective, finds their home here,” Noland said. “This is a fall in which there’s going to be a lot happening around the country, and we look forward to seeing how our campus participates in that process.” Noland is projecting that the Marching Bucs performance in this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will be one of his personal highlights of the year.
“I’m excited for Macy’s,” Noland said. “I’ve never been to the Macy’s parade and it’s something that I’ve always wanted to do since I was a little boy, so the chance to be with our students in New York this Thanksgiving is something that I’m looking forward to.” With classes starting on Monday, Noland wanted to reassure students with words of wisdom.
“Enjoy all the beauty of your academic journey; be willing to take risks, to put yourself in positions where you’re purposefully uncomfortable and use that as an opportunity to grow and develop,” Noland said. “..
.be willing to ask for help, be willing to ask for guidance (and) be willing to ask for support.” Noland also emphasized the importance of having patience throughout an academic and professional journey, as it takes time for students to figure out what field they wish to pursue, and the process to this discovery is different for every student.
“This is an institution that, if we do this fall what we’ve done every fall that I’ve had the honor to be a part of, we’re going to help those students find their path,” Noland said. “My advice to students is be patient, it’s not all going to happen at once..
.you’re going to make mistakes as a student, and we’re going to make mistakes, but if we’re patient with one another, it’s in the middle where all the magic happens.”.
