Tennessee Tech UniversityThe Challenge: Located in middle Tennessee’s scenic Cumberland Plateau, Tennessee Technological University (TTU) consistently ranks as one of the Southeast’s top public universities according to the Princeton Review. Academically, the institution offers forty-four undergraduate and twenty graduate degrees. Athletically, the university fields sixteen varsity teams that compete inter-collegiately as part of the Ohio Valley Conference. As one of the South’s most prestigious universities, Tennessee Tech is devoted to achieving both academic and athletic success. In 2009, TTU officials wanted to develop a master facilities plan for the school’s athletics department that could be effectively integrated into the university’s overall development plan. “The project marked the first time in the university’s history that we had attempted to include improvements to our athletic facilities as part of the school’s overall facilities plan,” says TTU Athletic Director Mark Wilson. “We needed a plan we could understand and implement that would benefit the university, improve our athletic facilities, and improve the student athlete’s experience.” Wilson turned to Education Planners to provide analysis of TTU’s current athletic facilities, recommend improvements, estimate potential costs, and develop a plan for achieving the university’s goals. “We didn’t go in attempting to tell the university what to do,” says James Wilson, chief executive and founder of Education Planners. “Instead, we simply wanted to understand the university’s goals and provide a thorough analysis. We considered the institution’s objectives and measured them against potential costs. Our role was to present administrators with factual data, lay out the possible options, and develop a plan that enabled TTU officials to improve their athletic facilities in a way that fit with the university’s overall development.” When asked about the impact Education Planners has had on the university, Mark Wilson states, “It’s been nothing short of outstanding! We’ve constructed a new athletic performance center, improved our basketball offices, made major upgrades to our football stadium, and have seen a large increase in alumni contributions, all due largely to Education Planners’ blueprint.” Wilson is equally enthusiastic when commenting on the experiences of working closely with James Wilson. “James and his team are extremely knowledgeable and professional. James’ wisdom and experience enabled him to develop a plan that helped us achieve what we set out to do. Not only did he show us a road map to how we could achieve our goals, he helped us ‘sell it’ to the administration and provided excellent leadership throughout the whole process. I would highly recommend James and Education Planners to any university athletic director or administrator seeking to upgrade their facilities as feasibly and affordably as possible.” |