A Tennessee Tech program director said the new project management articulation agreement with Roane State essentially created a new custom major.
Steven Frye directs the School of Interdisciplinary Studies. He said the new initiative took two different subject areas and brought them together for a project management focus. He said the connection between Roane State and Tech will be more direct for these students.
“They will come directly into our Interdisciplinary Studies major at the undergraduate level,” Frye said. “We’re accepting everything that comes in, including those project management courses. And then, we’re going to deliver the second two years of this program of the undergraduate degree.”
Frye said project management was added after Oak Ridge National Lab reached out about a need.
Frye said Roane State transfers in this program will essentially complete minors in project management and business management. The agreement announced Thursday will be open to students starting in Spring of 2026.
Frye said this agreement is naturally a part of a larger effort to improve the number of transfers to Tech. He said that Interdisciplinary studies has historically worked with a high volume of new transfer students.
“This is just kind of an extension of things that we’ve already been doing,” Frye said. “We’re just adding a new content area, which we’ve been teaching for awhile by the way. We’ve had a minor in project management.”
Frye said that in the past, Roane State and Tech have worked together in Interdisciplinary Studies. Frye said the Tech program has been administered at Roane State for over ten years. He said these kind of endeavors are a part of the long-standing relationship between the schools.
Part of the reason for this program is the high demand for project managers. Frye said he saw just under 1,000 project management openings in Tennessee alone on a job board when he looked recently.
“The folks at Oak Ridge National Lab are very excited about [the agreement],” Frye said. “Greg Capps, who works with them and teaches project management classes at the associate level is very excited. They’ve had a couple of students graduate in their associate program and be able to move into jobs. So, adding the bachelor’s degree to this is a really good opportunity.”
Frye said the Interdisciplinary Studies program at Tech has the desire to meet the needs of Tennessee students, sometimes in non-traditional ways. He said this partnership furthers Tech’s mission and the program’s goals.
Under the new partnership, Roane State students studying project management are able to transfer directly into Tech’s Interdisciplinary Studies program when they complete their associates. The agreement will help students have clarity on what courses to take and when they’ll take them during their four years in the program.