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Technology is a key component in theeducational process for the typical adult studentenrolled in Tusculum College’s Graduate andProfessional Studies (GPS) program.Because of the diversity of its students,instructors and staff encounter entering studentswith a widely varied range of technologyexperience and aptitude.And, because of the critical importance oftechnology-as-a-tool in the workplace, theGPS program strives to encourage explorationand growth in technology skills as part of theacademic program.The Knoxville Regional Center is pilotinga student services program modeled after thevery successful residential program, which hasoperated on the Greeneville campus for manyyears.GPS Student Services program offersa traditional book loan program, and inaddition loans out technology, such as laptops,Android tablets and iPads. The GPS StudentServices program serves students not onlyat the Knoxville Regional Center, but alsostudents attending classes at the Greeneville campus andMorristown and Tri-Cities sites.According to Ryan Otto, director of Student Servicesfor GPS, a grant provided the funding for GPS StudentServices to purchase these new devices.The grant’s purpose is to support first-generation collegestudents in learning to utilize new technology. Students onthe Knoxville campus are given the opportunity to borrowthese items, and staff is available to teach them about socialmedia and how it can be utilized. For example, the staff ofGPS Student Services provides students with instructionson how to Skype, as well as on the “ins and outs” offacebook and updating webpages.As at all of Tusculum’s sites and on campus, usefultechnology is provided in the classroom. The Knoxvillecampus has a computer lab open 8:30 a.m. – 10 p.m.Monday through Saturday, and the library supplies alarge number of e-books on various subjects. There areinteractive whiteboards available and Internet access inevery classroom.As part of the program, GPS Student Services providesonline tutorials for the online course management5Tusculum TechnologyGPS Student Support Services provides toolsto assist adult students in becoming tech savvyKim Bloomfield, student service coordinator at the Knoxville campus,tutors a student on the use of a tablet.programs, which Tusculum professors utilize as part oftheir instructional format.Through those programs, syllabi and grades can beposted and in some cases, students can communicate witheach other and their instructors and assignments can beposted.“GPS Student Services works to try and figure out thebest technology to help our students,” said Otto. “With theaid of the grant we are exceptionally able to engage ourstudents with technology and provide them skills in theutilization of these critical workplace tools.”In addition the students stay connected with teachersand other students through e-mail. The feeling of beingconnected leads to feelings of being supported.Even at the adult level, said Otto, GPS Student Servicesis a very valuable program and offers much neededhelp like counseling, workshops and educational trips.“By helping students be technologically savvy, our staffhas found another way to make sure that students arecomfortable with whatever they are presented.”By Antionette Young,senior journalism major from Nashville, Tenn.