Maryville College

Maryville College (visited 10/15-16/23)

There are hundreds of smaller liberal arts schools across the country, some of which I actively recommend for students coming from a distance; they are usually easy to access and/or have a hook that’s worth the travel.

Maryville has both. It’s in an incredible location and is a great college for the students who want a bit of everything. The town of Maryville itself provides plenty for the students within walking distance – ice cream, coffee, shops, restaurants. The real benefit, though, is that they’re directly between Knoxville and Great Smoky Mountain National Park, both about 20 minutes away. “The location can’t be beat.”

The goats that help keep invasive weeds at bay.

Students wanting to study Outdoor Tourism, Sustainability, or anything Environmental (Studies or Science) should seriously consider this school. “We specialize in that: students will have a great experience no matter what, but we have of lot of resources particularly for that.”  There are many reasons why students interested in these areas should look at Maryville:

• Maryville takes advantage of their location as the closest college to Great Smoky Mountains, the crown jewel of the park service (one of the last free National Parks as well as being a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Reserve).   “From a rec standpoint, in 10 minutes you’re looking over the main ridge of the Smokies. Students regularly get into the foothills and the Smokies.”
• They have an amazing minor in Appalachian Studies.
• The campus, itself, is largely wooded with an extensive trail system and the country’s largest contiguous green space open to the public which includes pear and apple orchards and an old house used for special events and classes (including Wilderness Photography).
• They’ve partnered with the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont for weekend programs; the 40 student cohort spends the weekend there with no cell phones.
• Students can become certified as Wilderness First Responder.
• They have a lots of sustainability initiatives on campus: compost goes to the nearby hydroponic farm, they have a herd of goats to eat foliage, and they’re starting a food waste campaign.

One of the climbing towers and part of the ropes course.

Maryville gets students into challenges and outdoor education immediately at Orientation; all students complete Mountain Challenge using the permanent facilities on campus: “We call it a Ropes Course on steroids.” They’ve been named Top Adventure College twice: “we just lost to Sewanee, but we’re gonna get it back!” Their facilities are so good that local outside companies bring groups to campus to utilize it. Orientation isn’t a one-and-done activity, though – they offer programs all year that students can opt into; for every 5 that they complete, they can earn a credit. One student (an Outdoor Education Leadership major) leading our early morning walk through the woods has a hefty scholarship because she helps run these challenges throughout the year.

So other than environmental stuff and location, why Maryville? “We’re a real-world college: we bridge theory with practice because we want to make sure kids know how to apply things.” Read on for more:

• There are so many opportunities for growth. Everyone completes a significant experience before graduation: study abroad, work or intern in their field, or research.
• The Maryville College Works Program links students to internships, and has students apply knowledge by integrating the career center into the curriculum.
  • Students start resumes in FYS and build a 5-year plan as sophomores. “We know they aren’t going to follow it, but you know how to do it.” Junior must do some sort of job experience (research, internship, job). “As someone who grew up with 5 brothers on a dairy farm in rural Tennessee, I didn’t even know what was possible.” Seniors do a thesis project: one did headcounts of people using campus trails. “Managing people is hard!”
  • They’ll help create opportunities based on interests, even if they don’t exist yet. For example, they don’t have a music management program, but they set up a student with famous country music stars over the summer and helped him find a job after college. “I appreciate this the most; it’s there even after graduation.”
• The FYS instructor is the advisor for the first semester: they have eyes on the students 3x a week plus individual meetings throughout that time. They have safety nets to catch problems early to refer students to a variety of programs like Trio (Pell Eligible, Documented disability, First Gen), the STEM Success Center, or tutoring.
• “The faculty care about your success. I could go to a dozen people for a rec letter because they all know me well enough,” said one student.
• Getting a Liberal Arts education helps you in the long run, regardless of what you end up doing. They take a holistic approach, helping student be well-rounded. Cases in point:
  • “I took everything from culinary to shop classes to digital design – and I accidentally triple minored because everything I’ve wanted to do is here.
  • A history major (Maryville alum) is now the Maryville’s President’s Chief of Staff
  • A recent graduate I spoke to said, “Even if I don’t go into the FBI, I can do all sorts of other things and apply what I learned to whatever is in front of me.”
  • “The initial English classes we took made sure we were great writers. I knew I could handle any class that came along.”
• They do an amazing job with scholarships (including for diversity, leadership, community service, fine arts/music, STEM, and faith-based (Presbyterian/leading chapel worship). Several of the competitive ones have a 12/1 deadline, including 5 full tuition scholarships (requiring a 3.8GPA and 30 superscore ACT).
• KT projects (on Kin Takahashi Day) provide significant improvement projects on campus and community served around the world.
• They’re Presbyterian affiliated. A service is offered on Tuesdays (and no classes meet at that time), but students never have to attend. There is 1 required religion and ethics class.
• “Maryville is just fun!”

People sing praises for the new(ish) President who is incredibly personable (it helped that he also had a Baltimore connection and we bonded over a beer before a campus concert). “He’s helped Maryville a lot: the dynamics have changed, the college is more connected to the environment, and he’s promoted the college, bringing in opportunities and resources.” He’s established partnerships like with the Park superintendent to see how they can work together. He’s helped keep the college strong through Covid; they haven’t had to shut down majors like some other small colleges. He’s also secured a massive Title III grant to help institute more opportunities, particularly for Pell Eligible (about half the students qualify) students.

They currently have about 1100 students and are moving back to pre-Covid numbers of 1300 students. Housing is available for everyone who wants it. Just over 1/3 of students commute, and freshman can have cars; “parking could be better,” said a student. They have come a long way in meeting the needs of commuter and non-traditional students. One student was a Commuter Senator who helped grow the resources available: the new commuter lounge is now three times the size with games, a tv, study spaces, a fridge, and more.

The humanities building, decorated for Halloween

Some things to note about academics:

• A new Science Center will be completed within a few years; this will bring most of the sciences under one roof and serve as the Center for Sustainability & Science. Their Environmental Center is run by a wonderful guy with a Wildlife Ecology PhD. “He wrangled about half the black bears in the Park as part of his dissertation.”
• Their Downtown Center, located in a historical 1940s building only a few blocks from campus, will start renovations “hopefully within the week if the permits finally come through.” The new Hospitality & Regional Identity Major will be housed there. “We bring Liberal Arts into where and how we create experiences. This is also where the Fermentation (a minor!) lab will be along with the teaching kitchen for RT lodge!
• They work with other colleges for pathways into some of their programs (bringing 2-year culinary students into the 4-year hospitality program)
• Their Theater Studies major covers Costume Design and Tech in addition to acting.
• They offer an amazing variety of programs like the Global+ certificate, Biopharmaceutical Sciences, ASL-English Interpreting, Ministry and Church Leadership Certificate, and Analytics.

The lobby of the new Arts Center ready for a community event before one of the concerts.

They have 3 first-year dorms, designed specifically to build community. Food is “way better than military” (said a non-traditional vet). Otherwise, it’s hit or miss. “They’re very ambitious and sometimes they hit the mark,” said another student. They have a huge salad bar and the omelet station is amazing. Sunday brunch is open to the public. In the true lunch rush (MWF noon), there’s a line, “but I can get in line at noon and still be done eating at 12:30.”

We visited the DEI office run by an amazing alumna: the office is totally comfy – couches, blankets, tv, tea, snacks, games. There are multiple student-run/planned affinity groups like Sisterhood circle, Autism Group, LGTBQI+, BIOPOC, First Gen (almost 40% of the students identify), etc. There’s a push to bring tactile activities back – “they’re totally into knitting, coloring, pipe cleaner flowers.” There are monthly themes (the month we visited was “Appreciation not Appropriation”) and lunch-talks (a recent was ‘Hair Stories’: Who taught you how to do it? Where do you get your products? What have people told you is ‘professional hair’?). They’re making strides towards racial diversity in the faculty. “When I was a freshman, there wasn’t a single black faculty member. Now we have some.”

The old gym, now a cafe/student lounge.

Maryville’s athletics are special among other DIII schools. “We give them DI level support with physicians, staffing, and access to Mental Performance Coaching” (they pair with UTK for this). “We’re a football school so students get the tradition of Football Saturdays.” They want their experience to be the best it can be: “College is more than sports. We keep practices to weekdays so they’re in their best form on weekends for games AND participation in other traditional social stuff” – and they also have athletes in the community doing service projects. They’ve recently built a new indoor track; combined with the miles of trails on campus, they have an impressive full-year long-distance program. They recently hosted a meet here; other runners said it was challenging. They also have a solid equestrian team.

Their application is free (and essays are optional), but they are NOT on the Common App; they’re not likely to move to CA in the near future; “Ours allows us to see who is truly interested.” They guarantee a $8-20K scholarship. They’ll reassess the amount with additional grades or scores: “Engage with us; the more you do, the more we can help you!”

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