Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) Upper Cumberland became the second campus in Tennessee to earn the VETS Bravo designation and the first Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) institution and TCAT school to receive the distinction. ¶
The TCAT is a system of 24 public institutions in Tennessee that provide hands-on career and technical education.¶
The VETS Bravo designation recognizes TCAT Upper Cumberland’s outstanding dedication to providing military-connected students with comprehensive support services, workforce engagement, and initiatives designed to support student success.¶
To receive this honor, schools must complete criteria such as using insights provided from their annual student veteran survey to improve services, identifying a VETS Bravo Campus Liaison and providing continuous professional development, establishing a maintained peer mentoring support program for military-connected students specifically for at least one school year, and providing career services for the needs of military-connected students.¶
The designation was established 10 years after the Tennessee Veterans Transition Support (VETS) Act was signed into law, with Tennessee VETS Campuses becoming eligible to earn the additional VETS Bravo designation in July 2024.¶
Institutions that have earned a VETS or VETS Bravo designation submit annual data to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) on veteran and military-connected student populations, detailing enrollment counts, programs of study by degree pursued, and credentials attained. This data is reported across all VETS-designated institutions.¶
Crawl, Walk, Run
Military-connected student and Army veteran Greg York has taken three courses with TCAT Upper Cumberland since 2024. York said the campus has been extremely welcoming to military-connected students from the beginning, helping with his eligibility paperwork and supporting his training within his programs.¶
York said he’s taken a building construction and technology course, where students have the opportunity to build a house from scratch, a power sports course, and an automotive course. Every course varies in length but is around 12 to 15 months.¶
“It’s been a blessing for me to be able to go to these courses,” York said. “It gives me the confidence to do the things that I need to do.”¶
York said that some of the training re received at the TCAT is similar to what he experienced in his 20 years serving in the Army. He said it’s called “crawl, walk, run.”¶
The “crawl” is students watching the instructor or a professional doing the task, the “walk” is then working together on the task, and the “run” is the instructor watching the students complete the task and evaluating them.¶
“It’s really comforting for veterans to not have to learn a completely new system and how to train and how to learn,” York said. “It’s just a different wording of it, but it's the same as crawl, walk, run.”¶
York said having professionals as his instructors who have worked in the industry and know what they’re doing makes it a lot easier for veterans to trust the work they’re learning. He said his instructors, such as building construction instructor Ricky Smith, have been great at evaluating students and placing them in jobs where they’re going to be successful.¶
“It all goes back to the people that are qualified within the industry to do the jobs that they’re doing,” York said. “And you can just see that they actually care about what’s best for the veterans.”¶
