However, they also raised many issues to be resolved, including curriculum, staffing, faculty scholarly productivity, library resources, admission standards, and doctoral fellowship support. Provost Barbara Haskew has pledged significant budget increases to support the new Ph.D. programs, and results have already been seen in a reduced teaching load for graduate faculty in history, increases in doctoral fellowships, and significant purchases for library holdings. The ball is in the TBR's court. MTSU expects a decision at the TBR's fall meeting in September. Besides the usual budgetary concerns in an era of tight budgets, outside factors may influence the board's decision.
Considerable uncertainty remains from the decades-old desegregation lawsuit in which MTSU is a part.
Ph.D. programs at MTSU may be seen as undesirable competition with TSU or other TBR institutions. And the usual regional state politics may have some influence, too. After ten years as director of public history, Dr. Andrew Gulliford has returned home to Colorado to become Professor of Southwest Studies and History and Director of the Center for Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College in Durango. Gulliford's decade at MTSU witnessed a substantial growth in public history, making the department's program one of the largest and most-respected in the nation. About 10 new students enter each year, and the program usually carries between 60 and 70 M.A. and D.A. students.