The Campus

The University has two convenient campus sites. Its central or main campus is located between 28th and 39th Avenues North and is bounded by the Cumberland River on the North and Albion Street on the South. The main campus occupies more than 450 acres with 65 buildings, parking lots, outdoor facilities, and pasture and farm lands.

Major Buildings - Main Campus

The Avon N. Williams, Jr. building is located at Tenth and Charlotte Avenues, in downtown Nashville, with adjacent parking facilities. The “downtown campus” is the site for Center for Extended Education and Public Service, School of Graduate and Professional Studies, the College of Public Service and Urban Affairs, the College of Business and departmental offices, programs, and courses for the Colleges of Liberal Arts, Education, and Health Sciences. Other facilities include faculty offices, classrooms, lecture halls, computer laboratories, library, and a 400-seat auditorium. Daytime and evening classes are available at Avon Williams.

The Research and Sponsored Programs (R/SP) facility houses many technical laboratories, seminar rooms, and R/SP staff offices.

The Walter S. Davis Humanities Building (“A” Building), originally occupied in 1933, was renovated and enlarged in 1967 and 1997. The building houses the Poag Auditorium, the Department of Languages Literature and Philosophy, and the Communication and Information Technologies (CIT) division.

The Ned Ray McWherter Administration Building at Tennessee State University encompasses nearly 25,000 square feet and includes the Office of the President; offices of the Vice Presidents for Academic Affairs, Business and Finance, and University Relations and Development; the Ofice of Equity, Diversity, and Compliance; the Office of the Chief of Staff and University Counsel; the Office of Finance and Accounting, which includes the Bursar’s Office; and the Office of Budget, Fiscal Planning, and Travel. Its architectural style complements that of the Otis L. Floyd-Joseph A. Payne Campus Center, dedicated in 1992, and the two buildings are connected by a colonnade.

The James E. Farrell and Fred E. Westbrook Agricultural Complex (“The Barn”) is located behind the Lawson Agriculture Building. Extensive renovations were completed in 1991. The building now houses the offices of the School of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences, the greenhouse, laboratories, and a banquet room.

The Alger Boswell Science Complex, completed in the fall 1965 and since renovated and enlarged, is located south of Crouch Hall. It houses research laboratories, classrooms, two auditoriums, and faculty offices, as well as the departmental offices of the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Physics and Mathematics, and the Math Tutoring Center.

The Martha M. Brown-Lois H. Daniel Library is adjacent to the Floyd-Payne Campus Center. The main library is a three-story, contemporary structure built in 1977. It has 82,000 square feet of space with study rooms. Information commons and smart classrooms are available for orientations and training. A unique special collections room houses the Library’s historical archives, theses, dissertations, art objects, and special collections, including documents related to the University’s unique and colorful history. Media Centers on the main and downtown campuses offer audio visual services as well as a podcasting studio and multimedia room and a variety of computer-based information is available. A full range of services and resources, including embedded librarian program, interlibrary loan, bibliographic instruction, electronic and print books, microfilm, microfiche, periodicals and online databases are also available at both campus libraries.

The R. E. Clay Education Building, erected in 1958 and renovated in 1992, is located on Alameda Avenue, directly west of Clement Hall. This building is equipped with classrooms and special laboratories for teacher education, psychology and reading. The office of the Dean of the College of Education and the departments of Administration, Teaching and Learning, Psychology, and Teacher Education are housed in this building.

Frank G. Clement Hall is located on Alameda Avenue, south of the Brown-Daniel Library. This structure was formerly used as a men’s residence hall. It was renovated in 1991 and serves as a classroom/laboratory building containing the office of the Dean of the College of Health Sciences, the departments of Dental Hygiene, Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy, and the Dental Hygiene Clinic.

The Hubert Crouch Hall contains classrooms, laboratories, faculty offices, and offices for the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. Also located in this building are the main offices of the departments of Criminal Justice and History, Political Science, Geography, and Africana Studies.

The Frederick S. Humphries Complex is located on John A. Merritt Boulevard between the Lawson Agriculture Building and the President’s residence (“Big Blue Meadow”). It is a three-story building that contains the School of Nursing and the departmental offices, classrooms, and laboratories for the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences.

The Jane E. Elliott Hall (“Women’s Building”) is located west of the Harold Love Learning Resources Center (Student Success Center), on the north side of campus. The building contains laboratories, lecture rooms, faculty offices and work rooms, studios for the fine arts and crafts, the Center for New Media, and the Hiram Van Gordon Memorial Gallery.

The Otis L. Floyd-Joseph A. Payne Campus Center was conceptualized and constructed to be one of the nation’s most modern facilities of its type. With 229,253 square feet of floor space, the three-level building is an accommodating addition to Tennessee State University. It is a masterful architectural structure featuring brick and limestone and an award-winning interior design. It combines Kean Hall, a renovated athletic building, with a contemporary multi-purpose center, including a 350 seat auditorium.

The Howard C. Gentry Complex is located on the north side of the campus east of the Edward S. Temple Track. This facility contains a 10,000-seat basketball and convocation arena, an indoor track, handball courts, a dance studio, offices, classrooms, a wellness center, and a 35-meter swimming pool. The offices of the Department of Human Performance and Sport Science are housed in this complex. Exterior accommodations include basketball courts, softball fields, and parking for 2,000 cars.

Goodwill Manor is a two-story colonial house that was formerly used as the residence of the University President. It was completely renovated in 1991 and is maintained as a historical University landmark. It also serves as the location for the office of Alumni Affairs and the Office of Development. The Manor is located in the “horseshoe” just north of Harned Hall.

The Harned Hall of Science, erected in 1927, houses classrooms, lecture auditoriums, laboratories, staff offices, and other facilities for instruction and research in the biological sciences.

The Lewis R. Holland Building is located on the southwest side of the campus, west of Crouch Hall. This building contains computer laboratories, classrooms, lecture halls, and faculty offices for the College of Business. Also housed in Holland Hall are the Graduate School, TRIO Programs, and the Center for Service Learning and Civic Engagement.

The Tom Jackson Industrial Arts Building, renovated in 1999, is located at John A. Merritt Boulevard and 35th Avenue. Instructional staff offices for the Aeronautical and Industrial Technology (AIT) program and laboratories for Mechanical Engineering are in this building. This facility also houses The School of Allied Health Professions departments of Cardio-Respiratory Care Sciences and Health Information Management. The WRITE Center is also located here.

The W. W. Lawson Agriculture Building is located on the north side of John A. Merritt Boulevard between the Davis Complex and the football stadium. The building contains classrooms and laboratories equipped for agricultural teaching and research, as well as the NASA community education lab.

The Jim Nance McCord Hall houses offices, classrooms, and laboratories for the departments of Biological Sciences and Computer Science, as well as the Academic Computing Center. It is located directly west of the Library and north of the Clay Education Building.

The Marie Brooks Strange Music Building, erected in 1968 and renovated in 2002 to include the new Performing Arts Building, contains the faculty and department offices for the Music and Communications departments, classrooms, listening laboratories, studios for piano and instrumentation, an auditorium seating 400, and a recital hall seating 226. It is located at the south end of the campus near 35th and Alameda. Also included are state-of-the-art theatre, radio, and television studio environments.

The Andrew P. Torrence Engineering Building is located behind the Alger Boswell Science Complex. Its classrooms and laboratories are equipped with up-to-date equipment for instruction and research in civil, mechanical, architectural and electrical engineering. The building was completed in 1982.

The Harold M. Love Learning Resources Center (“The Old Library”) is the location for the Media Center, which has multimedia study carrels available to students on an individual basis and an inventory of audio-visual equipment for loan to faculty for classroom use. The offices of Academic Advisement, and Orientation, Title III, Events Management, and the University Honors Program are in this building, which also houses a 300-seat auditorium.

The Queen Washington Health Service Building has facilities for complete examination and limited treatment for students. The University Counseling Center occupies the 2nd floor, where staff is available to provide individual and group counseling. This facility is located north of Elliott Hall (the Women’s Building). Also located in this facility are the offices of Internal Audit.