Every once in a while I get to indulge in shameless self-promotion, and this is going to be one of those times.

People are still upset with Governor Haslam spending $46,000 to design a new state logo. But I have an idea about how he could have better spent that money, gotten a better logo and helped higher education, all at the same time.

Did you know the Middle Tennessee State University school of journalism has nationally- recognized advertising and public relations programs. In fact, they are so strong that in 2013 students in a campaigns class won a national contest to design an ad campaign promoting natural gas as an energy source.
In the competition the class beat out such schools as Texas A&M, the University of Houston. Georgia State University, West Virginia University and Case Western Reserve University. And they did it with a budget of $3,000.

To be sure, that's all in the past. But it does lead to an interesting question: why didn't the governor turn to MTSU, or one of the other schools in the area, for help with the project? It would have been a great experience for the students, it would have cost considerably less, and the result would probably been a better logo.

Students in several of our programs routinely take on class projects that have real-world applications. And out internship program sends students around the world to do real work in the real world.

Now, some of you may be saying that publicly-funded schools shouldn't compete with private industry. And that's absolutely true. But the contract could have specified that any company bidding for the job had to turn the project over to a university class, then give half of award to a scholarship fund.

Surely the governor's didn't decide by himself to create a new logo. So someone in the higher education arena should have spoken up and told the governor that University students are not just kids taking classes. They are a real resource just waiting to be tapped.