Michelle was a great ambassador for the TEAM TN program. She was always willing to put in extra effort to get our message out to the industry, government, and academic audiences. Her work for CTR increased our social media visibility, website quality, and the quality of our annual reports. She has a great passion for leadership, teaching, and student advocacy that radiates from every interaction with her.

—Kevin Heaslip, Transportation Research Director and Professor, The Center for Transportation Research, Tickle College of Engineering at the University of Tennessee

“I’ve had the pleasure of working closely with Michelle at the Center for Transportation Research, where she served as our Director of Communications. In my role as Chief of Staff, I’ve seen firsthand the value she brings to any communication project.

Over the past three years, Michelle has completely elevated our communications strategy—transforming our social media presence, refreshing our web content, and helping CTR connect more meaningfully with a broader audience. Her creativity, strategic thinking, and energy have made a lasting impact on our organization. 

What’s even more impressive is that she accomplished all of this while finishing her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and teaching speech classes at night as an adjunct at local and online community colleges. Michelle is a natural educator and advocate. Her passion for students and impactful communication shines through in everything she does.”

—DeAnna Flinchum, Chief of Staff, Center for Transportation Research at the University of Tennessee’s Tickle College of Engineering

“I had the pleasure of supervising Michelle McGuffin during my time as Assistant Faculty Lead – Communication for IvyOnline, and she was one of my absolute best adjuncts. Michelle brought the perfect mix of student focus, engagement, and administrative reliability.”

No matter what curveball came our way (and in online education, there are plenty), she rolled with it, always with professionalism, clarity, and heart. She quickly became one of my go-to people for anything urgent or unusual because I knew she’d get it done right and fast.

Any institution would be lucky to have her on their team.

—Kate Pantinas, Senior Workday Process Improvement Lead, Berklee College of Music

“Michelle is an authentic leader and possesses keen skills in communication, problem solving, collaboration and teaching. I worked with Michelle at Indiana Wesleyan University and can say she is a mature leader and a humble lifelong learner. Michelle is a servant leader in word and action.”

—Erick Hoversholm, Chief Retirement Officer, Hoversolm LLC