Roy L. Jones, a Nashville native, graduated from Cumberland University in 2002 with a Master of Science degree in Public Service Management. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Tennessee Technology University in 1972 and his Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD) degree from the Nashville School of Law in 1986.
Mr. Jones has over 45 years of experience in the accounting field, working as a certified public accountant for 24 years in public and private industry before finishing his career in government service.
Mr. Jones recently retired after twenty-four years as an assistant director in one of the major departments in the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson Country where he handled all accounting and financial functions, budgets, purchasing, human resource management, and council liaison for his department.
He currently serves as a board director for four non-profit organizations, serving as treasurer for two of those organizations and as chairman of the board for a $300 million credit union.
Mr. Jones is an adjunct professor for the MSP program at Cumberland University and teaches three classes for graduate students in that program.
He is also a Certified Fraud Examiner, a Certified Government Financial Manager, a Chartered Global Financial Manager, and is a Senior Professional in Human Resources.
He currently operates his own tax and accounting business in Hendersonville, TN where he and his wife Peggi, reside. They have four children and twelve grandchildren.
Dr. Natalie Inman joined Cumberland University in 2010 after receiving her doctorate from Vanderbilt University. Dr. Inman is the author of Brothers and Friends: Kinship in Early America (University of Georgia Press), articles in the Tennessee Historical Quarterly and Journal of East Tennessee History, as well as a chapter in Before the Volunteer State: New Thoughts on Early Tennessee History, 1690-1800 (University of Tennessee Press). Her current research is on the cultural change and power dynamics within cross-cultural marriages between American Indians and Anglo-Americans in Early America. She supports indigenous rights and cultural sovereignty in Tennessee by serving as a consultant, providing public talks, and helping out at the Wilco Powwow. She has a forthcoming chapter in the book, New Directions in Family History. Dr. Inman is the author of three children’s books and maintains a non-profit, Haiti Heart Books, that promotes reading and celebrates Haitian culture.
Alan Hutchison joined the Cumberland University faculty in 2018 as an Adjunct Instructor of Speech. He was brought on board in January of 2024 as a full-time Instructor of Speech and Program Director for the Communications program which he was tasked with developing and implementing.
Mr. Hutchison holds an undergraduate degree in Communications from Lipscomb University as well as post-graduate degrees in Theology (also Lipscomb) and Corporate Communications (Austin Peay State University). With over 30 years of communications experience in corporate, non-profit, and self-employed settings he brings both an academic and applied perspective to the classroom. Alan has a passion for education, having volunteered in primary education classrooms in Wilson County tutoring students. As a corporate communicator, he is a member of the Public Relations Society of America and Sales and Marketing Executives International.
In his spare time Alan enjoys hunting, fishing, gardening, attending University of Kentucky football and basketball games with his nephews, and spending time with his dogs, Trigg and Cadi. Fun fact: Alan has these two dogs as a direct result of his students’ persuasive speeches on “Adopt, Don’t Shop” for your next pet.
Since 2006, Dr. Henson has served across campus in administrative support, graduate admissions, and academic support services.
Currently, Dr. Henson oversees the curriculum and teaches in the first-year experience course known as Foundations of Scholarship and Learning (FSL) taught by a cadre of over 20 faculty members from multiple disciplines. He is also the Executive Director of the Honors Program and teaches both the First Year Seminar and Honors Leadership. At the graduate level, Dr. Henson has the privilege to teach Organizational Behavior, Conflict Resolution, and Leadership in the Master of Public Service Management program.
As a university administrator and campus leader, Dr. Henson directs Academic Support which includes the Offices of Student Success, Career Services and Internships, the Chaplain, and the Writing Center. He is also a member of the Senior Academic Leadership Team, the Deans Council, and the University Library and Educational Resources Committee. During the 2020 SACS-COC institutional decennial affirmation process, Dr. Henson served on the institutional standards core writing team.
In his role as a catalyst for student social integration, Dr. Henson is the Circle Coordinator of the Cumberland Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa, the advisor for the Tennessee Lambda Chapter of Alpha Chi, Co-sponsor for Sigma Theta Delta, and faculty advisor to the Order of Omega.
As Circle Coordinator for the Cumberland Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa, Dr. Henson has overseen circle standards garnering multiple circle recognitions including the Presidential Award of Excellence. In 2021, Dr. Henson was named the recipient of the Robert L. Morlan and Robert Bishop Outstanding Circle Officer Award, and in 2022, Dr. Henson was elected by a majority of Circle Advisors and Coordinators across the nation to serve as the Faculty/Staff Trustee of Omicron Delta Kappa’s Board of Trust and Chair-elect of the Mission Committee.
Dr. Sheridan and Rachel Henson reside in Wilson County with their son, Finn, and daughter, Ellie. The Henson family are members of the Lebanon First United Methodist Church where Rachel sings in the choir and Sheridan serves as the Board Chair for the Cumberland University Wesley Fellowship, as the Scoutmaster of Troop 360, and as a Unit Commissioner for the Cumberland River District of the Middle Tennessee Council, Scouts BSA. Dr. Henson is also a member of American Legion Post 15 and a prior service Marine.
Dr. Sara Hays began teaching at Cumberland University in the fall of 2011 as an adjunct instructor in English, and she became a full-time member of the faculty in the fall of 2018. She teaches courses mostly in children’s and adolescent literature, British literature, and composition. In addition to teaching at Cumberland, Dr. Hays was previously an adjunct professor at the International Academy of Design and Technology and at Volunteer State Community College. Then, as a doctoral student at Middle Tennessee State University, she worked in the College of Graduate Studies as the Thesis and Dissertation Coordinator helping graduate students fine-tune the formatting of their theses and dissertations.
Dr. Hays holds a Bachelor of Arts in mass media communications from Emmanuel College, a Master of Arts in English from Belmont University, and a Doctor of Philosophy in English from Middle Tennessee State University. Her graduate research focused on children’s and adolescent literature, culminating with her dissertation on young adult literature author John Green. She has presented several papers at national literature conferences and has had articles published in peer reviewed journals. Beyond her scholarly work, Dr. Hays’s interests also include all aspects of pop culture consumption, including going to the movies, binging shows on Netflix, playing video games, listening to podcasts, watching videos on YouTube, and reading books of all genres and subjects.
Stuart Harris joined the Cumberland University faculty in 1997. Before that, he taught English at Hunters Lane Comprehensive High School in Nashville for 11 years. In addition to both a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Belmont University, Dr. Harris holds a Master of Arts in Teaching degree from the University of North Carolina and a Doctor of Arts degree from Middle Tennessee State University.
His teaching responsibilities at the university include Composition, Sophomore Literature, and American Literature. In the past, he has taught a seminar course on the short stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe and a course on the fiction of William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor as well as courses on Southern Literature, Writing Fiction, and the American Novel Since World War II. His greatest pleasure as a teacher is helping students discover their own writing voices and being present as they examine their beliefs through the discussion of literature.
Dr. Harris has published poetry in a number of small literary magazines, a story in South Dakota Literary Review, and a story in an anthology of Tennessee writers. He has also published a review of Clyde Edgerton’s novel Where Trouble Sleeps and an article on teaching World Literature in an interdisciplinary context in Tennessee English Journal. He is currently working on a number of short stories and poems, as well as two critical articles—one on “Rappaccini’s Daughter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and another on Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor.
Dr. Harris has served at Cumberland in a number of capacities, including Faculty Senate President for 2000-2001 and chair of the Professional Development Committee from April 2008 until March 2010. He also served as the chair of the University Committee on Courses, Curricula, and Academic Policy from March 2010 until May 2012. He served as the Program Director for English from May 2006-January 2024.
Dr. Fred Heifner began at Cumberland University in the fall of 1996 and teaches courses in the Oakley School of Humanities, Education, and the Arts. He primarily teaches courses in anthropology, philosophy, and religion. Prior to arriving at Cumberland, Dr. Heifner was a senior manager of children’s curriculum materials at the Baptist Sunday School Board, Nashville, Tennessee. Dr. Heifner is a prolific writer, has led national conferences on childhood education, and has served as a curriculum consultant for the Spanish Publishing House, El Paso, Texas, the Armed Services Curriculum Selection Committee, and the National Council of Churches. He taught in the Seminary External Education Program of the Southern Baptist Convention for twenty-five years.
Dr. Heifner holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in both psychology and philosophy, a Master of Divinity degree in religion, and a Doctorate of Theology degree in systematic theology. He has done additional post-graduate studies in anthropology at Middle Tennessee State University. He was named the Virginia and Guy Thackston Professor of Liberal Arts in 2020.
Dr. Jennifer Hixson, is a mental health professional providing services in the Middle Tennessee area. She obtained her Doctorate of Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology in 2007, and has been practicing in the field of child and adolescent mental health, as well as family systems work since 1998. She is a licensed clinical psychologist, school psychologist and Board Certified Behavior Analyst. Dr. Hixson has an extensive background in studying and treating complex trauma, studying under national experts such as Dr. Dan Hughes’, who is the founder of Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy; Dr. Elizabeth Warner, the developer of SMART; and Dr. Constance Lillas who is the co-developer to the Neuro-Relational Framework (NRF). She also has a collegial and consultative relationship with David Prescott, a leading expert in trauma and Problem Sexual Behaviors. Her career has transitioned between educational institutions and in-patient mental health facilities, providing both direct services and serving in administrative positions. Her passion is in studying and remediating the effects of toxic stress across ages and systems. Finally, “rerouting the schools to prisons pipeline|” inflicting so many of our youth today affected by toxic stress, struggling family systems, and trauma is her most recent crusade.