NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's Board of Regents has appointed a new president of the College of Applied Technology in Murfreesboro.

The board that governs the state's applied technology colleges said Carol Puryear will begin serving in the role of president on July 1 at the middle Tennessee school. Puryear had been serving as interim president at TCAT Murfreesboro since May 2019, the board said Friday.

Puryear was the college's director from 2007 to 2012, when she left to join the Board of Regents system staff.

Tennessee's 27 colleges of applied technology provide technical and professional training.

The Board of Regents approved the appointment on the recommendation of Chancellor Flora W. Tydings, who said in a statement that Puryear "is ideally suited to lead the college in its service to students, business and industry, and the broader community."

TCAT Murfreesboro has a branch campus in Smyrna that it shares with the Nissan Training Center.