Vanderbilt University will offer free online courses courtesy of Coursera, a digital learning consortium. Melanie Moran and myvu.com have the story here.

Vanderbilt University is tied with Notre Dame University and Rice University, among national universities, for the No. 17 spot on the U.S. News and World Report "America's Best Colleges" list. Belmont, Lipscomb and Tennesee State universities are also in the rankings in various categories.

The City Paper has details here.

Vanderbilt University officials will tonight — at the football's team season opener against South Carolina — celebrate raising enough money to kick off a $30 million expansion of their student recreation center. The plans, first unveiled in the spring, will fill the space between the existing rec center and 25th Avenue South.

The Princeton Review has named Vanderbilt University one of 21 universities to receive a highest possible score of 99 on its 2013 Green Honor Roll, which assesses the sustainability qualities of 806 institutions nationwide.

Liz Entman and Vanderbilt News have the full story here.

Dr. Thomas Groomes has been named interim medical director of Vanderbilt Stallworth Rehabilitation Hospital.

Groomes, who succeeds David Robertson Coxe, has been a member of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center faculty for 18 years and has served as medical director for the Spinal Cord Injury Program and as program director for the Traumatic Brain Injury Program at Stallworth.

“Dr. Groomes has been on the Stallworth medical staff for many years and has been a strong advocate for our patients and our team members,” Dr. Walter Frontera, chair of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, said in a release.

Groomes received his undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University in 1983 and his medical degree from the University of Tennessee, Memphis, in 1987. He completed his residency training in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Groomes is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation, with a sub-specialty in spinal cord injury medicine.