IT IS FREQUENTLY STATED THAT WE UNDERSTAND EXOPLANETS ONLY AS WELL AS WE UNDERSTAND THE HOST STAR. SUCH A STATEMENT IS PARTICULARLY TRUE FOR LOW-MASS DWARF STARS WHOSE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OFTEN DIVERGE FROM STELLAR MODELS. THERE HAVE BEEN CONCERTED EFFORTS IN RECENT YEARS TO OBTAIN OBSERVATIONAL CONSTRAINTS ON THE STELLAR MODELS FOR LOW-MASS STARS ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE MONITORED BY THE KEPLER&K2 MISSIONS. A FURTHER CHALLENGE INCLUDES THE CONFUSION THAT CAN BE CAUSED BY THE STELLAR ROTATION PERIOD OF LOW-MASS STARS SINCE THAT CAN OFTEN COINCIDE WITH THE RANGE OF ORBITAL PERIODS OF PLANETS THAT MAY EXIST IN THE HABITABLE ZONE (HZ) OF THOSE STARS. THE CONCISE CHARACTERIZATION OF EXOPLANET HOST STARS IS PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT IN THE ERA OF THE TRANSITING EXOPLANET SURVEY SATELLITE (TESS) SINCE THE INSTRUMENT WILL BE SURVEYING MOST OF THE BRIGHT STARS (V<12) IN THE SKY FOR TRANSITING EXOPLANETS. THE AUTOMATIC PHOTOELECTRIC TELESCOPES (APTS) OPERATED BY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY (TSU) ARE A COLLECTION OF TELESCOPES LOCATED AT FAIRBORN OBSERVATORY IN ARIZONA. FOR EXAMPLE THE T11 IS A 0.8M TELESCOPE EQUIPPED WITH A TWO-CHANNEL PRECISION PHOTOMETER THAT USES A DICHROIC FILTER AND TWO EMI 9124QB BI-ALKALI PHOTOMULTIPLIER TUBES TO SEPARATE AND SIMULTANEOUSLY MEASURE THE STR"OMGREN B AND Y PHOTOMETRIC PASSBANDS. THESE TELESCOPES HAVE ACQUIRED MILLIMAG PHOTOMETRY FOR HUNDREDS OF BRIGHT STARS OVER THE PAST SEVERAL DECADES INCLUDING MANY OF THE KNOWN EXOPLANET HOST STARS. THE KILODEGREE EXTREMELY LITTLE TELESCOPE (KELT) INSTALLATIONS CONSISTS OF TWO ROBOTIC TELESCOPES THAT ARE CONDUCTING A SURVEY FOR TRANSITING EXOPLANETS AROUND BRIGHT STARS (8<V<11). KELT-NORTH HAS BEEN OPERATING AT WINER OBSERVATORY IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA SINCE 2005 WHILST KELT-SOUTH HAS BEEN OPERATING AT THE SUTHERLAND ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATION STATION OWNED AND OPERATED BY SAAO SINCE 2009. IN TOTAL THE KELT HAS CURRENTLY ACQUIRED OBSERVATIONS OF 5.5 MILLION STARS OVER 65% OF THE SKY. BECAUSE OF THE LONG LIFETIME OF THE APTS AND THE KELT INSTRUMENTS MANY TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PHOTOMETRIC OBSERVATIONS HAVE BEEN OBTAINED AND ARE BEING UTILIZED TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE NEARBY INDIVIDUAL PLANETARY SYSTEMS. THIS PROJECT WILL EXAMINE THE YEARS OF PHOTOMETRY FROM THE APTS AND KELT INSTRUMENTS FOR KNOWN EXOPLANET HOST STARS INCLUDING K2 SYSTEMS AND MANY OF THE STARS IN THE TESS INPUT CATALOG (TIC). THE MAGNITUDE RANGE OF THESE FACILITIES OVERLAPS STRONGLY WITH THE EXPECTED MAGNITUDE RANGE OF TESS AND ALSO COVERS A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF THE SKY. WE WILL EXTRACT STELLAR VARIABILITY ROTATION RATES AND LONG-TERM MAGNETIC ACTIVITY CYCLES OF THESE STARS IN ORDER TO CHARACTERIZE THEIR FUNDAMENTAL PROPERTIES. ADDITIONALLY WE WILL ACQUIRE NEW OBSERVATIONS IN CONJUNCTION WITH TESS DISCOVERIES TO COMBINE THE ACTIVITY CYCLES WITH THE PLANETARY TRANSIT TIMES. THE PROJECT WILL CONTAIN A WEALTH OF DATA TO BE EXPLOITED AND CONTRIBUTED BACK INTO THE ASTRONOMICAL COMMUNITY. THE PROJECT ALSO AIMS TO TRAIN UNDERGRADUATES AND GRADUATE STUDENTS IN FUNDAMENTAL SKILLS THAT WILL CARRY THEM FORWARD IN THEIR CAREERS. THESE SKILLS INCLUDE DEVELOPING CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF SCIENCE LITERATURE EXPERIENCE IN THE ACQUISITION AND REDUCTION OF DATA AND ADVANCED TECHNIQUES IN DATA ANALYSIS AND SCIENTIFIC CREATIVITY. STUDENTS WILL HAVE OPPORTUNITIES TO PUBLISH RESULTS IN REFEREED JOURNALS AND PRESENT AT ASTRONOMICAL AND INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH CONFERENCES. THESE RESULTS WILL BE COMMUNICATED TO THE PUBLIC THROUGH POPULAR SCIENCE MAGAZINES AND PUBLIC TALKS. THE EXOPLANET CONTEXT OF THIS WORK MAKES THIS VERY ATTRACTIVE TO THE PUBLIC INTEREST AND IS OF BROAD INTEREST AND BENEFIT TO SOCIETY.