Title III News
A Message from the Title III
Director…
Greetings and welcome to the second
edition of Title III’s Quarterly Newsletter for
2014 - 2015 grant period.
Here in the Title III Office we are
Dedra N. Andrews:
committed to keeping the SSU community
Title III Director
abreast of all the wonderful things that our
Title III funded activities are accomplishing. My goal
Table of Content
as Title III Director is to fund new and innovative
Message from
activities that will have an impact on the university
1
Director
as well as work together to ensure our students are
New Title III
excelling academically.
2
Employee
In this newsletter we highlight a New Hire, SRPI
Conference, and Aqua Paws life guards (to name a
few).
I hope you find this newsletter interesting and
informative. Stay tuned for more exciting things
happening in the Title III Department!
SRPI Conference
2
Aqua Paws
Lifeguards
3
Saturday STEM
Academy
4
Reminders
5
April 2015
Volume 7, Issue 2
Welcome New Title III Employee
The Title III Department would like to welcome a new employee to the Title III family. We know
that Ms. Williams-Brown will be a great asset to our Title III team!
Charla Williams-Brown started on January 5th as the
Administrative Special for the STEM 360 Activity.
would like to
welcome one
employee and
new Activity
Director to the
III family. We
new
one
Title
Southern Regional Press Institute Annual Conference
The 64th annual Southern Regional Press Institute (SRPI),
hosted by the “Journalism & Mass Communication: Student
Media
Center
&
Learning
Laboratories”
activity
(Wanda Lloyd) was held on February 19th - 20th on Savannah
State University campus. The SRPI featured journalists,
educators, and students exploring the theme: “Stepping Up,
Stepping Out: Entrepreneurial Media in a Digital Word”.
The SRPI is a mass media conference primary for college and high school students from the
Southeast Region. Workshops were provided for middle and elementary school students who
have media training at their schools. There were more than 30
workshops held during the two-day conference to help students
acquire skills in communications and multimedia venues.
Workshops in photography, writing for multiple platforms, news,
magazines and feature writing, new media copy-editing, headline
writing, broadcasting, public relations, advertising, and design (to
name a few) were instructed by media professionals from all around
to include several alumni presenting as well.
For additional information about the SRPI contact Wanda Lloyd at ext. 3378.
Tigers Get their Paws Wet
Savannah State’s Lifeguards
The “Aqua Paws: Swimming Instruction Program” activity (Michael Cohen) is an innovative
activity that is making a difference on and off Savannah State University (SSU) campus.
This activity offers swimming, training and assisting with easing the fear of water with
minorities.
Through the Aqua Paws program there have been a number of students who have become
certified SSU student lifeguards. Currently the program employs 12 SSU students as
certified lifeguards and swim instructors. These students assist the Activity Director/
Professor in academic swim classes each semester.
These students also assist with teaching swimming to the outreach programs established
with Oglethorpe Academy (August - May) and The Boys and Girls Club (June - August). The
students in the outreach programs are transported to SSU and taught how to swim. Majority
of the outreach students have limited swimming skills with a fear of the water. By September
30th, the Aqua Paws program is expected to have provided swimming lessons and outreach
to 2,500 local students and 450 students attending SSU. The impact Aqua Paws student
lifeguards have on their fellow peers as well as the youth reaches beyond swimming and
water safety, they develop a trust and mentorship that cannot be broken. These students
are changing lives on campus as well as in the community one stroke at a time.
For additional information on the Aqua Paws Program contact
STEM 360’s
Saturday STEM Academy
The “STEM 360” activity (Patrick Dean) initiated a Saturday STEM Academy which
began on January 10th for 9th and 10th graders. These 9 th and 10th graders were
selected from various High Schools in the SavannahChatham County School System.
The STEM Academy will have a total of 12 Saturday
sessions from 9:00am - 1:00pm, two Saturdays a month
from January through April and 1-week in June.
Currently, the STEM Academy has over 40 K-12 students
participating in the Saturday
sessions. Each session covers topics such as Chemistry with
a concentration in Forensic Science and Computer Science
with a concentration in Programming and Coding.
The K-12 participants are engaging in hands-on activities that
allows them to gain experience with cutting edge technology
and laboratory concepts designed to
enrich and increase awareness of the content in the targeted
subject areas.
To date the K-12 participants have been introduced to the
LEGO EV3 robot programming and several Forensic Science
labs. While programming the EV3
robot, the K-12 participants were
tasked with controlling the robot through a maze and
performing different obstacles.
During the Forensic Science Lab sessions the K-12
participants were granted the opportunity to complete a
blood splatter analysis, crime scene observation, and
forensics of fibers.
For more information about STEM 360 and/or the Saturday STEM Academy
contact Patrick Dean at ext. 3295
Budget

All Activity Directors should be keeping track of their money spent throughout the year. By
the end of March, at least 50% of activity funds should have been spent or encumbered.
Requests

All Title III Travel Authorizations, Expense Statements, and Check Requests must have
their Activity Director’s signature before submitting to the Title III Office.

All Title III travel requests should be received in the Title III office 10 days prior to the travel
date.

Student workers cannot be hired without prior approval from Title III. All student contracts
should be submitted 10 days prior to their start date.
Contracts

All Contracts should be submitted at least 10 days prior to the date of requested services listed
on the contract. This allots enough time for approval and signatures form Legal Counsel and
Vice Presidents (if applicable). The end date should NOT extend past September 30, 2015.
Title III Office

Phase I Data will be collected and submitted to the Department of Education upon being
notified. This data determines Title III’s funding level for the upcoming budget period
(Oct. 2015 - 2016).

Mid-Year Reports (Oct. 2014 - March. 2015) were due to the Title III office on
April10th. Equipment Inventory Reports were to be submitted if items were
purchased and received during 2nd Quarter.

All Title III related reports should be submitted on time. Failure to comply could result in
funds being held until all reports have been received. (This includes Time and Efforts).

One-on-ones will be scheduled soon to review progress of Mid-Year, budgets, and YearEnd preparation.