1. Best Practices and The Effective Use
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HBCU TITLE III ADMINISTRATORS, INC Technical Assistance Workshop June 19-21, 2013
Best Practices and The Effective Use
of Title III Funding
Andrea L. Tyler, Ph. D. , Tennessee State University
Sessi Aboh, Ph. D. , Tennessee State University
Marjorie Seward, M. Ed. , Tennessee State University

2. STEM Graduate Outreach, Research, Leadership, and Training Program
Presented by Andrea L. Tyler, Ph. D. Director, Graduate STEM Research TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY Nashville, TN

3. Program Creation
Research suggest that too few students, specially African American students, enter and successfully exit graduate STEM programs.
No infrastructure in place to adequately support graduate STEM majors.
Provide a multifaceted approach that could serve and support graduate STEM students. Such an approach can only be created and sustained by the creation of a resource located within the School of Graduate Studies & Research.

4. Complete College Tennessee Act of 2010
University Alignment
Access and Diversity Plan
STRATEGIC PLAN 2010‐2015
Complete College Tennessee Act of 2010
PROGRAM ALIGNMENT

5. Objectives
Provide a support resource that could create, coordinate, and sustain support services from graduate school entry through completion
Improve the completion rate of African American STEM graduate students by 5% annually. 

6. Program Model-Tinto's (1993) Dimensions of Institutional Action
Institutional Commitment to Students Effective retention programs are committed to the students they serve. They put student welfare ahead of other institutional goals.
Educational Commitment Effective retention programs are first and foremost committed to the education of all, not just some, of their students
Social and Intellectual Community Effective retention programs are committed to the development of supportive social and educational communities in which all students are integrated as competent members.
The Principles of Effective Retention.
They put student welfare ahead of other institutional goals. Another way of stating that attribute is that institutional goals should always have a direct or indirect relationship to student success and achievement.
Evaluation of the services, programs and activities that are offered to students must include all constituencies.
Committed to the development of supportive social and educational communities in which all students are integrated as competent members.
Every student who arrives on campus must feel that they are valued and full members of the community. That also means that the expectations of achievement and behavior are the same for all students.

7. University Partners Biology Department Chemistry Department
College of Engineering
Career Success Center
Tutoring Center
Title III Office

8. Program Activities Transition assistance
Counseling and advising
Early contact and community building
Monitoring and early warning
Academic involvement and support

9. Accountability/Assessment
*Evaluate the effectiveness of Title III programming through an internal program evaluator, and input from student survey.
*Title III students will also provide input on-
Transitional concepts
Pre/Post-graduate study
Career opportunities
Research experiences
Academic engagement
Mentoring

10. Anticipated Outcome
Support institutional efforts towards increasing the educational attainment level of underrepresented and targeted sub- populations in graduate STEM disciplines.
Increase the number of supported African American students in STEM areas at Tennessee State University.

11. Academic Collaborative: Enhancing Undergraduate Education Through Innovative Technologies
Presented by Marjorie Seward, M.Ed.
Associate Director, Title III Program Administration
TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY
Nashville, TN

12. Best Practices and Strategies for Title III Funded Programs and Initiatives
This presentation is centered around the Title III focus area, Academic Quality,
which is also one of the key performance indicators in Tennessee State
University’s Strategic Plan. The focus is on best practices and strategies for
Title III funded programs and initiatives.
During the latter part of the previous grant cycle, the state of Tennessee
implemented the 2010 Complete College Tennessee Act. The Act requires state
colleges and universities to demonstrate improvements in retention and
graduation rates; and ties higher education funding to such outcomes-based
improvements.
In support of the new state mandate and the federal government mandate to
downsize and reduce cost, collaboration and partnership became a key element
to integrating Title III funding into the university fabric as the HBCU proposal was
being developed.

13. History In the previous five year cycle, Tennessee State University distributed its HBCU Title III resources among seven (17) activity projects across various university departments; each with its own set of objectives and its own set of personnel. The projects became increasingly harder to manage Every project hired an account specialists/bookkeeper to manage its financial records as well as other staff to carry out the programmatic objectives of the grant. Translation: Heavy personnel budget Data collection and timely reporting was even more difficult to manage.    

14. New Funding Cycle
Title III funds for this grant period focuses on expectations outlined in each of the university’s Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) with an overall goal to increase retention and graduation rates. The KPIs are: Access and Diversity Academic Quality and Student Success Business Friendly Practices Revenue Generation/Research/Resourcefulness Engagement

15. Under its umbrella are the following activities: College of Business
THE COLLABORATIVE MODEL Based on these key performance indicators, the TSU HBCU grant was developed and is composed of four (4) projects.
The Academic Collaborative project is one component of the grant. It
consist of five (5) activities, all with a common objective to improve student
learning, but with different strategies and outcome expectations.
Under its umbrella are the following activities: College of Business
College of Liberal Arts (Integrated Arts, Media & Music)
College of Engineering College of Education College of Health Sciences (Division of Nursing)

17. HBCU Grant Implementation and Structure All personnel is hired and managed by the Title III Program Administration office which eliminates the need for additional personnel. This office processes all administrative and budgetary paperwork freeing up the Principle Investigators (PIs) to focus on meeting objectives, observe and document outcomes. Principle Investigators (PIs) integrate tasks into their normal day-to-day activities utilizing existing faculty and staff which means no additional work just for the grant. Progress Reports are submitted to one designated PI for each project, then consolidated into one report for the group. Each activity has a small travel budget for the activity director to attend conference and related seminars.

18. Faculty development and construction/renovation, components of the
* Faculty development and construction/renovation, components of the Institutional Management project, are also managed by the Program Administration Office. Those were removed from individual activities and developed separately to supports all activities.
* Every grant year has a different focus. The main focus in year 01 is on Liberal Arts who has the largest budget allocated to upgrade technology, renovate 100 classrooms, and train faculty. Next year the focus will change and another activity will be fully funded to meet their goals and objectives as outlined in the grant.
Example: Engineering is allocated a small amount this year to cover travel and a minimal amount for supplies. They are targeted to be fully funded next year to complete their goals and objectives.

19. Expectations Increased Departmental Collaboration PIs are more focused
Reduced Personnel
Improved Budgeting and Tracking
Improved Data Collection and Reporting
Improved Recordkeeping

20. Academic Collaborative Project Description
Enhancing undergraduate education through innovative technologies describes five innovative, technology-intensive components. These activities focus on using technology to enable innovations in pedagogy that can increase learning. Although many innovations are possible without technology, the capabilities of new approaches to teaching and learning make it easier and more practical. Traditionally, courses have been comprised of lectures and laboratory sessions. Research indicates the traditional approach is not effective for all undergraduates because students have different ways of learning and benefit from different educational approaches (National research Council (NRC),1999a).

21. Technology can allow teaching and learning to be transformative
Technology can allow teaching and learning to be transformative. Instructors who use technology to implement new approaches to teaching and learning typically play a critical role deciding how and when to intervene, to enable and support learning.

22. Project Goal
The objective of the collaborative project is to improve student learning, retention, persistence, and graduation percentages across and within participating units by 5% annually. Although the objective is the same for all components of the project, they each use different strategies and expect different outcomes. The outcome measure is improved student performance.

23. Description of Activities
COLLEGE OF BUSINESS The College of Business realized that a significant percentage of African American students in the business discipline were failing to complete core courses successfully on the first attempt. This hindered students from moving forward in their chosen Program adversely influencing retention and graduation rates as well as student enrollment. Additionally, the college had to address the issue of course delivery. There were no hybrid courses being offered to accommodate student ‘s other commitments to work and family. Strategy: Redesign core courses with high rates of (in excess of 30%) D-F- W final grade averages by infusing technology based instruction and problem based learning. Increase course offerings delivered in an alternative format through distance education programs (hybrid and online).

24. Expected Outcomes
The expected outcome is improved student learning in the College of Business core courses as reflected in final grade averages by 10% annually. Improved academic instruction in business and technology programs in which African Americans are underrepresented.

25. COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS
(INTEGRATED ARTS, MEDIA AND MUSIC) Faculty members in the College of Liberal Arts have experimented with collaborative team teaching and feel well prepared to provide the leadership for efforts to enhance undergraduate education through collaborative teaching and learning with an emphasis on problem based learning. Challenges faced were the need to enhance the infrastructure at the University to support collaborative teaching and learning and problem-based learning, and the need for further faculty development training. Strategy: Provide the infrastructure to support collaborative teaching and learning and innovative technologies by updating classrooms with state of the art technology and equipment conductive to collaborative teaching and learning. Provide support to improve faculty development.

26. Expected Outcomes
Enhanced Collaborative teaching and learning and problem-based learning will both be the mode of instruction.
Enhanced Classroom with state of the art equipment to support collaborative learning.

27. COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING The College of Engineering activity aims to provide well trained engineers to meet the critical demand for engineers and technicians in the field of Mechatronics, the field of design, operating, and servicing mechanical and electronic devices in automation for building products. Additionally, improve the engineering curriculum and student learning as reflected by performance on the field test. Strategy: To provide a certification program and curriculum for engineering students that will enhance the knowledge and skills of engineering students in the merging field of mechatronics by integrating the mechatronics training program in the electrical and mechanical engineering curriculum.

28. Expected Outcomes
70% of engineering students will have hands-on experience on newly acquired equipment during the funding cycle. 90% of the students in electrical and mechanical engineering who take the exam will be certified in mechatronics annually. Three (3) classrooms in the College of Engineering will be equipped with innovative learning tools for instructions.

29. Question & Answer
Contact Information: Andrea L. Tyler, Ph.D. Marjorie Seward, M.Ed. Sessi Adoh, Ph. D.