The Office of Title III Programs provides financial assistance to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to establish or strengthen their physical plants, financial management, academic resources, and endowment-building capacity. Funds may be used for the purchase, rental, or lease of scientific or laboratory equipment. Also supported are the construction, maintenance, renovation, and improvement of instruction facilities. Funds support faculty exchanges and the development of academic instruction in disciplines in which black Americans are underrepresented. Projects may support the purchase of library materials as well as tutoring, counseling, and student service programs. Also supported are: funds and administrative management; joint use of facilities; establishment or improvement of development offices; establishment or enhancement of programs of teacher education; establishment of outreach programs; and other activities that a grantee proposes in its application that contributes to carrying out the purposes of the program and are approved by the Secretary as part of the review and acceptance of the grant application.

This activity proposes to create the “Prairie View A&M Academic and Leadership Training Laboratory.” The laboratory will provide training for individuals and groups in faculty, professional staff, and leadership positions. Academic instruction will guide faculty in developing and strengthening interdisciplinary programs as “Communities of Excellence.” The laboratory will also be assessable to faculty and leadership from members of the K-12 partnerships established for the University.

Additionally, the laboratory will embrace training programs offered by the Office of Human Resources. The Lab will target faculty, staff, management, and leadership and equip students with skills needed as student employees and beyond. Training will occur on multiple platforms, including face-to-face, small and large groups, technical and virtual. They will be documented to create a resource manual for publication that will include training opportunities and documentaries on the training provided by the laboratory.

Contact: Laurette Blakey Foster, Ed.D., Professor, Mathematics, Director, Center for Teaching Excellence, Email: lbfoster@pvamu.edu, Phone: (936)261-3533
                  Maria Herrera, HR Manager, Employee Relations & Organizational Development, Email: mdherrera@pvamu.edu, Phone: (936)261-1731

In 2007, Title III granted Prairie View A&M’s Department of Languages and Communication (LCOM) the opportunity and the resources to build and operate a fully functional, professional television studio. The television studio, located in the historical Hilliard Hall, is a MPEG-2 HD digital television studio that serves as a practicum lab for the mass communication studios and the PVAMU. community. In the ten years since the previous grant, the equipment and supporting software and technology have changed. The needs of the program to keep pace with these changes also must evolve.

As digital technology makes film making more accessible and cost-effective for the creative entrepreneur, the need is apparent to offer a competitive program emphasis on film and television studies to prepare our graduates for careers within the entertainment and broadcast industry. This activity will enhance the Mass Communication undergraduate curriculum and infrastructure as well as establish a program emphasis in which coursework will result in a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communication with an emphasis in Film and Television Studies.

The University recognizes the vital role in maintaining up-to-date technology, and innovative practices play in support of the school’s vision, mission, values, and goals. With the proposed program enhancement, PVAMU. Mass Communication program will become a leader among regional schools in cinema and broadcast education. With this funding, the Bachelor’s of Arts in Mass Communication with an emphasis in Film and Television Studies will be the newest and most innovative addition to Prairie View A&M University.

Contact: Theresa Dowell-Vest, M.F.A., Director of Film and Television Production, Email: tedowell-vest@pvamu.edu, Phone: (936) 261-3722

Prairie View A&M University, in its 2016-2021 strategic plan, has a key goal of “globalization and outreach.”  The purpose of this strategic goal is to better prepare students to compete for employment and post-graduate education in the global marketplace.  The University Administration has promoted the internationalization of the collegiate experience and has established an international affairs department responsible for assisting students, faculty, and staff with identifying and accessing global experiences.  Moreover, partnerships that facilitate collaborative study and research have and are being established with universities in Africa, Australia, China, and Mexico, to name a few. These partnerships are vital.

According to a report from the Department of Education, international education is vital for students to be competitive and efforts to provide opportunities for learning new languages and different cultures in the primary, secondary and post-education of students; particularly those who are the most academically vulnerable where research has shown that it helps them in academic retention and completion.

The Title III programs/projects will be designed to improve academic success and will include, but are not limited to, creating an International/Domestic Family and Friends Program, Education Abroad Faculty and Student Ambassadors Programs with the ultimate goal to develop infrastructure and programs to support the internationalization of Prairie View A&M University.

Contact: Marcus King, Program Coordinator II, Email: making@pvamu.edu, Phone: 936.261.5452

Accreditation of counseling services is preferred on college campuses because of its emphasis on the competency and reliability of professional services provided to currently enrolled students. One of these professional services includes practical risk assessment for students presenting with crisis concerns.  The purpose is twofold:  (1) enhance the functions of Student Counseling Services (SCS), earn accreditation from the International Association of Counseling Services (IACS), and (2) improve the risk assessment program of SCS.

Enhancing the primary functions of Student Counseling Services to acquire IACS accreditation will increase the number of students getting help with their concerns in the center because the ratio of professional counselors per student will change.  Therefore,  an assessment of student problems will be implemented more efficiently.  In addition, SCS will acquire internships from doctoral students who search for accredited sites for longer-term training.  Lastly, obtaining IACS accreditation will establish a means of demonstrating public accountability and the parameters within which counseling services should be offered.

Contact: Bernadine Duncan, Ed.D., LPC-S, NCC., Director, Counseling Center, Email: bduncan@pvamu.edu, Phone: (936)261–3564

The Program for Energy-Efficient Envelope Research (PEEER) offers students a comprehensive learning experience that contributes to the quality of academic degree programs through research, infusion of sustainable technology engagement, and experience-based curriculum content.

PEEER is designed to serve and nurture the needs of a growing Prairie View A&M University School of Architecture (PVAMU SOA) student body and meet the demands of our technologically dependent workplace. The program will prepare faculty and students to conduct and experience applied research in energy-efficient building envelope design and enhance the overall program environment. PEEER provides valuable and sustainable benefits to those in the local and regional community.

Through this program, PVAMU SOA will provide invaluable, real-world, client-based design experiences for students and prepare them for significant roles as practitioners, developers, and leaders in the sustainable community.

Contact: William Price, Visiting Associate Professor, Email: wtprice@pvamu.edu, Phone: (936) 261-9809

Prairie View A&M University has embarked upon an aggressive plan to continue infusing technology into its educational programs and create services centers to accommodate the needs of faculty, staff, and students. This is a central element of the University’s desire to increase student learning and to provide opportunities for faculty and student involvement in the latest technology innovations. 

The need to increase technological literacy among faculty, staff, and students at minority-serving institutes is required to ensure they stay competitive. 

This activity serves four purposes:

1. Enhance the quality of online and hybrid courses by going from the current decentralizing course design system to a centralized model,
2. Develop a stand-alone print shop with advanced technical support and expertise,
3. Develop autonomous video services to continue recording significant events such as graduations, but also provide enhanced instructional innovative multimedia services, and
4. Create a technological support service to provide troubleshooting of various university issues.

The Center for Instructional Innovation and Technology Services (CI²TS) assists with instructional design services, video services, print services, and technology services to enhance technological literacy at Prairie View A&M University.

Contact: Charlene Stubblefield, Executive Director, Center for Instructional Innovation and Technology Services, Email: cjstubblefield@pvamu.edu, Phone: (936) 261-3281

Research is a critical component of the tripartite institutional mission, which also includes a commitment to teaching and service. Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) consistently seeks to be at the forefront of research and innovation, and to this point, has had challenges to be successful in doing so. A critical challenge encountered that must be addressed is supporting researchers in developing a sense of comfort in, and understanding the processes involved in preparing proposals that are of high quality and competitive.

Researchers at PVAMU are faced with discovering the balance between hours spent seeking out and writing research proposals, with time spent preparing for and teaching our students. In the current environment, that leaves little to no time to learn and implement necessary activities and strategies to establish competitive and externally funded research programs. The result is that often their innovative research ideas and efforts go unrecognized and unsupported.

Investments in infrastructure, including personnel and training, are essential to enable and expand a collaborative and productive environment that will lead to innovative and competitive research programs at PVAMU. By identifying the needs, and examining the current processes, this activity will provide methods to either improve a process or discover new and more efficient ways to carry out needed tasks. This activity seeks to design/implement intentional and structured strategies for improving pursuits on externally funded research and innovation opportunities for PVAMU faculty and significantly increasing faculty-led research and innovation activities.

Contact:  Ramaswamy Krishnamoorthi, Ph.D., Director of Research Services & Center Initiatives, Email: rakrishnamoorthi@pvamu.edu, Phone: (936)261-1590

This activity will serve to improve Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) student experience by offering Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), improving research capability by implementing a dedicated research network and improving the overall information security posture to establish safeguards for university data (students, faculty, and staff).

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure: VDI will provide students the ability to access University Technology resources at any time and anywhere. VDI will allow students to access a Windows-based desktop via the cloud using their smartphone, tablet device, desktop, or laptop, and access the university’s computing resources, such as SPSS, Microsoft Office, Project, Visio, Mathlab, and others. This virtual environment can be accessed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and be accessible wherever Internet service is available to the students.

Campus Advance Research Network (CARN): This initiative will provide state-of-the-art networking capabilities to Prairie View A&M Researchers. This proposal is part of the efforts that PVAMU is making to enhance, improve, develop, and maintain a state-of-the-art academic program in all areas.

Information Security Posture: This initiative will ensure the safety of University data by enhancing security awareness via training and tools. We plan to do the following,

• Implement Network Access Control to monitor and manage PVAMU. network
• Implement Security Information & Events Management (SIEM) solution to monitor PVAMU. network
• Provide information security-related training to enhance the expertise of our users.

Contact: Midhat Asghar, Assistant Vice President for Information Resource Management, Email: miasghar@pvamu.edu, Phone: (936) 261.2156

The music program at Prairie View A&M University has had a rich heritage spanning over 100 years. Established in 1915, the program today offers three main areas of concentration: General, Performance, and Education.

The General Music Degree Plan allows for music study for individuals not interested in Performance or education. The Performance Degree Plan prepares majors who have a strong desire to perform as their vocation. The Music Education Degree Plan prepares majors to be teachers.

The Music Program has many varying ensembles. These ensembles include Orchestra, Concert Choir, The PV Singers, Wind Ensemble, Marching Band, Concert Band, Jazz Bands, and various instrumental and vocal small ensembles. Membership auditions are open to all University students for participation.

Honors for the Department include the Marching Storm performing in The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2017 and the Honda Battle of the Bands, which selects eight bands from around the country for participation. The Concert Choir performed in Germany and Poland in the summer of 2018. The Jazz Band performed at the State Capitol in Austin and for the Texas A& M Board of Regents’ meeting.

The proposed Title III activity will enable the Department of Music to address two major issues:

1. The Music Program has been cited by the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) for not meeting the standard which requires that “institutions…provide acoustical treatments appropriate to music facilities” (NASM Handbook 2016-17, Standards for Accreditation II.F.1.h). Failure to resolve this issue can result in the Department of Music losing its accreditation.
2. The Department lacks technology (e.g. recording capabilities and a smart music laboratory for majors to use when preparing for their capstone senior recital).

Contact: Mark Phillips, Department Head and Professor, Email: mwphillips@pvamu.edu, , Phone: (936)261-3336

Student support services are nestled throughout the major divisions of the university, however, the Office of Student Affairs bears the brunt of the creation and maintenance of programs and services designed to enhance the student’s out-of-class experiences and promote the personal, interpersonal, and professional development of our students.

A swatch of student support services includes health and medical services, disability services and accommodations, individual and group counseling, career services, housing, and a plethora of additional departments and initiatives that contribute to the institutional response to different pressures faced by our diverse, largely low-income student population of approximately 9,000.

In a recent research study on insecurities among PVAMU students (Mitchel, N. et.al. 2018), 67% of respondents (N=576) reported a lack of adequate food while enrolled at PVAMU. Thirty-nine percent (39%) reported that their academics suffer due to food insecurity while at PVAMU, 13% have experienced homelessness, and another 37% report being aware of students enrolled at Prairie View A&M who are currently experiencing homelessness, food, and clothing insecurities.

This construction project is to renovate the existing space on the first floor of the Owens-Franklin Health Center and create an Emergency Resource Center (ERC). The center will collect and distribute food and clothing for PVAMU students affected by hunger or a low-to-nonexistent food supply due to the rising cost of food, clothing, or other financial-based insecurities.  The major benefit of the proposed Title III activity is to get help to those students who need it most. The activity will provide the structure to allow the Division for Student Affairs to address two major issues:

1. Food, clothing, and financial-based insecurities.
2. Ameliorate some of the barriers to student retention, persistence, and graduation.

Contact: Meaquell Lewis, Ph.D., Program Coordinator, melewis@pvamu.edu, (936) 261-1419

Graduates of the Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies with Core EC-6 concentration are under-prepared for the teaching requirements and expectations of the EC-6 classroom, and they are struggling to pass the Texas Examinations of Educator Standards (TExES) Program Core Subjects EC-6. This is evident in the pass rates for the TExES Program Core Subjects EC-6 for the academic years 2015-2016, 2016-2017, and 2017-2018, which were 38.5%, 45.8%, and 66.7%, respectively.  These pass rates of less than 75% have contributed to the Educator Preparation Program being placed on Year 2 Probation for the 2018-2019 academic year with the possibility of a loss of accreditation status if the average pass rates in specific categories are not improved by August 31, 2019. In addition, the expected average pass rate for Educator Preparation Programs in the upcoming years across the state of Texas will increase by five percentage points each year.

The Whitlowe R. Green College of Education at Prairie View A&M University has been preparing teachers for 140 years, and the loss of accreditation for the Educator Preparation Program will severely impact the students and the institution. Thus, the goal of the proposed activity is to increase the pass rate on the Core Subjects EC-6 Representative Exam, which is a released version of the TExES Program Core Subjects EC-6.

This will be achieved by

1. Establishing a curriculum resource lab for teaching and learning known as the SMaRTS Lab (Science, Mathematics, Reading, Technology, and Social Studies Lab) to improve pre-service teachers’ content and pedagogical knowledge, and
2. Measuring and monitoring scores on the Core Subjects EC-6 Representative Exam. It is anticipated that the meeting of these objectives will lead to the long-term outcomes of better-prepared graduates of the Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies with Core EC-6 concentration, and an increased pass rate on the TExES Program Core Subjects EC-6 for these graduates.

Contact: Camille Burnett, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, csburnett@pvamu.edu, Phone: (936)261-3632