Savannah State University

Savannah State University is a four-year, state-supported, historically black university (HBCU) located in Savannah, Georgia. Savannah State is the oldest public historically black university in Georgia. Savannah State University's mission statement is "to graduate students who are prepared to perform at higher levels of economic productivity, social responsibility, and excellence in their chosen career fields of endeavor in a changing global community.". The University is a member-school of Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

Savannah State operates three colleges (College of Business Administration, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, College of Sciences and Technology) and the Office of Graduate Studies and Sponsored Research (OGSSR). It also operates four research centers (Center for Teaching, Learning and Academic Support, Savannah Entrepreneurial Center, The Midtown Project, and "A Collaboration to Integrate Research and Education in Marine and Environmental Science and Biotechnology" with the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, part of the University System of Georgia. Savannah State was ranked fourth tier in the U.S. News & World Report America's Best Colleges 2008 (Universities–Master's (South) category).

Demographics
The student body consists of 3,820 graduate and undergraduate students, and 385 full-time instructional faculty.

Academic oversight
Oversight is provided by the University System of Georgia, the organizational body that sets goals and dictates general policy to all public educational institutions in Georgia.

Funding
Savannah State is a public institution, receiving funds from the State of Georgia, tuition, fees, research grants, private scholarship funds (including the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund and the Tom Joyner Foundation), and alumni contributions. The University System of Georgia is governed by the Georgia Board of Regents and dispenses public funds (allocated by the state's legislature) to Savannah State, excluding lottery-funded HOPE Scholarships. The university's endowment was $2,433,508 As of FY05, the university's budget was $42,155,964. In FY06, the university received $7,725,311 in Research, Instruction, and Public Service Contracts and Grants.

Establishment
Savannah State University was originally founded as a result of the Second Morrill Land Grant Act of August 30, 1890. The act mandated that southern and border states develop land grant colleges for black students, as their systems were segregated. On November 26, 1890 the Georgia General Assembly passed legislation creating the Georgia State Industrial College for Colored Youth.

A preliminary session of the school was held in the Baxter Street School Building in Athens, Georgia where Richard R. Wright Sr. was principal. The college operated in Athens for several months in 1891 before moving to its permanent location in Savannah on October 7, 1891, with Wright as the first president. The school had five faculty members. Its eight students were all graduates of Edmund Asa Ware High School, the first public high school for blacks in Augusta.

Early years
The college awarded its first baccalaureate degree in 1898. In 1921 the first female students were admitted as residents on the campus. In 1928 the college became a full four-year degree-granting institution and ended the high school and normal school programs. Normal schools had been created in the 19th century in many state systems in the United States, after the German model, to educate teachers for elementary school students. With the expansion of towns across the United States, and continuing issues in trying to educate four million freedmen and their descendants, there was an urgent need to establish many new schools and to quickly train teachers in the North and the South. States used normal schools for training teachers for primary school grades and sometimes secondary school as well. Normal schools or colleges tended to have two or three-year programs. Gradually the normal schools were converted to full colleges with four-year curricula or were left behind.

In 1932 the college became a full member institution of the University System of Georgia and its name was changed to Georgia State College. The college served as Georgia’s land-grant institution for African-American students until 1947. The designation was then transferred to Fort Valley State College. In January 1950, the college changed its name to Savannah State College.

Modern history
With the growth in its graduate and research programs, in 1996 the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia elevated Savannah State College to the status of state university and the name was changed to Savannah State University.

Savannah State University is the first institution in the state of Georgia to offer the homeland security degree program. It was the second institution in the University System of Georgia to offer wireless Internet connectivity to students throughout the campus.

Savannah State University administers an HIV/AIDS and substance abuse prevention and awareness program funded by a grant from the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP), an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

Specialized accreditations
Accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Savannah State University also has achieved fully accredited programs in specialized areas of science and engineering: Additionally, the Chemistry department is American Chemical Society (ACS) certified.
 * Civil Engineering Technology (Technology Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology),
 * Electronics engineering technology (Technology Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology and National Association of Radio and Telecommunications Engineers, Inc. (NARTE)), and
 * Mechanical Engineering Technology (Technology Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology).

The Bachelor and Masters programs in Social Work are accredited by the (Council on Social Work Education), and the Masters in Public Administration by the (National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration.

The College of Business Administration is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International and the Mass Communications Department is accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC).

Campus
Savannah State University is located approximately 5 mi east southeast from the center of Savannah, Georgia, 250 mi from Atlanta, Georgia, and 120 mi from Jacksonville, Florida. The campus is accessible from Interstate 95 and Interstate 16. Spanish moss drapes the dense live oak trees, while palm trees, magnolias, and a wide variety of azaleas, camellias, and other native plants are scattered throughout the 175 acre marsh-side campus at 32.02243°N, -81.05512°W (32.0224339, -81.0551121)

Early years
The original campus consisted of 86 acre and three buildings (Boggs Hall, Parsons Hall and a farmhouse), with 51 acre of the land serving as the school's farm. Several of the campus' older buildings were originally constructed by students and faculty members, and display architectural styles from the past century.

Historic facilities
The Georgia Historical Commission and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources have recognized both the Savannah State campus and Hill Hall as a part of the Georgia Historical Marker Program.

Hill Hall
Walter Bernard Hill Hall, built between 1900 and 1901 by students studying manual arts and blacksmithing, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981. The facility had a variety of uses, including a bookstore, student center, male dormitory, and library. Needing too much renovation for continued use, the building was closed in 1996. The university and community created the Hill Hall Restoration Project to raise money for the project. After restoration, the building was reopened in 2008. It houses the university's Enrollment Management Center, a presidential suite, administrative offices, a lecture hall, a banquet room, and a small museum.

Athletic facilities
Tiger Arena is the 6,000-seat multi-purpose arena which serves as the home for the university's basketball team and athletic department offices. Ted A. Wright Football Stadium is the home of the university's football team and has an Olympic outdoor track. The 7,500-seat multi-purpose stadium opened in 1967. The track was constructed in 1995.

Recent additions
On October 15, 2007 Savannah State broke ground on a new academic building which was dedicated on May 1, 2009. It is the first building constructed on the campus since 1986 and includes 10 classrooms, three lecture rooms, three computer labs, and an applied research and observation labs. The building also houses the Africana studies exhibit, the Dean of Humanities and faculty offices, the Public Administration/Urban Studies and the Social Work and Social and Behavioral Sciences departments.

Student life
The university offers organized and informal co-curricular activities including 75 student organizations, leadership workshops, 15 intramural activities, student publications and student internships.

Wesleyan Gospel Choir
The SSU Wesleyan Gospel Choir was established in 1971. In 2004 the choir completed and released a live album, entitled RLW: "Revelation, Love, & Worship". Members of the Wesleyan Gospel Choir participated in the NBCAHF Inaugural Gospel Explosion competition in 2006 and the International Gospel Retreat which aired on The Word Network. In 2007 the choir performed at the Dr. Bobby Jones International Gospel Music Industry Retreat which was also broadcast on The Word Network. The choir performed with Ann Nesby during the 13th annual Savannah Black Heritage Festival.

Marching Tiger band
The university band, nicknamed the "Coastal Empire Sound Explosion", performs during Savannah State football games. They were featured performers in the Honda Battle of the Bands in 2004 and 2005.

National fraternities and sororities
All nine of the National Pan-Hellenic Council organizations currently have chapters at Savannah State University. These organizations are:

Other national fraternities and sororities with registered chapters currently on campus include:

At one time Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity had a registered chapter at Savannah State.

Tiger's Roar
The Tiger's Roar is the official student-produced newspaper of Savannah State University and provides both a print and on-line version.

WHCJ (College Radio Station)
SSU operates WHCJ (FM) radio, which broadcasts 24 hours a day from the campus, covers all of Chatham County, and can also be heard in Effingham, Bryan, Beaufort, and Liberty counties.

Established in 1975 and known as "the Voice of Savannah State University", WHCJ's current play formats include gospel, jazz, reggae, blues and salsa music, as well as talk shows, commentaries, and cultural enrichment programming.

Athletics
The Savannah State Tigers represent the university in college intercollegate athletics and are administered by the Savannah State University Athletic Department. The department dedicates about $2 million per year for its sports teams and facilities.

Savannah State University holds membership in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I (as an independent) and participates in the following sports: football, baseball, basketball (men and women), cross-country (men and women), tennis (men and women), track and field (men and women), volleyball (women only), golf (men), and softball (women). On March 20, 2010, the Tigers were accepted as provisional members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) beginning on July 1, 2010.

The school gained notoriety when they finished the 2004–2005 men's basketball season a winless 0–28, the first Division I team to do so since Prairie View A&M University in 1991–1992. The team’s final game (a 49–44 loss to Florida A&M) was covered by several national sports organizations including ESPN.