Project SASI:
A Community Engagement Project to Increase Recruitment and Retention of Professionals Working with Students with Sensory Impairments in Rural and Remote Schools 

There is a shortage in rural and remote communities of professional educators qualified to work with students who have sensory impairments. SASI (Students with Autism and Sensory Impairments) was a project that tested community engagement strategies and how they can be used to enhance recruitment of such valuable professionals. Dr. Rona Pogrund, Professor of Special Education in the Texas Tech College of Education and also a recipient of the President's Excellence in Engaged Scholarship Award in 2019, was a fundamental leader of the project.

SASI involved high-impact strategies for recruitment of teachers as well as an engaged scholarship model for developing mutually beneficial partnerships between faculty and communities. The project incorporated community engagement strategies in all stages of the process, and it included a sustainability plan following the conclusion of the funding period.

Thanks to the dedication of Dr. Pogrund and her team, progress is being made to provide quality education to students while also providing high-impact opportunities to valuable professionals who transform the community. 

“This project was a true example of outreach and engagement through working in partnership with educators from six states who do not have the capacity to train professionals with sensory impairments to meet the needs of their students who are visually impaired, hearing impaired, and deafblind. The project led to MOUs with five of the six State Departments of Education that has resulted in ongoing engagement many years beyond the end of this U.S. Department of Education grant.”

– Dr. Rona Pogrund 

Project SASI was published in the Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement.  

Texas Tech University's Center for Early Head Start (CEHS) is a research-based program that provides child care, parenting education, and family support to children ages 6 weeks to 3 years old. It serves 96 children and their families who qualify by income, and all services – including hot meals, infant formula, and diapers – are provided free of charge to support infant and toddler development and family well-being. The current situation puts a special emphasis on the importance of programs that give children from low-income families a chance to get ahead of the curve before they start school so later shortfalls may affect them less. For example, teachers and children in the Early Head Start program participate in story time. Throughout the spring and summer, story time was conducted virtually to keep the children engaged and learning even while the center's physical location was closed.

The Center, which is an initiative of the Department of Human Development and Family Studies in the College of Human Sciences, is designed to enhance the physical, social, emotional, and intellectual growth and development of participating children. Furthermore, it responds to the families' needs by promoting positive interactions between adults and children and supporting caregivers in their parenting role.

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For land managers, the spread of honey mesquite trees, a native and prevalent species in Texas, as well as the non-native yellow bluestem grass, is an issue. Together, these two species are a threat to maintaining rangeland diversity and productivity.  

Controlling these two species has been difficult, but thanks to research by a team from Texas Tech University's Department of Natural Resources Management (NRM), rangeland managers may now have a method to get a leg up on controlling the spread of honey mesquite and yellow bluestem.  

"At Texas Tech's Geospatial Technologies Laboratory, we have been using low-cost commercial UAVs to inspect and map ecological features in different types of landscapes around Texas," said Carlos Portillo-Quintero, NRM Associate Professor. "The objective was to generate knowledge on the best practices that rangeland managers and contractors can apply when using this type of mapping technology."
 

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• The way the nature of architectural practice is multiplying and evolving,
• Community-building through the inclusion and representation of minority voices, and
• Creation of contexts via the reframing of architectural narratives to create inclusive contexts for design.