Advancing SSU spotlights stories of donors and partners who are making a difference for students, programs, and education at Shawnee State University.
Our Donors
President's Gala raises $40,000 for SSUDF Grants Program
Celebrating the annual President's Gala, last month Shawnee State brought together faculty, staff, partners, and friends of the university for an annual fundraiser hosted by the SSU Development Foundation. In support of the SSU Development Foundation Grants Program, the event raised over $40,000 in support of the bi-annual grants program administered on campus.
Over 240 guests gathered in support of the education Shawnee State University offers to our region. During the event, President Dr. Jeffrey Bauer spoke highlighting several university programs, initiatives and accomplishments of the past year, as well as looking forward to upcoming plans at the institution.
The SSU Alumni Association also presented the 2019 Alumni Association Awards during the event. Six individuals were recognized for their achievements in their career fields and within their communities. Read the full Alumni Awards press release online.
Distinguished Alumnus
Eric D. Goodman | Class of 1995
Distinguished Alumni Ambassador
Heather Cantrell | Class of 2003
Medal of Merit
Matthew Purcell | Class of 2000
Alumni Community Service
Anna Purpero | Class of 2011
Megan VanBuskirk | Class of 2010
Outstanding Recent Graduate
Anthony Cappel II | Class of 2015
The 2020 President's Gala will be held on Saturday, April 25. Learn more by visiting www.givetossu.com/gala.
Your Impact
SSU Development Foundation provides support to AmeriCorps host-site initiative
The Shawnee Digital History Lab has once again been selected to be a host-site for the Ohio History Service Corps (AmeriCorps) program in the 2019-2020 academic year. The AmeriCorps program, run by the Ohio History Connection (Historical Society) in Columbus, Ohio, has selected the digital lab as a host-site for its third year. The host-site award will provide a 40-hour a week Local History Member who will be tasked with working on digital history programs at Shawnee State University as well as in collaboration with other historical community partners - including the Southern Ohio Museum, the 1810 House, the 14th Street Community Center, and the Lucasville Historical Society.
The SSU Development Foundation has supported the AmeriCorps host-site initiative for many years, paying the annual host-site fee of $3,650 in committment to funding the larger project. In addition to the support of the host-site fee, the SSU Development Foundation supported the securement of a $10,000 gift from Linda Donaldson in support of the Digital History Lab's various efforts.
Thanks to the selection of the host-site award, the Digital History Lab will be able to begin moving forward with the processing of the Historic Portsmouth Newspaper Collection - with 150 years of bound volumes in its records. The collection was donated to Shawnee State University by the publisher of the Portsmouth Daily Times. The AmeriCorps Local History Member will be assisting the staff at the Clark Memorial Library and other SSU students in beginning the process of inventorying, cataloging, and preparing the volumes for digitization.
The AmeriCorps member will begin working at Shawnee State University in the upcoming fall semester, assisting with the various initiatives of the Shawnee Digital History Lab and community partners in the region.
YOUR TEAM
Amber Montavon | Class of 2016
Assistant Director, Annual Giving & Advancement Communications
Amber Montavon has been with Shawnee State University for going on three years, recently moving into the Office of Alumni & Community Engagement six months ago to take on the role of Assistant Director of Annual Giving & Advancement Communications. A 2016 graduate of Shawnee State University, she works directly with the annual fundraising campaigns within the university as well as the various donor and alumni communications.
"My main goal within the Office of Alumni & Community Engagement is to continue building relationships with donors and alumni," said Montavon. "The university has so many accomplishments to share - accomplishments that are made possible through those who are committed to Shawnee State. I hope my work will make it possible to continue sharing those stories while also helping donors and alumni truly feel connected to the university."
Many annual fundraising campaigns run through the Office of Alumni & Community Engagement - Day of Giving, Make Tomorrow's Stars, Celebration of Scholarship, and Senior Gift are only a few of the ongoing ones at the moment. In addition to the campaigns, Montavon oversees the fundraising initiatives for The Shawnee Fund - the university's annual giving fund providing support to students and faculty through scholarships, grants, and campus enhancements.
To learn more about the programs supported by the Office of Alumni & Community Engagement, visit givetossu.com.
Our GrantS
This year, the SSU Development Foundation awarded over $18,000 as part of the Fall 2018 Grants program, while awarding over $17,000 in the Spring 2019 Grants cycle. This grant funding is used to support a range of academic departments, supporting research programming, and student life at Shawnee State University.
Summer Coding Camp | Spring 2019 Award
Shawnee State University's gaming programs have been nationally ranked on the Princeton Review's Top 50 Game Design Programs in the U.S. & Canada for nine years in a row. Promoting the growing career field, the SSU gaming programs have offered summer camps the last three years for high schools students interested in the world of gaming. This year's camps will explore game art, programming, and the world of Esports.
In the Spring 2019 cycle, the SSUDF Grants Program awarded a grant in the amount of $1,250 to the gaming programs to provide support for each of the camps by lowering registration costs for interested students.
"This grant helps us share the magic of game development with local students and exposes them to ideas and industry-standard tools they might not have realized were within their reach," said Jason Witherell, who teaches the summer programming camp. Each of the camps are taught by SSU faculty members as well as provide guidance from current gaming students.
All three camps will be held on campus June 24-27, 2019. More information on each of the upcoming camps can be found online at www.shawnee.edu/game-camps.
Learn more about the SSUDF Grants program by visiting www.givetossu.com/grants.
Learn more
Contact the Office of Alumni & Community Engagement at 740.351.3284.