Executive Committee
Dr. Demetria Johnson-Weeks – Texas Southern University
Dr. Demetria Johnson – Texas Southern University, a native of Houston, Texas, Dr. Demetria Johnson-Weeks, received her AA in Insurance and Risk Management from Houston Community College, BBA in Accounting from the University of Houston, an MBA in Business and Ed.D in Educational Administration; Higher Education from Texas Southern University. A lifelong learner, mother of three and a dedicated Administrator of Education, Dr. Johnson-Weeks has over 18 years of diverse budgeting and supervisory experience, strategic planning, operational accounting, grants preparation, auditing and compliance in both public and private sector industries. Currently she is the Executive Director of Title III and Sponsored Programs, the Coordinator of the Summer of Success and an Adjunct Professor in the Jesse H. Jones School of Business at Texas Southern University, Houston, Texas
Dr. Johnson-Weeks serves as the President of the National Association of HBCU Title III Administrators, Inc. The Vice President serves as the Chair of the National Technical Assistance Workshop where the goal is to educate our Title III Part B schools and to share how our HBCU’s are being impacted by Title III funds. Dr. Johnson-Weeks has also served as Treasurer for four years for the National Association of Title III Administrators Inc. Board.
Mrs. LaTashia Swain-Gilliard – University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Mrs. LaTashia Swain-Gilliard is the Title III Director at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. She is responsible for the management and execution of all matters related to the Title III grants and Sponsored programs at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
Mrs. Swain-Gilliard has served in the Program Administration arm of the Title III grant and Sponsored Programs at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore since 2019. She has also held the positions of Assistant Director of Title III grants and Sponsored programs at Savannah State University and Florida Memorial University.
Mrs. Swain-Gilliard has has been a member of the National Association of HBCU Title III Administrators, Inc. since 2020 and serves as the Recording Secretary.
Teresa Mack – Claflin University
Mrs. Tarshua Teresa Mack is the Assistant Vice Provost for Research/Director for Title III at Claflin University, in this role she is responsible for the day to day operations of the Sponsored Programs Office. The office performs pre – award and post-award grant functions. Mrs. Mack also manages the College’s Title III programs that focus on Academic Quality, Student Support Services, Institutional Effectiveness, and Fiscal Stability. She has 18 years’ experience in management and has worked as a Project Manager for 5 years.
During 12 of Mrs. Mack’s professional years in management, she was as a Director for Grants and Contracts, to include two years as Interim Vice President for Student Affairs. During her experience, she has increase external funding, accountability measures and improved workflow processes, managed projects to ensure they met timeframes and budgets and increased student’s college experiences through programs, scholarships, internships and temporary jobs in students’ field of study. Mrs. Mack is a doctoral candidate in Higher Education Administration. Her study is on the Persistence of African American Males at a Two-Year College.
Mrs. Mack is happily married to Christopher Mack and they have three children, Saporia, Morgan, and Marcelle. They also have a grandson named Bryson Christopher.
Ronald E. Range – Shelton State Community College, Retired
Mr. Ronald E. Range was the Dean of the C.A. Fredd Campus of Shelton State Community College, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where he also was the Director of Title III. He serves on the Executive Committee of the National Association of HBCU Title III Administrators as Financial Secretary. In his role as Campus Dean, he worked in cooperation with the President, the Dean of Instruction, the Dean of Students, the Dean of Business Services, other associate deans, division chairpersons, and the faculty to provide leadership and supervision in the planning, development, implementation, and evaluation of the C.A. Fredd Campus’ instructional units both credit and non-credit. Ronald is a native of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Stillman College and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Mr. Range serves on various boards of directors and is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, of which he has served as a member of the Grand Board of Directors and Chief of Staff to the 33rd Grand Polemarch.
Dr. Kim T. Chavis – North Carolina A&T University
Dr. Kim T. Chavis is a proud alumnus of North Carolina A&T State University where he received his BA in English and an MA in English and Afro-American Literature with a minor in African American History. After serving as visiting professor at Elizabeth City State University, Kim went on to Louisiana State University where he earned his PhD in English with a minor in History. Kim remained in South Louisiana for nineteen years, holding faculty positions at LSU, Baton Rouge Community College, and Southern University, teaching a litany of English courses from Freshman Composition to Shakespeare.
In 2005, Kim began his transition from faculty to administration by taking on roles in faculty development and academic program review at Southern University. Later, Kim redefined the offices into the Academy of Assessment, Learning, and Outcomes. During his tenure at SU, Kim wore many hats and served in several administrative posts to include assessment officer, institutional effectiveness director, Quality Enhancement Plan director and author of Southern’s 2010 QEP, and Title III Director. During this busy period, Kim continued to teach in the classroom when the opportunity arose.
Kim is a US Army veteran and has life memberships in Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, Inc. and the College Language Association. In 2015, Kim returned to North Carolina A&T to serve as the Director of Title III Programs.
Mililani Sinclair – Bowie State University
Ms. Mililani T. Sinclair, Director of Title III Program Administration at Bowie State University, is an experienced grants administrator whose career commenced as a Program Specialist in the Upward Bound program at Savannah State University, her alma mater. She also gained experience through her work with USDA, GEAR Up, Education Talent Search, and Student Support Services. She received a Bachelor’s in Business Administration in Marketing and a Master’s in Public Administration. As the Director of Sponsored Programs at Talladega College, Miss Sinclair led a collaborative campus enhancement initiative and student success efforts that yielded $8.7 million in funding. That revitalized the campus and transformed the students’ learning experience through refurbishing science labs and classrooms and providing new technology to impact student learning outcomes positively. Specifically, she spearheaded the institutional work of the UNCF Career Pathways Initiative (Lillian Foundation), the UNCF Institute for Capacity Building (Kresge Discrete Technical Assistance) Grant, and the Talladega College and Inroads Career Pathways Partnership (Pilot Institution), to name a few. Her focus was on operational efficiency, compliance, and fiscal prudence by ensuring the university’s strategic imperative of student success was met by procuring the necessary tools and resources to meet the student body’s experiential and academic needs. As the Senior Program Specialist for Title III Program Administration at Clark Atlanta University, she developed many institutional processes that enhanced grant monitoring and implementation through the Title III office. She developed a successful internal competitive grant process for the HBGI and SAFRA Comprehensive Development Plan Process. Miss Sinclair has documented success in developing and executing strategic plans and initiatives to support the institution. Miss Sinclair has managed over $67 million in counting in her career as a grants administrator. She is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta, Sorority Inc.
Tasha Heard – Grambling State University, Director of Title III/Grants Administration at Grambling State University, is responsible for program development/implementation, budget/grants management, and data analyses.
Canary Gallion – Huston-Tilliotson University
Deborah McKenzie – Benedict College
Samuel T. Rhoades, III, a native of Dunn, North Carolina was unanimously elected to a second term as President of the National Association of HBCU Title III Administrators, Inc. He currently serves as Special Assistant to the President/Title III Administrator at Virginia Union University. Dr. Rhoades has over thirty-five years of experience in higher education in Administration, Cooperative Education and Placement, Sponsored Programs and Research, and Title III Programs. Dr. Rhoades is a 1967 alumnus of North Carolina College at Durham for Negroes, now North Carolina Central University and received his Juris Doctorate from North Carolina Central University in 1973. Also, he is an Honorably Discharged Military Veteran and holds Life Memberships in The North Carolina Central University Alumni Association, The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and The Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. After successfully completing consecutive terms as the Association’s president, he was unanimously voted by his peers President Emeritus in September 2007. He is a member of Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity, International and The Beauty of Dunn Lodge Free and Accepted Masons.
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Immediate Past President – Dr. Erick Akins
Dr. Akins is employed by Florida A&M University as the Executive Director of Title III Programs since January 2020, prior to becoming Executive Director, Dr. Akins served as the Director of Title III Programs and Dean of Workforce Development and Continuing Education at St. Philip’s College in San Antonio, Texas. He has served as Director of the Grants and Contracts Department before joining St. Philip’s College in 2009. He has taught grant-writing courses at St. Philip’s College for the Continuing Education Department. He is also a Lecturer with the University of Texas at Austin teaching urban-related courses in Geography and the Environment Department to undergraduate students majoring in Urban Studies. Dr. Akins has serves as a Lecturer for the University of Texas at San Antonio in the Public Administration Program teaching graduate courses to students majoring in public administration.
Dr. Akins has over 30 years of combined experience in contracts, grants and program management working for local government, non-profit organizations, and institutions of higher learning. Dr. Akins has life memberships in Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and the Texas Association of Black Personnel in Higher Education. He is a sustaining member of Phi Mu Alpha Professional Music Fraternity. He earned his Ph.D. in Human Services from Capella University, his M.A. in Urban Studies from Trinity University and his Bachelor in Music Education from Southern University. Erick is a native of Chicago, Illinois and has resided in San Antonio, Texas for the past 32 years.
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