Savannah Tech nominates Jared Dean for All-USA Community College Academic Team

#1247 | January 30, 2012

SAVANNAH – Savannah Technical College is proud to announce that it has nominated Jared Dean as its 2012 nominee for the All-USA Community College Academic Team.

       Dean is a Criminal Justice major working on an AAS degree at STC’s Crossroads Campus. He has a 3.84 GPA, is a Phi Theta Kappa member and was on the Dean’s List Fall Quarter 2010 – Fall Semester 2011. He plans to transfer to Armstrong Atlantic State University in August 2012 to study economics. His ultimate career goals are to be a financial advisor and a Command Sergeant Major in the U.S. Army Reserves.

      “Jared has exceeded even my best depiction of an excellent Savannah Technical College student, who appears to do all this easily, modestly and smartly,” said STC Speech Instructor Mel Mrochinski. “I have found his contributions major, his ameliorating abilities stellar and his approach to working with others absolutely gifted.”

      He is an aircraft attendant at Hunter Army Airfield that marshals all transient aircraft to temporary parking areas, provides ground support equipment for transient aircraft and operates heavy equipment on the flight line; loading cargo pallets and rolling stock onto military cargo planes. Also, he is a U.S. Army Reserve Senior Drill Sergeant and Platoon Sergeant. He considers his role of husband and father to his three children to be his really full-time job.

       “Before I made my decision to attend Savannah Tech, I entertained the notion of obtaining a degree through a college that would maximize my military training and experience in the form of ‘life credits,’” said Dean. “As a U.S. Army Reservist, I lack the functional equivalent experience of my active duty counterparts and Reserve MPs who are law enforcement officers in their civilian occupation. I feel it is my duty to offer my soldiers a certain level of knowledge.”

       Dean was recruited into the Army Reserves at the age of 17 and worked in the construction industry. In 2003, his reserve unit was mobilized to Fort Stewart, Ga., and he worked on Hunter Army Airfield as a Military Police Officer for two years. When he was de-mobilized, he was offered a job as an aircraft attendant from his knowledge of airfield procedures and equipment operation from his construction experience. In 2007, he was mobilized again – this time to Afghanistan. While there he was assigned as a supervisor of 120 soldiers. He took a writing course to justify editing reports from soldiers who had been – in some cases – writing police reports for 20 years.

       He made the decision to start school full-time after his daughter’s first birthday. “I wanted to provide a better standard of living for my family, set a better example for my children and leave a more significant legacy for my grandchildren,” said Dean.

       The All-USA Community College Academic Team is presented by USA TODAY and the Phi Theta Kappa and is sponsored by Follett Higher Education Group. Each spring 20 students are selected to the All-USA Community College Academic Team, each receiving a $2,500 scholarship and medallion. Team members will be recognized at the American Association of Community Colleges Convention (AACC) on April 23, 2012.

       The Coca-Cola Foundation, along with the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, recognizes the New Century Scholars. The top-scoring student in each of the 50 states will be named a New Century Scholar and will receive a $2,000 scholarship. In addition, one student from a chapter in one of the six sovereign nations where Phi Theta Kappa chapters exist will be awarded. New Century Scholarships will be presented at the AACC Convention.

       The Coca-Cola Scholarships Foundation sponsors the Coca-Cola Community College Academic Team. Fifty students will be named Gold Scholars, each receiving a $1,500 scholarship; 50 students will be named Silver Scholars, each receiving a $1,250 scholarship; and 50 students will be named Bronze Scholars, each receiving a $1,000 scholarship. A state may have multiple gold, silver and bronze scholars.

       Dean was also nominated to receive the Guistwhite Scholarship and the Hites Transfer Scholarship.

      Savannah Technical College serves coastal Georgia with quality, market-driven technical education with campus locations in Savannah, Effingham and Liberty Counties. Serving more than 4,500 credit students each semester, Savannah Tech offers nearly 100 different instructional programs in Business and Technology, Public Service, Industrial Technology, and Health Sciences in addition to Adult Education classes, industry-specific training and continuing education. The College serves as an economic and community development partner for the region, offering corporate and customized training and assessment programs for business and industry. The College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award the associate degree.

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Contact:
Amy Shaffer, APR
912.443.5512
ashaffer@savannahtech.edu