December message from Interim Dean Boosinger

December 11, 2019

Dear students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of CAAH:

Fall semester is always an interesting blend of the excitement that surrounds the beginning of the academic year and the arrival of new students as they begin their academic journey.

For most of us, this term is hectic and at times a little crazy given all the activities that are swirling around the College. I particularly enjoyed observing several classes filled with talented young students being taught by enthusiastic and talented faculty. I have always been impressed that both students and faculty can maintain a healthy balance between our primary mission of instruction and the numerous distractions, while enjoyable, that accompany the fall semester.

The semester is always fast-paced, but it seems more like a sprint from Thanksgiving to graduation. The good work that gets done during the final weeks of the semester is remarkable.

The culmination of all this good work is, of course, graduation.

Commencement is a very special day in the life of the College and the University. It is a time of celebration for the graduates and their families and a time for faculty to take great pride in all that their students have accomplished. All of us in the College wish our December graduates the very best in the new year and for many years to come.

The new year creates exciting opportunities for the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities as we go through a transition in leadership. The search for a new, permanent dean is on schedule, with plans for on-campus interviews in January for the finalists. The search for a new director of the School of Architecture is also on target, with those finalists interviewing in late January. Both searches reportedly have large applicant pools. I am pleased to have had the opportunity to serve the College as interim dean as we move through this transition.

In addition, there have been other leadership changes in the College.

We have just announced that James M. Burns, who has served the College as chair of history since 2015, is the new interim associate dean for academic affairs.

Since spring, we have welcomed other new leaders around the College. Each one brings unique talents and perspectives to their new role, and it’s rewarding to see them acclimate and grow.

Cynthia Haynes is director of our interdisciplinary Ph.D. program, Rhetorics, Communication, and Information Design. Jon Marcoux directs of our Charleston-based Graduate Program in Historic Preservation, which is shared with College of Charleston. Ryan Dietz is director of the Master of Real Estate Development program, which is based in downtown Greenville. In our undergraduate programs, Kelly Smith is interim chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion, while William McCoy is interim director of Pan African Studies and John Robert Smith is interim director of World Cinema.

Evolution has continued elsewhere in the College as well:

• Two of our College’s majors have new names: Language and International Business, and also Performing Arts.
•  A new digital history concentration is available for those pursuing a B.A. in history. The College also is paving the way for the country’s first Ph.D. in digital history, which has been approved by the Clemson Board of Trustees and is now before the South Carolina Commission of Higher Education.
• The nation’s only undergraduate major in Women’s Leadership recently marked its fifth anniversary and now has 50 students in the major.

The College is building on its strengths and making sure we continue to offer quality educational programs and great value to our students:

• Construction Science and Management received its re-accreditation by the American Council for Construction Education (ACCE) in March of 2019. In Landscape Architecture, the BLA and MLA programs were awarded re-accreditation for six years in April 2019.

I am proud that at the University and beyond, the excellence of our faculty and their research is being recognized. Here are just a few examples of the many honors our faculty have received this year:

• Kelly Smith received the 2019 Alumni Master Teacher award at Clemson University. The single, annual award is selected by students and decided through a rigorous evaluation process.
• Robert Hewitt was named a fellow in the Council of Fellows of the American Society of Landscape Architects.
• David Allison was given the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American College of Healthcare Architects and the Changemaker Award from the Center for Health Design.
• Kate Schwennsen (professor and director of the School of Architecture), David Allison (director of Architecture + Health) and Dan Harding (director of graduate programs in architecture) were named Most Admired Educators by DesignIntelligence.
• Shannon Robert was invited to participate in the PQ 2019 Exhibition in Prague, an international recognition for her groundbreaking work in theatrical set design.

Gameday cheer in Charlotte

With Clemson again demonstrating athletic excellence, it was a wonderful break to be able to cheer on the Tigers in the ACC Championship football game in Charlotte and to meet up with alumni who were doing the same.

Thanks to the generous support of alumni and friends, the College was able to host a wonderful event the afternoon before the ACC Championship game. The Little headquarters in downtown Charlotte near the stadium was a spectacular venue for our pregame event. (Little is the largest architecture and design firm in Charlotte).

Our sponsors included: Phil Kuttner, Partner & Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Roark, Partner & Corporate Retail Studio Principal, and Ron Boozer, Design Principal.

Thanks to their support, we had an amazing time celebrating the life of the College and of course getting ready for the game.

Thank you for all you have done this year to advance the mission of the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities,

Tim Boosinger