On September 13, faculty leadership, staff, and representative graduate students from the Office of Inclusive Excellence and Graduate Studies in the College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences (CECAS) kicked off the Second Annual South Carolina Pathways Road Trip to promote access to graduate degrees in science, technology, engineering and math. Over the course
of three days, they met with more than 300 students to discuss the opportunities available to them for pursuing graduate degrees in the engineering, computing and science disciplines as well as the possibilities that further education offers. In alignment with our land grant mission, this team focuses on recruiting top students from colleges and universities in our state that do not have graduate programs in engineering or the sciences. In addition, members of this team connect with the administration and faculty at each school to build and strengthen its partnership with Clemson University and our college. At each university or college, the team visited an appropriate class to give a brief presentation on how to apply to graduate school, followed by an information session conducted by a panel of current graduate students from CECAS and a session addressing graduate school myths. The first stop on the road trip was Allen University, one of the state’s Historic Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) located in Columbia, where they connected with administrators, faculty, and students. They spent the next day in Florence at Marion University where they met with students in the Engineering and Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science, and Biologydepartments, visiting classes, holding informational sessions about graduate school, and facilitating panel discussions. The third stop included a visit to Coastal Carolina University located in Conway where they connected with administrators, faculty, and staff in the Computer Science and Biology departments. This road trip will continue next month when a team of CECAS faculty, staff, and graduate students travel to Orangeburg to meet with students at Claflin University, another HBCU in South Caroliina.
