Lots of people enjoy watching birds out the window during the winter – curiosity raises questions about birds, habitat, and how to take really good photos. Our nature loving friends and family would appreciate the gift of an online, self-paced course on Birding and Photography!
#holidaygiftideas #naturelovers #naturephtography
Need a great holiday gift idea for your friends and family? A lot of people enjoy watching birds in winter out their backyard window! For those nature lovers, consider the gift of our online course BIRDING AND NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY, created by our own Emeritus College field trip leaders Imtiaz Haque and Vince Jackson. This course, offered through Clemson University’s Online Education, is self-paced and comes with easy instruction, and some of Imtiaz’s fabulous bird photos. (He even explains how he takes those great shots). This course has received A+ reviews and has been completed by dozens of birders. Suited for beginners and people with some birding knowledge, the course is reasonably priced at $75. Proceeds benefit the Emeritus College. Thank you for your support!
Online Course, Self-Paced: Birding and Photography
For several years, members of the Emeritus College have donated needed items to Clemson’s Paw Pantry at their annual Holiday Social. Paw Pantry is a Student Affairs organization that serves to reduce food insecurity and promote wellbeing at Clemson University. The pantry serves current Clemson students and is open Monday through Saturday (except football Saturdays), although hours vary so check their website or call before stopping in. Dr. Bonnie Holaday, Professor Emerita (Nursing) and former Dean of the Graduate School, coordinates the collection and delivers the food and goods donated from the event hall directly to Paw Pantry. One year, she and volunteers packed up a truck load! Dr. Holaday shared, “The Paw Pantry has requested rice, pasta, beans, snacks, oil, seasonings, canned meat, oats, instant meals, and any holiday meals that are shelf stable, paper towels, toilet paper, and dish soap.” Holaday added that the Paw Pantry directors suggested that anything on our website would be great!” If you are looking for ideas, please visit the Paw Pantry website, scroll down to the suggested donations list, broken down into three sections: Food, Household Items, and Hygienic Supplies.
The Emeritus College is pleased to announce that South Carolina’s First Lady of Rock, Rhythm and Soul, Wanda Johnson, will perform a free concert on Friday, November 17, 2023, in the Emeritus College Seminar Room beginning at 11:00 a.m.
Ms. Johnson, a seasoned performer from nearby Belton, SC, will perform songs she has written as part of the Debbie and Vince Jackson Endowment for Music Appreciation. Wanda has performed in nine countries in Europe as well as China. She is well-known in our area for her appearances during the Anderson Summer Concert Series, Pendleton’s Palmetto BBQ jazz programs, and Seneca’s Jazz on the Alley.
A natural-born singer, “brought up singin’ in church” with her eight sisters, Ms. Johnson has shared stage appearances with well-known artists Johnny Winter, Robert Cray, James Cotton, Drink Small (“The Blues Doctor”), Kip Anderson, and the late, great BB King.
Ms. Johnson’s original music is well received locally, nationally, and internationally. Her song “The River”, a tribute to her father, has been used in independent films. Wanda’s sultry voice graces at least five CD recordings with fans comparing her to Nina Simone and Etta James. Very approachable, her fans love Wanda – not only for her vocal abilities – but also for her ability to intimately connect with her audiences. Do not miss this opportunity to meet and hear a local musical legend.
Featured Event: Free Concert by Wanda Johnson,
Friday, Nov. 17, 2023
Emeritus College Seminar Room
11:00 AM
Special: Emeritus College Coffee House Regular Participants may join Wanda at 10:00 AM.
Holiday Social – Luncheon on December 5, 2023, at 11:30 am to 1:30 pm
Each
member of the Emeritus College is invited and may bring one guest (free to
all!)
Lunch will be served.
Skip Eisiminger will host EC
Trivia pitting tables against one another in a fun-filled competition! The
winning table takes home prizes. Choose your table partners wisely!
Party favors for all.
Please RSVP to Victoria at vmusheff@clemson.edu before November 27th. We want to be sure we provide ample eats.
The Clemson Emeritus College gathered on Tuesday, October 3 for the
annual Fall Picnic and Business Meeting. Approximately 150 emeritus
faculty enjoyed great food and conversation while welcoming new members.
During the meeting, the group evaluated, voted upon and passed changes
to the Emeritus College bylaws and strategic plan, and the college
awarded the prestigious Emeritus College Community Service Award to two
very deserving Emeritus faculty for their outstanding decades of
community service.
Gordon Howard, Professor Emeritus of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management
Since 1984, Howard has offered his services as a licensed bird bander
on the grounds of the Crown Point State Historic Site in New York. The
historic site is designated as an important bird area by the National
Audubon Society, a bird conservation area by the state of New York and
is referred to as a banding ‘station’.
Bird banding is an effort to track different species of migratory
birds that pass through the region every year in order to collect
ecological data and improve conservation efforts. With climate change
and deforestation, the unbroken string of the station’s banding records
is becoming increasingly important. Presentations to groups and
individuals who visit the station are designed to involve visitors with
wildlife in a non-consumptive manner, which include the visitor
releasing a banded bird. In 1988 Howard began giving a Polaroid picture
to each person releasing a banded bird to show friends and family. A
follow-up Educational Certificate Program was begun in 1995 whereby
trifold certificates were mailed to releasers that include an image of
the bird, a brief life history of the bird species, the banding
information and Clemson University’s support for the program.
In 1997, releasers began to be notified when “their bird” was
captured at the banding station or at another location. After the
station closes each year Howard enters the data into the state and
federal government databases, writes the Atlantic Flyway Report and
sends a summary report to each visitor. In 2015, Howard also began an
apprenticeship program of future banders. In addition to banding, two
tail feathers are collected from “target species” as part of the
stations third year of cooperation with the Bird Genoscape Project, a
hemisphere wide avian genetics research program managed by units of the
University of California – Los Angeles and Colorado State University.
Barry Nocks, Professor Emeritus of City and Regional Planning
Nocks has devoted himself to public service over the past two
decades. In 2001, his leadership as chair of the Reedy River Master
Planning Committee paved the way for a plan that profoundly change
Greenville. His vision of the Swamp Rabbit Trail and the revitalization
of the Reedy River as a public amenity has been the impetus for
Greenville’s urban planning priorities.
Nocks also served as a member and chairman of the City of
Greenville’s Planning Commission from 2000-2009. He then chaired and
served as a member of Greenville’s Design Review Board from 2009 to
2017, during the city’s unprecedented growth following the recession.
Nocks also served as a volunteer on numerous Greenville planning
committees focused on preservation, housing and strengthening the city’s
zoning ordinances. As a certified arbitrator, his mediation skills
played a valuable role in shaping major mixed-use developments. Most
recently, he worked closely with the city to develop the Greenville 2040
Comprehensive Plan and the 2023 Development Code. Perhaps the greatest
testimony comes from the many Master of City and Regional Planning
alumni who continually ask for his advice in dealing with difficult
planning issues. Nicknamed ‘Yoda’ by his peers, Nock’s wisdom and
tireless efforts in public service have made Greenville one of America’s
most livable communities.
The Emeritus College Advisory Board, Director, and Staff
express tremendous appreciation to the following individuals who have generously
donated funds to the Emeritus College during 2023-2024. The Emeritus College
annually sponsors emeritus awards and student scholarships, funds speakers,
offers programs and activities, and hosts social events. Donations make this
possible while also facilitating the growth of the college.
Clifton “Chip” Egan, Dean and Professor Emeritus of Performing Arts and IDE Emeritus College Fellow
Good morning! Allow me to begin by offering my sincere
congratulations to the newest members of the Clemson University Emeritus
College. I like to think of my own retirement as the best promotion I ever
received. You are beginning a delightful and enriching journey of the life-of-the-mind
joining with new academic and social colleagues you may have never had a chance
to get to know. Among the many wonderful benefits of EC membership is the
pleasant dissolving of the academic boundaries you spent your career adhering
to. The Emeritus College offers you a chance to meet, work with, and get to
know some of the most enriching, far flung, and amazing minds the academy has
to offer. Welcome to adventure.
President Clements, Senior Associate Provost Lawton-Rauh,
deans and department heads, family members and well-wishers, and my fellow
emeritus faculty, it is my distinct privilege to speak to you today on the
occasion of the 20th anniversary celebration of the Clemson
University Emeritus College. This is a day for looking back on two decades of
accomplishment and growth, for taking stock of where we are as a college and,
perhaps most significantly, looking forward to the coming decade of new
horizons and challenges for the Emeritus College.
With your indulgence, I’d like to take a few minutes
to reflect on my personal journey of retirement as a member of the Emeritus
College for nineteen of the past twenty years. I first retired in 2004 after 28
years of teaching at Clemson. I arrived in 1976 as an assistant professor of
theatre in the English department. When I filled out my employment papers and
enrolled in the various benefit programs, the only option for retirement was the
SC Retirement System. It was just as well. At age 24, I could have easily made
a bad decision, had I had any choice.
In 2004, my decision to retire may have been a
little ill-considered, but I was resolute. As a theatre professor and practitioner
with a career-long collection of professional contacts, including former
students, I wanted to start a second career as a self-employed, freelance
theatre professional. For the next two years, my supremely patient wife, Diane,
and I lived largely on the road in temporary housing provided by theatre
companies around the country. We followed contract employment to places like
Boston; Raton, NM; Moscow, ID; Roanoke, VA and Hilton Head, SC. Diane worked as
an actor and stage manager, and I worked as an actor, director and designer. It
was a life of variety and adventure, but not particularly comfortable or
grounded.
In one housing arrangement in New Mexico, we lived
for a summer stock season in an historic but only semi-maintained and un air-conditioned
historic hotel called the El Portal. The occupants were a combination of
tourists, fellow theatre employees and itinerant laborers. We lived in a semi-furnished
suite of rooms with another couple and ended up using various cardboard boxes
for coffee tables and side tables. We were living the life of theatre
vagabonds. A couple of years later, the El Portal burned to the ground.
By spring 2006, I was living in an extended stay hotel
in Roanoke, VA, while directing the premier of a play called Elvis People
at Mill Mountain Theatre. The play was an ingenious collection of vignettes
about the lives of the fans of Elvis Presley. The featured and final vignette
was the story of an average Joe who fell into Elvis impersonating and began
working at local used car lots for free. He eventually found his way onto cruise
ships and ultimately to the world capital of Elvis impersonators, Las Vegas,
where finally the “Peter Principle” kicked in. He had ascended to the level of
his incompetence. Humbled and humiliated in a sudden death “Elvis off” with a
show business giant, he shuffled home to his now-broken marriage and his previous
job, older but wiser.
While I was directing, I got a call from a friend
and colleague of mine in English at Clemson who, during the course of our
conversation, wondered how his department was going to find someone to serve as
interim chair when no one was interested. Almost without thinking, I told him I
would do it. Long story short, I returned to work at Clemson for what became nearly
six more years of administration including a three-year stint as dean of
Architecture, Arts and Humanities followed by a stint as interim director of
the Emeritus College. I went from gig work in theatre to gig work in academic
administration. Having rejoined the SC Retirement System, I retired again which
brings me back to today’s occasion! After two decades of operation, the
Emeritus College has grown fully into its position as one of the now eleven colleges
of Clemson University.
The Clemson Faculty Constitution states in its Preamble,
“To fulfill its role of preserving, interpreting, and advancing knowledge, a
university depends upon the scholarship and professionalism of its Faculty.”
The Constitution further defines the membership of Clemson’s faculty as consisting
of, “the President; Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost;
other administrators with faculty rank; faculty with regular appointments as
Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, or Instructor; Librarians;
Emeritus Faculty; and such other individuals as the faculty may duly elect.”
The Emeritus College, by measure of its 867 faculty
members, 61% of whom live within a 40-minute drive, is the largest college at
Clemson. It is both extraordinary and powerfully influential that so many retired
faculty choose to live so close to Clemson for their retirement years. We live
in one of the most desirable places in our country. We enjoy a mild and yet varied
climate, proximity to such natural wonders as the Blue Ridge Escarpment, also
known as The Blue Wall, and an extraordinary system of lakes, rivers, and
waterfalls. We are home to world class arts and sports in venues normally
located in heavily urban settings. We support a food culture that rivals the
best anywhere. Although our rapidly growing population adds pressure to it, our
cost of living is still considered a bargain. We now consistently top multiple
“The Best of…” lists for retirement living. But it is Clemson University’s
cultivation of the affection and continuing engagement of its retired faculty
that nourishes our branch of “the Clemson Family.”
But “Family” has taken on a new meaning in the post-pandemic
world. The Emeritus College has grown its reach and accessibility by adopting both
virtual and hybrid, streaming and recorded programming and by conducting its
officer and business meetings in a hybrid format. The College now regularly engages
members from across the country for both business and programming.
One year prior to the origin of Clemson’s Emeritus
College, the Association of Retirement Organizations in Higher Education was
founded in 2002. Twenty-one years later, AROHE, as it is known, champions
Clemson as a model for engaged retirement and institutional effectiveness among
its 130 institutional members. Of that number, only four institutions have
designated their retirement organizations as colleges. Because Clemson made
that defining choice, we hold an enviable position as the Nation’s premier
academic retirement organization.
No celebration of the EC’s twenty years of existence
would be complete without crediting its founding visionaries of Provost Dori Helms,
President Jim Barker, University Historian Jerry Reel and Founding Director,
Diane Smathers. Their choice to create a college of retired faculty
imbued the EC with legitimacy and agency that has inspired the organization to
reach ever higher standards of excellence and accomplishment. Members are proud
to tout their college affiliation knowing that it provides a permanent home for
their continuing growth and development as faculty and life-long learners.
The Emeritus College is fortunate to have been guided
by a series of highly effective directors, beginning with its founding
director, Dr. Diane Smathers. For the first ten years, Diane grew the EC identity
and brand as an exemplary organization. She joined AROHE and promoted the involvement
of individual Clemson Emeriti. She patiently taught the University how to fulfill
the status of emeriti as full faculty invested by the Faculty Constitution, by
pursuing their rightful access to all University privileges such as parking, ID
cards, library access, information technology resources, Fike privileges and so
forth. She created the EC Advisory Board, guided the creation of our by-laws,
and all the while projected professionalism, legitimacy and gravitas to Clemson
and the higher education industry. Dr. Smathers is here with us today.
Dr. Dwaine Eubanks, the second permanent director, built
on Diane’s foundation of organizational health to take the EC to the next level
by relocating the EC offices, promoting strategic planning, expanding
programming, hiring a full-time program coordinator, creating more recognitions
for Emeritus faculty achievement, and instituting a program of Emeritus Faculty
Fellows. Following Dwaine’s untimely death in 2018, the Fellows program was
named in his honor. His widow, Lucy Eubanks is here today.
The third and current director, Dr. Debbie Jackson, is
serving in her fifth year as a dynamic leader who has guided the Emeritus
College through the pandemic years implementing streaming and hybrid programing
and greatly expanding the on-line reach and reputation of the College. She has continued
to promote service opportunities and has nurtured a culture of inclusion and
diversity by expanding membership and leadership opportunities. Recently, she facilitated
a continuing partnership between the Emeritus College and the Class of ’39,
Clemson’s only perpetual class, consisting, in part, of the annual faculty recipients
of the Class of ’39 Award for Excellence.
In 2018, under Debbie’s leadership, two Clemson
Emeritus College language programs for international graduate students, the
Clemson English-Speaking Proficiency (CESP) test and its follow up, the
Conversations with International Students (CIS) program, were selected for a
national award! Working together, those programs significantly enhance
participating students’ English language skills and cultural awareness. The
pair of programs received the AROHE National Innovation Award for benefiting
students, improving instruction, and enhancing campus diversity.
It’s
truly a campus-wide initiative involving emeriti CESP interviewers, emeriti CIS
mentors, student participants, graduate coordinators, student-service
coordinators, active faculty, department chairs, college, and university
administrators. Also contributing are faculty and staff from the Pearce Center,
Graduate School, and Office of Global Engagement. The programs are now
institutionalized as continuing programs.
Throughout the twenty-year history of the EC, support
from the Office of the Provost has been an indispensable anchor of stability
and resources. I want to recognize Provost Bob Jones and Associate Provost Amy Lawton-Rauh
and thank them for their unwavering enthusiasm for the Emeritus College and the
value that it provides for Clemson’s mission, vision, and strategic goals.
As a part of its 20th anniversary
celebration, the Emeritus College has joined with the Clemson University Press
to publish Moments and Memories: Reflections of Emeritus College Faculty,
a collection of essays surrounding the Clemson experiences of its retired
faculty. Guided by four editors, Victoria Gillis, Debbie Jackson, Kathy Headley
and Marty Duckenfield, the collection of eighty essays covers over sixty years
of Clemson University history. You are receiving a copy today. In the book’s Foreword,
Provost Jones writes, “The rich tapestry of faculty experiences in this book
reveals humility and dedication to the land-grant mission and our institution.
They make me proud to be a Clemson Tiger.”
At the January meeting of the EC Advisory Council, a
discussion of undertaking a self-study and review of the College’s strategic
plan for the purpose of framing a vibrant path into the future was held. The
College’s mission and vision statements have been effective touchstones, but could
we articulate our core values as a companion and a powerful engine for
continuing advancement and effectiveness? A volunteer group of Emeriti began
meeting every two weeks to draft and review such a document. The resulting
one-page statement, approved last week by the Advisory Council, is before you
in your packet.
Our meetings and discussions have been rich,
animated, thought-provoking, and productive. We examined the University’s and Board
of Trustees’ statements of guiding principles and values. We collected similar
statements from other universities that we considered to be comparable. We
debated the political hazards of our time and how much, or even whether, they
should be taken into account. Ultimately, we fashioned a short and defining set
of aspirations that we believe will inspire us to be at the forefront of the
Clemson Elevate planning effort. The next step is to revise our strategic plan
in accordance with these values.
Chief among our values is that of belonging. As I
mentioned earlier, the phrase, “the Clemson Family” has been used for years to
describe that certain, almost indefinable something that draws people to
Clemson and holds them. Can a 30,000-person institution truly remain a family?
Key to our belief that it’s possible is the notion that a feeling of belonging,
born of the caring, respect and trust that Emeriti find in their college, can
be modeled throughout Clemson’s campus culture. Maybe our college of senior
citizen, life-long educators can lead the way! The members of the Emeritus
College are proudly embarking on that path. Thank you for your kind attention
today and GO TIGERS.
In service to the Emeritus College, Greenstein has served as a member of the Emeritus College Advisory Committee as well as its chair from 2020 to 2021. During his time in this position, he made it his mission to fully fund the Kenelly/Voss Endowment at the $25,000 mark. The endowment was initiated in 2008 and for many years other funds were used to make the contributions awarded in the recipient’s name. Greenstein currently serves as the liaison from the Emeritus College to AROHE. He took over from Lucy Eubanks, who recommended Joel for this important position. Greenstein won the Paul M. Fitts Education Award in 2020 from the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. In his nomination letter one student wrote: “Dr. Joel Greenstein has received Clemson University’s Industrial Engineering Professor of the Year so many times that the honor has picked up a colloquial nickname of the ‘Joel Greenstein Award ’”.
Imtiaz Haque
In
service to the Emeritus College, Haque has led numerous bird walk programs for
the Emeritus faculty. He has co-developed a non-credit course on birding and
wildlife photography. Haque also encouraged and planned the Emeritus College’s
first, of what the College hopes to be many, overnight adventures in
Charleston, S.C. He has provided numerous photographs to the Emeritus College
to publish as notecards for Emeritus College faculty. Haque was the founding chair
of the Automotive Engineering Department and instrumental in the development of
CU-ICAR.
Laura Shick
In
service to the Emeritus College, Schick is a member of the Prison Interest
Group. Her approach is to help by doing, not just asking. Shick reaches out to
see what the next steps are. In doing so, she was part of the original task force
that developed the first symposium that brought colleges and universities
together from across the state to explore how we might serve incarcerated
individuals. Shick was also a major contributor to the Memories and
Moments: Reflections of Emeritus College Faculty.
Sam Wang
Wang
serves on the Program and Planning Committee. He was instrumental in
re-conceptualizing the space used by the Emeritus College for special interest
groups. Wang also leads a special interest group on photography. He was also
instrumental in the publication Memories and Moments: Reflections of
Emeritus College Faculty. Without Wang, half of the images would not
have met the requirements for the publication. In service to Clemson
University, Wang continues to mentor graduate students by serving on masters
and doctoral committees.
Steve Wainscott
Stephen Wainscott In service to the Emeritus College, Wainscott currently serves as a member of the Emeritus College Advisory Board. He also chairs the Program and Planning Committee. In that role he has developed several new initiatives including a virtual travel program. In this program, faculty, current and emeritus share their experiences and travel with recommendations for special “not to miss” sites, itineraries that work and even hotel and food ideas. Wainscott’s enthusiasm for future programs helps keep the Emeritus College current and interesting for its members.
Dr. Debbie Jackson, Director of the Emeritus College was selected as this year’s recipient. Dr. Robert Hogan, Chair of the Emeritus College’s Awards Committee made the announcement at the college’s annual Emeritus Day. This award was established by the late John Kenelly to recognize emeritus faculty members who have made outstanding contributions to Emeritus College, Clemson University, the greater Clemson community and to society.
Debra
Jackson contributions include serving as the Emeritus College Director since
January of 2019. During her tenure programming has increased by more than 60
percent. During COVID, Jackson switched programming to virtual sessions. Today,
programs continue in a hybrid format, allowing Emeritus College members to
participate remotely. Under her leadership, donations continue to increase, and
new programs continue to be added to the long list of Emeritus College
offerings. Jackson and her husband Vince have established “The Debbie and Vince
Jackson Endowment for Music” allowing the Emeritus College to expand and
support musical events. Jackson’s contributions to the Clemson Community include
serving as a board member of the Community Foundation of Greater Clemson, Jackson’s
contributions to the Clemson Community include serving as a board member of the
Community Foundation of Greater Clemson and as the chair for the Grants and
Awards committee. For 25 years, Jackson authored a health column in a local
newspaper. She continues to serve as a strong advocate for mental health care.
At the national level, Jackson served on advisory committees for the American
Cancer Society and NIH Digestive Disease Coalitions.
On Tuesday, April 25, 2023, the Emeritus College celebrated its 20th Anniversary. The college released its new Memories and Moments: Reflections of Emeritus College Faculty book,
essays written by 80 emeritus faculty about their experiences at
Clemson University. The front cover was designed by Donna Reiss,
Professor Emerita of English, while the back photograph was contributed
by Sam Wang, Alumni Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Visual Arts.
Vicki Gillis, Debbie Jackson, Kathy Headley and Marty Duckenfield served
as the editors for the project. A special thank you to the faculty who
contributed to Moments and Memories. A plan for volume two is underway,
so if you have an idea for a story, look for an opportunity to include
your essay.
Donna Reiss, Professor Emerita of English. was the creative artist for the cover of the Moments and Memories book. With Donna on April 25th was Mary Haque, Emerita Professor of Horticulture.
