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By Jackie Todd, University Relations

Clemson will break ground on a new child development center Feb. 8. The 12,700-square-foot facility will be located on the main campus at S.C. Highway 93 and Seneca Creek Road near the Snow Family Fitness and Wellness Center and will be operated by a private, third-party provider for infant, toddler and preschool children.

The concept of campus child care had been discussed for many years, according to Linda Tindal, the administrative coordinator of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women.

“Child care at Clemson has been on the Women’s Commission agenda since its inception in 1994, and discussed in other committee groups long before that,” she said.

In 2005, a Creative Inquiry student group led by then-Provost Dori Helms and Public Health Sciences professor Cheryl Dye studied the need and feasibility for a main campus child care center.

In 2012, a resolution in support of a child care center was endorsed by the President’s Commission on the Status of Women, the President’s Commission on the Status of Black Faculty & Staff, the Faculty Senate and Staff Senate, the Office of Access and Equity and Graduate Student Government.

Kathy Headley, Ed.D., senior associate dean of the College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences and College of Education chaired the Women’s Commission at that time. It was Headley’s mission to gain collaborative support among campus groups.

“For an initiative like this, it was crucial to get consensus from the entire campus,” she said. “It demonstrates that when groups across an organization come together, they can accomplish great things.”

Dye served on the Women’s Commission with Headley. To get further support for the proposed center, Dye and her subcommittee surveyed faculty, staff and students. Of those who responded, 86 percent believed that it’s very important for Clemson to have a child care center and 85 percent believed that child care has a “considerable effect” on work productivity of the parent.

Clemson trustees listened to their constituents and gave phase one approval of a proposed facility in 2015. The process of required approvals continued through state authorities and back to the trustees who gave final approval last year.

Construction of the center is being funded through an established endowment for faculty and staff benefits, with expected completion in 2020.

“This is exciting for all the people who collaborated over many years to make a campus child care center a reality,” said Dye. “It’s hard to believe it was 15 years ago that Dori Helms asked me co-lead Creative Inquiry teams to do the groundwork for a center. Their work was complemented by the tireless efforts of the Women’s Commission. With President Clements’ arrival, the pieces all finally fell into place.”

Groundbreaking ceremony information

The official groundbreaking will take place 1:45 p.m. Feb. 8 at the corner of Hwy. 93 and Seneca Creek Road.

Because of limited parking at the site, participants should park at the Madren Center. From there, shuttles will transport participants to and from the ceremony site beginning at 12:45 p.m. For questions and more information, contact Linda Tindal at ltindal@clemson.edu.

Related articles:

Clemson trustees approve facility renovation and construction plans

Child care center construction budget approved

Campus day care center clears another hurdle

Clemson child care center passes first stage of approval

By Melissa Lockhart, Learning Technology Manager
Clemson Online

Whether in the classroom, in the office or at home, video has become a mainstay of teaching, learning and communicating. A Pew Research Center survey indicates that YouTube and Facebook dominate the Social Media landscape. When comparing the two platforms, YouTube appears to have edged slightly ahead of Facebook, according to the study.

What’s the one thing that all of these platforms have in common? They use video to relay information. And participants respond better to video – especially short videos. Many people are “visual” and respond and retain visual stimuli. So whether you want to use video for the classroom, create a “how to,” or just gush at adorable puppies and kittens, video is the way to go.

Video doesn’t have to be hard to create. And that’s where Clemson Online is here to help. For free. Not a typo, it’s really free. Really.

Toward that end, Clemson Online is hosting a series of how-to classes to get you started.

Ever wondered how you can capture and edit video from your Mac computer or IOS devices? Join us on Oct. 30, 2018 for our video training classes, held in McAdams 142.

Register at this link.

Here’s the agenda:

9:30 – 10:45 a.m. Introduction to Camtasia 2018 for Mac Users
TechSmith’s ATD Master Trainer Jason Valade for a high-level look at Camtasia 2018 for Mac Users.

11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Bring your own Lunch: Capturing and Editing Video with your Mac and IOS Devices
Apple’s Campus Representative Will Ruark for a high-level look at applications that come on Apple devices that can be used to create videos.

12:30 – 1:45 p.m. A Deeper Look at Camtasia 2018 for Mac Users
TechSmith’s ATD Master Trainer Jason Valade for A Deeper Dive into Camtasia for Mac Users.

2 – 3:30 p.m. Introduction to Adobe Premiere Pro for Mac Users
CCIT’s Adobe Trainer Jan Lay will give participants a high-level overview of Adobe Premiere Pro for Mac users.

Visit Clemson Online’s Tools pages for additional resources regarding Camtasia. Visit CCIT’s Adobe Creative Cloud Training page to sign up for additional training on Adobe products. Email ITHELP@clemson.edu for assistance with any of these products.

Clemson’s board of trustees seeks to honor the highest level of scholastic or professional achievement at the national and international level. The board’s Faculty Award for Excellence is given annually to faculty members who have either been honored by academic or professional societies at the national or international level with National Academy of Sciences “highly prestigious” award or have demonstrated exceptional achievements in research, teaching and service.

Criteria for eligibility

· Self-nominations will only be accepted from national or international award recipients.
· Award recipients from February 2018 will be eligible.

Categories for nominations

-National Academy of Sciences “Highly Prestigious Award” Click here to see the current list of qualifying awards. To see the list, click on the broad field name.

-Research, teaching and service as tied to university strategic goals (ClemsonForward and land-grant mission) and college/unit goals

Timeline

· Oct. 8, 2018 – Nomination period opens.
· Nov. 8, 2018 – Nomination period closes.
· November – December – Nominations are reviewed and vetted by committee.
· January 2019 – Winners notified.
· February 2019 – Awards dinner held in conjunction with the spring quarterly meeting of the board of trustees.

Selection process

· Winners will be selected on an annual basis by a committee appointed by the board of trustees.
· The identity of nominees shall be confidential throughout the review and selection process.
· An electronic nomination form must be submitted during the nomination period.
· Additional backup materials or letters of support will not be accepted.

Please visit this link to complete the nomination process.

Clemson’s board of trustees recognizes university staff’s commitment and dedication to Clemson. To honor them, the board seeks nominations for its annual Awards of Excellence.

Staff can be considered:
1. If they received a national or international level award, or
2. Through extraordinary contributions relating to one of the award categories for acknowledgement.

Award categories for recognition include:

–The Will to Lead – This category recognizes a candidate who demonstrated outstanding leadership skills in completing projects of importance to his or her division, department, or the University as a whole.
–High Seminary – This category recognizes a candidate who is a visionary, one who sees a problem and solves it by improving the effectiveness of a service or program resulting in new or improved innovations, efficiencies, or cost-savings.
–Something in These Hills – This category recognizes a candidate who served the Clemson community in a remarkable way.
–Clemson Family – This category recognizes a candidate who provides exceptional service, creates a positive customer experience, and continuously exceeds expectations.
–Heart of the Tiger – This category recognizes a candidate who demonstrates outstanding judgment or courage in an emergency or who displays heroic actions to prevent or minimize physical injury or the loss of life or property.
–Tiger Teammate – This category recognizes a candidate who has made an outstanding contribution toward enhancing the quality or morale of the workplace or toward enhancing the public image of a department or division, Clemson University, or state government.
–Student Choice – This category recognizes a candidate who enhanced the quality of a student’s experience in a meaningful way. This award requires a student nominator.
–Spirit of Clemson – This category recognizes a candidate who exemplifies the spirit of Thomas and Anna Clemson and all those who have devoted themselves to making Clemson what it is today. This award category is reserved for exceptional circumstances and for accomplishments and achievements of the highest caliber.

Criteria for Eligibility

-The nominee must be in a full-time position with standard hours of at least 30 hours per week for at least three years at Clemson as of the nomination deadline date.
-Award recipients from February 2018 will not be eligible.
-Self-nominations will only be accepted from national or international award recipients.

For those nominating national or international award recipients:
-The award must be related to an employee’s job duties at Clemson.
-Nominations will be vetted by a committee appointed by the board of trustees.
-Awards that require monetary donations from the recipient will not be considered.
-Awards that require an entry fee will not be considered.

Timeline

The nomination period runs from Oct. 2 through Nov. 2. Nominations will be review and vetted by the board of trustee-appointed committee in November and December with winners notified in January 2019.

Trustees will honor the winners at an awards dinner held in conjunction with the board’s winter quarterly meeting.

How to nominate

Submit nomination forms online using the below links:

National/International Award nomination
Staff Special Recognition nomination

Additional backup materials or letters of support will not be accepted. Note that the identity of nominees shall be anonymous throughout the review and selection process.

For questions, contact the Board of Trustees office at 864-656-5615.

by Kelly McKeon, Class of 2020

Clemson Mappers will launch an on-campus drone rental program Oct. 1. The Drones for Good program will make two types of drones available to faculty, staff, and students for non-sponsored research and hobby use.

“The applications of the drones range beyond photography and videography to precision agriculture and monitoring, architectural and construction renderings, mapping and terrain modeling, land surveying and habitat monitoring,” said Michael Summers of the Clemson Center for Geospatial Technologies (CCGT).

Participants in the Drones for Good program will be required to go through training and to become members of the Academy of Model Aeronautics, which costs $25 annually. Training is available to students for free through CCGT and will take place in their training lab, located in room 406A of Cooper Library. Training is expected to take between four to six weeks.

Two drones are available through the program: the DJI Phantom 3 and the Parrot Bebop 2. They can be used at off-campus locations as long as participants abide to FAA safety guidelines pertaining to approved drone airspaces. The drones can be picked up at the CCGT training lab.

The student-led organization, along with CCGT, created the Drones for Good program to “empower student inquiry, exploration, and advocacy with advanced technology and tools.”

The Clemson Center for Geospatial Technologies is a university funded department that procures and promotes technology that aids in geospatial data collection.

Clemson has specific drone flying safety policies. Learn more here.

For more information about the Drones for Good program, click here.

By Jackie Todd, University Relations

An accomplished leader and 13-year veteran of Clemson has been appointed associate provost for faculty affairs. Amy Lawton-Rauh, Ph.D., professor and associate chair of the Genetics and Biochemistry department in the College of Science, will assume the position August 16.

Lawton-Rauh succeeds the position first held by Ellen Granberg before Granberg was promoted to senior associate provost at Clemson, and then later named provost of the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Reporting to Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost Bob Jones, Lawton-Rauh will implement strategies and programs to attract, recruit, retain and mentor Clemson’s faculty. She will support the goals of the Clemson Forward plan by building an engaged community of top-talent faculty, supporting faculty recruitment, professional development, and transdisciplinary collaboration while cultivating diversity, inclusion, and equity.

“Amy is a champion of building consensus among her colleagues,” said Jones. “Her experience, goals and participation in leadership roles at Clemson make her the right choice for this position.”

Lawton-Rauh joined Clemson in 2005 as an assistant professor in the Genetics and Biochemistry department. She became an associate professor in 2011 and earned full professorship in 2017.

Her service on Clemson’s Faculty Senate started when she was elected senator in 2013. She chaired the research committee for three years before she became president-elect in 2016 and then served as the 2017-18 president. She now serves as immediate past president.

Lawton-Rauh is the principle investigator of her research group studying the population and quantitative genomics of crop wild relatives and weedy species. She directs the USDA National Needs Fellowship program at Clemson and works with colleagues in the College of Science and College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences leading this program to provide cross-college, transdisciplinary training to graduate students who will be the next generation of research scientists, policy makers, and educators in computational genomics in agriculturally-relevant systems.

Acting associate provosts named

Cole Smith, Ph.D. was appointed acting associate provost for academic initiatives. A professor and chair of the industrial engineering department in the College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences, Smith became a Fellow in the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers this year. As acting associate provost, he will track, enable, and where needed, lead progress on all aspects of the ClemsonForward strategic plan. He will also develop strategies to increase efficiency, focus, and success of academic operations, and analyze, enable and implement entrepreneurial activities that increase revenues to support academic programs.    

Constancio Nakuma, Ph.D. has been appointed acting associate provost for academic affairs. Nakuma is a professor of French and senior associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities. He has 26 years of leadership experience including six as department chair and 10 as associate dean at Clemson. The acting associate provost will be responsible for supporting teaching and learning excellence, academic enrichment and professional development programs for undergraduate and graduate students, curricular innovations, health and operations of academic units, education policy, accreditation and faculty scholarship. 

Jones said that internal searches will be initiated this month to find permanent appointments for the two roles. 

By John Griffin, Ph.D.
Associate Provost & Dean of Undergraduate Studies

As we head into a new semester, I’m very excited to make the “official” announcement about the launch of a new software platform that is going to help our undergraduate students be even more successful by improving how we deliver undergraduate advising.

Technically, our new student advising platform has two parts: “SSC/Campus” is the faculty and staff-facing side and “Guide” is the student-facing side. In the coming weeks, you’ll be hearing general information about the systems as well as hearing about training dates to familiarize you with this intuitive system. We hope to have as many people as possible on board with the new platform before fall registration begins and then ultimately to have all faculty and staff advisors using the platform by Spring registration.

Moving to this platform will be a bit of a transition for Clemson, but I’m happy to say that we have (and have had) deep participation from all the colleges, helping us to ensure that the rollout goes as smoothly as possible. SSC/Campus and Guide are tools for the faculty and staff and we want to be sure they work for your needs as well as for the needs of the students.

For the intrepid group of professional advisors and faculty who have already been trained and are using the platform, I want to say thanks for helping us launch an amazing tool for student success. Thanks also to the team of 75 people from all across the campus who have helped us make it this far. For the rest of us, please stay tuned as we begin to roll out the platform to the entire campus over the next two semesters.

My best wishes as you start the fall semester and stay tuned for big things to come!

Clemson’s annual Welcome Back Festival will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. August 20 in downtown Clemson.

Sponsored by the Clemson Alumni Association and the Student Alumni Council, the festival will feature more than 80 local vendors offering a variety of merchandise and food. College Avenue will be shut down so students and community members can wander through the various attractions purchasing the items with tickets.

Entry to the festival is free. Food and merchandise can be purchased with tickets which are sold at the entrance of the festival for 50 cents each. The money raised will go to the Student Alumni Council Scholarship Endowment Fund.

Clemson University President James P. Clements and Clemson Mayor J.C. Cook will speak and the Tiger mascot will be there along with a Clemson Spirit Squad to pump up the crowd.

On the tail of the recently released improvements to Clemson’s Employee Referral Program comes the launch of the new Clemson Careers webpage. Recently, the Office of Human Resources set out to gather data and feedback on their website’s functionality and design. After assessing the information, OHR made plans to deliver enhancements to its most frequently visited area—the careers webpage.

Now those enhancements are live, with a new Clemson Careers webpage that will make the Clemson brand even stronger and attract even more of the top-talent candidates that help make Clemson an amazing place to work and live. The new Clemson Careers webpage is as accessible as it is visually appealing. It features easy-to-access links to job postings, quick-reference information on the University and the Clemson area, and a live feed of Clemson Careers on social media.

“Everyone who works at Clemson understands how special the University and the Clemson family are,” said Josh Brown, Clemson director of talent acquisition. “In revamping our careers page, one of the main goals was to capture what’s so special about Clemson and share it with potential job candidates. Our website traffic proves that a lot of people are interested in working for Clemson, and we want to build on that momentum.”

For some of us who are not terribly handy with pots and pans, the best meals happen when someone else makes them.

Our friends at the Fresh Food Company at Core Campus have both cooking-lover and cooking-challenged faculty and staff covered with $5 breakfast, lunch and dinner meals, Monday through Friday. The deal is good through August 3 and valid for those dining in only. Faculty and staff should present their Tiger One card to the cashier to achieve the $5 special.

So instead of cooking yourself, grab a colleague and treat them to a nice meal, for a deal!