Scroll down to read the following articles:
- New leadership installed in Faculty and Staff Senates
- T. Boone Pickens to speak at Clemson
- New employee assistance program (EAP) offered to Clemson employees
- Research: Thinking beyond lane-markings – Making informed decisions about distracted driving
- Caution – Blake Snider wants Clemson students to attend school year-round
- Introducing RidePost, the new ride-sharing program
- Last chance: Staff Development Program deadline is 4:30 p.m. April 16
- Learn about advancing digital communications with Adobe Creative Suite
- Are you a Safe Tiger? Safe Tiger mug winners
- PARKING/TRAFFIC event for this week
1. New leadership installed in Faculty and Staff Senates
https://blogs.clemson.edu/inside-clemson/inside-news/new-leadership-installed-in-faculty-and-staff-senates/
Staff Senate
Angela Nixon was installed as president as the university’s staff senate. A member of the university’s media relations department, Nixon has worked for Clemson for 11 years and is a die-hard Tiger.
“ I am a Clemson girl; always have been,” said Nixon. “I graduated twice from Clemson and my dad went to Clemson.”
Nixon accepted the leadership gavel from Julia Lusk, who served as staff senate president in 2012-2013.
The 2013-2014 president plans to work closely with the faculty senate president and leadership from the student and graduate student senates. Her priorities include actively seeking and listening to staff input, promoting staff professional development opportunities and ensuring Staff Senate continues to have a seat at the table in discussions about compensation
Faculty Senate
At a ceremony on April 9, Kelly Smith became the 2013-2014 Faculty Senate president. A 15-year veteran of Clemson, Smith works as a professor of philosophy in the university’s College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities.
Smith congratulated outgoing Faculty Senate president Jeremy King and introduced the new faculty senators.
Among Smith’s priorities as president are reforming general education, expanding shared governance and working with Clemson’s leadership to improve opportunities for university faculty.
In other news:
- Michelle Piekutowski was presented with the Alan Schaffer award.
2. T. Boone Pickens to speak at Clemson
http://www.clemson.edu/media-relations/4811
T. Boone Pickens, one of America’s most successful businessmen, will share his insights on leadership in a public lecture at Clemson University at 2 p.m. Thursday, April 18, at the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts.
His “Thoughts on Leadership” presentation will focus on his tips to become an effective leader.
The Holdenville, Okla., native is visiting the area to explore his ties to Upstate South Carolina. Pickens is a descendent of Revolutionary War hero and congressman Andrew Pickens, for whom Pickens County is named.
“I have deep South Carolina roots going all the way back to John C. Calhoun and Gen. Andrew Pickens,” said Pickens. “I take considerable pride in the Pickens name and the wonderful heritage and history tied to our family and South Carolina. I’m eager to return there and rekindle our family’s love and respect of our ancestry.”
Pickens built one of the nation’s largest independent oil companies, Mesa Petroleum, and later reinvented himself in his 70s as one of the most successful investment fund operators with BP Capital. In July 2008, Boone launched the Pickens Plan, a grass-roots campaign aimed at reducing America’s dependence on OPEC oil. He is the author of the 2008 book “The First Billion is the Hardest,” which details his ideas on energy independence.
A graduate of Oklahoma State University, Pickens is a generous philanthropist, giving more than $1 billion in donations to various efforts in his lifetime. He has given more than $500 million in support of academics and athletics at his alma mater.
Pickens’ many professional honors include membership in the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, the Texas Business Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. In 1998, the Oil & Gas Investor listed him as one of the “100 Most Influential People of the Petroleum Century.”
Pickens lecture is free, but please register online if you plan to attend.
3. New employee assistance program (EAP) offered to Clemson employees
https://blogs.clemson.edu/inside-clemson/inside-news/new-employee-assistance-program-eap-offered-to-clemson-employees/
The Office of Human Resources announced a new employee assistance program (EAP) provided through an outside resource, Deer Oaks EAP. Services offered through this program will be available to Clemson University faculty and staff and their dependents with a focus on the importance of work/life balance. Through Deer Oaks, there will be a variety of training courses and seminars that employees will have access to such as leadership, coaching, communication skills, dealing with change and many more. Additionally, counseling services will be available to include personal, family, and marriage counseling, financial and legal consultations, conflict resolution, substance abuse and other issues that may affect work or life balance. All counseling services are confidential. Faculty and staff may also access online resources provided by Deer Oaks EAP by visiting www.deeroaks.com and logging into Member Services with “clemson” as both the username and password.
In most cases, there will be no cost to the employee for counseling services.
Several orientation sessions for this program will be held at the dates and times shown below.
Deer Oaks Orientation Sessions
- April 23, 10 a.m., McKissick Theatre at the Hendrix Student Center
- April 23, 11 a.m., McKissick Theatre at the Hendrix Student Center
- April 23, noon, McKissick Theatre at the Hendrix Student Center
- April 24, noon-1 p.m., webinar only
Other Upcoming Events
Financial/Budgeting seminars and webinar:
- April 11, 1 -2 p.m., McKissick Theatre at the Hendrix Student Center
- April 12, 9:30-10:30 a.m., McKissick Theatre at the Hendrix Student Center
- April 16 11:00 a.m.-noon, McKissick Theatre at the Hendrix Student Center
- April 18, 2-3 p.m., webinar only
Click here to register for any of the events above. If you have any questions, please contact the Office of Human Resources at Ask-HR.
3. Research: Thinking beyond lane-markings: Making informed decisions about distracted driving
https://blogs.clemson.edu/discovery/2012/11/08/thinking-beyond-lane-markings-making-informed-decisions-about-distracted-driving/
by Matthew Crisler
At some level, most people can agree that being distracted while behind the wheel is dangerous; however, it is quite difficult to make clear distinctions regarding appropriate behavior with regard to engaging in distraction. Significant research efforts have been devoted to determining the safety consequences of various activities while driving, and organizations such as the National Transportation Safety Board have used these studies to suggest that using cell phones while driving should be banned entirely; however, such bans have not been widely instituted likely due to some degree to the desire by drivers to continue using these devices even though it can be shown to objectively reduce safety. Our research suggests that there will be an uphill battle with regards to instituting policies to limit or prohibit cell phone use while driving partially due to the nature of the effects that talking on a cell phone while driving causes.
Many people would expect that being involved in a highly engaging cell phone conversation while driving would result in weaving within the lane; however, the research on the topic suggests otherwise. More so than causing a driver to weave within the lane or lose control of the vehicle, distraction appears to limit one’s ability to identify and respond to relevant objects or situations that occur in the environment. Distracted drivers are less likely to brake in time to avoid a vehicle that suddenly pulls into their lane or a child that suddenly runs into the roadway. (If you’ve ever seen a vehicle weaving sloppily in its lane and then confirmed your suspicion that the driver was using a phone, imagine how much worse that driver would be at responding to the sudden appearance of a piece of debris in the roadway.) Our research suggests that this distinction between using steering to control the vehicle within the lane and responding to events quickly and appropriately can lead drivers to be over-confident in their ability to drive safely while distracted. In a simulated driving experiment, drivers did not appear to recognize that distraction affected these two abilities differently. Instead, our data suggest that drivers may gauge whether they are capable of multitasking while driving based on their lane-keeping performance while ignoring the ability to identify and respond to changes in the driving environment appropriately. That is, if we see ourselves as being good lane-keepers we may not FEEL distracted, even though our ability to respond quickly to a suddenly seen event may be dangerously degraded. And if drivers don’t feel that their cell phone distracts them then we shouldn’t be surprised that so many are willing to use their phones for all manner of activities that are unrelated to driving.
While engaging in distracting activities while driving remains a legal activity for now, it is important that drivers think about the safety consequences of their distracting activities. In order to do so effectively, it is important that drivers recognize that driving is a set of very complex tasks that lane-keeping ability does not measure. Instead, drivers should base their decisions about whether to engage in distracting activities on the knowledge that it is primarily their ability to react to changes in the driving environment that will be compromised. No driver should be fooled into believing that their ability to avoid weaving in their lane means that that they are devoting enough attention to their driving.
5. Caution – Blake Snider wants Clemson students to attend school year-round
By Robin Halcomb
As an undergraduate at Lee University, J. Blake Snider, summer school director at Clemson, really enjoyed college.
“My wife, Kristy, says I went to college and never left,” Snider said. “I attended summer school full-time for two years, which allowed me to graduate in three.”
Higher education is the driving passion in Snider’s life, so it shouldn’t come as a shock to learn that he hopes to see most students consider summer school as a normal part of their Clemson experience.
“I really want students to see summer school as a place that has value,” Snider said. “As a research school, the curriculum at Clemson is very tight, so summer school could be the time that students focus on their careers or professional development without taking away from what we try to do in the classroom.”
Visioning the Future
Snider, who came on board as director of summer school in 2012, is excited about making Clemson’s summer school a cutting-edge market for innovative programs.
“We’ve launched a marketing campaign aimed at enrolling more students in 2013, and I’m preparing to propose an offering to fund and support development of hands-on courses,” Snider said. “The idea is that, by doing a hands-on program, those students would add value to their degree and have something on their resume to really point to. We have a vibrant internship program, but some don’t have the opportunity to participate. The program would allow them to spend some time in the classroom and do something in their field.”
For now, the Anniston, Ala., native is learning everything he can about Clemson, working with other departments, monitoring course offerings and looking at year-to-year changes. Currently, summer school has seven sessions, including Summer I, Summer II, Long Summer and four minimesters. Several experimental and unique programs also operate during summer, such as Forestry Summer Camp, and Snider hopes to leverage that.
Snider’s enthusiasm about the future is tempered by experience, but he is committed to making Clemson the best it can possibly be.
“Change takes time, and I like to give people a sense of where we are and where we’d like to be,” Snider said. “What sets Clemson apart is that it’s Clemson. Kiplinger ranked the school one of the best college values, and I want to add more to that.”
Snider and wife, Kristy, have two sons: Nathan, 10, and Brennan, 7. In his limited spare time, Snider enjoys working out, reading and attending Cub Scout events. He admits to being a heavy metal music fan who likes rocking out to Metallica, but even talking music won’t get him far from his life’s work.
“The music of my generation was pure hedonism,” Snider said, laughing. “Sort of the antithesis of career development.”
6. Introducing RidePost, the new ride-sharing program
https://blogs.clemson.edu/inside-clemson/inside-news/introducing-ridepost-the-new-ride-sharing-program/
Parking and Transportation Services has partnered with RidePost to launch a more cost effective, social network for ride-sharing that has the potential to provide us with added features and analytical options that will help to quantify how many cars and emissions we are reducing on campus.
RidePost is a web-based interface using a private network that empowers Clemson University students, faculty and staff to create a safe and social way to find rides with other verified Clemson members with similar commuting patterns by finding friends to share commutes to campus or even one-time rides (such as going home for breaks, making trips to the airport, sporting, events, concerts or to visit friends and family in other cities). RidePost helps you fill empty seats in your car while saving you money!
Click here for more information about Clemson’s new ridesharing program.
7. Last chance: Staff Development Program deadline is 4:30 p.m. April 16
http://media.clemson.edu/sdp/application.pdf
8. Learn about advancing digital communications with Adobe Creative Suite
http://www.clemson.edu/ccit/learning_tech/ccit_training/index.html
9. Are you a safe tiger? Safe Tiger mug winners
http://www.clemson.edu/administration/risk/safe-tiger.html
10. PARKING/TRAFFIC events for this week
https://blogs.clemson.edu/inside-clemson/inside-news/parkingtraffic-events-for-this-week/
Parking at Brooks Center: White spaces reserved Thursday, April 10
Thursday, April 10, the white spaces in C-11 will be reserved in the morning for Clemson University’s Jazz Ensemble, a Eskridge Tri-Art Series presentation. The performance begins at 9:30 a.m. and spaces will be released after the performance has begun. For more information, visit http://www.clemson.edu/Brooks/events/triart.php.
Closures near Littlejohn Thursday, April 11 for Avett Brothers concert
The Avenue of Champions will be closed to traffic and parking in between Centennial Boulevard and Perimeter Road starting at 7 a.m. Thursday, April 11. The road is closing to allow for set up for the Avett Brothers concert in Littlejohn Coliseum.
CAT buses will continue to operate on their normal routes, but buses will NOT pick up riders at the Littlejohn tunnel. Riders will need to board the bus at the corner of Centennial Boulevard and Avenue of Champions, across from the IPTAY offices at Memorial Stadium.
Beginning at 4:30 p.m., parking along Centennial Blvd and Ravenel Road as well the C7, C9, P3, and P4 parking lots will be reserved for concert parking and subject to parking charges. Any vehicles currently in the lot at this time will be allowed stay at no charge, but all vehicles entering these parking areas after 4:30 p.m. will be charged to park.
Ravenel Road closed Friday, April 12
Ravenel Road will be closed from 7 a.m. until 1 p.m. Friday, April 12 for the student loading/unloading for the Biology Merit Exam. Please drive cautiously as there will be a high number of students in this area.
Clemson Orange & White spring football game Saturday, April 13 – Expect heavy vehicle and pedestrian traffic
Clemson Athletics will host the Clemson Spring Game on Saturday, April 13. There are a host of activities occurring throughout the day and a high number of visitors are expected across campus. For more information about athletic events, visit www.clemsontigers.com.
Upcoming events
- Suzanne Bellamy – Under Southern Skies, An Australian Perspective on the World International Exhibition through April 12
- Wunderkammer Exhibition through April 12
- Reception for Wunderkammer exhibition April 12
- South Carolina Botanical Garden Spring Plant Sale April 12
- Seminar: Is the World Flat? April 19
