Inside Clemson

Inside NOW: Professional development funds; new summer courses; reducing administrative workload; construction updates

Scroll down to read the following articles:

1. Professional development funds available to faculty through Service Alliance Faculty Fellow program
2. New summer courses to be developed as a result of CUISP initiative
3. Request for Information (RFI): Reducing investigator’s administrative workload for federally funded research
4. Mell Hall parking lot to close May 13; Sirrine lot to close May 20
5. Section of Williamson Road to close for the summer
6. Bryan Circle projects will cause disruptions in the area
7. Tree removal at Sirrine lot
8. Anthropology professor Katherine Weisensee show students the marvels of human history — and solves a crime or two
9. Limited access to the Cooper Library Bridge week of May 13
10. PARKING/TRANSIT: Sheep Barn lot to temporarily close May 14
11. CAT summer/holiday schedule in effect

1. Professional development funds available to faculty through Service Alliance Faculty Fellow program

Clemson faculty are encouraged to apply for the 2013-2014 Service Alliance Faculty Fellow program. Faculty selected for the program explore issues related to service-learning and community-based research and also serve as a resource for other faculty interested in using service-learning in their classroom or developing a community-based research design.

Service Alliance Fellows receive $1200 in professional development funds in return for the following:

  • Teaching at least one course utilizing service-learning or community-based research during the period of their one-year fellowship.
  • Conducting a 60-minute webcast /webinar on their service-learning work  for Clemson Collaborations in Service-Learning. These webcasts are archived for future use.
  • Writing an article for the annual service-learning report.
  • Serving as a consultant and mentor to faculty in designing and revising courses to include a service-learning component.

For more information, visit http://www.clemson.edu/public/servicealliance/faculty_fellows_program/.

Access the application at http://www.clemson.edu/public/servicealliance/faculty_fellows_program/faculty_fellows_application.html.

The deadline for applications is  June 14, 2013. Contact Kathy Woodard at ckathy@clemson.edu with any questions.

2. New summer courses to be developed as a result of CUISP initiative

Two undergraduate certificate programs and a number of new interdisciplinary courses will be developed as a result of Clemson University’s innovative summer course proposal (CUISP) initiative, according to the university’s Office of Summer School.

“Thanks to all of the faculty members who submitted proposals and I hope that others will consider submitting proposals for future rounds of CUISP funding,” said Blake Snider, director of Clemson’s summer school program.

The summer school office and its faculty advisory committee selected the new summer-only programs and courses based on the request for proposal (RFP) criteria. Some of the criteria sought by the review committee included:

  • The extent to which the courses added value to students’ degrees;
  • Courses featuring a strong experiential component (e.g. field work);
  • Courses that were interdisciplinary and would attract the interest of students.

The summer school office received approximately 16 proposals from Clemson’s departments and schools.

The new certificate programs include:

  • A nine credit-hour interdisciplinary (Submitted by the Management, Marketing, and Communication Studies departments) undergraduate certificate in social media analysis.
  • A 12 credit-hour undergraduate certificate in field ecology (submitted by the School of Agricultural, Forest, and Environmental Sciences).

The new courses to be developed include:

  • Two separate three credit-hour courses in applied theater for business and industry (submitted by the Department of Performing Arts, Theater).
  • A three credit-hour course on the nature of geographic information systems (submitted by the Department of Planning, Development, and Preservation).
  • A three credit-hour human remains recovery course (submitted by the Department of Sociology and Anthropology)
  • A six credit-hour interdisciplinary set of courses on writing for the arts featuring in-class lectures and a field trip to the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston (submitted by the English and Art departments).

The certificate programs and courses will be developed this summer and offered to students during the 2014 summer terms.

3. Request for Information (RFI): Reducing investigator’s administrative workload for federally funded research

This RFI offers principal investigators with Federal research funding the opportunity to identify Federal agency and university requirements that contribute most to their administrative workload and to offer recommendations for reducing that workload. Members of the National Science Board’s Task Force on Administrative Burdens do not wish to increase your administrative workload with this request and you may choose to answer only those questions that are most pertinent to you. Your responses will provide vital input so that we can implement agency-level changes and offer recommendations to reduce unnecessary and redundant administrative requirements.

The Federal Register notice with the specific questions is included here:  http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-03-29/html/2013-07313.htm.

Responses should be emailed to: Administrative-Reform@nsf.gov and will be accepted through May 24, 2013.

Please contact Sheila Lischwe, Ph.D., Director of Sponsored Programs at slischw@clemson.edu for questions.

4. Mell Hall parking lot to close May 13; Sirrine lot to close May 20

The work commute is about to get more interesting for those who park in the Sirrine Hall (E-4) and Mell Hall (E-11) parking lots.

The lots, which contain a combined 286 employee spaces, nine handicap spots, and a handful of other designated spaces, will close for repaving and enhancements. The Mell Hall lot will be closed from May 13 through August 13 and the Sirrine lot will be closed from May 20 to July 19.

The project will create a total of five new parking spots—four at Sirrine and one at Mell—and bring all spaces up to ADA-compliance. During construction, the four existing ADA spaces located in the lot will temporarily be relocated; two will be placed at Calhoun Drive next to Sirrine Hall and the other two will be placed at South Palmetto Boulevard next to the entrance of the Sirrine Parking lot.

The new construction will also include installation of a new electric charging station and new LED lighting at Sirrine.

“The LED lighting is more energy efficient,” said Dan Hofmann, director of parking and transportation services. “It will help us save on energy costs and will be consistent with our commitment to sustainability.”

Employees who park in these lots will be directed to park on South Palmetto Boulevard and Williamson Road and can also park in commuter spaces. Additional employee spaces will be reserved on Nu Street, where employees can take the ADA-accessible Tiger Transit shuttle, which will be placed into service to transport employees. Nu Street is located just after the intersection of Centennial Boulevard and Perimeter Road on Centennial Boulevard. Additional parking is also available in the C-2 parking lot (See the dark green areas in the graphic below). The shuttles will run to various points on campus from Nu Street/C-2 parking lot to Mell Hall from 7 to 9:30 a.m. and from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. After 6 p.m. employees may call Tiger Transit to receive on-demand transit service by visiting tigertransit.clemson.edu or calling 864-656-3333.

The shuttle stops (blue buses on map below) in operational order are the following:

1.     C-02 Parking Lot (Williamson Road)
2      Nu Street
3.     Earle Hall (Williamson Road/S. Palmetto Boulevard)
4.     Fluor Daniel (S. Palmetto Boulevard/Fernow Street)
5      Sirrine Hall (Fernow Street/Calhoun Drive)
6.     Brackett Hall (Calhoun Drive/Ft. Hill Street)
7.     Fike Recreation Center (Heisman Street)
8.     Mell Hall (SC-93)
9.     Brackett Hall (Calhoun Drive/Ft. Hill Street)
10.   Sirrine Hall (Fernow Street/Calhoun Drive)
11.    Fluor Daniel (S. Palmetto Boulevard/Fernow Street)
12.   Earle Hall (Williamson Road/S. Palmetto Boulevard)

Access to the Sirrine and Hunter Loading docks will be maintained.

Other summer parking projects include:

  • The closure of Cherry Road in July – Those who park on this road can park in C-1 lot accessible from Cherry Road and Perimeter Road and take the Tiger Transit shuttle to their campus destination.
  • A Clemson Area Transit (CAT) bus Red Route deviation will begin when Cherry Road is closed in July. The Red route will continue onto East Library Circle rather than turning right onto Cherry Road. Those who use the Cherry Road bus stops to access the Red Route should catch the bus at Sikes Hall.
  • A change in traffic flow for Calhoun Drive – between Tillman Circle and Fort Hill Street.  Calhoun Drive will be temporarily designated for one-way traffic and the Calhoun Drive gate arm will remain down for the summer. This, said Hofmann, will allow cars to be parked on both sides of Calhoun Street and will create 13 new employee spaces.
  • A multi-space meter expansion plan, which will place multi-space parking meters in various existing timed and visitor parking spaces. This expansion will coincide with the expansion of the Parker App allowing users to see how many metered spaces are available at their destination and use voice guided directions to get there.

5. Section of Williamson Road to close for the summer

A section of Williamson Road between Fort Hill Street and Avenue of Champions will be closed on or about May 13 to construct a crosswalk connecting the Scroll of Honor and Memorial Stadium.  The construction is scheduled to end in August with the road reopening before students return for the fall semester.

For more information about this project, contact Pat Crowther at ppeng@clemson.edu.

6. Bryan Circle projects will cause disruptions in the area

Beginning May 6, 2013 and continuing throughout August, Bryan Circle will have several concurrent construction projects, which will limit and/or restrict travel through this area. The first project to cause disruption is the Brynes Hall Elevator Upgrade, which will cause the parking lot behind Brynes Hall to close beginning Monday, May 6.

Other projects which will begin the next few weeks include:

  1. Barnett Hall HVAC upgrade and window replacement
  2. Lever Hall fire alarm and elevator upgrades as well as the construction of RiSE offices
  3. Schilletter dining hall renovations
  4. Lever Beach exterior improvements.

Because of these disruptions and the restriction of employee spaces within this area, employees are encouraged to park in the C-1 parking lot, “The Pit,” accessible from Cherry Road or Perimeter Road and take the ADA-accessible Tiger Transit Employee Shuttle into the campus core. The shuttle will pick up at the existing Blue Route CAT bus stops within the parking lot and transport riders to the Hendrix Center, Edwards Hall, and East Library Circle.

For more information about these projects contact James Bonney at jbonney@clemson.edu.

7. Tree removal at Sirrine lot

There’s always a price for progress. While the scheduled May 20 Sirrine lot construction will result in a remodeled, resurfaced parking area, some trees will be removed to allow the new work to progress. The good news is that the project plan includes replacing the number of trees that are removed and even adding a few more.

Clemson University Landscape Services and the general contractor will take precautions to preserve the remaining trees, including specialized pruning, additional fertilization, tree-monitoring and installing tree-protection fencing on the site.

For questions related to this project, contact John Gambrell, at john3@clemson.edu.

8. Limited access to the Cooper Library Bridge week of May 13

Contractors will be cleaning the Cooper Library Bridge beginning Monday, May 13.  All work is expected to be completed by Saturday, May 18. There will be limited access to the bridge during this time.

Contact Phillip Addington at 643-6164 with questions.

9. Anthropology professor Katherine Weisensee show students the marvels of human history — and solves a crime or two

Dr. Weisensee passion for anthropology and love for bones begin while on a school field trip.

It was one of the Upstate’s most gruesome crimes. A couple allegedly killed a woman, severed her hands and feet, then stuffed them in garbage bags and left them on two front porches.

As investigators scrambled to solve the crime, Greenville County’s Medical Examiner placed a call to someone he knew could help — Clemson University anthropologist Katherine Weisensee. In her Brackett Hall laboratory, Weisensee processed and cleaned the victim’s bones. On the wrist she found a small, grooved cut. That helped police narrow down the type of instrument used and ultimately, close in on the accused killers.

When not using her forensic skills to help solve murder cases, Weisensee teaches Clemson students, as an assistant professor in the department of sociology and anthropology. She joined the faculty two years ago, after earning a doctorate in biological anthropology at the University of Tennessee.

Although the majority of her workday takes place in a classroom, Weisensee enjoys the occasional foray into CSI-style forensics — even if it exposes her to a darker side of life. “It’s upsetting to see what people do to each other,” she says.

In another recent case, Weisensee helped the medical examiner identify a skeleton that had been discovered by a man walking his dog in a wooded area. She determined that the victim was a female in her early thirties, and that she had been shot in the back of the head. Despite the depressing nature of such work, Weisensee finds it gratifying to help bring closure for grieving relatives.

“We’re providing a valuable service to the community.” Bones are much more than crime scene clues, though, according to Weisensee. They’re also windows into the past. When anthropologists study skeletal remains of earlier peoples, they learn much about a population.

“You can see when they went from being hunter-gatherers to agriculturalists,” says Weisensee. “You can see what kind of diet they had; you can see what kind of work they did; you can see when an epidemic swept in.”

Weisensee fell in love with bones at the age of 12, when she visited the anthropology lab at Portland State University on a school field trip. At the end of the day, the students were ushered into the basement, where the university’s human bone collection was stored. There the youngsters were allowed to touch casts of ancient skeletons. “There’s that amazing moment when you realize you’re holding history in your hands. I want to give my students that moment.”

New Anthropology Major

If anthropology interests you, Clemson will offer a new anthropology degree beginning in the fall of 2013. The new major will be offered as a Bachelor of Science or a Bachelor of Arts through the sociology and anthropology department in the College of Business and Behavioral Science.

Current anthropology minors and members of the Anthropology Club prompted sociology and anthropology to create the new major. With an increasingly international workforce, culture and marketplace, the skillset and knowledge base that an anthropology degree offers is in high demand.

“Anthropologists are needed in both corporations and nonprofits and are increasingly employed by technological, medical and governmental organizations,” Mike Coggeshall, professor of anthropology.. “This need for analysts and researchers who have strong critical-thinking skills partnered with an anthropological perspective will be increasingly important in our global economy.”

The details of the new degree are being finalized and will be posted soon on the sociology and anthropology department website.

For more information, contact Mike Coggeshall raucus@clemson.edu.

10. PARKING/TRANSIT: Sheep Barn lot to temporarily close May 14

The Sheep Barn employee parking lot will be closed temporarily on Tuesday, May 14 for repainting. The parking lot will be closed to traffic after 7 p.m. May 14 and is anticipated to reopen by 9 a.m. Tuesday.

11. CAT summer/holiday schedule in effect

With the conclusion of the semester, Clemson Area Transit (CAT) began its summer service hours Saturday, May 4.

ON-CAMPUS: On-campus CAT bus service ceased on Saturday, May 4 and will resume again at the start of the fall semester on Wednesday, August 21.

RED ROUTE: Red Route CAT bus service switched to the holiday schedule and will not run Saturdays or Sundays starting Saturday, May 4. CAT will run hourly service Monday-Thursday from 6:50 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and Fridays from 6:50 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Regular service hours will resume 2 p.m. Sunday, August 18.

All other community (Anderson, Pendleton, Seneca) routes are not affected and will run as usual.

For questions relating to CAT Service, contact CAT at 864-654-2287 or visit www.catbus.com.

Training opportunities

CCIT May Training & Professional Development Opportunities:
http://www.clemson.edu/ccit/learning_tech/ccit_training/index.html

Upcoming Events

  • Don’t forget! Employee recognition luncheon today at Harcombe
  • Loretta Holloway at S.C. Botanical Garden May 11
  • Seasons hosts Mother’s Day brunch May 12