Inside Clemson

Faculty and staff sought for collaborative research

The US Play Coalition is a non-profit housed within the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management (PRTM). The Play Coalition is a partnership of individual, organizations and corporations that promote the value of play throughout life. Our membership is diverse – park and recreation professionals, educators, researchers, health scientists, landscape architects, business leaders, psychologists, physicians, parents, artists and many more.

Currently we are looking to broaden our research efforts by creating a working group for play research at Clemson University. We are looking for a cross-section of faculty and staff across all disciplines to approach play research from a variety of perspectives. We currently have faculty involved from both PRTM and the School of Education, and we would love to broaden our scope. If you would be interested in joining our play research working group, please send an email highlighting your relevant research interests to Dr. Fran McGuire, chair of PRTM at lefty@clemson.edu. We will have our first official convening in the coming months.

Tiger Tuesday celebrates Clemson-GHS collaboration

GHS-Clemson collaborationClemson and Greenville Healthcare System’s (GHS) celebrated its growing research and education partnership on Tuesday, March 24, encouraging people to get involved. Today, a growing number of researchers are active in this collaboration.

Tiger paw badge holders and information about the research opportunities and special programs offered through the Clemson-GHS collaboration were shared with Clemson employees, alumni and fans at each of the GHS campuses.

Clemson brings to the table a host of research capabilities, while GHS offers students and researchers the clinical opportunities and partnerships they need to put ideas into action.

“We’re better together,” says Windsor Sherrill, chief science officer at GHS and Clemson associate vice president for health research.

Clemson and GHS entered into a partnership in June 2013 to establish a healthcare research powerhouse that will fuel growth in medical research and GHS-Clemson collaboration2breakthroughs; create opportunities for faculty, physicians and students; and accelerate the flow of research funding into the Upstate. Under the landmark agreement, both organizations work to leverage existing research and educational expertise at Clemson, a top-20 national public university, with the clinical opportunities offered by GHS, one of the largest healthcare systems in the Southeast.

To learn more, contact:

Janet Evatt
Clemson University School of Health Research
406 Edwards Hall
jevatt@clemson.edu
864-656-0779

Connected Campus event shares insight on collaboration, communication

By Jim Bottum, Vice Provost for Computing & Information Technology and Chief Information Officer

Online collaboration. Real-time interaction tracking. Targeted outreach. Benefits like these can help Clemson’s faculty and staff increase efficiency, streamline processes and improve communication. Toward that end, Clemson has partnered with Salesforce.com to share information about these benefits and more at a Connected Campus workshop from 8 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. August 6 at the Madren Conference Center. Lunch will be provided for this event and a reception will follow.

Organizers will present technologies relevant and applicable to many university areas, and opportunities to learn from other campuses’ deployments of the Salesforce technologies to meet their business challenges. Faculty and staff’s insight is critical as Clemson evaluates whether or not to pursue a strategic relationship with Salesforce in these areas.

So far, we’ve seen that Salesforce.com’s technologies have promise for use at Clemson through its ability to be the unifying platform that bridges gaps between all of our university functions, both present and future, and to solve problems relevant to the University’s mission.  In short, the Salesforce applications have the ability to drive real-time business intelligence and operational data analytics in key University functional areas including human resources, admissions, athletics, financial aid, finance, registrar, advancement, facilities, sponsored research, student affairs, libraries, and many more.

Several notable examples demonstrate the applicability of these technologies for solving issues in higher education:

The College of William and Mary has used a variety of Salesforce tools to streamline their applications process and prospect communication. The various integrations allowed for a procedural streamline that resulted in a 50 percent increase in prospect records, and a 96 percent decrease in duplicate or invalid applications. The new processes also allowed for the school to develop individualized prospect communications and undertake more targeted outreach initiatives.

The University of Georgia has deployed Salesforce’s Chatter product in its professional MBA courses to allow students to collaborate, share ideas and innovate within their work. Teams were able to collaborate on new ideas and develop networks of help and support while professors could monitor which teams were properly engaged and intervene with a kick-start as needed. As a result, learning objectives achieved increased by 54 percent and 88 percent of students said Chatter was a significant contributor to their learning.

The University of California Berkeley has created using Salesforce tools, a one-stop shop for students to ask questions, get help, and find answers. “Cal Student Central” uses Salesforce technology to track and accumulate transactions and interactions, and uses this data to flag “trending topics”. The university then uses these topics to tailor emails, website, and social communications to students to ensure the most pertinent issues are being addressed.

Attendance is encouraged from all parts of the university – staff, faculty, and students – and the workshop will offer many opportunities for Q&A, software demonstrations, and discussions on challenges found in many of the University’s key business areas.

Registration is required to attend. View a tentative agenda for the workshop here.