Category: Inclusive excellence

Any graduate student will tell you that earning a master’s or doctorate is a very different experience than earning their undergraduate degree.

Graduate school often presents new challenges, such as how to successfully navigate juggling school and life, securing funding support, the academic job search, and imposter syndrome. These challenges don’t end after graduate school, as new faculty members find themselves working towards and beyond the tenure track.

With that in mind, several current and former faculty members in Clemson University’s Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management department guest edited and contributed to a two-part special issue of SCHOLE: A Journal of Leisure Studies and Recreation Education that focuses on the academic profession in parks, recreation, tourism and leisure.

The special issue was guest edited by Mariela Fernandez, Lauren Duffy, Gwynn Powell, and former faculty member Lincoln Larson. Contributors included Professor Emeriti Brett Wright and Fran McGuire, current department faculty member Iryna Sharaievska, and former faculty member Dart Schmalz.

“As professors, we have a unique perspective, having experienced the academic system through the lens of both graduate students and by working as faculty members at different stages of our careers,” says Fernandez. “The special issue is a valuable resource that can serve as a guide for students at every stage of their graduate studies, up to, including, and after their job search, as well as for our colleagues working in the academy.”

Part 1 of the issue provides advice about successfully navigating the different stages of an academic career, from graduate school to the post-tenure years. Part 2 explores contemporary challenges in higher education that influence academic programs and may impact faculty members throughout their careers, such as changing approaches to governance in academic institutions, the evolving experience economy, and the ongoing struggle to maintain a healthy work-life balance. The goal is to help graduate students and faculty colleagues recognize and address common challenges, ultimately enhancing success at both the professional and personal level.

Although the special issue is written to address challenges in the parks, recreation, tourism and leisure fields, contributing editor Lauren Duffy notes that the general principles could also apply to other fields.

“The challenges we all face in the leisure studies field are often not dissimilar from challenges others may encounter over the course of their academic training and career,” Duffy says. “Although information provided in this special issue is focused through the lens of our work, there are common threads that can be useful to any graduate student or academic professional.”

Contributing editor Gwynn Powell notes that the special issue can also start a dialogue about issues that are important topics of discussion, but are not often publicly discussed.

“For example, one of the articles in the special issue focuses on post-tenure pathways – the fact that extensive mentorship is provided pre-tenure, but disappears in the decades following that achievement,” says Powell. “Highlighting challenges like this can help colleagues working in the field realize they’re not alone, while also helping them address it.”

Raquel Simpson started playing golf in Illinois when she was 9 years old.

She’d been playing for a few years when she caught the attention of Tiffany Fitzgerald, founder and CEO of Black Girls Golf LLC. Fitzgerald told Raquel’s father about an opportunity to improve her golf game and learn more about the industry through a summer scholars program she was developing with Clemson University.

Two years later, Raquel was practicing her swing on Clemson’s campus.

“When I found out about the Clemson opportunity, I was really excited about the chance to be around people who both look like me and play the same sport as I do,” says Raquel. “My Dad signed me up and now I’m here, and everything is going really well.”

Raquel is one of fifteen African American high school students who improved their golf game and learned about golf management through Clemson University’s PGA Golf Management Summer Scholars program, run in partnership with Fitzgerald’s organization. The program began in 2017 to foster increased diversity in the golf industry, and to help students see they’re not alone in their love of the sport.

“We’ve created a safe space and environment where these girls can show up knowing they are welcome and don’t feel like they need to prove that they belong,” says Fitzgerald. “It warms my heart to know they’re creating new friends and bonding with people who have a shared experience.”

Students also spend the week learning the many benefits the game can offer them outside of physical activity. Classes students take between training sessions cover career paths, industry trends and opportunities, business planning, golf instruction and player development programs.

“The program is more than just golf, because we want these students to consider turning their passion for the sport into a management career in the golf industry,” says Rick Lucas, director of the PGA golf management program and senior lecturer in Clemson’s parks, recreation and tourism management department. “Teaching them key business skills, such as business planning and customer relations, can help them get a feel for managing and running a golf facility and how to work in the golf environment.”

Before they’re accepted into the program, students are required to demonstrate high academic achievement, as well as golf ability. Many of the students in this year’s program have GPAs over 3.5.

As awareness of the program grows, Fitzgerald says more applications are being seen from students across the country.

“We received 50 applications this year from girls as far away as California, Florida, Michigan, Ohio and Texas, which demonstrates the need for this type of program throughout the United States,” says Fitzgerald. “The sweet spot for our camps is 10 participants at a time, which means that one of the vital pieces moving forward is going to be finding the resources and funding to continue to grow.”

Students receive scholarships from ONE Clemson to attend the program. After taking the program and seeing what Clemson has to offer, some of the students are expressing interest in pursuing their higher education at Clemson University. Additional scholarship support is now needed to help those students achieve that goal.

“These are exceptional students that have the potential to achieve great things in the golf industry if we can find them scholarship support,” says Lucas. “These students have already demonstrated they’re the best of the best, and we want them here at Clemson.”

If you would like to contribute to the Black Girls Golf program or fund a scholarship for one of these scholars to attend Clemson University’s PGA Golf Management program, please contact Rick Lucas at rlucas@clemson.edu.

Related: Clemson promotes diversity through golf camp for African-American girls (Clemson Newsstand, June 19, 2017)

Clemson University hosted its inaugural Race Symposium last week, bringing scholars from across North America together to discuss opportunities, challenges, and current work associated with Race-related research in leisure studies.

Although progress is being made to increase diversity in higher education, a recent study released by the American Council on Education demonstrates that more needs to be done. The study found that while diversity among faculty, staff and administrators is increasing, nearly three-quarters of full-time faculty identify as white. People of color also represented less than one-fifth of senior executives on campus.

“One of the priorities outlined in the university’s ClemsonFORWARD 10-year strategic plan is to enhance diversity and create an environment of inclusive excellence,” says Wayne Freimund, PRTM Chair. “There is a clear need for diversity in the leisure studies field, where our professional ranks and emerging academic leadership is relatively homogenous. We’re going all-in as a department to change that.”

The symposium was co-sponsored by the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management, the College of Behavioral, Social, and Health Sciences, and the university’s Office of Inclusion and Equity. Pathway Post-Doctoral Fellow Aby Sène-Harper and Assistant Professor Harrison Pinckney led the organization of this event to address a growing need in research on Race and leisure. “We know that several of our colleagues in the field are doing important work in this area, however, there aren’t many opportunities for this community to come together, share ideas in a focused discussion, and support one another,” says Sène-Harper. “We wanted to get a sense of what research was already underway, and provide valuable input – and a shared direction – for moving forward.”

The symposium explored how the leisure research field currently examines Race, trends taking place in other disciplines, and how scholars can work together to support the development of a relevant body of work about Race in a leisure context. Sessions included discussions about how the concept of Race developed in the United States, a history of Race in leisure studies, and an overview for responsibly engaging in Race scholarship. Junior faculty and PhD students were also provided with the space to present their research ideas and receive comprehensive feedback from peers and leaders in the field to hone their research focus.

“Working together gives us a unique opportunity to see our research through different perspectives and levels of academic experience,” says Pinckney. “Participants can use the input they received to strengthen or refocus their research goals, while also creating new opportunities for collaboration with our colleagues moving forward.”

Before the symposium ended, teams were encouraged to continue to work together over the coming months to develop a manuscript addressing some aspect of Race scholarship in leisure, such as a systematic leisure review, literature content analysis, concept paper or research study. The department is looking to host an annual gathering of emerging and established Race scholars and plans are already underway for continuing this important work.

“We had some invaluable group discussions and generated positive momentum, and we want to keep that going,” continues Pinckney. “Continuing to come together can help us track our progress. For example, will we see increased diversity in faculty throughout the country? Are the number of published research results increasing? Are there other impacts? Hosting this event on a regular basis can help us identify trends – either positive or negative – and create lasting opportunity.”

Feedback received from symposium events will also help guide PRTM department efforts to meet the ClemsonFORWARD goal of making the university an outstanding place to live, learn and work, while also increasing diversity and a climate of inclusive excellence.