Clemson has a resource specifically designed to support faculty and staff experiencing food insecurity or financial hardship. The Nook provides access to non-perishable food, toiletries, household products and other everyday essentials for Clemson employees who may need a little extra support.
Located on Klugh Avenue next to Parking and Transportation Services, The Nook offers a confidential and welcoming space for employees to access what they need. The Nook is open Tuesday- Thursday from 10 a.m.- 2 p.m., with additional times available by appointment. They also follow the University holiday schedule.
There are also several ways to support The Nook and fellow Clemson employees, including donating items, making a monetary donation, hosting a food drive or volunteering. Whether you could use the resource yourself or are looking for a way to support others in the Clemson community, The Nook is a great resource to know about and share!
The Nook website: https://www.clemson.edu/campus-life/the-nook/ Contact email: thenook@clemson.edu
In recognition of the 60th anniversary of the R.M. Cooper Library, we are recognizing the entire Clemson Libraries team as our Clemson Champions this month!
The Libraries has a large team of more than 100 employees across its locations. On the main campus, the Libraries has four locations: Cooper Library, the Education Media Center in Tillman Hall, the Gunnin Architecture Library in Lee Hall, and Special Collections and Archives in the Strom Thurmond Institute. Off-campus, there is the Library Depot in Pendleton, as well as branch libraries at the CU-ICAR campus in Greenville and at the Charleston Design Center.
The Libraries is comprised of three divisions:
Collections and Discovery is responsible for acquiring, maintaining and providing access to all of the Libraries’ information resources and collections, both print and electronic. This division also includes resource sharing, off-site storage, courier operations, and Special Collections and Archives, which includes Records Management.
Organizational Performance and Administration supports the success of the Libraries as an organization and its employees, focusing on organizational development and continuous improvement. Departments in this division include assessment, IT infrastructure, learning environments, strategic planning, and marketing and communication.
Teaching, Learning and Research is responsible for the promotion, education, and use of collections and services to support student and faculty research and instruction, as well as digital literacy, AI literacy, digital scholarship, scholarly communications, and data services. The Data Visualization Lab and the Adobe Studio and Makerspace fall under this division, as does Clemson University Press.
Clemson Libraries By the Numbers:
Total items in the collections: 3,741,842
1,080,114 physical items
2,661,728 electronic resources
1,390,645 visitors to all library locations in FY2026
15,211 reference questions answered in FY2026
162 instruction sessions conducted for 4,778 people in FY2026
The Clemson Champion is Staff Senate’s spotlight for exceptional staff and teams at Clemson. Stay tuned and meet more Clemson Champions in future posts.
Every October, the Sunbelt Ag Expo is held in Moultrie, Georgia. This expo is the largest farm show in the southeast, drawing roughly 100,000 visitors over three days. Visitors consist of farmers, youth, industry experts, college students, and curious citizens from across the region. Clemson University is well represented annually in an orange barn full of Clemson Cooperative Extension staff, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CAFLS) staff and students. South Carolina also has the privilege of being the spotlight state for 2026! The Expo is October 20-22, and we hope you can attend the educational talks, visit the vendor booths, and explore the college barns.
Visitors to the Clemson University barn will be introduced to the various program teams of Clemson Cooperative Extension through interactive educational tables. The Agribusiness Team has a Farm Trivia Wheel where visitors will answer an agricultural question or identify an animal, crop, or natural resource in a picture. Our Food Systems and Safety Team draws a lot of attention with their South Carolina food products available to taste while talking to people about safely handling and serving food. The Horticulture Team will have an impressive butterfly house this year, along with pesticide safety resources and tools. Perspective students can interact with CAFLS Agricultural Mechanization and Business students and staff through farm safety demonstrations.
The South Carolina Department of Agriculture will be set up in the state spotlight building, showcasing the state’s diverse agriculture. South Carolina Farm Bureau will help with highlighting our state during the Farmer of the Year Awards Luncheon. The South Carolinian Farmer of the Year for 2026, Jeffrey Massey, was nominated by Area Horticulture Agent and Assistant Program Team Leader Zack Snipes. Massey owns Livingston’s Bulls Bay Seafood in McClellanville, SC, where he and his wife manage clam, oyster, shrimp and soft-shell crab production. You can learn more about our Farmer of the Year at 2026 South Carolina Farmer of the Year: Jeffrey (Jeff) Massey | Sunbelt Ag Expo in Moultrie, Georgia.
We are excited to welcome a regular contribution to the Staff Senate Newsletter from the Extension Senate President, Charley Maxwell. Visit the Extension Senate blog at https://blogs.clemson.edu/ces/.
Enjoy lunch and networking, hear from current MBA students, meet faculty, learn about career services and admissions, and tour Greenville ONE. You can also sit in on about 15 minutes of an MBA Capstone class.
Last month, I discussed how psychological safety inspires vulnerability. When psychological safety exists, people might be more willing to admit mistakes, wrestle with challenges, and share their own shortcomings. In some relationships, we have to earn the other person’s vulnerability; we can’t expect it right away. There is, however, an important exception when vulnerability should be offered without having to be earned: The vulnerability of our leadership.
I recently worked with a leader on campus whose employees were overworked and unhappy. He wanted to hear the specifics of their complaints, but within limits. He provided guidance for how he wanted to hear concerns, and he would not listen otherwise. He also made it clear to his team that he was unwilling to be asked questions without rewording the questions first.
My message to him was essentially, no deal. If you ascend to a leadership position, your team does not have to earn your honesty, humility, vulnerability, and transparency. If you have concerns about someone’s behavior or wording, you can address that through a separate process. But leaders do not have the luxury of behaving well only when people are behaving well first. Not only that, but if our leaders do not behave well first, why would any of the rest of us?
This message is not just for executive leadership across campus. If you supervise employees, lead groups of students, or manage teams working on a specific project, vulnerability with your teams is essential to your success and your team’s morale.
Leaders’ vulnerability carries risk—and certainly more risk for some than others—but I would argue it is the risk you sign up to take when ascending to a leadership role. As I work with leaders and coach developing ones, some of my advice includes:
Model the honest, humble, vulnerable, and transparent behavior you want your people to exhibit.
Be willing to answer anyone’s questions. If you do not like the way it has been asked, address that separately.
If you worry about being asked a question that will be embarrassing or difficult to answer, make a plan for that now. Brainstorm those questions, and prepare and practice how you will respond.
If you are not willing to be the first one to be vulnerable, why? What’s behind this that you might need to explore?
At the risk of oversimplifying, this is a similar concept to reminding my kids that they can’t hit someone who hit them first. We hold ourselves to certain standards regardless of how other people behave. Leaders also need to hold themselves to certain standards regardless of how people behave. This phenomenon is a price leaders pay for being in their positions, but it can also be proof that we have promoted the right people to lead our Clemson community.
What is the Ombuds Office? The Ombuds Office is a confidential, independent, neutral, and informal space for staff to process concerns, get information, and develop options for how to move forward in a difficult situation. I can provide education, conflict coaching, mediation, and facilitation as well as referrals to other resources across Clemson. If you are unsure how to move forward in any way, I can help you work through it.
Tessa Byer Phone: 864-656-5353 Email: tbyer@clemson.edu Address: 135 Old Greenville Hwy, Ste. 203 (Next to Esso!)
Save the date for upcoming trainings offered by the Ombuds Office:
Celebrating All Abilities (formerly NDEAM- National Disability Employment Awareness Month) is where we recognize the abilities of all our students, staff and faculty. Events are open for everyone to celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of persons with disabilities, raise awareness of disability-related topics, and equip the campus community with knowledge and strategies of how best to continue supporting individuals with disabilities. The Division of Civil and Individual Rights, Clemson Computing and Information Technology, and CU’s Accessibility Committee have partnered to host 11 “Let’s Break to Educate” events in October. These events are virtual and/or in-person and are open to everyone. They will feature faculty and staff presentations on multiple disability awareness topics including accessibility in digital technology, artificial intelligence, agriculture, inclusive language and design, and disability culture and community.
October 5th, 1 pm – 2 pm via Zoom AgrAbility in South Carolina: Accessibility Meets Agriculture Lance Beecher, Associate Extension Specialist
October 7th, 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm via zoom Access by Design: How Language, Information and Accessibility Influence Inclusion and Exclusion Anthony Fattibene, Lecturer of American Sign Language
October 9th, 11 am – 12 pm via Zoom Accessapalooza! An Accessibility Toolkit Showcase Dan Lewis, Director of Digital Accessibility Walker Massey, IT Accessibility Specialist Rachel Roback, Accessibility Coordinator Michelle Tuten, Accessibility Coordinator
October 14th, 11 am – 12 pm via Zoom Canvas Accessibility Checkers James Butler, Senior Digital Learning Strategist
October 15th, 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm via zoom Exploring Assistive Technology (Screen Readers and More) Michelle Tuten, Accessibility Coordinator
October 16th, 2 pm – 3 pm via zoom Introduction to the Deaf Community: Part Two- Values of Deaf Culture Bo Clements, Senior Lecturer of American Sign Language
October 19th, 10 am – 11 am via Zoom and in 309 Cooper library AI Literacy & Accessibility Anne Grant, Librarian Molly Nestor, Lecturer and Associate Director of First-Year Writing
October 21st, 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm via zoom More Than Words: Interpretation in the AI Age Dan Devor, American Sign Language-English Interpreter
October 23rd, 12 pm – 1 pm via zoom From Prompt to PDF: Testing AI Design Tools Dan Lewis, Director of Digital Accessibility Walker Massey, IT Accessibility Specialist Sarah Swofford, Director of Teaching and Learning, College of Veterinary Medicine
October 27th, 11 am – 12 pm via zoom Myths and Misinformation About Student Accommodations Margaret Camp, Director of Student Accessibility Services
October 30th, 11 am – 12 pm via zoom Accessibility is Not Optional: What if the World Were Reversed? Tasha Goodrich, Lecturer of American Sign Language
