OOC newsletter april 2014

OOC NewsAPRIL 2014n e w s l e t t e r

Higher Education and Public Policy

Chancellor Remarks

Continued on Page 5

Page 2•Dr. Gwendolyn B.

Johnson

Page 3•Campus Citizens

of the Month

Page 4•Policy Heads

Up: Gainful Employment

•Research Day 2014

Page 5•SC Teaching

Fellows at USC Aiken

Page 6•Athletics Updates

Page 8•Data Security

Reminder•SC Academy of

Science Annual Meeting

Page 9•LIFE Expo•Project Updates

igher Education serves a pivotal role in the development

of the nation’s human capital by supporting economic stability, public service and social entrepreneurship, innovation, and a high quality-of-life. Universities similar to USC Aiken have long been committed to providing educational opportunity and academic excellence while remaining affordable. For many of our students, a public college education is the best guarantor of both an enriched life and a more financially secure future. The current funding environment places this work of public comprehensive universities in danger. Thus, first on any list of policy priorities must be for states to provide sufficient, consistent and sustained state funding.

With this in mind, the AASCU has set forth a public policy agenda that includes the following actions:

• Advocate for increased state investment in public higher education

• Promote strategies for leveraging federal resources to stimulate state funding

• Support state funding processes that involve public comprehensive university leaders in the system design and which recognize and reward outcomes with the comprehensive missions

• Promote increased state investment in need-based student aid programs

• Discourage “Pay it Forward” proposals and challenge their

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Dr. Gwendolyn B. Johnson named the 2014 Pickens-Salley Southern Woman of Distinction.

r. Johnson began her career as an environmental research biologist

with DuPont at the Savannah River Laboratory. A few years later, she began her dream career as a dynamic educator. She was a middle school mathematics teacher and was named Aiken County Teacher of the Year. Her success as an educator paved the way to her appointment as the Math/Science Curriculum Specialist for the Aiken County Public School District. During her time in that position, she launched Science Education Enrichment Day (SEED).

She worked closely with USC Aiken personnel to apply for a grant that helped to support the newly created

“Dr. Johnson is a dynamic and influential STEM professional and educator,” stated Dr. Gary Senn, Director of the Ruth Patrick Science Education Center. “Throughout her acclaimed career, she has influenced countless teachers, students and

community members by infusing a love for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).”

Ruth Patrick Science Education Center (RPSEC), and after a few years, she was hired as the Program Director of the RPSEC. She brought SEED with her to the RPSEC and with her continued leadership SEED is one of the most important outreach activities of the RPSEC. Her wonderful achievements resulted in her becoming the Director of the RPSEC.

A few years later, she transitioned into a role where she provided vital leadership for a new grant project through which she became the Director of the Allendale Elementary School Professional Development School. In 2011, she officially retired, but continues to work for USC Aiken as

a part-time faculty member teaching USC Aiken classes for college students in Allendale. However, there is nothing part-time for Dr. Johnson. She uses up more than half of her time to provide professional learning activities through the RPSEC and to implement other grant projects at USC Aiken including the Improving Teacher Quality grant and the Mathematics and Science Partnership grant.

In recognition of her many accomplishments and contributions to the Aiken community and beyond, Dr. Gwendolyn B. Johnson is the deserving recipient of the Pickens-Salley Southern Woman of Distinction honor for 2014.

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he Campus Citizen of the Month award is given in recognition of

good citizenship. All faculty, classified and unclassified staff, and university

partners who have been with the University for one year and are in good standing are eligible. The nomination

remains active indefinitely in the pool of candidates. The nomination

form must be signed by the nominee’s supervisor and sent to the nominee’s

Vice Chancellor in that unit. The criteria to be used in the nomination

are:

• Initiative/Creativity: Exhibits ingenuity and resourcefulness. Examples: Improved work methods, efficiency within the department.

• Loyalty/Dedication: Willing to go the “extra mile” without being asked.

• Positive Attitude: Maintains effective relationships with others both on and off campus; serves as role model. Example: Consistently delivers prompt, friendly service.

• Leadership: Acknowledge those whose efforts have inspired and supported the performance and achievement of others.

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Congratulations to our April Campus Citizens

CAMPUSCIT IZENof the Month

The Caring Faculty and StaffWho Came to the Aid

of Juanita Geter

The April Campus Citizen of the Month goes not only to one person but to many – the more than 75 USC Aiken Faculty and Staff that contributed more than $3000 to assist a co-worker during a time of need.

A member of USC Aiken’s custodial staff for more than 15 years, Juanita Geter is known by many on the campus as a friendly and hardworking co-worker. Her home survived the ice storm in February, but a fire after the storm destroyed it. Knowing she faced a difficult situation, her USC Aiken colleagues took action to raise money to help her during a troublesome time.

This group of caring USC Aiken employees is named the Campus Citizen of the Month. The outpouring of generosity shown by more than 75 faculty and staff members for a fellow worker is extraordinary, and deserves to be recognized. Some people donating asked to be anonymous, but each of you knows who you are. It is truly inspiring to see such kindness on the campus.

Normally, the award winner receives a $20 gift card as part of their recognition. In keeping with the spirit of giving by this group, the gift card will be given to Juanita Geter. Congratulations to all who opened their hearts and wallets to help a colleague!

Monday Group will review the nominations

and select each month’s winner.

Contact Maria Chandler at

[email protected] for more information.

mailto:mariac%40usca.edu?subject=Campus%20Citizen%20of%20the%20Month%20


Research Day 2014 held April 12

Policy Head’s Up: The Gainful Employment Rule

ecretary of Education Arne Duncan and the Education Department released a

reshaped “gainful employment” rule last month. The proposal, if approved, would create a process to eliminate academic programs at colleges and universities if their graduates were unable to pay off their student loans within a set time after graduation. While originally aimed at controlling the high loan default rate of students in high-cost, high failure rateprogramsatfor-profitinstitutions,therulewill be applied to all academic programs at all public universities as well.

In essence, the proposed rule requires that programs whose graduates in yearly

S cohorts have debt to income ratios of 8 to 12% be placed on warning. Programs may remain on warning for four consecutive years, however, after the fourth year the students in the program or entering the program cannot receive student aid. Currently, programs with fewer than 30 students receiving aid in a cohort are exempt from the Gainful Employment Rule.

Heads up! Variations on this concept are gaining popularity with lawmakers in the states as well. The clear message for universities is to focus on those academic programs that are in demand by students and by employers.


“Chancellor Remarks” continued from Page 1

he Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and

Advancement (CERRA) announced the addition of USC Aiken as a Teaching Fellows Institution, beginning with the 2015-2016 academic year. USC Aiken will use the 2014-2015 academic year to develop their Teaching Fellows program and will begin accepting new Fellows in the fall of 2015.

Dr. Timothy Lintner, Associate Professor of Education, says that the Teaching Fellows Program at USC Aiken is a seamless collaboration between numerous departments and divisions on campus. The program will tap into the rich and varied resources from across campus and throughout the community enabling students to become dynamic teacher-leaders in the classroom.

The Teaching Fellows Program was established in 1999 by the General Assembly to address the need to recruit high quality teachers for South

SC Teaching Fellows Program Adds USC Aiken

Carolina’s classrooms. Teaching Fellows receive up to $24,000 over four years to pursue a degree in education. While participating in the Program, Teaching Fellows work closely with a faculty Campus Director, receive advanced professional development, partner with businesses and communities, and explore opportunities to refine their leadership skills. A Fellow agrees to teach one year in a South Carolina public school for each year he or she receives the Fellowship. If a Fellow does not meet this requirement, he or she is obligated to repay the appropriate portion of the award.

The Teaching Fellows application is available to high school seniors in South Carolina and will open online on September 1, 2014. Students who apply for this prestigious Fellowship will have the option of requesting to attend any of the 12 Teaching Fellows institutions.

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use as a legitimate funding model

• Support compact arrangements and collaborative efforts to address “state authorization” of online programs * (*actions summarized from the AASCU policy agenda, Delivering on America’s Promise)

With Mid-term and Gubernatorial elections in the near future, USC Aiken will join with other AASCU institutions and lend our voice to the discussions by writing and visiting our representatives in South Carolina and Washington D.C. Meanwhile, regarding South Carolina’s 2015 budget, the proposed House budget is now under review in the Senate. At this point, the institution will focus efforts on the Senate Side and continue to visit frequently with our local delegation and others to press for more equitable funding through parity. As always, as the legislative session progresses, we’ll keep you updated. As you bump into members of our local delegation, please consider thanking them for their public service and for their tireless support of our parity issue. Remember, if you wish to contact your state or national representatives by email, please do so as a private citizen from your own personal computer, rather than from the state-owned university computers and .edu address.


AThLeTICS UPdATeSMen’s Basketball Team Earns Spot in Final Four

Continued on Page 7

he 2013-14 University of South Carolina Aiken men’s

basketball team proved it was the best in school history. Not only did the squad win its third straight Peach Belt Conference Championship, but also registered its second straight PBC Tournament title and second consecutive Southeast Regional Championship enroutetotheprogram’sfirst-everFinal Four appearance. Twenty-nine records were set or tied during the 2013-14 campaign by head coach Vince Alexander’s team. The Pacers attached themselves to 21 school records and eight conference marks in the record book with their program-best 33 wins. With the top seed in the Southeast Region for the second straight season, USC Aiken earned the right to hostthefirstthreeroundsoftheNCAA Tournament. USC Aiken was the lone team in the Elite Eight that won all three games of

its respective regional by double figures–andthetrendcontinuedinthe Elite Eight. However, the squad re-wrote the record books, both individually and collectively, and the season will be remembered for many years to come. In addition to the team’s school-record setting 33 wins, the 37 games played also established a new record. The four losses tied the mark for the fewest in a season while the .947 winning percentage tops the school’s record book. Alexander’s team won a school-record 15 straight games and increased its longest home winning streak to 17 games. The team has currently won 12 straight road games, which also established a school mark. USC Aiken netted a program-best 2,906 points on a record 982 made fieldgoals.Theteamalsoattempted 2,070 shots from the floor.The737madefreethrowswas nearly 100 more than the previous school record and the

1,059 free throws attempted were over 150 more than the previous mark. Thanks in large part to Rick Alderman, Alvin Brown and Paul Larsen, the team snagged a record 1,494 rebounds, which also turned into 40.4 rebounds a game (school record). With Brown blocking a school-best 144 blocks, the team went on to establish a program-high 233 rejections. The program has now had seven straight winning seasons and tied the mark with three straight 20-plus win seasons. Brown led Division II with the blocks, which also set a PBC record for blocks in a season. His 70 blocks against conference foes allowed Brown to tie the PBC record. DeVontae Wright, who replaced All-American Re’mon Nelson at the start of the season at point guard, tied the school record with 13 assists in the Senior Night

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“Athletics” continued from Page 6

win over UNC Pembroke. Wright, a first-teamall-conferenceselectionand MVP of the PBC and Southeast Regional Tournaments, shattered the Peach Belt Conference and USC Aiken single-season mark by playing 1,351 minutes. He also set school records with 190 made free throws and 230 free throws attempted. Larsen, a preseason All-American, went on to be named second-team all conference and PBC all-tournament team, broke the schoolrecordforfieldgoalpercentage, hitting 164-of-269 shotsfromthefieldfortheyear(61percent). Not only did he break the single-season mark, Larsen etched his name in the career chart by netting 59.8 percent of his shots while in a Pacer uniform (319-of-533). A force on the inside, Larsen also shattered the school record for rebounds with 326. Ronald Zimmerman set the USC Aiken and PBC career mark with 344 made three-point baskets. His 777 shots and 44.3 percent shooting from downtown also allowed him to have additional school records to his credit. The 144 made three-pointers and 319 three-point attempts by the NABC

All-American this season set a new benchmark for a single season at USC Aiken. The foursome of Alderman, Larsen, Wright and Zimmerman set the school record for most games played in a season with 37. Larsen and Zimmerman tied for most consecutive starts with 70 during their illustrious careers. Jesse Seilern will go down in the record book for most games played in a career (127) and started in a Pacer uniform (111). The games-played mark also thwarted the previous PBC record. Collectively, the team set PBC records for most consecutive road wins, most free throws made (737), most free throws attempted (1,059), most blocked shots in a game (tied the mark with 14 against P.R.-Piedras), most blocks in a season (233), most blocks in a season against conference foes (117) and fewest turnovers for a season (275). Only time will tell where they stack up against other Pacer men’s basketball teams, but the 2013-14 took the road less traveled and performed under the brightest of lights and will always be discussed. Ten seniors depart from the 2013-14 team, but their legacy will always remain.


he Annual Meeting of the SC Academy of Science was held April 5 at Trident Technical

College in Charleston. As part of the program, a total of 58

undergraduate students representing 11 different institutions from across the State presented results of their research. Their presentations were judged by a panel of 17 judges from Academia, Government and Industry.

A total of 6 awards for outstanding undergraduate research were given in six topical sessions.

Claudia Fulmer of USC Aiken received an award for her presentation titled “The Cellular Effects of HIV-1 TAT-Dependent Expression of Pro-apoptic TBID and BAX” which she presented in the Molecular Biology session.

The mentor for her research was Dr. Bill Jackson of the USC Aiken Biology and Geology Department.

dATA SeCURITy ReMINdeR

As University data becomes easier to access and more convenient to transport on multiple devices, now is a good time to remind you of the policies as they relate to data access and securing sensitive University data. In a nutshell: 1. Sensitive University data such as credit

card information, medical records, social security numbers or any other personally identifiable information (PII) should never be stored on laptops, flash drives, external hard drives, CDs, DVDs or any other portable media.

2. Files containing PII should never be e-mailed.

It is just as important for you to routinely back up your data to avoid the loss of valuable information in the event of a hardware failure. The suggestions below are all viable backup options: 1. Back up your most valuable data to

your personal network space on the J: drive. This data is backed up nightly and, in most cases, can be restored if lost or damaged.

2. Back up your non-PII data to external media such as flash drives, external hard drives, CDs and DVDs.

3. Take advantage of cloud (Internet) backup services such as Dropbox or Google Cloud. The advantage of these services is your data will be available to you from anywhere you have a connection to the Internet. The disadvantage is they usually come with a monthly fee.

As always, feel free to contact our Help Desk at 4357 or [email protected] if you have questions. Thank you and be safe. USC Aiken Policy AIT 107: Acceptable Use of Information TechnologyUSC Aiken Policy AIT 114: Data Access

USC Aiken Student receives award atSC Academy of Science Annual Meeting

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etter your body, better your health; learn how for free. The Healthy

Lifestyle Expo is back to share the newest practices of healthy living. For six consecutive years, the Life Expo has catered to members of the community looking to adopt a healthier lifestyle. The expo will be held at the USC Aiken Convocation Center from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. – sponsored by Aiken Regional Medical Centers and The Caring for Carolina Partners. Admission for this event will be free to the public.

The event will be filled with fitness information, exciting demonstrations ranging from karate to cooking, and health screenings for all who attend. Health screenings will be provided by Aiken Regional Medical Centers and will include cholesterol checks and much more.

The Shepheard Blood Mobile will be in attendance to collect much-needed donations and make sure you check out the Aiken Horsepower Car Show in the parking lot. Also, there will be a senior fashion show by Dillard’s of Aiken. Fashion show models provided by UniHealth Post-Acute Care of Aiken. New this year, we will be accepting donations for Goodwill. So clean out your garage and closets, and bring in your unwanted treasures to donate to a worthy cause.

Don’t miss out on this free, fun and informative day for anyone to enjoy. For more information about the expo visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/AikenLifeExpo. This event is brought to you by Aiken

B Regional Medical Center, The Caring for Carolina Partners – WJBF-ABC News Channel 6, Maxwell Law Firm, Beasley Broadcasting and USC Aiken Convocation Center.

The USC Aiken Convocation Center is managed by Global Spectrum on behalf of the University of South Carolina Aiken, as well as more than 100 other public assembly facilities around the world. Nearly 20-million people attended more than 11,000 events in Global Spectrum venues last year. Based in Philadelphia, PA, Global Spectrum is part of Comcast-Spectator, one of the world’s largest sports and entertainment companies. Comcast-Spectator also owns the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, Ovations Food Services, a food and beverage services provider, New Era Tickets, a full-service ticketing and marketing product for public assembly facilities, Paciolan, the leading provider of venue establishment ticketing, fundraising and marketing technology solutions, Front Row Marketing Services, a commercial rights sales company, and Flyers Skate Zone, a series of community ice skating rinks. In a partnership with Disson Skating, Comcast-Spectator annually produces eight nationally televised figure skating spectaculars on NBC-TV. The company also manages the James Brown Arena and Bell Auditorium in Augusta, GA and the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, SC.

For more information contact Katie Cason at 706-262-4556 or [email protected]

Convocation Center News Operations:Project updates

Pedestrian Bridge

Percent Complete: Design: 100%Bidding: I/PConstruction: Not Started Summary: Bid documents are completed. Permits have been completed. USC Columbia has “rescrubbed” the construction cost estimate. Initial review of the estimate is good and within budget. Pre-bid meeting was held on 3/13 with a lot of vendors and contractors in attendance. SCBOadvertise–3/3/2014Pre Bid Date & Time: 3/13/2014 @ 10am–AikenCampusB&E140Bid Closing Date & Time: 4/3/2014 @2pm–ColumbiaCampusBid opening 4/18Preconstruction–May2014

Greenhouse Percent Complete: Design: 100%Bidding: In ReviewConstruction: Not Started Summary: Bids received and low bid came in at $36K over planned budget. Electrical was majority of cost overrun. Working with Architect/engineer to remove scope to bring costs within budget.All material for Greenhouse has been received and stored on campus. Penland and Library elevator

Cab renewals

Percent Complete: Design: 100%Bidding: AwardedConstruction: Complete Summary: This project is complete and is in closeout.

http://www.facebook.com/AikenLifeExpo

OOC newsletter april 2014

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