GAFFNEY, SC (courtesy limestone.edu) — The nearly 700-mile distance between Limestone College and the New York Stock Exchange will seem much shorter this fall.

When they arrive on campus in August, Limestone’s Business and Economics students will not be ringing the opening bell on Wall Street, but they will be walking into the new Vera Jones Mitchell Finance Lab that will be located inside Montgomery Hall.

The state-of-the-art, glass-encased facility will include technological tools such as 14 new financial analysis platform computer terminals, an electronic LED stock ticker, an interactive flat panel display, and more, all to enable students to monitor and analyze near real-time data from the financial market.

Construction inside Montgomery Hall is expected to begin in the coming weeks and should be completed in time for the start of the 2018-2019 academic year.

“The Vera Jones Mitchell Finance Lab will enhance learning and research capabilities by providing Limestone students hands-on experience with the tools needed to compete in the fast-paced world of financial markets,” said Dr. Michael Scharff, the Chair of the Business Department and a Professor of Management. “It will also provide access to the same financial market data, news, research, and analytics accessed around the clock by investment institutions, banks, and news organizations worldwide.”

“This advanced learning environment is being designed to integrate investment education, financial research, and professional practice,” he continued. “As both a classroom and a laboratory, the lab will provide Limestone graduates with a competitive edge as they seek jobs in the business and investments industries.”

A lead investment has been made for the project by Vera and her husband, Sidney, and corporate and foundation partners are expected to be announced soon.

Naming opportunities are available, and additional funding is still being sought for scholarships and for enhancements to the lab. Those interested are asked to contact Kelly Curtis, Vice President for Institutional Advancement, at (864) 488-4601 or by emailing kcurtis@limestone.edu.

A current member of the Limestone Board of Trustees, Vera Jones Mitchell is a 1965 graduate of Limestone College. A former teacher, she resides with her husband in Greenville.

“The lab will be an extension of Limestone’s philosophy to give students the real world experience employers are seeking in today’s competitive job market,” noted Limestone President Dr. Darrell Parker. “The skills that the students will achieve by utilizing the Vera Jones Mitchell Finance Lab will be invaluable to their careers.”

Details on endowed scholarships planned in conjunction with the new finance lab will be announced in the near future, Parker added.

The Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) Baccalaureate/Graduate Degree Board of Commissioners awarded Limestone College accreditation of its Business programs last year. Of the current 746 ACBSP accredited schools, less than six percent have the type of finance lab that Limestone will open in the fall.

Limestone’s Business program currently offers concentrations in Accounting, Economics, Finance, General Business, Legal, Management, and Marketing, as well as an MBA program with concentrations in Management & Leadership and Healthcare Administration.

“The breadth of Limestone’s Business programs creates highly educated and skilled professionals for the financial services workforce,” Parker said. “We are thrilled to partner with the Mitchell Family and our other stakeholders to give our students and professors access to the same data relied on by leading business and financial professionals around the globe.”

SPARTANBURG, SC (courtesy wofford.edu)– Wofford College has added new opportunities to its cache of experiential learning options for students interested in international relations with the establishment of the Hipp Center for National Security and Foreign Policy.

Elements of the Hipp Center, made possible by a gift from Van D. Hipp Jr., a 1982 Wofford College graduate and now chairman of a Washington, D.C.-based international defense consulting firm, include student opportunities for internships in national security and foreign policy and an upcoming exchange program.

“I believe that education is a national security issue,” says Hipp, chairman of American Defense International, a consulting firm specializing in governmental affairs, business development and public relations. “It’s important that young people have a sense of history, what it means to be an American and an understanding of national security and foreign policy.”

Wofford is grateful for Hipp’s generosity in creating the center, President Nayef Samhat says. “Van Hipp’s amazing and seemingly limitless network of connections offer the college community distinctive learning opportunities. We anticipate many transformational educational and experiential learning opportunities for our students as the Hipp Center continues to develop.”

Hipp says many Wofford students have reached out to him over the years, asking for guidance in the national security arena. “I put them in touch with the right people, but I figured if we had a center at the college, we would have the mechanism in place with the right organizations to expose our students to singularly unique experiences.”

The center also features a new on-campus ReadyCam studio, giving the college the ability to connect its experts with broadcast networks around the world. According to Hipp, “It is important to share these experts to demonstrate the caliber of professors and leaders at Wofford to a broader audience. Also, the ability to serve as the studio for national and international interviews of non-Wofford newsmakers allows the college to provide a huge service to the news media.”

“Van Hipp has spent a lifetime working to defend America and defeat our enemies,” former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich says. “This new Hipp Center for National Security and Foreign Policy will help a new generation learn the key lessons that shaped Van’s life.”

In April 2018, Hipp received the Leadership Award for National Security on behalf of the Queen Elizabeth II September 11th Garden Foundation.

In 2011, Hipp founded the Hipp Lecture Series on International Affairs and National Security at Wofford, designed to create ongoing, signature learning opportunities for students. From the 2011 Republican Presidential Candidates Debate to former astronaut Buzz Aldrin to bringing presidential candidates Ben Carson and Donald Trump to campus in 2016, the Hipp Lecture Series has engaged student and faculty participation in history and world affairs since its inception.

Hipp, who was commissioned into the U.S. Army through the ROTC program at Wofford and served on active duty in both Operation Desert Storm and Operation Restore Democracy, has been involved in defense and security matters as well as international policy issues throughout his career. He served as chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party, as a member of the Presidential Electoral College and as a speaker at the 1988 Republican National Convention. In 1990, Hipp became deputy assistant secretary of the Army, serving as the Army secretariat’s “point man” for the successful mobilization and demobilization of the Army’s reserve forces for Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney named Hipp principal deputy general counsel of the Navy, and Hipp’s book, “The New Terrorism: How to Fight It and Defeat It,” was published in 2015, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to scholarships for the children of fallen Guardsmen. Hipp is regularly tapped by major news networks as an expert commentator on terrorism.

To find out more about the Hipp Center for National Security and Foreign Policy, go to: www.wofford.edu/hippcenter/. For more on the Hipp Lecture Series on International Affairs and National Security, go to: www.wofford.edu/hipplectureseries/.

SUMTER, SC — The Morris College Criminal Justice program has been named Number 8 on the “Top Ten Law Enforcement Degree Programs 2017-2018” by Schools.com. Ranked with the likes of CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Columbia College (Fairfax, VA), and fellow South Carolina institution, The Citadel, Morris College earned its number 8 spot in the rankings based on its admissions policy, low 15:1 student-faculty ratio, and total number of law enforcement degrees conferred to students in 2015. 2015 is the same year Morris College’s Criminal Justice program was named number 2 on the CorrectionalOfficer.org list of “Top Schools Supporting Careers in Criminal Justice and Corrections”. Dr. Jacob Butler, Interim Academic Dean explained in 2015 that, “This rating by a national agency confirms the efforts that we, at Morris College, have made to create and maintain academic programs that can stand toe to toe with anybody else in terms of quality”.

The new national ranking on Schools.com further supports Morris College’s efforts. Morris College has consistently had senior students in Criminal Justice score above the national average on the national Major Field Achievement Test and go on to obtain gainful employment in the Criminal Justice field. The institution is dedicated, not only to employing faculty experienced in the field, but also bringing in guest lecturers ranging from coroners, state troopers, solicitors, and forensic scientists to further enhance the education of Criminal Justice students. Most recently, Morris College has established a partnership with the Greenville Police Department to prepare students for a career in law enforcement.

For additional information, please contact Anika Cobb, Morris College Director of Public Relations, at 803-934-3168 or at acobb@morris.edu.

COLUMBIA, SC (courtesy columbiasc.edu) — Columbia College celebrates the establishment of the Women’s Business Center of South Carolina, a hub for catalyzing, wayfinding, and growing women’s entrepreneurship, made possible by seed investments from Google and the South Carolina Department of Commerce Office of Innovation. South Carolina ranks 4th in the nation for women starting businesses and is home to more than 160,000 existing woman-owned businesses.

“We know women are capable of starting enterprises,” Dr. Kasie Whitener, Co-founder of the Women’s Business Center said. “We looked around and couldn’t see where they were being offered statewide-level community, networking, and educational resources that would help them grow those enterprises.”

The Women’s Business Center will be headquartered at Columbia College, a nonprofit liberal arts college with a strong history of educating women, and will reach deep into the state through road shows, residencies, and partnership-driven programming. The steering team includes women business owners, nonprofit executives, academics, and fellow resource providers. The Center’s work will be overseen by Katherine Swartz-Hilton, Executive Director, McNair Center for Entrepreneurism & Community Engagement at Columbia College and Dr. Kasie Whitener, Project Manager at the McNair Center.

“Since her founding in 1854, Columbia College has been on the cusp of foresight and innovation. Our experience working with women and student entrepreneurs since 2014 in our McNair Center for Entrepreneurism and Community Engagement makes this the ideal location for the Women’s Business Center of South Carolina. There is no organization in South Carolina working statewide focused on educating, serving, and connecting women business owners, and the College is uniquely experienced and positioned to take on this charge,” said Columbia College President Dr. Carol Moore.

The vision for the center is a statewide congregation of women entrepreneurs united through community and common purpose to add jobs, increase revenue, and achieve economic independence.

“This has to be a collaborative effort,” Swartz-Hilton exclaimed. “We need to cover the entire state to be legitimate and we cannot do that without a strong network of volunteers and members who believe in what we’re trying to do. Building the network of partners to support the Women’s Business Center concept has been the most rewarding part of the process so far,” added Swartz Hilton. “From Clemson to Charleston and Rock Hill to Greenwood, we’ve earned support from every business, community, government, and higher education professional to which we’ve spoken.”

The founders envision a collaborative of regional committees working to create and deliver programming for women business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs across the state. Among the Women’s Business Center’s earliest endeavors will be to map existing resources for women entrepreneurs in the state and to conduct listening sessions in all regions to discern what exactly women business owners want from the Center. Beginning tomorrow, the Women’s Business Center will present regular Friday learning sessions.

“We want to start connecting right away,” said Swartz-Hilton. “So we built some early programming which we expect to iterate over the summer.”

Friday sessions will rotate through a cycle of coffee meet-ups, online events, luncheons, and happy hours. The weekly program meets the Grow with Google goal of engaging women and growing their digital literacy, and the use of tools to engage as many women as possible in the Columbia metro area while also offering opportunities for women in the Upstate, Lowcountry, PeeDee, and Rock Hill regions to be engaged online.

Connect with the WBC of SC:
columbiasc.edu/WBCofSC
Voice/Text: 803.470.6306 Voice/Text
Email: wbcofsc@columbiasc.edu
Facebook: facebook.com/wbcofsc/
Instagram: @wbcofsc
Twitter: @wbcofsc

ANDERSON, SC (courtesy andersonuniversity.edu) — A familiar face is the first leader of the recently launched Anderson University Office of Technology, Online Learning and Innovation.

Dr. Benjamin Deaton, who currently serves as Assistant Provost for Academic Innovation and Digital Learning and Executive Director of the AU Center for Innovation and Digital Learning (CIDL), was named Vice President in charge of the Office of Technology, Online Learning and Innovation. The new initiative was created in 2018 in an effort to bring together the core services of learning and information technology, online learning, learning design and academic innovation in order to serve the needs of AU students, faculty and staff. The new office is comprised of three areas: the CIDL, Information Technology and a unit dedicated to online and continuous learning.

“Anderson University thrives on a culture that recognizes the importance of casting a vision for the future rather than reflecting on past accomplishments,” AU President Dr. Evans Whitaker said. “Elevating Dr. Deaton to this new position reflects that institutional priority because he challenges us to re-think the ways we deliver learning opportunities in the 21st century. His leadership, emphasis on innovation and singular focus on the entire AU family will serve him well in this new role.”

Named to the U.S. News & World Report’s Most Innovative Schools list, AU has established a reputation as a pioneer in delivering learning experiences amid rapid changes in technology. Under Dr. Deaton’s leadership, the CIDL recently opened a Makerspace through which faculty and students are utilizing virtual and augmented reality tools, 3D printing technology and a new multi-media recording studio, among others.

Dr. Deaton is one of only about 2,500 Apple Distinguished Educators worldwide. Since coming to AU in 2010, he’s helped lead a number of innovative initiatives, including:

• The 2011 launch of the Mobile Learning Initiative (MLI), which positioned AU as a national leader in the use of mobile devices and digital learning; MLI provides all undergraduate students and faculty members with iPads as a common technology platform;
• The creation of the Center for Innovation and Digital Learning (CIDL), which aims to enrich teaching and learning by: providing professional development experiences for faculty and students; promoting active, engaged classroom experiences; supporting learning technologies; learning space design; and supporting online and blended courses and programs;
• The partnering with AU’s College of Arts and Sciences and CIDL to launch a Coding and App Development minor, in collaboration with Apple’s “Everyone Can Code” curriculum;
• A two-time designation as an Apple Distinguished School – one of only 400 institutions to receive the prestigious distinction;
• Receiving grant support of $600,000 for the creation of the South Carolina Center of Excellence for Mobile Learning with Dr. Margaret Walworth, housed in the College of Education, that has supported more than 250 educators from the Upstate; and
• A U.S. News & World Report designation in January listing AU among the best schools offering online bachelor’s degree programs, ranking it the best among all schools in Upstate South Carolina, and No. 3 statewide.

“We are at an exciting time in higher education where there is continually growing connectivity among teaching, learning and technology,” Dr. Deaton said. “This new office illustrates AU’s unremitting commitment to develop a culture of innovation and finding solutions that will enable us to continually seek ways to better serve our entire campus community. I’m extremely thankful to our administrative leadership in affording me this opportunity. Since beginning my work at AU, I’ve been blessed by the opportunity to work with an amazing team in the CIDL and a creative, innovative community of faculty and staff members and I look forward to the opportunity to continue growing and expanding those relationships in the future.”

Dr. Deaton received a PhD in Instructional Technology from the University of Georgia, a MS in Computer Science from Clemson University and a BS in Mathematics and Computer Science from Carson-Newman College. Prior to joining Anderson, he held positions at Clemson University and the University of Mississippi. Dr. Deaton has over 10 years of experience in teaching online courses and actively participates in academic scholarship.

GREENVILLE, SC (courtesy furman.edu) — The Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) has awarded a Math and Computer Science Faculty Mentoring Award to Liz Bouzarth, associate professor of mathematics at Furman University.

Candidates for the awards must show evidence of undergraduate student mentoring, professional development of students mentored, and also demonstrate the impact and success of those efforts.

Letters of recommendation for the award were written by former Furman students Jordan Brown ’16 and Mary Lib Saine ’18 and Furman mathematics professor Kevin Hutson. Hutson was Furman’s 2016 recipient of the SCICU Excellence In Teaching award (See Furman’s news feature on Dr. Hutson receiving the 2016 SCICU Excellence In Teaching award.).

Hutson cites Bouzarth’s efforts in helping to grow the number of undergraduate researchers in the math department from one or two students per summer to 8 to 12 per summer. Under Hutson’s and Bouzarth’s leadership, Saine was one of two Furman students who recently presented research about pulmonary fluid flow at the Mathematical Association of America’s MathFest in Chicago, where the two won the Janet L. Andersen Award for Undergraduate Research in Mathematical or Computational Biology.

Said Saine, who will also attend graduate school, “Dr. Bouzarth’s involvement in my Furman career has pushed me to become a better researcher, a more confident mathematician, and a curious learner.”

Bouzarth has mentored students working on projects ranging from analysis for the oncology department at Greenville Health System to helping Furman assign roommates for incoming freshmen.

Bouzarth’s efforts extend beyond the classroom with her involvement in Furman’s May Experience (May X) course “Math and the Mouse” where students learn techniques of mathematical modeling, statistical analysis and flow management at Walt Disney World. Students participating in the May X have pursued research that was presented at a 2016 INFORMS conference and published in an operations research journal.

Said Brown, who participated in Math and the Mouse and projects for Greenville Health System and Furman Housing, “I consider Liz my most influential professional mentor and role model, who led me to discover my passion for applying mathematics to real-world problems and guided my development into an independent researcher. She was a major influence in my decision to pursue a doctorate in applied mathematics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.”

During college basketball season, Bouzarth has also worked with Furman mathematics faculty in consulting with ESPN. The faculty perform statistical analyses to help sports writers predict potential NCAA men’s basketball tournament upsets. This activity has also spawned research projects and presentations for students.

Before coming to Furman in 2011, Bouzarth was an assistant research professor at Duke University. She holds a bachelor’s in mathematics and physics from Dickinson College and a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dr. George Shields, Furman University’s Chief Academic Officer, serves as a Chemistry Executive Board Representative on the Council on Undergraduate Research.

The following SCICU member colleges and universities are members of the Council on Undergraduate Research: Claflin University, Furman University, and Presbyterian College.

For more information, contact Furman’s News and Media Relations office at 864-294-3107 and vince.moore@furman.edu.

CHARLESTON, SC (courtesy csuniv.edu) — The Piccolo Spoleto Festival features many of CSU’s finest in a variety of events each year. The 2018 festival opened on May 25 and continues through June 10.

Several faculty members were part of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra for the popular Sunset Serenade Concert on the steps of the Custom House on Friday, May 25. This concert also featured the Lowcountry Voices choir directed by CSU alumnus Nathan L. Nelson.

CSU students were featured in events such as Piccolo Spoleto Festival of Churches and Synagogues: The Singers of Summerville “Music of the Living” on May 26 and with the Charleston Men’s Chorus at the popular Memorial Day Concert on May 28.

In addition to choral directors Dr. Valerie Bullock (Singers of Summerville) and Ricard Bordas (Charleston Men’s Chorus), the faculty will be featured in ensembles and as soloists in several events. On Tuesday, May 29 the Piccolo Spoleto Festival Spotlight Concert Series will present a recital of French music featuring faculty including soprano Dr. Jill Terhaar Lewis, mezzo sopranos Dr. Jennifer Luiken and Shanelle Woods along with Dr. Brad Parker (piano), Regina Helcher Yost (flute), and Mark Sterbank (saxophone). Sterbank will be featured in a second Spotlight Concert on June 5 in a program titled Hello Saxophone! Presents “Saxophone Stories.”

Sterbank will also be playing with the Charleton Singleton ensemble for Let’s Groove: The Music of Earth, Wind, and Fire on June 1 at the Charleston Music Hall.

Terhaar Lewis will be featured with her ensemble The In-Between in a concert of new musical settings and poetry at Holy Trinity Windermere featuring the poems of Charleston’s Poet Laureate Marcus Amaker on May 30. The In-Between merges classical and jazz styles into a unique, creative style of chamber music with jazz improvisation that varies with each performance and also includes jazz musicians Robert Lewis (soprano saxophone) and Gerald Gregory (piano).

Woods was a soloist in a Sound of Charleston concert on May 26 at Circular Congregational Church.

CSU staff member Paul Thomas will be performing in the Spoleto Festival USA concert Angels featuring the Westminster Choir on May 29.

Throughout the festival, CSU faculty pianist Dr. Janet Elshazly will be playing in every Rising Star concert featuring talented, young musicians in a variety of events from May 28 through June 8.

More information on CSU involvement in Piccolo Spoleto 2018, including performance/event schedules and links for ticket purchase, may be viewed at http://www.csuniv.edu/news/csu-featured-at-piccolo-spoleto-festival-2018.php

The Piccolo Spoleto Festival features artists from the Southeast region and was developed to coincide with and compliment Spoleto Festival USA with regional offerings of art, music theater, poetry, film, children’s events, and more, consisting of 500 events over the course of 17 days. For more information on the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, visit piccolospoleto.com.

Thirty-five educators from Spartanburg school districts have completed South Carolina’s first specialized course sequence for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) at Converse College and were awarded certificates on Saturday, May 12 at the college. They keynote address was given by Leann Corbin of the South Carolina Autism Society, who specializes in ASD and special education law and is both a teacher and the mother of two children with ASD. Special guests from local and state education, autism and counseling organizations were in attendance, along with special services directors from all seven Spartanburg school districts.

More about Converse College’s Certificate in Autism Spectrum Disorder may be read on the Converse website.

Despite staggering statistics and heightened public awareness about the rise of autism in America, few teacher education programs nationwide offer specialized instruction in ASD. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced in April that one in 59 U.S. children now has autism – a 15% increase from two years ago and a 150% increase since 2000.

With its new certificate program, Converse became the only institution in South Carolina to offer coursework and professional development in the field of autism. The program consists of five courses: Foundations in ASD, Speech Language and Communication Development in ASD, Adaptations and Inclusion for Students with ASD, Methods of Instruction Specific to ASD, and Behavioral Management of Students with ASD. The program’s first participants serve in a variety of positions ranging from mainstream and special education classroom teachers to school counselors, speech therapists and a school nurse. All encounter and support students on the Autism Spectrum regularly, but none have benefited from in-depth training on how to best support this student population until now.

“Most people probably assume that educators, speech therapists and counselors working with children with autism have specialized training in that field, but in reality, coursework did not exist in our state until now. Our program is designed to cover the needs of students with autism by providing tools that help specialists unlock students’ full potential. Our goal is to help these students reach their dreams and become successful members of our society,” said Elena Ghionis, a Converse College alumna and Lead Autism Specialist for the McCarthy Teszler School in Spartanburg School District 7. Ghionis researched, designed and now teaches the program’s curriculum, which will be offered to a new cohort of incoming students beginning this fall. In 2015, she was recognized by the S.C. Autism Society as Autism Specialist of the Year.

South Carolina students with ASD can be taught by teachers qualified in any special education certification category, said Ghionis, since specialized ASD training has not existed in the state’s teacher education programs until now. Last year, 88% of school districts statewide reported needing more education for teachers who provide specialized instruction to students, according to the S.C. Office of Special Education Services. Nearly 7,500 students, or 7.4% of South Carolina’s student population, are eligible to receive specialized instruction with an Individualized Education Program. This number has nearly doubled since 2011.

Program participant Kylie McKinney, who is an Autism Specialist at McCarthy Teszler, says the autism course sequence provided in-depth learning experiences that equipped her to serve students with ASD much more effectively. “More and more educators–both general and special– are accepting the role of teaching a child who is on the autism spectrum. My role as an Autism Specialist for Spartanburg County public schools requires that I collaborate with many other educators, staff members, families, and most importantly, students. I am able to directly support the student while also educating and teaching others who have a direct investment in that student’s life. Essentially, that means these courses have a positive impact that is tenfold,” she said. “The magnitude of this program could be a game changer in the lives of students with ASD, and it gives both educators and students in Spartanburg County a wonderful advantage to learning.”

Converse College offers the most comprehensive range of degree programs in special education within the state, and aims to broaden its ASD instruction to serve teachers across the state in the near future. “We look forward to expanding our ASD offerings as this program grows, which will provide an important benefit to our state, local school districts, teachers, and parents of children with special needs,” said Converse College President Krista Newkirk.

About Autism Spectrum Disorder

ASD is a developmental disability characterized by challenges with communication and social interaction with accompanying repetitive behavior patterns. One in 59 U.S. children has autism, according to an April 2018 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, a 15% increase from two years ago and a 150% increase since 2000. For more information, visit http://www.autism-society.org/.