Student Affairs Committee
Clemson University Board of Trustees
Thursday, February 5, 2015
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Executive Board Room
Madren Center
Clemson, South Carolina
Nicky McCarter, Chair
Joe Swann, Vice Chair
David Dukes
Smyth McKissick
Kim Wilkerson
JJ Britton
Allen Wood
Call to Order........................................................................................................Nicky McCarter
Introductions........................................................................................................Nicky McCarter
Action Item:
1. Approval of Minutes – October 9, 2014....................................................Nicky McCarter
Information Items:
1. Vice President’s Report*...............................................................................Almeda Jacks
2. Greek Life Update*........................................................................................George Smith
3. Undergraduate Student Government Report..........................................Maddy Thompson
4. Graduate Student Government Report..................................................................Ryan Heil
Executive Session
Other Business
Adjourn
*No Backup
Action 1.
Approval of Minutes – October 9, 2014
Clemson University
Clemson, South Carolina
MINUTES
Student Affairs Committee
CLEMSON UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Executive Board Room
Madren Center
Clemson, South Carolina
October 9, 2014
1 1
:00 a.m.
Call to Order
After notification as required by the Freedom of Information Act, Trustee McCarter called the
meeting to order at 1 1:02 a.m. with the following present:
Committee Members: Nicky McCarter, Chair, presiding; Joe Swann, Vice Chair; David Dukes,
Sm1'th McKissick and Kim Wilkerson
Trustees:
Bill Hendrix, Ronnie Lee, Louis Lynn, Patti McAbee, Bob Peeler, Mark Richardson,
Bill Smith,
Trustees
and David Wilkins
Emeriti:
J.J. Britton, Tom McTeer, and
Allen Wood
Administrative Council: James P. Clements, President; John Ballato, Vice President for
Economic Development; Chip Hood, General Counsel; George Askew, Vice President for Public
Service and Agriculture and Interim Dean, College of Agriculture, Forestry dnd Life Sciences;
Angie Leidinger, Executive Secretary to the Board of Trustees and Director of Governmental
Affairs; Robert H. Jones, Execulive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost; Gail
DiSabatino, Vice President for Student Affairs; Debra Jackson, Vice Provost and Assistant to the
Presidenti Larry Dooley, Interim Vice President for Research; BretlDahon, Vice President for
Finance and Operations;Neill Cameron, Vice President for Advancement; Catherine T. Sams,
Chief Public Affairs Ofiicer and Assistant to the President; Leon Wiles, Chief Diversity Officer;
and Michelle Piekutowski, Interim Chief Human Resources Ofiicer
Guests: Bobby McCormick, Interim Dedn, College of Business and Behavioral Science;Denise
Anderson, Presidential Fellora; Renee P.o:ux, Ofice of General Counsel; Ryan Heil, Graduate
Student Governmenl President; Maddy Thompson, Undergraduate Student Government
President; Todd Chamberlain, Student Affairs; Raquel Contreras, Counseling and Psychological
Serrices; Johnson Link, CUPD; Robin Denny, Media Relations; George Smith, Student Affairs;
Shannon Finning , Dean of Studen s; Antonis Katsiyannis, Fcrculty Senale President; Doug
Hallenbeck, Housing; Kathy Hobgood, Student Affairs; Bemardo Dargan, Student Affairs; Matl
Abrams, Student; Cambridge Gamble, Student; Maris Monroe, Student; Eric Pemotto, Student;
Doug Henry, CC17; Rose Ellen Davis-Gross, Office of the Board of Trustees; and Sally Mauldin,
Ofice of the Board of Trustees
Media: Mike Eads, Anderson Independent
Robin Denny introduced members of the media.
Action Item
1
.
Approval of Minutes
-
July
17
, 2014
Trustee Wilkerson moved to approve the minutes of the July 17,2014, meeting. Trustee Dukes
seconded the motion. The minutes were approved unanimously.
Information Items
1. Vice President's Report
Gail DiSabatino requested a moment of silence for students who passed away this semester. She
recognized the staff members who work behind the scenes when deaths occur.
Dr. DiSabatino highlighted items from the Annual Report publication produced by Student
Affairs.
She also introduced a new branding
2. Housing
initiative by Student Affairs.
and Academic Initatives
Kathy Hobgood and Eric Pemotto presented on Living Leaming Communities. The mission is to
create supportive and challenging environments that enrich and nourish lives. Currently, one in
three new and retuming students participate in one of 22 LLCs.
Questions and discussion followed.
3. Undergraduate Student Govemment Report
Maddy Thompson deferred her report to the Full Board meeting.
4.
Graduate Student Government Report
Ryan Heil deferred his report to the Full Board meeting.
Adjourn
There being no further business, Trustee McCarter adjoumed the meeting at 11:55 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Executive Secretary to the Board of Trustccs
Approved
Date
Information 1.
Vice President’s Report
(No backup)
Information 2.
Greek Life Update
(No backup)
Information 3.
Undergraduate Student Government Report
Undergraduate Student
Government Report to the
Board of Trustees
Winter Quarterly Report
February 5-6, 2015
Respectfully submitted by
Maddy Thompson
Undergraduate Student Body President
Executive Summary
The Undergraduate Student Government is now more than halfway through the term. Below are
brief synopses of our initiatives and concerns.
Academic Advising
The Undergraduate Student Government has collaborated with Dr. Sue Whorton and the
Academic Success Center to improve academic advising at Clemson. The ASC will have three
new cross-college advisors dedicated to helping students in ways that major-specific advisors
may not, such as advising students who want to switch majors or career paths. The Academic
Affairs committee on the Undergraduate Student Senate recently administered a survey on
academic advising and found that students primary advising needs are being mostly met;
however, there are discrepancies in the fulfillment of secondary advising needs. These results
will be addressed in the Educational Policy Committee meeting. CUSG looks forward to
working with faculty, staff, and the administration on providing a more valuable advising
experience.
Undergraduate Strategic Planning Committee
This semester I had the opportunity to serve on the Undergraduate Strategic Planning
Committee. As our university moves forward into the next phase of its life, I would like to
express some concerns on behalf of the undergraduate student body.
1. Undergraduate Education
Undergraduate education must not be sacrificed in the pursuit of improving the overall
prestige of the university. We found preeminence in undergraduate teaching, and we must
maintain this standard as we seek to improve the quality of our graduate education and
research initiatives. Furthermore, as we look toward alternative teaching methods, such as
online and distance education, we must ensure that we have the best intentions. Online
degree programs and classes should be of the same quality as degrees offered in the
traditional brick and mortar style, and we should not resort to these programs as a purely
moneymaking tool.
2. Student Debt Burden
Tuition is skyrocketing across the nation due to a myriad of factors, including decreased
government funding of higher education while universities compete with each other to
have premier academic programs, faculty, and facilities. According to Kiplinger,
Clemson students have an average debt of $34,114 upon graduation, and on Kiplinger’s
“Best College Value” for public universities ranking system, Clemson University is 29th
for in state students and 38th for out of state students (www.kiplinger.com). This ranking
is lower than many of our peer institutions.
As we find ways to increase opportunities for students in pursuit of increasing the caliber
of a Clemson education, let us not place the financial burden on students and their
families. Although sometimes necessary, student fees should be a last resort only after
every other potential revenue stream has been exhausted. It is necessary that we maintain
our status as a high quality, affordable education in order to compete for the best
students.
Athletics
Student demand for football tickets has increased substantially as our program continues to
excel, which has rendered our current student ticket distribution policy inadequate. The Athletics
Committee on the Undergraduate Student Senate has worked closely with Athletics to develop a
new student ticketing policy, which will address student concerns regarding camping out, student
attendance, and priority seating.
Moving Forward
Before our term comes to a close in a couple short months the undergraduate student government
has a few major initiatives to complete.
Capital Improvement
Every year the Undergraduate Student Senate allocates $75,000 to fund proposed projects to
improve the campus of our university. This investment is considered a gift on behalf of the
student body to Clemson University faculty, staff, students, patrons, and visitors. Potential
projects have been proposed to the senate and will be chosen this month.
Clemson Day at the State House
The Undergraduate Student Government looks forward to participating in Clemson Day at the
State House on March 3rd to meet with our state legislators and advocate for Clemson University
initiatives.
ACC Lobbying Trip
The ACC Lobbying Trip to Washington, D.C. will take place on March 16th and 17th.
Undergraduate Student Government leaders and the Governmental Affairs team will join fellow
ACC schools in our nation’s capitol to meet with our legislators and advocate on behalf of higher
education.
Elections
The campaign season for Undergraduate Student Body President and Vice President has begun.
Voting for these two positions and undergraduate senators will take place on March 2nd and 3rd.
Undergraduate Student Senate Executive elections will take place on February 23rd. Following a
one-month transition period, the newly elected officers will begin their terms the first week of
April.
Information 4.
Graduate Student Government Report
Clemson University
Graduate Student Government
Report to the Board of Trustees
Winter 2015
Ryan Heil
Graduate Student Body President
Danielle Zanzalari
Graduate Student Body Vice President
2
Engaging the graduate student experience has been the primary focus of GSG this
year. In pursuing this highly aspirational and abstract goal we made some aggressive
changes in the way we operate as a governing body. And this fall we saw first hand how
small changes positively impacted several populations of graduate students across
academic silos. Additionally, we identified ways in which our organization can
innovatively grow to better meet the needs of Clemson graduate students on all of our
campuses. In this report I would like to share some plans that we have set in motion to
be a national leader in engaging students housed on satellite campuses as well as report
on the progress of previously stated initiatives.
1. GSG - Greenville
We have set out to find ways to better engage our students living, studying and
researching on our Greenville campuses. In working with graduate students on
Greenville campuses, we quickly discovered that this population of students needs
more than just external engagement opportunities. They had basic needs that were
not being met, and didn’t have a consistent avenue to express these concerns while
advocating for change. With this in mind, we have worked closely with graduate
students representing programs in Greenville to develop GSG Greenville, a new
branch of GSG focused entirely on serving the needs of graduate students in their
regional location.
GSG Greenville will allow students from academic programs housed in Greenville to
elect a vice president who will directly report to the GSG president. Additionally, this
group of representatives will collaborate about issues specific to Greenville, and be
an integral part of enhancing and more clearly defining the Clemson graduate
student experience for students on and off the main campus. Our hope is that GSG
Greenville will become a national benchmark in providing a voice and enhancing
engagement with students situated on enterprise campuses.
2. NEW ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES
3
GSG Holiday Party
With the help of students and administrators in Greenville, GSG hosted the first ever
holiday party in Greenville at the ONE building. In looking to bring students together
from all of our campuses in celebration, transportation was provided to and from
both the main and ICAR campuses. This event had excellent turnout, and by many
accounts including advisors with many years of experience, was described as “the
best event GSG has ever hosted.”
GSG - Grad Student, Faculty, Staff Reception
In an effort to bring Faculty, Staff and graduate students together GSG hosted our
first ever 'mixer reception'. Our hopes were to spark discussion about research with
individuals outside of their traditional academic silos. We view this not only as an
engagement opportunity, but as a first step in building relationships that could lead
to the production of interdisciplinary research.
3. RESEARCH
We have two major events to highlight the research done on this campus. First, we
host our Graduate Research and Discovery Symposium (GRADS), which will take
place on April 7. Secondly, we host a program called Three Minute Thesis
competition (3MT), which is set to start on March 31. Both programs are very
enlightening, and do a wonderful job of showcasing the incredibly impactful and
broad scope of research being produced. This year we are focusing on connecting
this research to industry, and have invited several businesses to participate in both
events. Our hope is that bringing together both groups will help illuminate the great
work already being done, as well as strengthen or develop new relationships to
industry.
4. PEG’S (Professional Enrichment Grants)
The Professional Enrichment Grant program is a signature program of GSG. These
grants are awarded to applicants on a competitive basis to attend meetings,
conferences, shows, field experiences, and other professional development activities
around the world in order to network and present scholarly research.
Spring 2015 PEG Period
This spring semester 243 students applied for PEG awards. Of those applicants 78
awards were granted. This can be compared to Spring 2014 when we had 180
applicants and were able to award 89 applicants. The increase in popularity for this
award has demonstrated a need for enhanced institutional funding. A good number
of qualified researchers could not be funded. This is a need we hope to better meet
moving forward, as Clemson’s reputation as a research institution is dependent
upon being seen and heard at research conferences. PEG is one avenue that
immediately impacts both the visibility of our university and the fields being
researched.
5. FUTURE OBJECTIVES
4
Beyond the finalizing of the GSG Greenville project, we have some other very
exciting and impactful initiatives that we are working on.
PEG’S development campaign
We have been working with members of the Alumni Association to start the first
development campaign aimed at graduates of the Clemson University Graduate
School. We will be looking to build a climate of giving throughout the graduate
student population by embarking on a mission to raise money for travel grants.
Supporting graduate student research while developing a culture of giving is an
initiative that will help past, current, and future graduate students.
Graduate Student Athletic Ticket Distribution Policy
We have been working collaboratively with the Undergraduate population to
overhaul how all students at Clemson receive student tickets to athletic events at
Clemson. We will be looking to remove barriers of access by moving to an online
system. This will allow students on our enterprise campuses the same opportunity
afforded to those on the main campus.
CLOSING REMARKS
I would like to briefly address the concerns raised about diversity throughout last
semester and continuing on into the spring. The graduate student body, as one of
the most diverse communities on campus, embraces diversity and realizes that our
differences make us stronger. The diverse makeup of the graduate student senate is
regularly praised by visitors to our meetings, and international student
organizations are among the primary recipients of GSG funding. GSG values diversity
and will continue to find ways to ensure that Clemson is a welcoming place for
graduate students.
I am honored to represent graduate students at Clemson University and am
committed to working with the administration, undergraduate student government,
faculty, staff, and Board of Trustees to ensure that this will be a year of continued
growth and progress.
Ryan Heil
Graduate Student Body President
Clemson University