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A CATALYST FOR DIVERSIFYINGECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA BEAUFORTCONNECTING WITH ALUMNI AND FRIENDS

SPRING 2008

Dear USCB Alumni, Friends and Supporters:

Welcome to the Spring 2008 issue of USCB Magazine.

“A Catalyst for Diversifying Economic Development” is this issue’s theme. We reflect on therole the community asked the University of South Carolina Beaufort to assume nearly adecade ago when the need for diversifying and strengthening the economy of theLowcountry became apparent.

Then as now, the economy of the Lowcountry was supported largely by retirement andtourism-based businesses and bolstered by a substantial military presence. Community leadersrecognized that future economic growth would require developing a knowledge-basedeconomic segment. These technologically advanced industries would succeed only if theywere staffed by educated, highly skilled employees with leadership potential.

To prepare the next generation of employees – fully skilled and ready to assume responsiblepositions in this knowledge-based economy – USCB would have to expand from a two-yearinstitution to a four-year baccalaureate degree-granting institution. Further, we would haveto expand our academic programs and tailor them to meet the specific needs of the region.Our first feature story reflects on this growth process.

A second need of the region was to develop workers with the skills and commitment to aidindividuals of all ages. Under the able direction of Dr. Lynn Mulkey, Human Services is aliberal arts, behavioral sciences field that prepares our graduates to work with those withinour society who require the most help. USCB Human Services graduates, however, haveventured beyond the traditional social services field to influence education, law, business andhealth care.

The third feature story explores the unseen essence of university life. Many of you have visitedthe beautiful facilities on our two campuses. It’s not possible for each of you to experience thesharing of knowledge, research and fellowship that links students and faculty to the broadercommunity at large. And so this story suggests some of the varied elements that supportteaching, research initiatives and community service at USCB.

I hope you enjoy USCB Magazine. Your support and friendship are important to us.

Signature

Jane T. Upshaw, Ph.D.ChancellorUniversity of South Carolina Beaufort

USCB Magazine | SPRING 2008 | 02

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The Challengeof Building a Knowledge-Based Economy

USCB MagazineBuilding Connections. Serving USCB.

Spring 2008 • Volume VI, Number I

This magazine’s mission is to strengthen the connection between USCB’s friends andsupporters and the university.

The magazine seeks to present thoughtful, in-depth articles on teaching, research, student life and community outreach. It alsoshares insights into the extended communityof alumni, friends and supporters of USCB.

Lynn W. McGee, Ph.D.Vice Chancellor for University Advancement

Colleen CallahanDirector of Development

WRITER/EDITORRichard Gorman

CONTRIBUTORSLynn McGee

Deborah Reynolds

ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHYKaufman Photography

ART DIRECTION/DESIGNJOY

A semiannual publication produced by theUSCB Office of University Advancement.

University of South Carolina BeaufortOne University Boulevard

Bluffton, SC [email protected]

www.uscb.edu

COVER: Tom Zinn of Zinn Asset Management, developer of upscale

residential and commercial properties,works with Dominique Sansotta,

a marketing major at USCB.

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In the same way that you had Berkeley and Stanford in Silicon Valley, youhave the University of South Carolina Beaufort, you have Georgia Techand you have activity at SCAD. Each university is positioned to take overareas of strength... With Hilton Head located right here, the interplay between USCB and the private sector presents a great opportunity.

Tom ZinnCEO of Zinn Asset ManagementDeveloper of Buckwalter Place

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FEATURESKnowledge-Based EconomyCreating a knowledge-based business sector will enhance our economic strength

The Human Services ProgramA unique baccalaureate program

that represents an asset approach

to care

Defining a UniversityPeople and programs, not bricks and mortar, define a university

PROFILESAlumni | From USCB to the South Carolina State House

Faculty | Gordon K. Haist: A Faculty Statesman and Student Coach

Student | Jeremiah Glenn: SGA President With Compassion and Commitment

MASCOTUSCB and the Community Adopt a Mascot

GENEROSITYSea Island Rotary Club Maintains its 20-year Scholarship Commitment

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ContentsSPRING 2008

A CATALYST FOR DIVERSIFYING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

A core of knowledge-based businesses is emerging in theLowcountry. Who are they and why are they coming?

Professor Alan Warren, left, an environmental researcher at USCB; Dominique Sansotta, a marketing major; Tom Zinn,CEO of Zinn Asset Management, and Dean Moss, general manager of the Beaufort-Jasper Water & Sewer Authority,on campus at USCB. The university is working actively with business, government and community leaders to develop aknowledge-based segment of the economy in the Lowcountry.

Integrating knowledge-based businesses with the retirement and tourism-based economicinfrastructure prevalent in the Lowcountry requires foresight, iron-willed determination and financial resources. It also requires a strong university partner to serve as the catalyst for change.

For more than a dozen years, the University of South Carolina Beaufort has worked withcommunity leaders and academic and government officials to become a baccalaureatedegree-granting institution and to enhance its academic programs. Now it is building a solidbase of educated, well-qualified graduates who could launch or support knowledge-basedcompanies in the Lowcountry.

Feature

The technology-based library at USCB

Don Ryan, CEO of CareCore National, at its Buckwalter Place location in Bluffton.

The same dynamics that turned fruit orchards into California’s Silicon Valleyand a pine forest into North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park are at work todayin the coastal region of South Carolina. Community, business and educationleaders are laying the groundwork for the Lowcountry’s emergence as a center ofbusiness, academic and economic growth.

“Nine years ago, this was primarily aretirement and second home-focusedcommunity,” says Tom Zinn, founder andCEO of Zinn Asset Management, the drivingforce behind Buckwalter Place, BuckwalterCommons and other upscale residentialand commercial properties. “The economywas geared toward real estate constructionand hospitality with the defense sector north of the Broad (River). There was ahuge need for economic development andfor diversifying the economy.”

USCB has long recognized its obligation to break the downward cycle of aninadequately prepared workforce and aresulting inability to attract high-tech, high-wage firms to the region. Fewer economicopportunities produce an erosion of thequality of life coupled with a net decline inper-capita income. The final stage is a braindrain, a general exodus of Lowcountrystudents who leave the area to go to collegeand never return.

The need is great in the region USCB serves.Nationally, 24 percent of Americans overthe age of 25 have a bachelor’s degree or

higher. In Jasper County, an important key to the development of our region, only8.7 percent of the population have abachelor’s degree. Of the 46 counties inSouth Carolina, Jasper ranks next to last inthis category.

Launching the Economic/Academic Initiative

As the new millennium dawned, a group of community leaders with the vision and determination to effect economicchange recognized that developing adiverse, knowledge-based economy in theLowcountry would require a foundation ofwell-educated, knowledgeable citizens. Toproduce this talent, USCB would have toexpand its role and change its mission,becoming a different institution.

“We had USC Beaufort, then a two-yearcollege with its main campus in Beaufort,”says Dean Moss, general manager of theBeaufort-Jasper Water & Sewer Authority.“But if you looked across the state, there wasno four-year institution in this corner ofSouth Carolina.”


Dean Moss, general manager of the Beaufort-JasperWater & Sewer Authority.

Local political, civic and business leaders had long advocated establishing a four-yearuniversity in the southeastern corner of the state to help spur economic growth. DeveloperDick Stewart, the first chair of the Greater Beaufort-Hilton Head Economic Partnership,Inc., and Moss’s colleague on the board of the Chamber of Commerce in Beaufort, workedto organize a community forum in support of a baccalaureate institution. Dr. Jane Upshaw,then dean of the University of South Carolina Beaufort, stepped forward to campaign for baccalaureate status for USCB with county and state government officials and the USC system.

The timing was fortuitous. The drive to initiate a knowledge-based economy in 2000occurred just as a series of fortunate events converged. The need for economicdevelopment was well documented, especially in Beaufort and Jasper counties. Communitysupport for USCB was gaining momentum rapidly. Union Camp, which would be acquiredby International Paper, had donated 80 acres of prime land in Bluffton for use by theuniversity to develop a second campus. An option for an additional 120 acres would expirein 2005 if construction had not begun by then. And finally, the compelling case was madefor the move to baccalaureate status; Lowcountry students who sought a baccalaureateeducation had to drive two and a half hours to reach the nearest campus.

Before they could approach the state with their proposal, however, Beaufort County officials had to demonstrate viable community financial support for the USCB initiative. That’s whenThomas C. Taylor, former chairman of the Beaufort County Council, and W.R. “Skeet” VonHarten, the vice chairman, interceded. Beaufort County Administrator John Kachmarrecommended using tax-increment financing to support the construction of physical facilities on what would become USCB’s new campus at the Gateway to Hilton Head inBluffton. Taylor, Von Harten and other members of the council agreed and the councilallocated the funds. USCB continues to grow through financial support from Beaufort andJasper counties to this day.

Simultaneously, Stewart joined with his colleagues, Dr. Upshaw and Wes Jones, a partner inthe law firm of Jones, Patterson, Simpson & Newton, to bring their shared vision togovernment officials, business people, educators, students, retirees and virtually the entire citizenry of Lowcountry residents.

The initiative was fortified by the donation of land, by significant financial support fromBeaufort and Jasper counties and from Hargray Communications and other business and private donors. Bolstered by a groundswell of community support for the proposal, and a clearly demonstrable, compelling need, the initiative was endorsed or approved by the county and state governments, education officials and the USC Board of Trustees.

In 2002, USCB became a senior campus of the state university system with fullbaccalaureate status.

In the ensuing years, USCB has carved out amodern, 200-acre campus from a pine forest,constructed many two-story academic andresidential buildings, expanded and targetedacademic programs on the university’s twocampuses, and added more than a score ofnotable scholars to its faculty.

For example, the work of Professor AlanWarren exemplifies how USCB’s facultyimpacts economic development throughresearch and public service. An environmentalresearcher who specializes in water-qualitysustainability and environmental protection,Warren has led numerous studies thatdeepen our understanding of the fragileenvironment our region seeks to protect. His data on water-quality sustainability enable developers, governmental officialsand environmental agencies to makedecisions that will protect the environment ofthe Lowcountry.

The Knowledge-Based Economy Emerges

One of those in a position to benefit from asuccessful economic/academic initiative isDean Moss at the Beaufort-Jasper Water &Sewer Authority. “We’re probably the mosttechnologically advanced public agency in the region,” Moss says. “I can run thisentire utility from my laptop – turningeverything on, turning it off, monitoringeverything that’s going on with the system.We need people who can operate in that environment.”

That means water engineers, environmentalengineers and process engineers, most of

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CareCore National’s offices in Bluffton.

whom are chemical and sanitary engineers.Accountants are also in high demand to work with the utility’s sophisticated accounting process.

Another beneficiary of USCB’s growth isCareCore National, a specialty benefit-management company that providesutilization and quality-management servicesto regional and national health careorganizations. Founded just 14 years ago byDonald R. Ryan, its CEO and chairman ofthe board, CareCore National is the leadingdiagnostic imaging-management companyin the world.

CareCore National has four significant areasof need at its local offices on Buckwalter PlaceBoulevard in Bluffton. “We are verydependent on nurses,” Ryan adds, “so theschool of nursing is important to us. We alsohave significant information-technologyneeds, so database administrators andsoftware developers are important. Systemoperations people who maintain the systems– they’re critical. Our financial operations are significant, so we need accountants and financial analysts. And finally, we need employees with excellent general-management skills.”

Fostering Academic-Technological Synergies

“If you look at the region, we have a numberof universities – Clemson, Georgia Techextension, SCAD and USCB,” Dean Mossadds. “Presumably, those institutions will be able to provide some synergy for each other and work together to build a really strong intellectual hub here. From a technology standpoint, from a quality-of-life standpoint and from an economic-development standpoint, that is very, very important.”

“In the same way that you had Berkeley andStanford in Silicon Valley, you have theUniversity of South Carolina Beaufort, youhave Georgia Tech and you have activity at SCAD,” says Tom Zinn, the developer of Buckwalter Place. “Each university ispositioned to take over areas of strength.Hospitality, tourism – the University of South Carolina Beaufort is the obviouschoice to tie into that. With Hilton Headlocated right here, the interplay between the university and the private sector presentsa great opportunity.

“Entrepreneurship, which we’ve preached for a long time, is a mechanism from which to be able to plant seeds in the ground for people to develop successful businesses. It’s not a singular type of a situation, it’s a wholeness where each of the different piecescomes together and moves an economy forward in a manner that becomes diversified.”

The next logical step is the development of clusters – the association of companiessharing similar interests, customer bases and functions.

“A medical cluster would be perfect for this area,” Zinn says. “It combines the hospitalsthat are already here with potential patients who are moving to the area and require goodhealth care. If we combine the talents of USCB with the Technical College of theLowcountry, each one specializing in different areas and each one contributing to theservice needs of the region, then they can bring in companies like the CareCores of theworld. CareCore National could have located anywhere in the U.S., but it selected theLowcountry because we have the talent coming out of our universities and thesurrounding area to support and enable it to be successful. More potential entrepreneurswould come here if we had the arrows in the quiver to give them. They would have to feelcomfortable that they would be successful in the region. That’s what Jane understood,and Dick understood and Wes Jones understood.”


USCB’SHUMAN SERVICES DEGREE:

An ‘Asset’ Approach to Care


Feature

One of the fastest-growing academic disciplines today is the field of Human Services. TheHuman Services Program is a liberal arts and behavioral science curriculum that cultivates aphilosophy of care and knowledge, skills and abilities, and practical field experienceregarding both individual and social aspects of behavior. Graduates contribute their newly honed skills to the fields of education, law, health care, business and a full range ofsocial services.

The University of South Carolina Beaufort offers the only baccalaureate program in HumanServices available in a public college or university in South Carolina. The program is led by a nationally recognized scholar and teacher, Dr. Lynn Mulkey, professor of sociology and chair of the Department of Social Sciences. Dr. Mulkey created the Human Services curriculum that was approved by the South Carolina Commission on HigherEducation in 2003.

“Human Services is a field that only recently emerged,” Dr. Mulkey explains. “It really is ahybrid of social work that responds to the growing needs of a global service economy. It’s adegree program that instills in its graduates an interdisciplinary theoretical backgroundemphasizing the human services, psychology and sociology.”

“The cornerstone of the program is its ‘asset’ approach to care,” says Jim Glasson, USCB’sHuman Services Program specialist. “Students develop a philosophy that encourages anappreciation of the gifts and intrinsic value of others. As a result, they are fully prepared tomeet the needs of others in a vast array of work settings.”

Gaining Practical Experience

The Human Services Program stresses critical thinking, a factor that distinguishes it fromtraining or technical programs. Students are taught to apply a variety of theoreticalperspectives to experiential learning. The program’s focus is sharpened throughcollaboration with more than 100 individual agencies in Beaufort County alone. Studentsenrolled in the Human Services Program participate in three internships with theseagencies, a symbiotic arrangement that strengthens the community-service agencies whileallowing the students to gain practical experience working in real-life situations. Eachinternship requires 120 hours of service. The program hosted nearly 30 interns throughoutthe county this semester.

Student’s Perspective

One student intern is Corrie Frohnapfel, a Human Services major at USCB who expects tograduate in May. A return-to-college student, Corrie served nine years with the U.S. MarineCorps, including a seven-month stint in Afghanistan as an electronic-intelligence analystand another stint as a drill instructor at Parris Island. She separated from the corps as aMarine Staff Sergeant and enrolled at USCB intending to major in biology.

“I was talking with Dr. Mulkey in the computer lab one day and she asked, ‘Why do all of mygreatest sociology students always have another major?’” Subsequent conversations and apositive experience with Dr. Mulkey’s sociology class prompted her to change her major.

Since then, Corrie has served two internships, one with Rep. Joseph Wilson, who representsthe second congressional district in South Carolina, and the second with the BeaufortCounty Department of Juvenile Justice.

The first internship provided real-world experience with state governmental, political and community functions. The second gave Corrie her career direction. “When I graduate,”

Corrie says, “I think I’d like to start out in the Department of Juvenile Justice, the socialservices, perhaps working with fosterchildren. I’d like to get into teaching as well. I really care about what’s going on in my community and I want to have an effect on that.”

Twenty-seven students will earn a B.S. inHuman Services this year. Anotherindication of the program’s success is theinterest that two-year colleges in SouthCarolina have shown in affiliating with it.USCB has signed agreements with fivetechnical colleges to enable their students totransfer into the Human Services Program atUSCB with advanced standing.

“The program is a community-basedmodel with training and competenciesthat reflect the input of practicingexperts from the communities we serve,” Dr. Mulkey explains.

Tracking community priorities is theresponsibility of the program’s 23-memberadvisory board, composed of governmentofficials, doctors, lawyers, social servicesprofessionals and community leaders.”

Dr. Mulkey brings impeccable credentials tothe university. She earned a Ph.D. atColumbia University and went on to earn apostdoctoral certification at the University ofCalifornia at Los Angeles, becoming a Fellowof the National Institute of Mental Health.

She is widely published and the recipient ofnumerous grants. Most recently, the NationalInstitutes of Health granted $600,000 insupport to continue Dr. Mulkey’s cutting-edge research on social inequality and abilitygrouping in America’s schools. She servesfrequently as a consultant, an expert witnesson federal and civil trials, and as an editorialreviewer for leading journals in the field of sociology.

“The care and love Dr. Mulkey feels comes across in her teaching,” CorrieFrohnapfel says. “I love to just sit with her and listen to everything she has to say. She’sjust amazing.”

Dr. Lynn Mulkey, standing center, chair of the Department of Social Sciences at USCB, interacts with students on theNorth Campus of USCB. Student intern Corrie Frohnapfel, seated right, expects to graduate with a B.S. in Human Services in May.

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Ever notice how buildings serve differentpurposes? A bustling diner, an aluminum-clad high rise, a smoky bar, a place ofworship – each building exerts a singularinfluence on our behavior and guides ourinteraction with other people through itsdesign, shape and purpose. Each buildinginduces in us a distinct set of thoughtpatterns, each one appropriate to thestructure and its intended purpose.

And so it is with a university.

D. Martin Goodman of the Small Business DevelopmentCenter at USCB, shares business insights with DeborahDeLong, a Human Services major. The SBDC has helpedto create or save 70 jobs in the region in one year alone.

DEFINING AUNIVERSITYPeople and programs, not bricks and mortar, define a university

DEFINING AUNIVERSITYPeople and programs, not bricks and mortar, define a university

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Brick and mortar structures are the singlemost easily recognizable symbol of auniversity. Equally significant elements thatare far more difficult to visualize are thefaculty, staff and students and theirintangible teaching, research and public-service initiatives.

At the University of South Carolina Beaufort,both tangible and intangible elements are ina state of simultaneous and complementarygrowth. The university’s Gateway to HiltonHead Campus has completed the first phaseof an ambitious multi-phase master plan. Atthe same time, the academic, administrative,social and collaborative forces that supportthe physical structure of the university areemerging as well.

Once a small, two-year college with a singlecampus in Beaufort, S.C., the University of South Carolina Beaufort has taken aleading role in a community initiative toredirect the economy of the Lowcountry,shifting its emphasis from retirementcommunities and military installations toclusters of high-tech enterprises supporting aknowledge-based economy.

To fulfill its new role and mission as abaccalaureate institution, USCB expandedbeyond its original campus in Beaufort. TheHargray Building, named in honor of agenerous corporate donor, was the first to be completed on the university’s Gatewayto Hilton Head Campus, a 200-acre tract of land on Route 278 in Bluffton. TheHargray Building houses classrooms plusfaculty, staff and administrative offices. TheScience & Technology Building soonfollowed, as did the high-tech library. To accommodate the students who wantedto live on campus, the university, throughthe Beaufort-Jasper Higher EducationCommission built Palmetto Village, a multi-structure housing complex ofattractive apartments.

Amazingly, the second campus – classrooms,laboratories, offices, support services and thequad that connects these essential elements –emerged from a pine forest in just two years. By2004, the University of South CarolinaBeaufort was a four-year university with twocampuses, affordable academic programstargeted to meet specific regional needs, and agrowing student body.

Today, USCB offers 12 baccalaureate-degree programs -- in hospitality management, education,business, human services and more – all keenly attuned to support the university’s oft-statedmission to “respond to regional needs, draw upon regional strengths, and prepare graduates toparticipate successfully in communities here and around the globe.” At the same time, morethan 20 graduate degree programs are accessible through the university. USCB’s faculty and staffnumber more than 120, and its 1,500 students enjoy a 12:1 faculty-student ratio.

Unseen Elements Support Academic Programs

The academic classrooms, the library, faculty offices and the student apartments on USCB’stwo campuses denote the presence of the University of South Carolina Beaufort, but they donot fully define the unseen elements that support its academic programs.

In 2007, for example, the university broadened its range of academic programs. It attracted 17academic scholars to its growing faculty. The faculty developed an organizational structurecommensurate with baccalaureate status, including eight academic departments, eachpositioned for additional growth. It established new governance procedures. And itwelcomed the largest freshman class in its history.

At the same time, the university encouraged the development of student leadership byassisting the Student Government Association in writing its first constitution. It supportedthe USCB SGA when its leaders joined with other SGA leaders throughout South Carolina toshare information, objectives and potential initiatives. And it sponsored debates andcreated many opportunities for students to emerge as leaders both inside and outside the classroom.

Dynamic growth in academic, cultural and community programs was one of the primefactors that attracted Michael D. Parsons to the university. Parsons joined USCB as ExecutiveVice Chancellor for Academic Affairs in January after a national search.

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“What attracted me was that USCB seemed to be a place of dreamers,” Parsons says.“People imagined there was going to be a campus here and a few years later, there was acampus here. It seemed to be a place of great opportunity. All universities haveopportunities, of course, but there are very few in America today that have theopportunities that USCB has – literally to create itself. ”

As the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Parsons provides leadership for theuniversity’s academic development. He carries admirable credentials, having beenrecruited from Minnesota State University Morehead, where he served as Dean of theCollege of Education and Human Services.

“There seems to be a desire here to have a hometown university,” Parsons says. “And this isthe hometown university for this region. From everything I can determine, from readingand talking with the faculty, the community has embraced the university. I saw anopportunity for a great university-community partnership and an opportunity for both of us to develop together.”

Community Partnerships Foster Growth

Instances of a university-community partnership abound. The Center of Excellence inCollaborative Learning at USCB hosted nearly 40 teachers from throughout SouthCarolina at the university’s first Teacher Institute on Character Education last summer.Five distinguished scholars from Boston University led a series of sessions and activitiesfor teachers, all focused on sharing a broad range of research findings on charactereducation. The program was sponsored by the Center of Excellence and the StateDepartment of Education.

Funded by the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education, the center of Excellencein Collaborative Learning studies pre-service and in-service education. It maintainspartnerships and alliances with a wide range of community and social service agencies in aneffort to engage them in the work and development of the center.

Yet another active university-community partnership involves the extensive internshipelement of USCB’s Human Services Degree Program, led by Dr. Lynn Mulkey, professor of

sociology and chair of the Department ofSocial Sciences.

“We have a very extensive, elaboratecollaboration with local counties,” Dr.Mulkey says. “There are more than 100agencies that work with us in BeaufortCounty alone. They provide field-experience internships and benefit from the enthusiasm and professionalism of our students.”

Another partnership is the USCB TeacherCadet Program, which encourages local highschool students with exemplary leadershipand interpersonal skills to consider enteringthe teaching profession. Last year, theuniversity honored four top high schoolstudents with Sullivan-Graham DynamicTeacher Cadet Scholarships for outstandingachievement. Now in its 23rd year, theprogram is part of a national parternershipthat reaches 2,500 academically gifted highschool upperclassmen across the nation.

Academic Partnerships Offer Students Opportunities

Besides community partnerships, USCB alsoengages in academic partnerships. TheUniversity of South Carolina Beaufort and Georgia Tech Savannah signed anarticulation agreement last year that enablesUSCB students to gain direct admission to

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the Georgia Tech Regional EngineeringProgram in Savannah.

In their junior and senior years, USCB studentswill pursue Bachelor of Science degrees in civilengineering, computer engineering, electricalengineering, environmental engineering andmechanical engineering.

In another academic partnership, students atMidlands, Greenville, Horry-Georgetownand Florence-Darlington technical collegesmay complete the requirements for anassociate’s degree in Human Services at theirschool and then enroll in USCB’s B.S. inHuman Services.

“It’s a great partnership,” Dr. Mulkey says. “Weenjoy the opportunity to work with studentsaround the state to prepare them for thechanging needs of their communities.”

Assisting Local Entrepreneurs

One program that provides a directeconomic benefit to the Lowcountry isconducted by USCB’s Small BusinessDevelopment Center. From offices on both USCB campuses, the Small BusinessDevelopment Center helped to create or save 70 jobs in one year alone by assisting clients to secure $4.76 million in business loans.

The SBDC is a consulting service for thoseseeking to start a business or expand an existing business in Beaufort or Jasper counties. The service is confidentialand free of charge. By partnering with localbanks, economic development boards and partnerships, local government, local chambers of commerce and Main Street businesses, the community-outreachprogram strives to create a climate that will nurture startup businesses and expandexisting businesses, thus creating greatereconomic prosperity for residentsthroughout the Lowcountry.

“We’re very happy with the results of our efforts…and the benefit to ourcommunity,” says D. Martin Goodman, the SBDC’s interim regional director and area manager. “Our hope is that even more clients will achieve their dreamsof owning their own business and therebyspur even more economic development inthe Lowcountry…”

OLLI Initiative Garners National Attention

Another strong model of a university-community alliance is USCB’s OsherLifelong Learning Institute, which providesnearly 300 educational courses to more than1,000 members throughout the region. The largest program in the USCB Office of Community Outreach, OLLI received a $1 million endowment last year from the Bernard Osher Foundation to expandthe scope of its non-credit courses, attracttop-tier faculty to teach them and broadenthe program’s reach in the community.

The $1 million endowment was the thirdsignificant financial contribution made bythe Bernard Osher Foundation over the past three years. Based on its enviable recordof conducting a lifelong learning program for 16 years, USCB was invited by thefoundation in 2005 to join more than 100select colleges and universities nationwide in hosting an Osher Lifelong LearningInstitute. The foundation bestowed$100,000 grants on the university to supportthe program that year and again in 2006.

Strengthening Community Ties

The Robert Smalls Symposium, a two-dayseminar hosted by USCB last year tocelebrate the legacy of the former slaveturned Civil War hero and statesman, servedto strengthen the university’s cultural ties tothe community. Southern artist JonathanGreen, internationally acclaimed for hiswork depicting the traditions of family,community and life in the Lowcountry, wasthe featured panelist.

The symposium coincided with the 145thanniversary of Smalls’s daring act ofabsconding with a Confederate steamshipand turning it over to Union forces. The heroic act led Smalls to embark upon a Naval career and later to serve five termsin Congress.

Academic growth, the new organizational structure, partnerships withacademia, government, industry and the community – these unseenelements help to define USCB and prepare it to serve as a catalyst for theeducational, economic and cultural enrichment of the Lowcountry.

It all began more than a decade ago when Shannon Smith left FrancisMarion University in Florence, S.C., to marry Kendall Erickson. Fouryears later, Kendall, Shannon and their children, Mariah and Josh,were happily ensconced in Beaufort. Shannon was teaching at HoneyTree Preschool.

“I realized I was not going to be able to continue doing what I knew I wascalled to do without obtaining my degree,” she says. And so, in 1995, sheenrolled as a return-to-college student in a University of South CarolinaAiken degree program delivered on USCB’s Historic BeaufortCampus. Although her diploma says “USC Aiken,” Shannon identifieswith USCB.

In the spring of 1998, while completing her bachelor’s degree in earlychildhood education, Shannon purchased Hobbit Hill Preschool inShell Point and set about revising the school’s curriculum andoperating procedures. She taught in the classroom, increased thestaff, trained the teachers, introduced new educational programsand lowered the student-teacher ratio. In two years, the school wasfilled to capacity.

Today, Hobbit Hill Preschool in Shell Point is one of three schools inthe system. Hobbit Hill, Too, on Lady’s Island, is the largest, andHobbit Hill Cottage, near Beaufort Memorial Hospital, is thesmallest. In total, 56 staff members provide preschool instructionand before and after-school care for 350 children ranging in age from six weeks to 12 years of age.

The South Carolina Child Care Association, private child-care and early-education providers who monitor regulatory issues for the industry, recognized Shannon’s talents and experience. Its members elected her first to a two-year term on their board of directors and then to three consecutive one-year terms as their president.

Last fall, Shannon was elected to fill an unexpired term in the SouthCarolina House of Representatives from District 124 in Beaufort.Now, as a state legislator, she advocates better educational funding,stiffer penalties for child predators and improved economicdevelopment for her district.

“I could not be where I am today without the University ofSouth Carolina system,” Shannon acknowledges. “Thefaculty members at USCB do not just have you in a class,they follow who you are personally. When we were namedthe Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year in2003, I got phone calls from the university congratulatingme. That shows they’re proud of what the students and theuniversity accomplish together. They put me, one of theirgraduates, in a position to be successful.”


Rep. Shannon S. Erickson, R-Dist. 124, on the portico of the old Beaufort College Building of USCB. After completing a B.S. in education through a USC Aiken/BeaufortPartnership Program, Ms. Erickson went on to open a business and win a seat in theSouth Carolina Legislature. She is a Beaufort County legislative representative.

From USCB to theFrom USCB to theSouth CarolinaSouth Carolina

State HouseState HouseThe instruction Shannon S. Erickson received in the EarlyChildhood Education Program at the University of SouthCarolina Beaufort proved to be a steppingstone not only to herown business, but also to prominence in her field and to a seat inthe South Carolina Legislature.

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GORDON K. HAIST: A Faculty Statesman and Student Coach

Gordon Haist sits pensively, pondering the question. Hisresponse comes slowly, in carefully measured sentencesdelivered in hushed tones.

“The study of philosophy enables students to think – to ask freshquestions. It enables them to address things from what theydiscover to be a different perspective in relationship to what othersare thinking. It gives them a greater resource in terms of their ownability to wonder.”

Gordon K. Haist, Ph.D., professor of philosophy at the University ofSouth Carolina Beaufort, has made a career of helping studentsdevelop critical thinking abilities and examine philosophicalperspectives, issues and concepts. Using well-honed coaching skills,he encourages students to address issues in a rich, multifaceted way.

Thirty-four years of teaching and scholarship at USCB have earnedhim the title of faculty statesman and student coach.

One of the weighty issues he has been pondering lately is the future direction of the university four years after it attainedbaccalaureate status.

“We are having to struggle with our own identity,” he says. “Are wegoing to become a primarily humanities or science-orientedinstitution? I would like to see USCB remain a diverse rather than aspecialized institution. That has to do with the fact that I’m inhumanities, but it also has to do with the need for an intellectualunderstanding of our modern world and what kids are going into.”

Haist entered the world of philosophy almost by accident. A musicmajor at Indiana University, he discovered that his interest in musicoutweighed his proficiency. Professor Henry Veatch, Jr., a Harvard-educated Aristotelian scholar in the Philosophy Department there,encouraged him to consider philosophy. Haist was enthralled by its intricacies.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in philosophy at Indiana and adoctorate at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1974,Haist accepted a position as an assistant professor at the Universityof South Carolina’s regional campus at Beaufort, the forerunnerof USCB. He has been influencing the direction of the universityever since, first as Chairman of the Curriculum Committee, later asDirector of the Liberal Studies Program. Today, he serves aschairman Emeritus of the Curriculum Committee and Chairmanof the Faculty Development Committee. He teaches four coursesin philosophy and is preparing a grant application for a two-semester course in intellectual history. He and a co-author recentlycompleted a collection of essays entitled “Revisiting Mysticism,”now awaiting publication.

Designed primarily for transfer and non-traditional students, theLiberal Studies Program enables students to tailor a uniqueacademic curriculum that will support their vocational goals.

“Dr. Haist was the ideal choice for this program for several reasons,”says Dr. Babet Villena-Alvarez, chair of the Department of Humanitiesand Fine Arts, which encompasses the Liberal Studies Program. “As aphilosophy professor, he understands what the students are trying toachieve. Because he has been at USCB for more than 30 years, heunderstands our entire curriculum, not just philosophy. Thisfundamental knowledge of our curriculum enables him to assiststudents in determining what courses will support their lifetime goals.”

Haist and his wife, Lillian, a middle school librarian, live in Beaufort.Their son, Gordon B., earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at St.Andrews College in Scotland. He is a bond analyst with MorganKeegan & Company in Memphis. Their daughter, Jennifer, acounselor at Battery Creek Elementary School, is about to pursueher doctorate.

If it is funded, Haist’s two-semester course in intellectual history will explore the role of the university in today’s academic and secular environments.

“We need a real comprehension of what a university is,”Haist says. “We need to initiate interactive exchanges andexposures to develop new ideas and perspectives. Ourcampus community needs to develop a deeper life of themind, which comes from testing our ideas against those ofothers, and enables us to deepen our understanding of ourown perspective and those of others.”


Faculty Profiles

Having invested 34 years in teaching and scholarship at USCB, Gordon K.Haist, Ph.D., professor of philosophy, is considered a faculty statesman anddedicated student coach.

Stud

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A frightening combat experience proved to be a major turning point in the life of Jeremiah Glenn, a U.S. Navy medical corpsmanassigned to the Second Marine Division as a combat medic in war-torn Afghanistan.

As a senior security patrol corpsmen, Glenn was providing medicalcare for the troops assigned to secure a forward operating base nearKhandahar in 1995.

“We were on patrol one night when we got shot at by insurgents withRPGs (rocket-propelled grenades),” he recalls. “It was pretty intense.I couldn’t think of anything but my wife, Akelah, and my daughter,Taraya. When I got back to the states, I vowed never to leave my familyto do something that dangerous. I decided to pursue my education,and that brought me to the University of South Carolina Beaufort.”

Now, three years later, Jeremiah Glenn is applying that same grittydetermination to his new role as a return-to-college student at USCB.He is pursuing a double major – psychology and business –maintaining a 3.95 grade point average, and consistently earning aplace on the national dean’s list, the USC President’s List and theChancellor’s List at USCB.

At the same time, Glenn is actively involved in a host of campusactivities. He is President of the Student Government Association atUSCB and a member of the Board of Presidents of the SouthCarolina Student Government Association as well. One of Glenn’sinitiatives, the Think Globally Campaign, encourages USCBstudents to weigh carefully the global impact of such pressing issuesas immigration and social inequality.

Jeremiah is supporting his family financially while he and his wifeattend college full time. He works as an associate sales representativefor Hewlett-Packard and relies on stipends for his service as studentgovernment president and as a student ambassador at USCB. Heearned several scholarships, thanks to his scholastic achievements.

Glenn is on track to complete his course work and graduate in May of2009. And then it’s on to law school. “I’m looking at JD-MBAprograms now,” he explains.

Born and raised in Alexander City, Ala., Jeremiah graduated fromBenjamin Russell High School in 2000, then devoted the next fiveyears to his military career. All of that seems so long ago now.

The soft-spoken senior credits Prof. Roy Darby, associate professor of psychology, with influencing two decisions: to pursue a psychology degree and to continue his education beyond theundergraduate level.

“Roy Darby is a mentor,” Glenn says. “When I came here, I was goinginto hospital administration, then I took Psychology 101 with Dr.Darby. He was such a great professor that I fell in love with the field ofpsychology. Because of him, I switched my major to psychology.

“Dr. Darby and Dr. J. Herman Blake, my second mentor, challengedme to look at education beyond the undergraduate level. I wasn’t asconfident then. But now I feel like the sky’s the limit.”

JEREMIAHGLENN

SGA President With Compassion and Commitment

A combat experience in Afghanistan convinced Jeremiah Glenn to pursue a college education. Today, he’s President of the Student Government Association at USCB andis considering law school.

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In September, six focus groups representing students, faculty, staff, athletics leadership, alumni and the community weighed in on mascot choices. In October, the mascot steering committeerecommended a final design, which the chancellor approved.

Now it was time for the official adoption celebration to begin. OnTuesday morning, January 22, Chancellor Jane T. Upshaw, membersof the faculty, staff, students and dignitaries gathered in Beaufort forthe North Campus unveiling ceremony. To a chorus of cheers andapplause, celebrants unveiled the new university mascot painted onthe wall of the newly redecorated student lounge.

At noon, the group reassembled in Bluffton for the South Campusceremony. As the crowd cheered, an image of the new Sand Sharkmascot was unfurled from the top of the Hargray Building, thecentral administration and classroom facility on campus.

The twin unveilings marked the official start of USCB Sand SharkWeek. The days were filled with shark-themed games, entertainment,picnics, a bonfire, a shark movie, a concert, a trivia contest, a sidewalkart exhibit – even a 28-foot water slide shaped like a shark -- all incelebration of the official USCB mascot.

Having been involved in the selection process from the beginning,the university community has come together to embrace its newmascot and the athletic teams it will represent with pride.

It’s not easy to adopt a mascot.

Following a comprehensive, ten-month selection process thatinvolved students, faculty, the administration and staff, and amajor contribution by the community it serves, USCB has officiallyadopted the Sand Shark as its mascot, the colors of Navy blue, sandand garnet as its official athletic colors, and a logo that willrepresent the institution and the region to which it is so closely tied.

Why does the University of South Carolina Beaufort even need itsown mascot? After all, USCB is a senior institution in the Universityof South Carolina system. And USC is widely known as the“Gamecocks,” a nickname it has borne proudly for nearly a century.

While USCB is very much a part of the University of South Carolinasystem, it felt a strong need to establish its own athletic identity, onethat represents its unique strengths and the distinctive aspects ofthe Lowcountry. Other USC senior campuses have adopted theirown mascots and their own athletic colors – USC Aiken, forinstance, is the Pacers, attired in blue and garnet. USC Upstate isthe Spartans, attired in green and black.

Two major factors drove the search for a mascot. One was USCB’sdramatic expansion in 2004 from a regional campus of the USCsystem to a fully accredited baccalaureate degree-grantinginstitution of the University of South Carolina system. The secondwas the decision to sanction intercollegiate athletics at USCB last fall by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

Work on selecting a mascot began in earnest last April. USCBsurveyed faculty, staff, students, alumni and the community togather suggestions for a suitable choice.

In May 2007, Dr. Lynn W. McGee, vice chancellor of Advancement,and Kim Abbott, the athletics director, formed a 14-person mascotsteering committee to evaluate the suggestions. The committeenarrowed the list to 10 alternatives and consulted with trademarkand design professionals on the feasibility of supporting the finalchoice both graphically and legally. The committee then presentedits findings to the chancellor and administrative council.

In July, the committee announced its selection of a mascot andathletic colors. A professional design firm began developingmascot logos and word mark options. The firm returned with siximages, which the committee narrowed to two, and sent back to berefined as semi-final selections.

Mascot


USCB AND THECOMMUNITYADOPT A MASCOT

Kim Abbott, director of athletics, introduces the new mascot at a formal unveiling ceremony.

Photo by Stephen Berend of Bluffton Today

When he was 17, Darwin Bashaw walked outof the mountains of western Virginia andmade his way down to Goshen Pass, a tinyholler perched 1,300 feet above theShenandoah Valley. He caught the firstrailroad train west, got off at Knoxville,enlisted in the U.S. Army and went off tofight in World War II.

He was assigned to the United States ArmyAir Corps, which eventually became the U.S.Air Force. He earned a college degree whileserving in the military, then enrolled in amaster’s program at Virginia Tech aftercompleting his military service.

In 1965, Bashaw arrived at what was then theregional campus of the University of SouthCarolina at Beaufort. He began by teachingbusiness courses but, before long, he wasappointed director of the college. He choseLarry Rowland, then a young historyprofessor, to serve as his assistant director. Forthe next 13 years, they worked side by side.

“He was a fabulous character,” Rowland says.“He was a child of the depression. He grewup in a place where they didn’t always have alot of food, so when he was appointeddirector, he became one of the mostparsimonious managers of public money I’veever known. He was extremely conscientiousand forthright and honest. Everybody in theuniversity who ever worked with Darwinloved the guy.”

An interest in community service led Bashawto join the Beaufort Rotary Club. When theSea Island Rotary Club spun off to form itsown chapter in 1980, Bashaw became one of35 charter members. “Darwin was alwaysinterested in children, in helping them torealize their educational potential,” saysformer President John Perrill, senior vicepresident of the Ameris Bank.

student must attend USCB. It has to besomeone local, someone involved in thecommunity. And then we consider grades,SAT scores and extracurricular activities.”

The current recipient of the John PerrillScholarship is Jennifer Taylor, a third-yearstudent enrolled in the Human ServicesProgram. She is expected to earn abachelor’s degree next year.

“Years ago, the candidates we selected wouldcome to our meetings and Darwin wouldintroduce them to our Rotary Club at leasttwice a year,” Perrill says. “He would ask themto talk about what the scholarship meant tothem. He was so very proud of them.”

Over the last 20 years, beginning withthe Darwin B. Bashaw Scholarship and extending through the John PerrillScholarship, the Sea Island RotaryClub has helped to support the academicachievements of more than 25 studentsat USCB.

In 1983, Bashaw retired from USCB. Threeyears later, the Sea Island Rotary Clubestablished the Darwin B. BashawScholarship in his honor. Rowland gave upthe position of associate dean to concentrateon being a history professor. In 1999, theuniversity bestowed upon him the titleDistinguished Professor Emeritus.

“Larry and Darwin were the best of friends,”Perrill recalls. “They were just like brothers.”

“We didn’t have much money and yet we educated a lot of kids and got them going,”Rowland adds. “Anybody who was either astudent of Darwin’s or was in the school whenhe was the dean remembers him fondly.”

Bashaw died about four years ago in a placenot far from his beloved AppalachianMountains. Over the course of his longjourney, Darwin Bashaw touched the lives ofmany people. And now, thanks to anendowed scholarship from the Sea IslandRotary Club, he continues to do so today.

“He was very active. He served on theeducation committee. He did so much forthe Sea Island Rotary Club and the childrenof this region that in 1986, we got a group ofpeople together and started the DarwinBashaw scholarship.”

Today, thanks to a generous endowment bythe Sea Island Rotary Club, the Darwin B.Bashaw Scholarship awards $2,500 annuallyto the outstanding USCB student of the year. The current scholarship recipient isBrantley Wilson, a business major whograduated from the university in December.Scholarship funds come mostly fromfundraisers the chapter conducts each year.

In 1972, the university named Bashaw as itsDean and appointed Rowland AssociateDean for Academic Affairs. “It was a well-deserved honor,” Rowland says. “He gotacademic rank in the university system.”

Over time, Bashaw devoted his considerabletalents to expanding the campus. He builtthe classroom building behind the Beaufort College building, and he built thelibrary wing attached to it. “We didn’t have a proper library, so we had to build that,”Rowland says. “And I think he acquired theBeaufort Elementary School, which is nowthe Performing Arts Center building. Herenovated it later.”

The 1970s was a period of sustained growth for the campus. “We must havetripled our enrollment during that time,” Rowland recalls.

Today, the Sea Island Rotary Club payshomage to two of its members, oneposthumously, by awarding two scholarshipsannually, each valued at $2,500, and eachgranted on the basis of academic merit,excellence and potential. The Sea IslandRotary Club authorized the secondscholarship in 1989 to honor John Perrill, the Rotary Foundation chairman and former president.

“We look for several requirements,” Perrillsays. “Financial need is first. Then, the

Sea Island Rotary ClubMaintains its


20-year

Generosity

John Perrill, Rotary Foundation chairman and former president, congratulates Jennifer Taylor, a third-year student at USCB, on her selection as a recipient of a$2,500 annual scholarship in his name. The Sea Island Rotary Club honors two of its members, former USCBDean Darwin Bashaw and John Perrill, by awarding scholarships to deserving students each year.

Scholarship Commitment

Arthur M. Blank to be Awarded Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters at USCB Commencement

The University of South Carolina Beaufort will honor Arthur M. Blank at its annual commencement ceremony May 2. Blank, co-founder of The Home Depot and owner and CEO of the AtlantaFalcons and the Georgia Force, was selected to receive the honorarydegree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of SouthCarolina for his outstanding achievements as an entrepreneur andphilanthropist and for his remarkable leadership in business,professional sports, and nonprofit organizations.

Blank personifies the model of giving back to the community.Through the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation and throughpersonal donations, he has bestowed more than $259 million onnonprofit organizations supporting children, education, the arts,parks and green space.

Bachelor of Science in Nursing ProgramGains Accreditation from the S.C. Board of Nursing

USCB’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing program earnedaccreditation from the South Carolina Board of Nursing in January.This is the final requirement in an extensive state-level approvalprocess. Facility plans are under approval and applications arebeing accepted. Junior- and senior-level courses will be offered inthe spring of 2009.

“It has been a long journey, but this marks a major step forward forthe BSN program at USCB,” says Dr. Susan Williams, Ph.D., R.N.“This nursing program will really open doors for our students andmeet a critical regional need for BSN qualified nurses.”

Hilton Head Monthly Profiles USCB Head Baseball Coach Rick Sofield

Former Major Leaguer Rick Sofield took time out from theformidable task of organizing USCB’s first baseball program to be interviewed for a profile in Hilton Head Monthly magazine. A former first-round draft pick for the Minnesota Twins in 1975,Sofield broke into the big leagues in April 1979 as an outfielder forthe Twins. Over a three-year career with the team, he appeared in 207 games, scoring 69 runs in 612 at-bats as an outfielder anddesignated hitter. In all, his major league experience spanned eight years.

Sofield has participated in America’s pastime at every level. Afterplaying for the Twins, he coached minor league teams. Now heserves as USCB’s first head baseball coach. “I am very blessed for all of the things I have done, seen and accomplished in my life,”Sofield told the magazine. “The Lord has permitted me to do all of these things. I have just worked extremely hard and polishedwhat I was given.”

USCB Hosts WorldMusical Premiere of aCommissioned Piece byComposer Kenji Bunch

USCB had the distinct honor of hosting the world premiere of an original piece of music commissioned by donations to the USCB Festival Series and dedicated to Professor Mary Whisonant,the festival series founder. The premiere took place at thePerforming Arts Center on the Historic Beaufort Campus in March.

Considered one of the most prominent American composers of his generation, Kenji Bunch created the first piece of original workfor the festival series. Hailed as “a composer to watch,” by The NewYork Times, Bunch composed the piece for the piano, violin, celloand viola. A violist, Bunch joined American classical pianist ErikaNickrenz, Grammy-nominated violinist Jesse Mills and cellist Edward Arron on the PAC stage for the world’s first performance.

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA BEAUFORTOne University Boulevard

Bluffton, SC 29909

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