OOC News
March 2014
newsletter
Page 2
• Institutional
Effectiveness
Page 3
• Campus Citizen
of the Month
Page 4
• Ice Updates
• Online Education
Page 5
• One Carolina
• Chancellor
Remarks Cont’d
Page 6
• Athletic Updates
Chancellor Remarks
O
nly two months into the spring semester
and the campus routine has been
interrupted by two weather events that
forced closures and resulted in lost time in
class and lost productivity. Nonetheless, we are
continuing to press forward and together we are
making progress toward our strategic goals.
Here are a few quick updates:
Tobacco and Wellness: At the
end of last semester the university launched
a wellness survey that included questions
concerning movement toward a smoke-free
and tobacco-free campus. As a highly ranked
comprehensive university focused on critical
thinking, the university will use the survey as
a springboard for discussions on the impact of
smoking and tobacco use. Many universities in
the U.S., including two universities in the USC
system, Upstate and Columbia, have adopted a
tobacco-free policy and by doing so have taken
a proactive step toward a healthier learning and
work environment for students, faculty, staff, and
guests to the campus.
STEM/Liberal Arts MBA: USC Aiken
will soon be adding another Master’s degree. The
Commission on Higher Education has approved
the MBA for STEM and Liberal Arts students.
We are poised to begin the program as soon as we
have received the “green light” from our regional
accrediting body, SACS-COC. This innovative
new program will become one of only three in the
nation that is designed to help students who did
not major in business as undergraduates to obtain
an MBA. USC Aiken is a campus that graduates
students in a variety of disciplines, so it is believed
that the MBA will provide a complementary
graduate program for students graduating in
STEM, Humanities, Social and Behavioral
Sciences, and the Arts.
Enrollment Update: Undergraduate
applications for fall 2014 enrollment are up
from last year at this time by 18%. The increase
in applications reflects a growing “first choice”
demand for the USC Aiken experience.
Eat, Drink (Coffee), and Be
Merry: Starbucks has opened to rave customer
reviews. The new dining facility gives the campus
community more options and gives students
meal services later in the evening. The appearance
is inviting and it provides this university, that
prides itself on a strong sense of community,
with another attractive place to gather together.
The initial financial report has been positive and
encouraging. Starbucks continues to add items to
their menu, so if you have not visited, consider
going…or going back.
Budget Matters: The budget forum
originally planned for February, but rescheduled
to March 6 due to the ice storm, has received
positive comments from those who attended
Continued on Page 5
From the Office of Institutional Effectiveness
2014 Great Colleges
to Work For Survey
2014 NSSE Survey Begins
USC Aiken has launched its 2014
participation in the National Survey of
Student Engagement (NSSE). Freshmen
and seniors on the USC Aiken campus
will be joining with their counterparts
from more than 600 institutions
across the United States to provide
important feedback on areas such as
student-faculty interactions, the level of
academic challenge, and the quality of
the campus environment. The survey
takes about fifteen minutes to complete.
Faculty, staff, and non-participants
can do their part by encouraging our
freshmen and seniors to complete
the survey. All participants will
receive a 10% discount coupon that is
redeemable at the USC Aiken Bookstore
and a local restaurant coupon. Students
who complete the survey will also be
entered into a drawing for a chance to
win a Kindle Touch (worth $100) or
a portable Coca Cola Cooler (worth
$45). Students must check their USC
Aiken email accounts to participate.
Participants can pick up their coupons
from the Office of Institutional
Effectiveness, H&SS 101.
Between Monday, March 17 and
Monday April 14, faculty and staff
will be contacted by Modern Think
to complete the “Great Places to
Work” survey for the Chronicle
of Higher Education. When you
receive the invitation, please take the
time to complete the survey; your
anonymous and frank response is
important feedback that will allow us
to effect initiatives for the continuing
improvement of the institution.
Questions about the survey may be
directed to Dr. Lloyd A. Dawe.
Salary Enhancement Planning and Prioritization Committee
The Salary Enhancement Planning
and Prioritization Committee has met
and begun its work to provide the
Chancellor with a recommendation,
based on analysis and discussion, of how
best to prioritize future salary increases
at the time funding becomes available
to help achieve parity. The committee
is currently reviewing the Staff Salary
Study, the Faculty Salary Study, and
the model proposed by Botsch and
Folsom (1989) entitled, Market
Inequity: Incorporating this Critical
Element into Faculty Salary Plans.
Three broad questions are driving our
work: Is the current methodology for
measuring inequities appropriate?
How might we systematically address
existing inequities and move toward
Page 2
parity in salaries in a manner that is
fair for all employees? What are the
funding needs and possible resources
to address the plan? This committee
will not be making recommendations
regarding specific amounts for potential
increases; rather, it is working to provide
a general approach to the way salary
enhancements should be prioritized
given uncertainty related to timing and
available dollars to fund permanent
salary increases. The final report will be
delivered in May of 2014. Questions
regarding the work of the committee
can be directed to the Chair or to the
nine members of the committee who
represent a wide variety of perspectives.
Faculty, staff, and student employees
may also contact their appropriate
representative with thoughts and issues.
The membership of the committee is:
Committee Chair: Dr. Lloyd A. Dawe
Faculty Assembly Representative:
Dr. Allen Dennis
Faculty Welfare Committee
Representative: Mr. Karl Fornes
Classified Employees Assembly
Representative: Ms. Angel Miano
Student Government Representative:
Mr. Alex Oliver
AAUP Representative: Dr. Bob Botsch
Budget Manager: Ms. Sandy Besley
Human Resources Representative:
Ms. Maria Chandler
At large – Adjunct – Mr. Bob Anzuoni
At large – Part-time staff – Ms. Brittany
Shaw
Click here to return to Table of Contents
Congratulations to our Campus Citizen John Hutchens
C A M P US
C IT IZEN
of the Month
T
he Campus Citizen of the Month
award is given in recognition of
good citizenship. All faculty, classified
and unclassified staff, and university
partners who have been with the
University for one year and are in good
standing are eligible. The nomination
remains active indefinitely in the
pool of candidates. The nomination
form must be signed by the nominee’s
supervisor and sent to the nominee’s
Vice Chancellor in that unit. The
criteria to be used in the nomination
are:
John Hutchens
Director of Special Programs
at the Ruth Patrick Science Education Center
Congratulations to John Hutchens, Director of Special Programs at the
RPSEC, USC Aiken’s March Campus Citizen of the Month. Thanks to his
efforts, he will receive a $20 gift card, a sign for his desk, and a parking spot.
In his nomination, a peer stated John was named to his current position
because of his past success with providing leadership for our numerous and
varied special events. John began as an Educational Technology Specialist
for the RPSEC and was eager to provide assistance in other areas, and his
initiative, creativity, loyalty and dedication were soon recognized as being
superb. He soon became the key person for our special events and was able
to provide the leadership necessary to improve the success of those events
which include but are not limited to: Science Education Enrichment Day
(SEED), Traveling Science and Mathematics Demonstration Program,
Scientists with Traveling Resources And Neat Demonstrations, Future City
Competition, Earth & Sky Night, Camp Invention, and Spring Break
Science Camps. He is also an instructor of student programs for K-12
students visiting the university.
It was also stated assured that he works diligently to ensure activities
are a resounding success. He takes ownership of his tasks and consistently
performs them well.
In recognition of his initiative and dedication, John Hutchens has been
named Campus Citizen of the Month. Congratulations John!
Page 3
• Initiative/Creativity: Exhibits
ingenuity and resourcefulness.
Examples: Improved work
methods, efficiency within the
department.
• Loyalty/Dedication: Willing to
go the “extra mile” without being
asked.
• Positive Attitude: Maintains
effective relationships with others
both on and off campus; serves as
role model. Example: Consistently
delivers prompt, friendly service.
• Leadership: Acknowledge those
whose efforts have inspired and
supported the performance and
achievement of others.
Monday Group will
review the nominations
and select each
month’s winner.
Contact Maria
Chandler at
MariaC@USCA.edu
for more information.
Click here to return to Table of Contents
Ice Damage on
USC Aiken Campus
Online Education
Percentage of Students looking to online learning increasing
D
ue to the recent ice storm,
severe damage was inflicted
on some trees in the quad and
on the unimproved acreage
off of Bell Road. The University
brought in arborists to conduct tree
inspections and to advise us on the
health of our trees. The immediate
issues created by the ice storm
provided us with an opportunity to
undertake a full inspection of the
trees in the quad area to identify
any trees that were weakened or
damaged by the recent storm,
earlier weather events, age, or
insects and disease over time.
Immediately after the storm,
removal experts were engaged to
trim branches that were damaged
due to the ice storm. Following
the inspection, there are a few
additional trees that will need to
be trimmed or removed. These
actions will be taken to help ensure
the safety of our community and
visitors who gather, walk and sit
in the quad and to encourage
the future health and growth
of our existing trees. Most of our
hardwoods and pines in the quad
are in good shape or can be
saved with judicious care. But,
the few with irreparable damage
will be carefully and “surgically”
removed to keep the quad
beautiful, safe, and enjoyable for
years to come. When removal
begins, please be mindful of the
work and avoid walking in the area
with heavy equipment.
Page 4
F
or over ten years Pearson,
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
and Sloan Consortium have
been tracking and reporting
trends in online information. The
January 2014 report entitled
Grade Change: Tracking Online
Education in the United States
was recently released. The report
included the following:
The number of additional
students taking at least one online
course continued to grow at a rate
far in excess of overall enrollments,
but the growth rate was the lowest
in a decade.
• Between 2012-2013, the
number of students taking
at least one online course
increased by over 411,000 to
a new total of 7.1 million.
• The proportion of higher
education students taking
at least one online course
is at an all-time high of 33.5
percent (of the total number
of students-21.3 million)
The increase from 1.6 million
students taking at least one online
course in fall 2002 to 7.1 million for
fall 2012 represents a compound
annual growth rate of 16.1 percent.
For comparison, the overall higher
education student body has grown
at an annual rate of 2.5 percent
during this same period – from 16.6
million in fall 2002 to 21.3 million for
fall 2012.
Further, academic leaders
responding to the survey are very
optimistic that online learning will
continue to impact an increasing
fraction of higher education
students. Nearly two-thirds
responded that this was “very
likely,” with an additional onequarter calling it “likely.” Only one
percent said that it was “not at all
likely” that a majority of students
would be taking at least one online
course in the next five years.
Search Updates
Campus Catering Director
(Aramark)
Controller
(Due to incumbent’s
announced retirement)
Welcome Tim Martin!
Welcome Kevin Crawford!
Click here to return to Table of Contents
“Chancellor Remarks” continued
from Page 1
Schedule Finalized for One Carolina’s
Second Phase
T
he official timeline for the
second phase of OneCarolina
has been finalized, bringing to
light more details on system golive dates and support timeframes
scheduled over the next few years.
The Finance module is scheduled
to go live in July 2015, with Human
Resources and Payroll following
in January 2016. Scheduled to
launch with the Finance portion
are systems related to grants
and contracts, procurement and
accounts receivable. Payroll and
Human Resources will incorporate
functions like time and labor as well
as recruiting.
The remainder of 2016 will be spent
on of post-production support.
Teams will add functionality, fix
bugs and establish sustainment
models for the newly developed
systems for the years that follow.
Finance, HR and Payroll teams will
spend most of 2014 designing their
new systems to accommodate
both current and future business
processes. Project staffing and
training efforts have already begun
and are expected to continue
throughout the year.
and participated. As mentioned in previous
messages, a top priority is to create and
implement integrated budgeting and
planning processes on our campus. The
establishment of the forum is an important
step in creating a resource-allocation model
that reflects and supports institutional
academic, strategic, and capital-planning
priorities. The next step is to connect
planning and budget firmly through the
creation of a restructured Planning and
Budget Committee. The purpose of the
forum was to provide greater transparency,
provide information about how budget
decisions are made, help members of the
campus gain a broader view and a deeper
understanding of campus needs across all
functional areas, and give the campus the
opportunity to ask questions about the
priorities that have been set forth.
Knockout! For those who don’t
already know, this past Saturday we
attempted to break the record for the
world’s largest game of basketball Knockout.
The previous record was 571 people. USC
Aiken had 582 people come out and play
knockout at the Convocation Center
Saturday! So, unofficially, we believe we’ve
set a new world record. The event was
a great deal of fun and the strong sense
of community, energy, and pride in the
university were palpable in the Convocation
Center throughout the event. Thanks are
due to everyone who participated in making
this attempt a success. I was pleased to see
students, faculty, staff, members of the
greater Aiken community, and even guests
to the university come together to break
a world record! Special thanks are due
to Angel Miano, Ross Philbeck, Ahmed
Samaha, Brent Hager, Josh Small and
the USC Aiken Softball team for helping
with the logistics of the event. Angel has
submitted the evidence and materials to
Guinness, so soon we’ll have the official
word on our Guinness Book of World
Records attempt
Now that we have resettled into our
usual pace, I wish you all a very productive
and successful semester.
Sincerely,
Chancellor Jordan
Page 5
Click here to return to Table of Contents
Athletics Updates
Five Inducted Into Hall Of Fame
T
he University of South Carolina
Aiken athletic department
inducted five standouts into the Hall
of Fame on Feb. 7, 2014. The five
that joined the prestigious class were
Scott Brown, Dane Burkhart, Mandy
Gerolstein, Gary Gilmore and Dawn
Weeks.
Brown and Burkhart were
both members of three national
championship teams (2004, 2005 and
2006) during their time at USC Aiken.
They were also both named to the 200010 Pacer Golf All-Decade Team in early
July of 2011.
A three-time All-America selection,
Brown (2002-06) was a two-time
Peach Belt Conference Player of the
Year choice. Brown is currently second
all-time in career scoring in Pacer
history with a 73.06 scoring average in
113 rounds played. Brown was given
the Jack Nicklaus Award as the top
golfer in NCAA Division II in 2006.
He ended his career with nine wins as
an individual, which is a Peach Belt
Conference record. In October of 2011,
Brown became the first Pacer to earn a
PGA Tour card.
The Peach Belt Conference Co-Player
of the Year in 2005, Burkhart (2002-06)
is third all-time in USC Aiken career
scoring with a stroke average of 73.31
in 130 rounds played. Burkhart won
individual medalist honors during USC
Aiken’s 2005 national championship.
He also claimed the Jack Nicklaus award
Page 6
Several USC Aiken
Teams In National
Rankings
as the top player in NCAA Division II
in 2005. Burkhart, who won six times as
an individual in his career, was a threetime All-America selection.
Gerolstein was a three-time Peach Belt
Conference honoree. The 2007 PBC
Player of the Year, she also picked up
Academic All-America honors that same
season. In 2006, Gerolstein was tabbed
the PBC Tournament MVP. A two-time
PBC All-Tournament Team selection,
she was a seven-time PBC Player of the
Week honoree. Georlstein was the 2004
USC Aiken Female Freshman StudentAthlete of the Year and had her jersey
No. 14 retired.
Gilmore was named the Peach Belt
Conference, South Atlantic Region and
ABCA NCAA Division II Coach of the
Year in 1993. He posted four 40-win
seasons to start his baseball coaching
career. Gilmore recorded a schoolrecord 48 wins in 1991. He coached
one PBC Player of the Year and nine
all-conference performers. Gilmore had
a combined 256-102-2 record as the
Pacers’ skipper.
Weeks was a NAIA All-District
honoree in basketball and volleyball.
The two-sport standout was a fouryear starter in both sports. Weeks
guided the 1980 volleyball team to the
NAIA Nationals. She was named the
Presbyterian College Tournament MVP
in 1983. Weeks was also named the
Aiken County H.S. Co-Player of the
Year.
The University of South Carolina
Aiken currently has several teams in the
national rankings as of Wednesday, Feb.
26.
The men’s basketball team is currently
No. 8 in the latest national poll and
No. 1 in the Southeast Region. The
Pacers would host the NCAA Southeast
Regional if they secure the top spot
in the region after the conference
tournament. During the season, two
USC Aiken standouts eclipsed the
1,000-point plateau for their careers.
Ronald Zimmerman surpassed the mark
in December at King (Tenn.) while Rick
Alderman netted his 1,000th-career
point at home against Flagler. Recently,
Zimmerman became the PBC’s career
leader in made three-point field goals as
he currently has 307 as of Feb. 25.
The USC Aiken golf team, which will
see the links again March 10-11 at the
17th Annual Cleveland Golf Palmetto
Intercollegiate, sports a No. 2 national
ranking. The team last played at the
Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate,
taking first place overall despite being
the lone Division II team in the field.
The Pacers’ Kyle Godsman was named
PBC Golfer of the Week after finishing
third individually.
The baseball team is off to a fast start,
having already compiled a 10-2 mark
through Feb. 26. The Pacers are No. 2
in one poll while coming in at No. 3 in
another.
The USC Aiken men’s tennis team is
ranked No. 21 in the latest national poll
and number 4 in the regional rankings.
The team is currently 3-1.
Continued on Page 7
Click here to return to Table of Contents
“Athletics” continued from Page 6
India’s
Perfect Game
Golf Wins
Two Tournaments
The No. 2 USC Aiken
golf team has won
two tournaments
thus far during the
2013-14 season and
both featured an all
NCAA D-I field with
the exception of USC
Aiken.
On Feb. 22, senior softball pitcher
India Kornegay tossed USC Aiken’s
first perfect game in school history
with a 10-0 six-inning victory over
Paine on the first day of the Shaw
Challenge. Even more impressive
was the fact she struck out all 18
batters she faced, including 17
swinging. Her 18 strikeouts tied the
school record for most in a single
contest and marked the fifthhighest single-game strikeout total
in Peach Belt Conference history.
The following day in the win over
Mount Olive, Kornegay again tied
the school record with 18 strikeouts.
Earlier in the week, Kornegay
surpassed the 800-strikeout plateau
for her career, jumping into the top
five all-time in PBC history. On Oct. 8, the Pacers
wrapped up a firstplace performance
at the Firestone
Invitational, which
was hosted by Akron
at the Firestone
Country Club.
Hayden Letien was
named PBC Golfer
of the Week for his
performance.
The Pacers led from
start to finish at the
Wexford Plantation
Intercollegiate. Kyle
Godsman placed
third overall en route
to a PBC Golfer of the
Week honor.
Making Connections
Chancellor Jordan recently visited BMW
Manufacturing to discuss internship
opportunities and other ways USC Aiken can
collaborate to benefit our students.
Page 7
Click here to return to Table of Contents