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Research and Service: Programs

   

 

America Reads

Clemson University joined the America Reads Challenge by developing a program during the 1997/1998 academic year. The program consists of work-study students and volunteer students from a wide range of disciplines and volunteers from the surrounding community. As Richard Riley, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education explains, "The America Reads program promotes access to college by helping students finance post-secondary education costs while offering these same students the opportunity to pursue community service. This creates a win-win situation; young learners and communities gain from the services provided, and students (and the university) who might not ordinarily be able to share in the community service experience can now afford to be involved." America Reads tutors at Clemson University work with students at local elementary schools. An example of a project of the program funded through generous grants called Young Tigers Sustain the Upstate, the tutors and their assigned K-5 children are focusing their reading on sustainability issues in the Upstate.

For more information, please contact Julie Green

 

Call Me MISTER®

Now in its fourth year, the nationally acclaimed Call Me MISTER project seeks to recruit, train, certify and secure employment for 200 black males as elementary teachers in South Carolina’s public schools. The project combines the special strengths and resources of Clemson University with individualized instructional programs offered by three private, historically black colleges in South Carolina: Benedict College, Claflin University, and Morris College. In 2004-5, South Carolina State University, Midlands Technical College, Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College, Tri-County Technical College, and Trident Technical College also became partners in the Call Me MISTER program.

 

The project provides:

  • Tuition assistance to young men enrolled in Elementary Education
       at the three collaborating colleges.

  • An academic support system to help assure their success.
  • A cohort system for social and cultural support.

For more information, please contact Roy Jones, Ph.D.

Community Counseling Clinic

The CCC is the clinical training center for the graduate program in Counselor Education. Working under faculty supervision, advance graduate students provide quality, short-term, affordable counseling services for individuals, groups, couples, and families in the Clemson, SC area and surrounding communities.

For more information, please contact Elaine Hiott, M.Ed

 

Consortium for Advancing Interdisciplinary Research on Human Opportunity

The Consortium aims to promote and to facilitate externally funded research and scholarly projects that fall within “Family and Community Living,” an area of emphasis identified within Clemson University’s academic plan. Specifically, it promotes and facilitates research and scholarship aimed at improving teaching and learning and at reducing disparities in health and education, while encouraging achievement and economic opportunity for all citizens of South Carolina. It also promotes and facilitates research and scholarship that positions schools as collaborative community resources for reducing various disparities that limit community development and family well-being.

For more information, please contact David Reinking, Ph.D.

 

Creative Inquiry Projects

Creative Inquiry, formerly known as 'Undergraduate Research,' includes all intensive, discovery-oriented approaches to learning. Emphasis is placed on providing an experience that will be meaningful to undergraduate students, and will promote reasoning and critical thinking skills, ethical judgment, and communication skills as well as a deep understanding of the methods of scientific and/or humanities research.

 

Inquiry in Motion

Inquiry in Motion is a collaboration between numerous SC institutions and businesses. Inquiry in Motion seeks to improve motivation, academic performance and the capacity of students through the sustained engagement in schools of science, math, engineering and technology.

For more information, please contact Bob Horton, Ph.D. or Jeff Marshall, Ph.D.

 

Project SELECT

Supporting Expertise and Leadership in Early Childhood Teachers: A Master of Arts Program in Early Childhood Special Education.

For more information, please contact Sara Goldberg-Hamlin

 

The Reading Clinic

The Reading Clinic at Clemson University offers elementary or middle school students the opportunity to strengthen their reading ability and improve their ability to learn in content area classes. The program is designed for all students in grades two through eight. The instructional focus for average and above average readers is to: (a) improve reading comprehension; (b) improve vocabulary; (c) learn strategies for reading, working with, and learning from science, social studies, and other content area texts; (d) develop note-taking skills and study strategies for improving test performance; and (e) develop writing skills. The focus of the instructional program for struggling readers is to improve (a) word recognition and decoding strategies, (b) reading comprehension, (c) vocabulary knowledge, and (d) writing ability.


During the spring semester, certified teachers assess children’s strengths and weaknesses in decoding, vocabulary, comprehension, oral reading, and critical reading and thinking. Reading assessment begins in January and is completed over the course of five to six weeks: 90 minutes, one evening each week for five to six weeks. After assessment, parents receive a full written report that includes recommendations for future instruction.


Individualized and small group tutoring sessions begin in early June. Each 90-minute tutoring session is specifically designed to meet the children’s individual needs. Children must participate in the spring semester assessment program in order to participate in the tutorial component of the program.
The cost of the Reading Clinic program is based on family income. A limited number of scholarships is available based on financial need. Admission is limited to 12 children.

For more information, please contact Pamela Dunston, Ph. D.

 

Upstate Writing Project at Clemson University

Originally funded in 2001, the Upstate Writing Project (UWP) serves teachers from 9 districts in the Upstate. UWP is supported by a grant from the National Writing Project, a federally funded initiative to promote high quality writing instruction throughout the US. Through the NWP professional development model, UWP builds leadership, programs, and research needed for upstate teachers to help their students become successful writers and learners.
The Upstate Writing Project holds its annual Invitational Summer Institute at the University Center in Greenville each June. Selected writing teachers spend the month enhancing their craft as teachers of writing and developing their expertise as writers. Participants return to their schools as leaders who will share their expertise as teacher consultants. Beyond the Institute, the UWP offers contract courses for local school districts interested in providing sustained in-service focusing on writing. UWP teacher consultants work closely with the SC Writing Improvement Network to assist schools during the self assessment and application process of the Exemplary Writing Program. The UWP Spring Writing Conference, held in Greenville, provides area teachers with a full day of professional development opportunities.

For more information, please contact Rebecca Kaminski, Ph.D.