Classes are under way at the College of Charleston for the 2012-2013 academic year with more than 2,100 new students who come from 43 states and 9 countries.
Here is a look at some of the changes for Fall 2012:
The Graduate School will be offering a new graduate certificate in Gifted and Talented Education at the Lowcountry Graduate Center starting this fall. This certificate will help educators identify new approaches to their curriculum that will challenge academically gifted and talented students at the elementary, middle or secondary levels. More information here.
Starting in fall 2012, the School of Education, Health, and Human Performance is offering two new majors in exercise science and public health* (*pending SACS approval). Read more about the exercise science major.
The Departments of Philosophy and Political Science have a new concentration in “Politics, Philosophy, and the Law.” This concentration will allow Philosophy and Political Science majors to explore a cluster of theoretical issues about the law in a more coherent, sustained, and interdisciplinary way. This concentration will encourage deeper study of legal issues and facilitate interaction between philosophy, political science, and the broader legal community in Charleston, including the Charleston School of Law. For more information, contact Todd Grantham at granthamt@cofc.edu.
For the first time ever, the Urban and Regional Planning Certificate Program is offering a graduate seminar on sustainable urbanism. The course will be led by Jeff Baxter, director of development for the Noisette Project in North Charleston. Baxter received his master’s degree from the Harvard School of Design, and is a lead planner in the Noisette project which seeks to create a sustainable model of urban and regional development in the Lowcountry. For more information about the program, contact Program Director Kevin Keenan at keenank@cofc.edu.
The School of Education, Health, and Human Performance has announced a new Teacher Leader program. The program will provide a select group of highly motivated students access to challenging extracurricular opportunities in the education community. The goal is for Teacher Leaders to fully understand the educational landscape and to acquire the tools to traverse the landscape as effective communicators, problem solvers, and innovators. Each student has been assigned a mentor who has taken an active role in education leadership and will communicate with them throughout the program. Monthly, students will meet with education leaders like Charleston County School District Superintendent Dr. Nancy McGinley, business leader Anita Zucker, professional etiquette expert Cindy Grosso, and advocate Bill Youngblood. Read more about the program.
The College of Charleston School of Business will offer a new professional certificate program in Business Process Management (BPM). The BPM program, rooted in the Association of Business Process Management Professionals (ABMP®) Business Process Management Body of Knowledge (BPM CBOK®), includes four courses that are 10 hours each and cover specialized content including modeling and analysis, design and measurement, performance, and systems. The knowledge, skills, and tools acquired through the program enable process managers, operations directors, and manufacturing professionals to add value to their organizations by improving business processes, adding “customer” value through process design, and understanding management systems. For more information or to enroll in the program, contact Dr. Josh Davis at 843.953.6653 or davisjm@cofc.edu.
The College of Charleston N. E. Miles Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) will begin the fall semester as the first nationally certified Nature Explore Classroom in South Carolina, as designated by the Arbor Day Foundation and Dimensions Educational Research Foundation. Nature Explore Classrooms are outdoor classrooms offering interactive elements that give children important and inspiring nature experiences. Read more about ECDC’s designation.
For the first time, the Center for Student Learning will hold study skills seminars in each residence halls throughout the semester. The Office of Residence Life and the Office of Sustainability have partnered to provide freshman with refillable water bottles. The ywil also host a recycling challenge in September to see which hall recycles the most, and an energy consumption challenge in the spring to track usage and encourage students to reduce energy consumption.
The Office of Residence Life is collaborating with the Department of Health and Human Performance on an initiative that will allow HHP students to get credit for an independent study in which they plan, implement, and conduct a fitness class for residential students. The pilot program will take place in Rivers Rutledge, Liberty, and Berry Residence Halls.
In fall 2012, the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art will be offering audio tours of their exhibitions. Now Hear This! is a QR code-based audio tour available to every gallery visitor free of charge. QR codes are placed throughout the exhibition. No smart device? No problem! The Halsey Institute has iPods available for check out at the attendant’s desk. More information here.
The Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art and the First Year Experience will present six independent films and their filmmakers for free screenings for the 2012-2013 academic year. The screenings will be on the following Thursdays: September 27, October 25, November 15, February 28, March 28 and April 25. They will be held at 7:00 p.m. in the Recital Hall of the Simons Center for the Arts. More information here.
This fall, for the first time, the Departments of Political Science and Biology will be collaborating to run a new study abroad program at our facilities in Trujillo, Spain. The program will focus on Spain’s Biological Natural History, geography and politics. In spring and summer the Departments of Biology and Hispanic Studies host programs. Participating students live with local host families to immerse themselves in the Spanish experience in a walled medieval city in Extremadura surrounded by spectacular wildlife and landscapes.
The Department of Health and Human Performance will be offering several new and interesting courses spring 2013. Advanced Yoga will be offered for the first time, as well as a stand-up paddleboard (SUP) course (with a table tennis component on cold days!). Watch a video of the summer 2012 SUP course. The Sports Physiology and Marathon Training class will also be offered for the first time since 2010. Watch a video of students running the Country Music Marathon as their final exam.
In fall 2012, the Career Center will expand its Cougar Career Workshop Series. These are held weekly on Thursday evenings and include a wide variety of topics. The presenters include campus staff, alumni, and employers. More information here.
The Career Center and Office of Alumni Relations will hire a part-time alumni career counselor who will be the go-to person for our alumni who request information/assistance with their career decisions, job changes, personal marketing, assessment, etc. More information here.
The fall 2012 semester marks the beginning of a full calendar of Diversity Education Workshops open to students, staff and faculty. This new workshop series is in addition to the Signature Speaker Series and Diversity Week events regularly hosted by the Office of Institutional Diversity. More information here.
On September 21 and 22, 2012, the College of Charleston’s Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture will host a the first public history symposium and community event on the topic of “The Fire Every Time: Reframing Black Power Across the Twentieth Century and Beyond”. The conference will feature two plenary panels, two roundtable panels, and twelve paper presentation panels. More information here or contact Robert Chase at chasert@cofc.edu or 843.953.7607.
