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Archives For July 31, 2019
The College of Charleston emergency management team is closely monitoring the track of Hurricane Dorian. At this time, the College plans to remain on its normal operating schedule. If anything changes, the College will provide updates through the Cougar Alert system, the College’s LiveSafe app, and emergency.cofc.edu. All students, employees, families, and guests of the College should be sure to sign-up for or reference one of these emergency information platforms.
Hurricane Preparedness
Throughout hurricane season, we’d like to remind students about the College’s protocols should a voluntary or mandatory evacuation be ordered due to the threat of a storm. Read the student guide to hurricane preparedness.
Also, the City of Charleston tracks road closures and traffic impacts at https://gis.charleston-sc.gov/road-closures.
Faculty are reminded to please prepare for the possibility of future closure. In consultation with your chair and department colleagues, please devise a course-appropriate plan to allow students to continue their forward progress in your course in the event the College is closed, and as you finalize your syllabus, please include reference to this plan in your syllabus. How you accomplish this will vary depending on the nature of your course(s). Your syllabus, contact information, and basic courses materials should be available to students in OAKS. Please see the email announcement (August 14, 2018) for additional information on OAKS support and sample syllabus statements related to campus closures. If the College decides on a plan for make-up class days, you will be informed as soon as feasible.
Download the LiveSafe App
LiveSafe is a nationally-recognized mobile app used at universities nationwide, designed to offer direct connectivity with emergency dispatchers from users’ cell phones. Just download “LiveSafe” for free to your iPhone or Android, sign up with your school email address, and connect the app with “College of Charleston.”
The app acts as a “mobile blue light,” integrating GPS location information when users contact the emergency dispatch center through the app. CougarAlert messages will be delivered in the LiveSafe app and through the existing CougarAlert text/call/email system. The app also features a function called “SafeWalk” that permits users to virtually share their location with friends as they walk to a destination. App users may also send tips regarding crimes in progress or potentially unsafe situations through the app, and can attach photo and video to provide emergency personnel with further information. Read more at https://today.cofc.edu/2019/08/22/cofc-adopts-livesafe-app-to-enhance-student-safety.
How Do I Download LiveSafe?
- Download
Search for and download “LiveSafe” from Apple or Google Play app stores. Open LiveSafe on your device. - Sign Up and Verify Your Account
Register using your mobile phone number or tap “use email” to sign up with your email instead. Follow the verification instructions (either via SMS text if registering with your phone number or via email if using your email account). Once verified, fill out your profile and create a password. Tap “next.” - Select Your Organization
Your organization should appear at the top of the list if it is nearby. Otherwise, search for “College of Charleston” and select it. You’ll know you are in the right place when you see our CofC organization’s logo at the top. When prompted, enable push notifications and location services to receive full benefits of the LiveSafe app. You’re set!
The Office of the Provost and Academic Affairs is sponsoring the annual Labor Day Celebration. All employees, students, and members of the community are welcome to attend. The celebration is organized by the Gender and Sexuality Equity Center in collaboration with panelists from the Migrant Farm Workers Movement, the S.C. Coastal Community Development Corporation, and USC Beaufort’s School of Social Sciences and Humanities.
Monday, September 2, 2019
4:00 – 5.30 pm
Alumni Center (1st floor)
School of Education, Health, and Human Performance
Light refreshments will be provided. Go to https://go.activecalendar.com/cofc/event/laborday/ for the event details.
For more information:
Hollis France
Interim Chair, Department of Political Science
Associate Professor Department of Political Science & Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Executive Committee Member, Gender and Sexuality Equity Center (GSEC)
As you finalize your syllabus for the first day of class this week, please remember to review the required and recommended syllabus elements outlined at academicaffairs.cofc.edu/faculty/syllabi. As outlined in the Syllabus Policy (PDF), syllabi must be distributed at the beginning of the term for every course section. Please view the syllabus statements and sample syllabi.
Today, we welcomed the newest members of the Cougar Nation at Convocation 2019!
With the dawn of another academic year on the horizon, a new class of students will join the Cougars’ ranks this fall. This year’s incoming students in the Class of 2023 hail from across the country and around the globe, bringing with them a host of unique experiences that are sure to enrich the College of Charleston campus for years to come.
Get to know the Class of 2023 with these facts and figures:
Class of 2023: Academic Profile*
The middle 50 percent of freshmen enrolled for fall 2019:
- Scored between 1080–1260 (in state) and 1110–1270 (out of state) on the SAT
- Scored between 21–28 (in state) and 23–29 (out of state) on the ACT
- Had a GPA between 4.087–4.678 (SC Uniform Grading Scale) and 3.3–4.03 (weighted)
- 13 in-state valedictorians and 19 in-state salutatorians
- 5 out-of-state valedictorians and 3 out-of-state salutatorians
- Palmetto Fellows: More than 134
Honors College: Class of 2023 Academic Profile
- Total number of students: 266
- Average SAT score: 1360
- Average ACT score: 30
- Average GPA – S.C. residents: 4.82
- Average GPA – non-residents: 4.12
- Number of S.C. residents: 126
- Number of non-residents: 140
Honors College: Aiken Fellows Society Class of 2023 Profile
- Total number of members: 30
- Average SAT score: 1435
- Average ACT score: 32
- Average GPA – S.C. residents: 4.95
- Average GPA – non-residents: 4.44
- Number of S.C. residents: 18
- Number of non-residents: 12
- Colonial Scholars: 4
- Huge Scholar: 1
- Swanson Scholars: 6
- International Scholars: 9
Read more at https://today.cofc.edu/2019/08/13/cofc-class-of-2023-freshman-profile.
* This information is provisional and should not be considered official data.
From August to October 2019, we will launch our “Embrace Neurodiversity” initiative at the College of Charleston. Kathleen Béres Rogers (English) is working with Mary Trent (Art History), Wayne Smith (Hospitality and Tourism), Anne Osowski and Adam Zerbst (SNAP), and Edie Cusack (REACH) in order to roll out this exciting, innovative program. Please see the attachment for details on this opportunity and relevant dates. Phase one will feature an educational campaign and an opportunity for faculty, staff, and students to submit creative works on what it means to them to be neurodivergent.
Throughout October there will be a series of brown bag presentations and discussions offering opportunities for your students to engage: one deals with UDL (Cindi May and David Desplaces), one deals with Accessibility and Historic Preservation (Jim Ward), one deals with intersectionality (Tanner Crunelle and Rachael McNamara).
These initiatives will all lead into a final event, a guest lecture by Laura Owens, president of Transcen (www.transcen.org), a firm that works with major corporations to promote employment for people with disabilities. She will talk with professors on October 27th and give two talks on October 28th, one for students and one for business partners.
You can find more information about this initiative on the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/College-of-Charleston-Neurodiversity-Initiative-103779274313533/.
Please direct questions to:
Dr. Kathleen Béres Rogers, Associate Professor, Department of English and Director, Medical Humanities Minor at rogerskb@cofc.edu or Anne Osowski, Assistant Director, SNAP at osowskia@cofc.edu.
Staff Advisory Committee Geared Up for New Academic Year
It’s just the beginning of the 2019–20 year, but the College of Charleston Staff Advisory Committee to the President (SAC) is already in full swing with new and existing initiatives meant to strengthen connections and communication among staff members and create a stronger voice for staff within the College’s administration.
The purpose of SAC is to advise the president about staff opinions concerning matters of importance to the staff and institution, to receive the president’s requests for advice and counsel regarding matters relevant to the staff, to increase awareness of the staff’s contributions to the College and to promote the recognition of outstanding staff. The committee meets with the president a number of times throughout the academic year, and the committee’s chair presents to the College’s Board of Trustees at each of its quarterly meetings to provide updates on committee activities.
Elections for the 2019–20 SAC were held during the spring 2019 semester, with the new members beginning their term on July 1, 2019. The newly elected at-large members are Melantha Ardrey, director of residence life; Ana Gilpatrick, technology director and project manager for the office of the provost and academic affairs division; and Lance Laidlaw, classroom support technician for the Division of Information Technology. The new temporary-employee representative is Rachel Spivey from the Department of Residence Life. The newly elected divisional representatives are Dawn Brandt, senior budget manager in the Office of Budgeting and Payroll Services (business affairs); Darcie Goodwin, senior director of advancement communications (marketing and communications); Pam Grant, therapist in the Counseling Center (student affairs); and Stephanie Smith, office manager in the Office of the Registrar (academic affairs). The full-time staff representatives will serve for three years, and the temporary staff representative will serve for one year.
“We are really looking forward to working with our new members to continue the momentum of the past year,” says Ardrey, who has been elected SAC chair for a second term. “They are a dedicated and enthusiastic group of staff members who represent a broad range of departments and areas.”
The committee held its first meeting of the academic year on July 31, 2019, to onboard new members, discuss ideas and elect members to committee leadership posts. The following members have been elected to leadership positions for 2019–20 and will constitute the SAC Executive Subcommittee: Ardrey (chair); Josh Bloodworth (vice chair), associate director of accreditation assessment in the Office for Institutional Effectiveness and Strategic Planning; and Michael Kling (treasurer/secretary), electrician apprentice for Facilities Management.
SAC meets as an entire committee at least once a month, and subcommittees also meet at least once a month. They represent SAC at staff drop-ins, the Staff Awards Luncheon in June and other SAC initiatives throughout the year. Divisional representatives communicate SAC initiatives with their divisions, encourage their division to participate in SAC-sponsored events and solicit action items for SAC to work on.
Last year, SAC took on many initiatives, establishing the following for College of Charleston staff: free fitness classes, a dedicated dining space for staff and faculty at Liberty Street Fresh Food Co., expanded staff drop-ins, a staff and faculty social media/news page, professional development grants for staff and a health and wellness panel series.
“We’ve been able to accomplish a lot on behalf of the staff at CofC, and, along with our new members, we are eager to continue to look at ways we can improve the staff experience,” says Ardrey, noting that SAC is looking at the staff survey from last spring to help inform its focus for the coming year. “We really want to be a voice for the staff as a whole. We are also looking forward to being involved with the strategic planning process and how we can give staff a voice in that process. I’m also working to reach out to the faculty senate to help us work together on both sides. It’s a bright future for us at CofC!”
Check the Faculty & Staff News page on The College Today, the Faculty & Staff News Yammer feed and the @cofcfacultystaff Twitter feed for updates about future staff drop-ins and other SAC announcements.
The ASALH Annual Conference (https://asalh.org/conference/) will be held in Charleston, October 2 – 6, 2019. The College of Charleston is a sponsor and will have an 8X10 exhibit space as well as conference access for 20 College faculty members (meals and tours not included).
Events and sessions will be held at the Charleston Area Convention Center in North Charleston and at the Embassy Suites Hotel.
Interested faculty and departments should contact Renard Harris (HarrisR@cofc.edu) and the Office of the Provost (mmcgrew@cofc.edu) by no later than August 30) if you would like to include handouts from your school in the exhibit area and/or have faculty members you would like to recommend to attend.
