College of Charleston students, faculty and staff may now skip the lines to get good food on campus. Campus Services has launched a new one-stop mobile ordering app, Transact Mobile Ordering, for the campus locations of Chick-fil-A, Starbucks and Marty’s Place.

To download the app, simply find Transact Mobile Ordering in your app store and install. Once you have the app open, select College of Charleston from the campus list (for iOS, you must also select an app icon) and sign in using your CofC credentials. The app may require authentication by text or email.

To order, select the dining location, make your menu choices and any customizations.

To check out, make your payment with Cougar Cash, Dining Dollars, Visa or Mastercard. You may also use meal swipes/taps at Marty’s Place. You will receive a receipt with a QR code on your mobile device. Please note that for your order to be prepared, Chick-fil-A requires that you check in when you arrive. For all other locations, the app will notify you when your order is ready.

To pick up your order, go to the pick-up area at the location, scan the QR code from the receipt on your mobile device, grab your order and go.

Mobile ordering is yet another step Campus Services is taking to enhance the campus experience after launching the all-new Cougar Card, which brings contactless technology and additional security to the College’s official ID card, earlier this fall.

Any questions about mobile ordering can be directed to mobileordering@cofc.edu.

Self-nominations to fill a vacancy for an Academic Affairs representative on the Staff Advisory Committee to the President (SAC) are open through 11:59 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 9, 2020.

Full-time, non-instructional staff members from the Division of Academic Affairs who do not have the words “president” or “provost” in their titles may self-nominate for the special election. This includes staff from the units under the provost executive level, including the following:

• School of the Arts
• School of Business
• School of Education, Health, and Human Performance
• School of Languages, Cultures and World Affairs
• School of Humanities and Social Sciences
• School of Sciences and Mathematics
• Honors College
• Graduate School
• CofC Libraries
• Office of the Academic Experience
• Office of the Registrar
• Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
• Office of Summer Sessions
• Office of Research and Grants Administration
• Office of Institutional Research
• Office of Institutional Effectiveness
• Center for International Education
• Gender and Sexuality Equity Center
• Center for Study of Slavery in Charleston
• Center for Sustainable Development
• Transfer Resource Center
• Stono Preserve

This appointment will end on June 30, 2021. The appointee will be able to self-nominate for a three-year term starting July 1, 2021, during the upcoming election held in spring 2021. 

To nominate yourself, please complete the online SAC nomination form. If you require assistance to complete the form, or to request an alternative method to self-nominate, please visit SAC representative Dawn Brandt in Randolph Hall, Room 103C, or email sac@cofc.edu. 

SAC values the unique perspectives, backgrounds and experiences of all College of Charleston staff and aims to provide representation from all areas of the College to support an inclusive workplace that inspires excellence and innovation resulting in a thriving staff community.

Email sac@cofc.edu with questions or for additional information.

They’re on our keyboards. They’re on our laps. And, even if you don’t have one, cats are even on our conference calls. Indeed – for many of us working from home – our feline friends are our closest colleagues these days.

As Cougars, the College community loves its cats. And, through Yammer posts and word of mouth, many of our faculty and staff members have given cats a place to call home.

That’s why, in celebration of National Cat Day, Oct. 29, we’ve asked some of our CofC cat fans to introduce their kitty colleagues to the greater Cougar community!

Jennifer Barhorst and one of her two cats, Buster

Jennifer Barhorst
Assistant Professor of Marketing

Jennifer Barhorst’s other cat, Oscar

“My cats Buster and Oscar are both Scottish kitties who relocated with me from Scotland to South Carolina in 2016. They mean the world to me as they are terrific companions. A bonus is that I can try out new augmented reality experiences with them as well – as proudly demonstrated by Oscar.”

Sara Coleman and one of her cats, GiGi

Sara Coleman ’17
Fitness Coordinator, Campus Recreation Services

Sara Coleman and her cats, GiGi (left) and BiBi (right)

“GiGi Givenchy and BiBi Chanel are my two workout babies! They are true sisters, from the same litter. BiBi was the runt of the group. They both have a secret crush on Clyde the Cougar. I don’t think I could have really pulled through this pandemic if it weren’t for them. Aside from exercising, they were the best therapy ever. My favorite quote about cats is, ‘Dogs have owners, cats have staff,’ which always brings a smile to my face as a cat appreciator.”

Susan Divine and her cat, Frank

Susan Divine
Associate Professor of Spanish

Amy Gordanier and her cats, Taura (in arms) and Elli

Amy Gordanier
Assistant Professor of History

“Elli, our older cat, joined our household from the streets of Beijing while my partner and I were living in China for my graduate research. Beijing street cats all share a certain look, so her round little face regularly reminds me of the parks and historic sites of one of my favorite cities (many of which host well-fed colonies of community cats). Taura, the junior cat, appeared on our doorstep in Los Angeles shortly before we moved to Charleston and keeps Elli in shape with lots of daily cat aerobics. Elli is a solicitous writing and work-from-home companion, and Taura is always game to join in on Zoom calls and classes – whether she’s invited or not.”

Sharon Siegel and her cat, Zach

Sharon Siegel
Senior Director of Strategic Marketing, Division of University Marketing and Enrollment Planning

“I was never much of a ‘cat person.’ Zach belonged to my husband, who I met about five years ago. It took me a good year to win both of their trust and affection! Zach is absolutely the sweetest, smartest, most affectionate guy, and I am officially a cat person.”

 

Sara Stevenson and her cat, Bongo

Sara Stevenson ’13 (M.P.A.)
Research Protections and Compliance Administrator, Office of Research and Grants Administration

“Bongo has been my constant companion since he found me back in 2012, when I was a graduate student at the College of Charleston. He is an extremely empathetic cat and is acutely attuned to my emotions and overall well-being. If I am sad, sick or just sore from a hard workout, he always knows exactly what to do to make me feel better. Bongo enjoys belly scratches, staring out the window and begging for treats. He and Barley the dog are both enjoying the extra attention from having their humans at home all day, although the cat would never admit to it.”

Jim Ward and his cats, Winnie (left) and Kaj

Jim Ward
Senior Instructor of Art and Architectural History

“My cats are brother and sister, just adopted about a month ago. Winnie (Winnifred) is the ginger hoyden and Kaj (Kajimer) is the tan and handsome blue-eyed boy. They are my company these days and provide a needed distraction from Zoom and sitting. They are quite a pair for energy and enthusiasm and a much-needed ‘humanizing’ companion in those Zoom classes: You never know when one will jump up onto the keyboard or lap or shoulder and say hello!”

Zach Zaloumis and his cat, Octavia

Zach Zaloumis
Business Analyst for IT Administration, Division of Information Technology

“Her name is Octavia after Octavia from The 100. Octavia has a very fun personality. She likes to either fight or snuggle unless food is involved – she loves her food! She means the world to me, she’s the purrfect (sorry had to do it) pet. She’s a really sweet cat who really just wants to spend as much time with me as she can.”

David Hansen and one of his five cats, Pipsqueak

Dave Hansen
Associate Professor of Management and Marketing

“We have five cats – all rescues. Scratchy is our very friendly black cat who came from a Faculty and Staff Listserv post about the need for emergency adoption of cats that were going to get put out on the street the next day. It was also through the College – Yammer this time – that we found brothers that we call ‘the boys’ (all other cats are female): two orange-and-white cats named Chipper and Bowie. And then there’s Billie Idol, who was a stray we had been feeding for many years before capturing her and taking her in when we moved last year.

“But I decided to focus in on one – Pipsqueak. She is, as you see in the picture, very attached to me. She loves that I’m working from home now. When I was going to campus, she would cry and cry after I left.

“We adopted Pipsqueak when I connected to someone on the Faculty and Staff Listserv who helps find homes for rescues. We went to the woman’s house, and there were a lot of cats, but I was struck by the little cat in the bathroom window. Her name was Sputnik because she would run around the house fast. When we adopted her, we named her Pipsqueak because she’s both small and her meow is more like a squeak (or even a screech).

“She’s over 12 years old now, but still acts like a kitten sometimes. She’s full of energy and she still likes to cry a lot and run super fast. She is almost always in the room with me. She likes to jump on my desk and demand petting – even when I’m on Zoom conducting class or in a meeting. So, whenever you see a couple of tiny ears or tail popping up, that’s probably Pipsqueak.”

The employee module of DiversityEDU is now available for faculty and staff through CougarEd (cofc.myabsorb.com).

The College piloted DiversityEDU last year as an online diversity seminar for first-year and incoming students. This year all students as well as faculty and staff will be required to complete the program within the academic year, by June 30, 2021.

RELATED: Find out more about the DiversityEDU training program.

The DiversityEDU program for faculty and staff is divided into three parts and focuses on engagement with diversity, communication for inclusion and the influence of unconscious bias. The robust, interactive module is meant to educate faculty and staff about situations they may encounter at the College and how to prepare for them and handle them better.

“When there are these unseen obstacles, you kind of hold back what your strengths might be,” says Rénard Harris, CofC’s vice president of access and inclusion and chief diversity officer. “We want to unleash the beautiful side of ourselves. Those attributes — the ones that make us unique — could really enhance the community.”

To access DiversityEDU, employees may log onto CougarEd and either search for “Faculty and Staff: Personal Skills for a Diverse Campus” or locate the course under “My Courses.”

Each year, National Custodian Appreciation Day is a day set aside to thank the custodians who keep the College of Charleston a clean and orderly environment for learning.

But, as we have discovered, 2020 is not an ordinary year. And National Custodian Appreciation Day on Oct. 2, 2020, has a deeper meaning amid the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This year, more than any other time in recent history, the custodial field is even more critical,” says John Morris, vice president for Facilities Management. “Custodians play an essential role in providing a clean environment during this pandemic.”

William McCoy, custodial worker.

These employees are on the frontlines, working to help contain the spread of the coronavirus. On average, CofC’s custodians each clean over 30,000 gross square feet of classroom space, offices and common areas per day. That is equivalent to cleaning about 15 average sized houses every single day. But the spaces they clean are not the same as someone’s home, where only a small family and possibly a pet or two live. These spaces at the College often have several thousand people using them daily.

Custodian William McCoy, a custodial worker who can be found most days doing anything from cleaning academic buildings to handling trash detail around campus, says the prospect of working during a pandemic was initially a little unnerving, but he and his co-workers have pushed through and made adjustments to their routines – such as wearing face coverings and practicing social distancing – to keep the College shipshape.

“In the early days, when the pandemic first came out, I think there was a lot of concern and a lot of anxiety about whether we felt safe coming to work,” says McCoy. “Now we feel safer because we understand a little bit more about the coronavirus, we’ve been educated in the important things to know and learned about how it effects people. And I think the College has put things in place that will help us as co-workers and students at the College of Charleston.”

Custodial workers Virginia Melton and Lisa Jones in Liberty Street Residence Hall.

In order to keep the campus clean and safe during the pandemic, Facilities Management has been holding training sessions for custodians on topics ranging from enhanced cleaning of buildings to safely working with the EPA-recommended chemicals that are needed to kill the coronavirus. Morris says that, while students, professors and most staff members left CofC to work at home during the height of the pandemic, much of the custodial staff continued coming to campus and focused on deep cleaning the entire College.

RELATED: Read President Hsu’s message thanking CofC’s custodians on National Custodian Appreciation Day.

With the fall semester well underway, that deep cleaning continues on a daily basis – a task Virginia Melton, Lisa Jones and Barbara Simmons tackle as custodians for CofC’s residence halls. Each of the women say their work has taken on a new significance as they’ve had to increase their cleaning protocols and practices, particularly with high-touch surfaces like doors and elevators.

“We are doing extra, safety wise,” says Jones, who works in Liberty Street Residence Hall as well as George Street Apartments. “We do more sanitizing and look at the details more. Overall, we want to be safe and we want to keep other people safe.”

Melton, who works in Liberty, adds, “I’m glad I can help, as long as I can keep myself safe.”

Custodial worker Barbara Simmons at College Lodge.

At College Lodge, Simmons, who has been a custodian at the College for more than 20 years, can be found doing everything from sweeping and cleaning windows to sanitizing the laundry facilities and wiping down door handles and railings throughout the building multiple times a day.

“To keep down the virus, this is what we do,” says Simmons. “The railings might have been done twice a week – now I do them every day because I know they’ve got to come in and out, and I want to make sure [the students] are safe. That is my responsibility – that’s my job.”

Cleaning classrooms, public restrooms, campus facilities and residence halls day in and day out is a herculean task in an average year. When you add a pandemic into the mix, the work becomes even more crucial to the health and well-being of the College and its people.

It’s a tough job on a good day, and one that right now comes with new concerns and anxieties. Morris says the College’s custodians have their own fears and apprehensions about the coronavirus, but that they remain dedicated and continue to do the cleaning that needs to be done to keep that campus safe.

“I think that we need to make sure we recognize our custodians, not only on National Custodian Appreciation Day, but on a day-to-day basis as well,” says Morris.

The days of joining our College of Charleston colleagues on the softball field or in the bowling alley for a little fun and healthy competition might be on hold, but that doesn’t mean it’s game over! Thanks to Campus Recreation Services (CRS), there’s a whole new game plan for faculty and staff to get outside, be active and battle it out for bragging rights: the Pandemic Pandemonium geocaching game!

“Because we’re not able to get together for things like the Faculty and Staff Bowling League right now, we wanted to find something else fun and active that faculty and staff can do as a community while still social distancing,” says CRS Director Gene Sessoms. “Geocaching is the perfect answer to that – it’s a fun, competitive and educational little game that gets us outside!”

Print out this Game Grid to help guide you.

Geocaching is basically a scavenger hunt using GPS coordinates to lead the way. The first one to complete the Pandemic Pandemonium game will win a stand-up paddleboard trip for two.

“This is the perfect game to tackle with a best friend or spouse – and, for those with kids, this could be a great afternoon excursion and one that costs $0 but is worth so much more,” says Sessoms, adding that the locations in the Pandemic Pandemonium are all below Calhoun Street and have an educational history lesson built in. “How fortunate for us that the peninsula below Calhoun Street is so loaded with sites worth visiting up close!”

Sessoms created the Pandemic Pandemonium game with the following backstory:

You are a young, enterprising real estate agent rummaging through the musty attics of your listing of old Charleston homes and uncover a beautiful antique steamer trunk. Thinking of all the potential artifacts it may contain, you are genuinely disappointed to find only loose papers – and not even those of an itinerant poet like Edgar Allan Poe, but of a lab researcher of all things! Undeterred, you read on and quickly figure the papers belonged to a long-forgotten immunologist who did play a significant role in the last great pandemic of 1918. As you leaf through the fragile pages, you are amazed at the disciplined effort spent identifying countless viral strains. Among them is today’s virus. Can it be that the genetic code is listed here? The pages are not in the trunk. Instead, lying before you are a series of clues that may lead you to the coveted information. Can you work through the clues to locate the code to unlocking the mysterious but desperately needed details? The fate of many now rests in your hands. Time to get cracking!*

To solve the mystery and complete the game, participants must first print out the GPS_Pandemonium Game Grid and find the 25 locations in the grid. Each location has a corresponding statement in its grid square that must be marked as TRUE or FALSE.

There are two levels of participants: adventurers, who will strictly follow the geo-coordinates on the Game Grid, and navigators, who like to work with maps. The navigators may also use the Google map below.

Once the grid is filled with the TRUE/FALSE answers, navigators and adventurers will find all combinations of three adjacent TRUE squares that form an “L” shape. From there, they will follow the detailed instructions to crack the code and determine the latitude and longitude of the final cache.

At the final cache, they will find a small metal container with the answer to the game and the signature log. Before they email CRS at campusrecreation@cofc.edu with the final answer, participants must sign the log, reseal the container and return it to its location so that the seekers that follow may enjoy the same excitement of completing the game.

For further information, visit CRS’ Pandemic Pandemonium webpage.

*Please note that any reference to COVID-19 is fictional and simply pretext for the storyline.

A year ago, nobody would have guessed we’d be where we are right now. But, here we are – living in a world where cats are on conference calls and shoes seem gratuitous. We’ve learned the importance of staying positive, getting creative and working with what we’ve got. And, when you’ve got the College of Charleston community to support you … well, turns out you’re in a pretty good place.

Anastasia Gilpatrick, SAC chair

“2020 is a unique year for the entire Cougar nation, but our employees have shown their strength and resilience by reinventing themselves around the realities of the year time and time again over these past months,” says Anastasia Gilpatrick ’07, project manager and director of technology for the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, who is the new chair of the Staff Advisory Committee to the President (SAC). “SAC recognizes how hard employees are working during all of this – and so we’re committed to providing all the support we can to make a challenging year an exceptional one.”

SAC was established in 2011 to advocate for the staff of the College of Charleston, to advise the president about staff opinions concerning matters of importance to the staff and institution, to receive the president’s requests for counsel regarding matters relevant to the staff and to increase awareness and promote recognition of the staff’s contributions.

“This year, our initiatives will continue to support our staff, as well as the goals of the strategic plan, while framed around the realities of this pandemic, ” says Gilpatrick. “We are focusing on capitalizing on what we already have, building on the momentum from previous years and connecting staff with one another in new, meaningful ways.”

One of those ways is through its First Friday initiative. The first Friday of every month has traditionally been recognized as Cougar Spirit Day, when staff wear Cougar colors/gear to show their school spirit. Now, First Fridays join Cougar Spirit Day to further connect staff on a monthly basis.

RELATED: Find out more about Cougar Spirit Day at the College of Charleston.

“First Fridays expand on Cougar Spirit Day and really open up the lines of communication between SAC and staff members,” says Gilpatrick, explaining that, on First Fridays, SAC representatives will reach out to the staff they represent to deliver important campus news and ask for input, ideas and concerns. “We are committed to having more communication this year, more back and forth, so that we can truly be advising the president on what our constituents in each unit have to say – especially those most deeply impacted this year.”

That communication is more important than ever, says Sarah Myer ’09, director of operations in the Office of Enrollment Information, and the new vice chair of SAC.

“During these strange times, it helps if we feel like we’ve got friends and allies across campus,” says Myer. “So, SAC really is focused on finding those kinds of opportunities wherever possible.”

Fortunately, those opportunities aren’t too hard to find – you just have to know where to look.

“We are committed to helping staff find mentors on campus and to find internal professional development opportunities as a way for us to have creative and alternative ways to build up our staff,” says Gilpatrick, adding that SAC is working to promote engagement in the College’s LinkedIn Learning series and working with the Office of Institutional Diversity to promote both the Critical Conversations initiative and the related Diversity EDU initiative. “Investing in our own learning – whether it is web design or installation diagramming, implicit bias mitigation or conflict resolution – advances not just ourselves, but our impact on the student experience at the College. So, to that end, SAC plans to continue its holistic wellness programming (mostly online), and grow the College’s allyships and affinity groups.”

RELATED: Find out more about LinkedIn Learning opportunities for faculty and staff.

“We are focusing on what the College already has put investment in and bringing that to light – so, asking, ‘What can SAC do to help staff better utilize the resources we already have access to?’” says Dawn Brandt, senior budget and finance reporting manager in the Office of Budgeting and Payroll Service, who is SAC’s new treasurer/secretary. “Of course, one of the greatest resources we have on this campus is the breadth of knowledge among our employees. We have some great minds on staff here – there’s a lot to offer!”

From Excel and coding skills to dancing and baking skills: CofC staff can certainly learn a lot from one another. And SAC hopes to create opportunities to help staff do just that.

“If we’ve got staff on campus who can teach a skill set within the context of the College’s mission and vision, why not utilize those people?” says Myer, explaining that the idea is to launch a series of employee-led workshops online. “I think we really could not only tap into the wealth of knowledge that we have on campus and shed some light on some of the amazing things that our staff knows how to do that aren’t necessarily part of their profile at the College, but also help connect people across divisions who wouldn’t otherwise have a need for interacting.”

And that kind of interdepartmental interaction is especially important this year, with the pandemic pushing SAC’s annual Celebration of Staff Awards in May online and causing the postponement of many other all-staff gatherings.

“Getting to know our colleagues better furthers our staff morale and our well-being – especially when so many of us are working remotely still,” says Myer, pointing out that online workshops and drop-ins may actually be more accessible to many staff members. “Some people may be more comfortable jumping on a Zoom call, where there’s an instructional purpose to the group getting together, or some other smaller cohort experience, rather than one of the bigger, in-person campuswide staff events. We just have to meet people where they are.”

And so – whether you’re at home, on campus or lost in a crazy world where every day is the same – rest assured: SAC will be there, too.

Connect with SAC anonymously via the Staff Input Form anytime. Check the Faculty & Staff News page on The College Today, the Faculty & Staff News Yammer feed, the @cofcfacultystaff Twitter feed and the SAC Instagram feed for updates about SAC throughout the year.

SAC representatives pictured above: first row (l–r): Anastasia Gilpatrick, Sarah Myer, Dawn Brandt, William Chase, David Aurich, Darcie Goodwin; second row (l–r): Kate Tiller, Lance Laidlaw, Stephanie Smith, Kimberly Gertner, Charissa Owens, Wanda Whitley, Michael Kling; third row (l–r): Pam Grant, Brad Weiland, Tracy Bates, Jeff Woraratanadharm, Karen Jones, Melantha Ardrey, Samantha Pairet

One of the most obvious shifts in the last six months of social distancing has been the amount of time we spend at home with our pets. Dogs who formerly waited anxiously by the front door for our return at the end of the day now sit happily by our side (or on our laps) while we work – even becoming familiar faces in Zoom, Teams and Skype meetings.

In celebration of National Dog Day, Aug. 26, these faculty and staff members honor their pups by introducing the College community to their canine colleagues.

Sonya Allen with her dog, Lil Bit

Sonya Allen 
Parking Manager, Campus Services

“Lil Bit is my BFF. He loves everyone he meets, but he loves me the most. LB has been my constant companion every day as I have been working from home. He may be tiny at 3.5 lbs., but he has a huge heart!”

Kathy Béres Rogers and her dog, Puck

Kathy Béres Rogers
Associate Professor of English and Director of the Medical Humanities Program

“Puck is a Cardigan Corgi; since corgis are fairy dogs in Welsh lore, we were going to name him Oberon (Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream), but he has always been more Puckish. He’s 14 years old now and has been with us through finishing my Ph.D. at UNC-Chapel Hill, moving to Charleston, three evacuations, one child who always wants to ride on him (!), and, now, COVID-19. Although he’s getting old, he is still pretty vocal in Zoom meetings; most of my colleagues hear his voice often.”

Harlan Greene and his dog, Zoe

Harlan Greene
Special Collections Archivist, CofC Libraries

“Zoe is not only a member of the family, but a mentor. She teaches me patience, loyalty and the joy in living in the moment. She enriches my life in every waking (and sleeping!) minute.”

Kyle McCoil with his dog, Tucker

Kyle McCoil
Assistant Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life

“Four years ago I decided to get a dog, and it was honestly one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Tucker is always happy, full of energy and able to put a smile on my face.”

Hung Vo with his dog, Kai

Hung Vo ’07 
Application Analyst, Procurement and Supply Services

“Kai is a 5-year-old Shiba Inu. Kai brings me so much joy, companionship and unconditional love. Like a true Charlestonian, Kai loves his beach time!”

Idee Winfield with her dog, Elroy

Idee Winfield 
Professor of Sociology

“Elroy is my rescue schnoodle from Beebe, Arkansas. I knew he was meant to be my dog when, on our first day home, he ran into the ocean without hesitation. Since the pandemic, Elroy sorely misses his walks around campus where he receives lots of attention from students, visits his favorite sniffing spots, and visits with other dogs on the Cistern.”

And last, but definitely not least:

President Andrew T. Hsu with his dog, Hoosier, at 8 weeks old (left) and today (right)

Andrew T. Hsu
CofC President

“Hoosier was born in the mountains of California while Rongrong and I were teaching there. Our family went to get her when she was just 8 weeks old. She was the last and smallest of the litter. Named by my daughters, she is a great family dog: sweet, loving, shy, friendly, sassy, scared of thunderstorms, chill, sleepy and, like all dogs, somewhat needy (but in that good way!). If I am ever home alone with her, she will follow me around everywhere.”