UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA

South Carolina Gateways: From Cradle to Careers

Associate Professor Dr. Kathleen J. Marshall in the Special Education Department of Educational Studies at the College of Education has been awarded a one-year, $65,000 USDOE grant to implement the "South Carolina Gateways: From Cradle to Careers" project. This grant is facilitated by the Office of Exceptional Children within the SC Dept. of Education and will incorporate the use of teacher-coaches, state-level assistance and model schools to improve the outcomes of students with disabilities.

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Dr. Bell receives the 2013 AERA Early Career Award for Quantitative Methods and Statistical Theory

Her classes are packed. Students hang on her every word. The rapid interaction of inquiry and response is electric. One can almost feel the synapses firing as these brilliant minds discuss and torque the equations and theories being discussed. Read more

Beaufort County School District receives 56 new Math & Science MEd graduates from the college's Educational Outreach program

What do you say when a powerful alliance from SC Beaufort County School District, US Department of Education Math-Science Partnership (MSP), SC Department of Education, and Common Core State Standards ask you for your help? You say yes of course! That is exactly what the College of Education did. By working together with the college, members from these entities produced a graduating cohort of 56 new MEd K-12 teachers in Beaufort who were honored by the district on May 10th. Some 20 of those teachers came to Columbia on May 11th and participated in the official College of Education commencement ceremony. Read more

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Elementary Education Spring Showcase

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College Donates Books and Food

Cocky, volunteer students and student athletes at the Gamecock Donation Station cheered this morning as Teri DeBruhl and Ryan Brooks drove up in a car full of children’s books and food donations for them from the College of Education! “My RAV 4 was filled to the brim,” said Teri. “The group was very excited to see us.” Both Ryan and Teri work for the Office of Instructional Support at the college – Ryan is a graduate assistant who coordinates room and equipment scheduling and Teri is a program coordinator for OIS. This mission of charity is yet one way the college is participating in OneColumbia CityServe - a week of service involving thousands of volunteers working together to improve Columbia and help its citizenry. The books will go to Cocky’s Reading Express, a reading program that travels the state to underserved public schools for 4K through second grade students where all the children are given books to take home. Harvest Hope feeds the hungry across 20 counties of South Carolina and feeds approximately 38,000 people a week.

College of Education Student Awards and Honor Cords Presentation Ceremony

On April 16th, students, parents and faculty gathered at the Courtyard Marriott to celebrate each other's achievements at The College of Education's annual awards ceremony. Student scholarships, fellowships, awards and S.C. Teaching Fellows were recognized preceding the Honor Cords Ceremony for the Summa Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude and Cum Laude graduates. Dean Lemuel Watson, Educational Studies Associate Professor Dr. Kara Brown and Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Studies Rob Dedmon proudly bestowed the myriad of well-deserved awards and honors. Read more

Longtime Literacy Leader

"I teach language and literacy courses in the M.Ed. and Ph.D. in Language and Literacy. I am primarily interested in readers who do not find reading easy, reading assessment, reading intervention, and helping teachers better understand and to be able to support each and every student as a reader." – Dr. Diane Stephens.

This basic avowal has been Dr. Stephens' life mission for more than 40 years. Stephens shuns personal recognition for her contributions yet many have benefited from her literacy efforts. She has worked with readers of all ages as a GED instructor, reading resource teacher, reading clinic administrator and, for the last 26 years, as a professor in NC, IL, HI and SC. Read more

Outstanding College Faculty & Staff Earn Awards

The Education Museum was crowded with college faculty and staff on April 16th as everyone waited for the much anticipated 2013 College of Education Faculty and Staff Awards to be announced and the recipients to be recognized. Read more

SC-SIC Celebrating 35 Years of Insight, Impact and Innovation

The College of Education faculty and staff are vested in educational outreach and innovative instructional methods as evidenced by the presentations given at the South Carolina School Improvement Council's (SC-SIC) 2013 Annual Meeting on Saturday, March 23rd at the St. Andrews Middle School in Columbia, SC. As it was the 35th anniversary of SC-SIC, there was much to discuss, many to recognize, and even more to thank for their contributions. So significant was this event that Governor Nikki Haley issued a proclamation that March 2013 was School Improvement Council month! Read more

Congratulations to our Fall 2012 Honor Roll scholars!

These students have demonstrated their dedication to academic achievement. The President's Honor Roll: maintaining a 4.0 grade point / Dean's List: maintaining a 3.5 (3.25 for freshmen) grade point while taking at least 12 credit hours.
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For detailed information click here
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Dr. Gloria Boutte Returns to South Africa for Fulbright Specialist Project.

College Faculty Embraces Diversity

College faculty, graduate students, and staff meet to share initiatives and experiences regarding diversity.

COE Faculty Member Dr. DiStefano Recognized.

DiStefano is one of fifteen junior professors selected for the 2013 class of Breakthrough Rising Stars by USC Office of Research. The program recognizes junior faculty whose research and scholarship demonstrate the best in academe. Read the full article here.

A graduate is distinguished…

Helen Mulhern Halasz, a Ph.D. student in the College of Education's Department of Educational Leadership & Policies, is recognized as a 2013 Distinguished Graduate Scholar!
Dr. Mulhern Halasz was nominated by her advisor Dr. Jennifer L. Bloom and ultimately selected to receive this award by a USC panel of senior faculty, the Graduate School, and the Office of the Vice President for Research. Distinguished Graduate Scholars are students who have demonstrated research and scholarly excellence by successfully obtaining research fellowships or awards, presenting at national conferences, or publishing papers or book chapters. Mulhern Halasz easily met all of these requirements.
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Mulhern Halasz has actively explored educational opportunities to advance her knowledge of academic advising through research, publications, and presentations. As a research project assistant, Halasz coded qualitative responses for nearly 900 surveys involving assessment of first-year programs for the National Resource Center on The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. She also conducted two research projects for Dr. M. Audrey Korsgaard at the Moore School of Business – an independent study in which she wrote an empirical paper on the job satisfaction-job performance relationship and occupational values; the other involved coding qualitative responses from surveys concerning critical incident and forgiveness experiences.

Her most prestigious opportunity, however, was being awarded a $3,250 research grant from the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) to conduct a qualitative dissertation study. Mulhern Halasz interviewed 26 undergraduate students within a strong theoretical framework of Schlossberg's 4 S's (situation, self, support, and strategies). "Helen's research results," Dr. Bloom asserts, "will be helpful to retention committees, academic advising administrators, and other senior institutional leaders."

Among Mulhern Halasz's publications are co-authoring Write on Through to the Ph.D.: Using Writing Groups to Facilitate Doctoral Degree Progress with EDLP Associate Professor Michelle A. Maher and EDLP Ph.D. alumna Amber C. Fallucca was published in the 2012 Studies in Continuing Education. The article Making Change Work: Empowering Students in the Major Change Process with Dawn Sizemore Traynor and EDLP Professor Jennifer L. Bloom was published in the 2011 on-line academic advising journal The Mentor.

In 2010, Mulhern Halasz was a co-presenter with EDLP alumna Elizabeth M. White-Hurst at the Southeast Case Research Association Conference for a case study on An Academic Adviser's Professional Plight. At the May 2011 NACADA Regional Conference, she was the lead presenter for You Have a Staff Vacancy: Now What? In December 2012, Mulhern Halasz presented her dissertation research at the national NACADA conference in the program Major Adjustment: Students' Transition Experiences Leaving Selective Undergraduate Degree Programs. She is now working as the Ph.D. Program Coordinator at the USC College of Nursing.

Accompanied by her Dissertation Committee Co-Chairs Drs. Jennifer L. Bloom and Christian Anderson, Helen Mulhern Halasz will attend an awards luncheon at the McCutcheon House on Friday, March 29th where she and other Distinguished Graduate Scholars will be honored.
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Run to The Torchbearer!

Inside Wardlaw, on the second floor, the hushed halls were punctuated by the staccato of clicking computer keys typed by 2nd-year HESA students taking their qualifying comprehensive exams. Their concentration was oblivious to the laughter and joyous chatter of 1st-year HESA students outside decorating The Torchbearer in their honor. HESA is the acronym for a master's degree in higher education and student affairs. It is an intensive 42-credit hour graduate program comprised of intensive academic study, practicums and internships for individuals seeking careers in the administration of college student development services and activities.
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Study groups have been huddling for months in preparation for this comprehensive exam. "We have 51 students taking their Comps today" says Jennifer L. Bloom, clinical professor and director of the HESA program at USC's College of Education. "Friday's Comps celebration at noon is a long-time HESA tradition. The unofficial rule is that you are not allowed to touch the horse as a HESA student until after you have taken Comps during your second year of the program" (Students believe that touching The Torchbearer before finishing Comps means that they won't pass). Bloom continues, "We are expecting 150+ people from across campus coming over at noon to celebrate the fact that the 2nd-years have taken their Comps." And, indeed they came!

It is a remarkable community of support by the HESA alumni, faculty and friends with the HESA students. "This is a BIG day," says Katie Little, who is a 1st-year HESA student. "The 1st-years are secret "Buddies" to the 2nd-years while they study for Comps. Each secret Buddy leaves their 2nd-year little surprises where they know they will find them – in their office, dorm room, classroom... It's our way of letting them know that we are supportive and want them to succeed. So, the final surprise for them is, letting them know who we are at The Torchbearer."

The anticipation is heightened as the "Buddies" start forming a gauntlet for the 2nd-years' to dash through to reach The Torchbearer. They stand unfurling their signs, fidgeting with flowers, looking at their watches, darting about and finally getting into position while waiting for the graduates to burst through Wardlaw's front doors. It is tradition that the HESA graduates wait for everyone to finish the exam and gather in Wardlaw's foyer entrance. When everyone is there, they run outside and touch The Torchbearer statute together.

Somehow -- in the melee squeals of excitement, shouts of jubilation, mass hugging, and laughter -- these graduates manage to find their Buddies and many supporters as they scramble down from The Torchbearer. Their faces bear a sense of relief as they celebrate. These are the young men and women who have dedicated themselves to become future administrators in higher education or student affairs. It is fitting that the HESA students started this tradition around The Torchbearer statue, donated by Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington (1876-1973) for it is her behest that may have started this tradition.

Mrs. Huntington is known as one of the masters of naturalist animal sculpture, particularity for equestrian statues. Such statues can be found around the world on campuses, in museums and at outdoor parks. In the 1950s, Anna Huntington sculpted an aluminum grouping of large figures – one man collapsing on the ground as he hands a torch to another man astride a stallion – entitled The Torch Bearers. That work symbolizes passing the torch of civilization from one generation to the next. The Huntingtons donated that statue to the University of Madrid.

Between 1959 and 1966, Mrs. Huntington completed five more equestrian statues. In 1965, she donated The Torchbearer to the University of South Carolina. Although The Torchbearer is a massive 18-foot-tall bronze casting of a young rider atop a majestic horse, Mrs. Huntington requested that the university position the statue on a low base so that children could climb up and touch it. Maybe this is where the HESA tradition began…

Well done graduates. You have run the gauntlet and now you carry the torch! The College of Education proudly celebrates this year's HESA graduates! Click here for more fun and more pictures.
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College of Education Dean Lemuel W. Watson has been elected to three national boards

College of Education Dean Lemuel W. Watson has been elected to three national boards. Dr. Watson will serve on the executive board for the National Network of Educational Renewal, the executive committee for the Council of Academic Deans from Research Education Institutions and the board of directors for the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. "Through these national board appointments," says Watson, " I will be engaged in assessing and transforming new education models as a Research I dean. It is through these collaborations that productive dialogue, innovative strategies, and novel approaches to teaching and learning are achieved. I look forward to expanding the College's commitment to excellence in research, leadership and diversity through these opportunities."

College of Education discusses collaboration and partnership

The College of Education discusses collaboration and partnership with Ewha Woman's University -- Korea's most prestigious university and largest woman's university in the world. Dean Watson hosts visit for Ewah Woman's University Dean Noh Sun-Sook and Dr. Insoo Oh of the College of Education to speak with faculty, students and staff.

The most prestigious university in Korea is discussing potential collaboration and partnership with USC's College of Education. Ewha Womens University holds the reputation of being the largest and oldest university college in the world committed to educating female teachers and educational experts.
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Ewha has twelve academic departments accommodating nineteen academic major programs, four research centers, four affiliated schools, and teacher training centers for both pre-service and in-service teachers. Founded as Korea's first educational institution for women in 1886, Ewha Womans University College of Education inaugurated its mission as a two-year Early Childhood Education program in 1915 then developed into a four-year college in 1951.

The mission of Ewha's College of Education is to prepare leaders in education and also to create a hub for a network of global researchers, educational professionals, and practitioners. According to the Korean Council for University Education and National Consumer Satisfaction Index, Ewha is ranked the top university in Korea with a total enrollment over 24,000 students.

In November of 2012, Dean Lemuel Watson accepted an invitation from Assistant Professor of Insoo Oh to come to Ewah and meet Dr. Noh Sun-Sook, dean of Ewah's College of Education. The two deans learned about each other's education curricula and how a partnership between their colleges could mutually benefit from the exchange of knowledge and clinical experiences to produce more globally-oriented teachers.

Today that dialogue continued. Dean Watson invited Ewah's Dr. Oh and Dean Sun-Sook to visit USC for an informal round table discussion with education faculty, staff and students regarding curriculum, clinical experiences, and expectations of each.

Ewah offers at least 30% of major courses taught in English with some of the strongest fields at Ewha in International Studies, Information Technology, Design Technology, Women's Studies, Korean Studies, North Korean Studies, and Asian Studies.

In Korea, teachers are highly regarded professionals with tenure practically guaranteed from the outset of their teaching contract. Due to the high unemployment in Korea, only 40% of their graduates obtain a teaching position in private or public schools; whereas, graduates from the USC's College of Education have 2-3 job offers upon graduation.

Once Korean teachers have completed four years of coursework leading to a bachelor's degree, they are eligible to apply for a teacher certificate. Currently there is no clinical educational teaching component offered at Ewah. Dean Watson is proposing a student exchange program with Ewah where Ewah students could attend USC's College of Education. Ewha students would then return to Korea to finish their classes and graduate. Upon graduation from Ewha Woman's University, those graduates could choose to continue their graduate studies at USC's College of Education and then apply to teach in the United States. Likewise, USC's College of Education students could benefit culturally by experiencing study abroad courses in the Ewha Teacher Education Center (ETEC), Gifted Education Center, Institute for Teaching & Learning, Ewha Institute for Leadership Development, Gifted Education Center, Children's Center for Developmental Support, or within the Office of Teaching Profession.
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