Clemson University kicks off academic year on a positive note

CLEMSON, SC – August 23, 2011 – Clemson University’s faculty and staff kicked off the 2011-12 academic year on a positive note Tuesday with an update from President James F. Barker and a challenge from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief scientist.

Cathie Woteki, undersecretary for the USDA’s Research, Education and Economics mission area, said Clemson and other land-grant universities will play a key role in creating the agricultural research agenda for the 21st century.

The next generation of agricultural and natural resource scientists will address some of the most pressing issues of our time, Woteki said — issues related to food security, water conservation and sustainable natural resources.

Click here to see the photos.

“Next year we will observe the 150th anniversary of President Lincoln’s signing of the Morrill Act that created the system of land-grant colleges of which Clemson is a part,” she said, noting that Thomas Green Clemson, the university’s founder, was a visionary in the land-grant movement.

“As we look forward to celebrating that anniversary, we need to re-invent and re-imagine our agricultural research enterprise,” Woteki said. She said land-grant universities and federal laboratories will play complementary roles in solving the public health challenges of the 21st century, with a combination of competitive, peer-reviewed research and the USDA’s “intramural research program.”

“Even in times of tight and tough budgets, it is important that we not be penny wise and pound foolish in terms of agricultural research,” she said. “We need to write a new compact for the future of agricultural research.”

Woteki was the keynote speaker for the Victor Hurst Convocation, the official opening of the academic year. Classes start on Wednesday.

Barker told the gathering that a priority for the coming year will be implementing the Clemson 2020 Road Map plan that was developed during the previous academic year.

“Our priorities are faculty, students and staff, and the facilities and technology resources that support them,” Barker said. He noted that a compensation plan, announced last month, will provide performance-based pay raises and bonuses to begin in October.

“We know that Clemson must provide competitive compensation to attract and retain excellent faculty and staff,” he said.

As for facilities to support faculty, staff and students, Barker said the Academic Success Center and Lee Hall projects will be completed this semester and ready for occupancy in January. Construction on the new Life Sciences building is under way.

As part of the university’s focus on student engagement, he said, a new Faculty in Residence program begins this fall, with several faculty members and their spouses living with students in student housing.

The university’s The Will to Lead capital campaign has reached $528 million and is on track to meet its goal of $600 million by the end of this fiscal year: June 30, 2012, Barker said.

Also during the convocation, newly tenured and promoted faculty members were recognized and chemical engineering professor Scott Husson received the Prince Award for Innovation in Teaching.

The Prince Award, named for Clemson President Emeritus Philip Prince, recognizes outstanding teachers who demonstrate creative and novel teaching methods in the classroom. Carlisle Kennedy, president of the undergraduate student body, said Husson has had a “profound impact on his students’ lives.”

Husson engages his students in critical-thinking activities and emphasizes written communication in all his classes. This summer he designed and offered a special-topics course on mentoring to help graduate students become more effective mentors.