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Women in Aerospace: Challenges and Opportunities
April 9, 2018Growing up in the late 80s and early 90s, Dana Farmer’s talent for math and science was evident, so school counselors pointed her towards accounting and business, not engineering or science. Because of her natural talent, she gravitated in her career towards engineering but found not having an engineering degree hindered her from securing some…
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The Hard Truth About Soft Skills
March 21, 2018We’re in the communication age, yet fewer people seem to be adept at communication than ever before. This has massive implications for the workplace, but most schools do not teach students business communication skills, by and large. Asked to rate the soft skills most important to business in a Harris survey, executives selected communication eighth…
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Begin With Books
March 5, 2018Ninety percent of brain development in humans occurs in the first three years of life when we learn how to learn. During that time, we develop – or we don’t – the neural pathways that will speed the learning process for a lifetime. By age six, the window of opportunity to develop those pathways…
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Why High Quality Early Education Is So Critical
February 26, 2018If you were to plot brain growth in humans against America’s public investment in young people by age, (as we demonstrate below) you would see a curious shape: The two lines are nearly mirrored images. In other words, the more public investment can make a difference in a child’s future, the less we invest…
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High Schoolers Learn About Banking by Running A Credit Union
February 26, 2018The credit union branch at Goose Creek High looks just like a professional branch except for the school logo. Morgan Montemayor speaks the language of financial institutions. She has handled member accounts at Heritage Trust Federal Credit Union, ensured compliance with company policies and federal regulations, and established proficiency in financial systems. Morgan…
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The Mental Health Component of Social Work
February 20, 2018The number of people with mental healthcare diagnoses has been on the rise for nearly half a century. Ever since the 1970s, and the de-institutionalization of mental healthcare, people struggling with diseases of the mind and the issues surrounding them have been thrust back into communities. With the rising number of people in need…
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Impact of Logistics to SC Economy Larger Than Expected
January 2, 2018A growing manufacturing sector in South Carolina has produced a growing need to move products from one point to another. The state recently quantified the impact of this business, commonly known as logistics or supply chain management. Logistics are particularly tied to advanced manufacturing, SC’s fastest-growing industry this decade. The study found advanced manufacturing employs…
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Charleston County Responding to Teacher Shortage
January 2, 2018As we documented a few months ago, a looming teacher shortage resulting from Baby Boomers retiring and a lack of Millennials to replace them in the classroom has begun to hit Charleston County hard enough to warrant a response. Charleston County School Superintendent Gerrita Postlewait has proposed that the school district hike starting teacher pay…
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Working For More Justice in the Criminal Justice System
December 13, 2017In almost every county in every state in America, jails and prisons are filled to overflowing, often with people who neither belong behind bars nor are best-served there. Many in jail are awaiting trial, a process that can take months, even years. Many struggle with drug addiction and mental illness and are low-level offenders who…
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Is The Thought Process the Key to Reducing Recidivism?
December 4, 2017Rickey grew up surrounded by drug use, poverty and criminal activity, so it surprised no one when he headed off to prison, or when he returned repeatedly. After each stint in the penitentiary, Rickey resolved not to make the same mistakes, but change is hard and he always reverted to his old ways. In…
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STEM in Schools Sure Ain’t What It Used To Be
November 16, 2017By Barry Waldman My high school years were the 70s, long after humans had achieved the technological leap of landing on the moon, but before computers had advanced to rule the world. A computer showed up at my high school, the sixth largest in America, and they quickly gathered students around it for a week…
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Bringing a USC Program to Lowcountry Puts Local Engineer on Management Track
November 3, 2017Ozell Newman has worked as an electrical engineer in power distribution at Santee Cooper for nearly 24 years. One would think he is well-ensconced in his job. With two children and one abandoned attempt at an MBA two decades ago, returning to school might seem like it should be the furthest thing from his mind….
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Career Panel Presents to Students and Parents During Manufacturing Quality Expo
October 16, 2017South Carolina boasts more than 5,000 manufacturing businesses in the state, whose average wages of $54,444 account for $25 billion of income statewide. Companies like Boeing, Volvo Cars, Mercedes Vans, their suppliers, and many others in the Charleston area are growing the manufacturing base even further. Governor Henry McMaster proclaimed the first week of October…
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An Urban Planner’s View of the Lowcountry
October 9, 2017You may have noticed that population growth is transforming the once-sleepy Charleston area into a metropolis, with all its benefits and drawbacks. The population is swelling by 48 people every day, mostly from in-migration. Job and entertainment opportunities are on the upswing, but so is the amount of car traffic, the cost of housing, the…
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Manufacturing Week Around the Corner
August 23, 2017From nearly half the U.S. economy in the 1950s, manufacturing has plummeted to just 9% of U.S. economic activity in 2016. Cheap labor and global markets provided an incentive for manufacturers to move their plants outside the U.S. With high tech advances in manufacturing, that is turning around, particularly in South Carolina. Today, a robust…
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Tutoring Assistance Available Through Tutor Matching Service
August 11, 2017Returning to school can be daunting, particularly after years away from the discipline of note-taking, paper-writing and studying. It is understandable that even excellent students might feel anxious about re-entering the academic realm after time in the working world. The Lowcountry Graduate Center (LGC) has partnered with Tutor Matching Service (TMS) to offer expanded tutoring…
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A Tribute to Patty Simpson
July 26, 2017On August 6, 2017, a longstanding and trusted servant in higher education retires from the College of Charleston. Patricia Simpson, known by us all as “Patty,” smiled and greeted countless numbers of want-to-be students as they inquired about academic programs on the North Charleston campus, how to apply, and what to expect. For her warmth,…
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Message from the LGC Director – July 2017
July 26, 2017Within my first year as director and associate dean of the Lowcountry Graduate Center, I relied on recent, independent research data quantifying the demand for jobs and the talent “gaps” in our region in order to strategically target employment sectors for the LGC’s attention. They were identified broadly as: 1) advanced manufacturing, engineering services, and…
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The Looming Teacher Shortage Crisis
July 12, 2017This is not a formula any science teacher would propose: Take a state that holds itself accountable in its constitution for “minimally adequate” education; combine legislative foot-dragging over a court decision demanding remediation of appalling conditions at schools along a poor section of the state dubbed the “corridor of shame;” and mix in a burdensome…
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Social Work and Gerontology: The Profession’s Trailblazers
July 6, 2017For the last seven years and for the next 12 going forward almost 10,000 people are celebrating their 65th birthday every day. Baby Boomers born between 1946 and 1964 are creating a boom in the field of gerontology. The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) projects the need for 70,000 social workers with a specialty…
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Healthy Tri-County Initiative a Long-Term Solution to Area Health Issues
June 22, 2017In an area of the country known as the “stroke belt,” the “diabetes belt,” and the “obesity belt,” community partners from various sectors are coming together to improve the health of local citizens. Known as Healthy Tri-County, it’s a systems-change initiative that will take years of continuous effort, broad community support and many partners working…
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Project Management is Booming
June 13, 2017In the earliest days of proto-humans two million years ago, Homo Erectus began hunting cooperatively, employing stone tools and teamwork to catch, trap and kill their quarry. The leader of the hunting party, the hominid who assessed risk, assigned roles and led the development of strategy, who tracked time and arranged retrieval of the prey,…
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The Impact of Rapid Growth on the Charleston Region
May 18, 2017Because he had G.I. Bill money expiring, Dan Ecklund was taking two classes each semester to earn his master’s degree in Project Management through The Citadel while working full-time for Scientific Research Corp. at SPAWAR. He didn’t have much free time to spend with his wife at home in Goose Creek. Fortunately, the program is…
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Paying for Graduate School
May 10, 2017Are you considering going back to graduate school? Money is an issue, isn’t it? Most returning students have to factor both the upfront costs and the long-term payoff when determining whether to commit the time and effort to a graduate program. One issue facing individuals seeking post-graduate education is determining the real net costs of…
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New Development Creates Healthcare Jobs for Those Trained to Manage Data
April 14, 2017Palmetto Primary Care Physicians’ $32 million expansion into the burgeoning Nexton development near Summerville will develop a six-building campus delivering primary, specialty and urgent care, and offer imaging and lab services. It will create 250 permanent jobs and signal a new vision: a continuum of care focused on outcomes rather than services delivered. That will…
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Message from the LGC Director – April 2017
April 1, 2017You may have noticed a flurry of news from the Lowcountry Graduate Center in recent months. That’s because there’s been a blizzard of activity with several big announcements. SC State is now accessible in the Lowcountry, with its new Healthcare Management concentration added to its existing, hybrid MBA program. It is designed for those wishing…
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South Carolina Voter Tool Kit
March 31, 2017In the last election, South Carolina received one of the lowest voter turnout rates across the nation. In order to ensure that your voice is heard, consider tips offered by this guest blog. Your local elected officials make decisions that determine sales taxes, infrastructure, and zoning that shapes city development and neighborhood quality. Your state legislators…
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Looking for a Good Career in High Demand? Consider Being a Paralegal
March 29, 2017Would you like to work in a law office without spending three long years accumulating debt in law school? Would you like to work on legal cases without being personally responsible for their outcome? Would you like to make a decent living doing interesting work in a comfortable setting? Are you organized and detail-oriented? Do…
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The 6 Best Search Engines for Academic Research
March 23, 2017You just cannot ignore the fact that when you think about searching online for your assignments and projects, the first name that comes to your mind is Google. However, when it comes to academic research, Google search engine does not serve the purpose as it does in most cases. Its search results are not perfect…
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The Education of Captain Bob Bromage
March 21, 2017Captain Bob Bromage has worked in law enforcement for 27 years. He’s served in the Army, worked as a homicide detective, and functions as the Beaufort sheriff’s public information officer. He’s got an associate’s degree and bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and attended a local leadership program in 1996 and the FBI national academy at…
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SCMEP Cavalry Rides to Rescue of Local Company
March 7, 2017When Dean Sproles took over Nanoscreen, a Hanahan-based manufacturer and distributor of automated liquid handling processes for the life science industry, the company was reeling. Its founder had left in 2012 and four CEOs had come and gone since. Sales had declined for five years, from several million to $1.15 million; the financial losses were…
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Learning the Business Behind Success
February 20, 2017“I was very reluctant to add anything to my already overloaded plate,” said Jehan Azad, principal at American Specialty Paint in Greenville, which makes stucco paint, colored with sand that doesn’t fade. “However the Spiro program actually improved my workload because it made me step back to re-organize, delegate and automate in my business. Overall…
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Lowcountry Graduate Center 2016 Fast Facts
January 31, 2017The Lowcountry Graduate Center was honored to host the Charleston County Legislative Delegation for their Joint Delegation Meeting on January 30, 2017. LGC Director, Nancy Muller, had the opportunity to provide an annual update to our local elected officials about the progress our organization has made in the past year. To learn more about these…
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Leadership Profile: Police Chief Carl Ritchie
November 16, 2016Chief Carl Ritchie was born and raised in the Charleston area, and to him, it is the perfect place to attend school and pursue a career. He knows and loves the Lowcountry. He is a perfect example of someone who has benefited and continues to benefit from advanced studies, training, and degrees. He is an…
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Free Educational Resources at your Local Library
November 3, 2016When asked about your local public library I’m sure most of you think of the long stacks of books that you can check out and take home with you. It is true that your local library is a great place to find printed copies of books that you might not be able to locate…
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Message from the LGC Director – November 2016
November 3, 2016I am delighted to welcome Anderson University (AU) as a partnering associate of the Lowcountry Graduate Center. Anderson University is a well-established, accredited, and recognized institution which represents a special and new chapter in the LGC’s 15-year history in that it is a private university, unlike the other state-supported institutions with which we have been…
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A Lifetime Dedicated to Overcoming Challenges
October 28, 2016Sandra Batt first knew that she wanted to pursue a career in project management while working for a financial institution in Charlotte, North Carolina. She had gained some experience working on large projects and grew to love the process. That is when she decided that she wanted to pursue a graduate degree to enhance her…
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Earn a Good Living by Having a Big Heart
October 28, 2016If you are you are working in the Lowcountry and want a career that offers a great deal of personal satisfaction, you may want to consider a career in social work. Opportunities in this growing metro area abound for the graduate with a master’s degree in social work (MSW). There are many groups needing specialized…
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Learning Strategies: Why Cite?
October 28, 2016Chances are, if you have ever attended a school in North America, you have been asked to cite your sources in papers. Why the emphasis on citation styles? Correctly citing sources is important to participate in an intellectual conversation. You give credit to those you quote and those whose ideas you build upon so that…
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Criminal Justice Studies Strengthening Communities One Leader at a Time
October 12, 2016With our news media inundated with reports of alleged police misconduct triggering protest movements, political figures and the public alike have found themselves questioning what measures need to be taken to alleviate such tensions and what lasting changes need to occur if community relations with law enforcement are to be improved. For George Ducworth, the…