Clemson University
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Rising to the top
As one of the most established universities in the state, Clemson University—among the top ranked institutes in the country—has garnered the attention of several media outlets.
Founded in 1889, Clemson University was established through a bequest from Thomas Green Clemson, a Philadelphia-born, European-educated engineer, musician and artist who married John C. Calhoun’s daughter, Anna. The two settled at her family estate in South Carolina, but Clemson strongly believed that the way to rebuild his adopted state’s war-ravaged economy was through scientific education, so he left his home and fortune to the state of South Carolina to create the institution that bears his name.
Today, Clemson is considered to be one of best. Ranked 22 among national public universities, Clemson is a major land-grant science and engineering-oriented research university that maintains a strong commitment to teaching and student success. Its teaching, research and outreach are driving economic development and improving quality of life in South Carolina and beyond.
Growing interest in business and education
Clemson is proud of its reputable programs and research in engineering, science and agriculture. In more recent years, however, there has been a surge of interest in other fields of study. Student enrollment has increased in its business and education programs and the development of nationally recognized programs in architecture and communications across the curriculum has drawn the country’s top students.
The university’s strategic plan identifies the following eight academic emphasis areas: Advanced Materials; Automotive and Transportation Technology; Biotechnology and Biomedical Sciences; Family and Community Living; General Education; Information and Communications Technology; Leadership and Entrepreneurship; and Sustainable Environment. These areas of focus were identified as areas where Clemson could build nationally recognized programs based on existing faculty strength and interest, potential for external funding and alignment with state workforce needs and economic development priorities.
Budgeting for excellence
Clemson is a public university, but has seen a long-term trend in declining state support accelerate sharply in recent months. At the beginning of this decade, state funding accounted for approximately 40 percent of Clemson’s funding, but that figure is now about 15 percent. Tuition and fees are the number one source of revenue, and the university has become more successful at generating research and private funding. “We continue to explore alternative revenue sources,” says Catherine Sams, Chief Public Affairs Officer at Clemson University.
Student body
“We have approximately 18,000 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in Clemson, with approximately 70 undergraduate and 100 graduate degree programs offered by five colleges: Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences; Architecture, Arts and Humanities; Business and Behavioral Science; Engineering and Science; and Health Education and Human Development. Two-thirds of undergraduates are from South Carolina, but we also recruit students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands, as well as 96 other nations,” says Sams.
Project spotlight
There has been huge investment and interest in one of its latest venture, the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR) and a wind-energy grant that has been awarded investments in new economic development projects.
CU-ICAR
The Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research is an advanced-technology research campus where academia, industry and government organizations engage in synergistic collaboration. Launched in 2003 and opened in 2006, the 250-acre research campus off I-85 in Greenville is an engine for innovation in education and research, from advanced manufacturing processes to transportation planning and vehicle safety. To date, CU- ICAR has generated more than $215 million in public and private investments and created more than 500 jobs.
The heart of the campus is the 90,000-square-foot Carroll A. Campbell Graduate Engineering Center, which houses Clemson’s masters and doctoral automotive engineering programs and boasts world-class design and testing facilities and equipment, including automotive testing resources valued at more than $10 million. A faculty team led by four endowed chairs has developed a distinctive educational and research program—including the nation’s only doctoral program in automotive engineering—that focuses on the vehicle from a system’s integration perspective, concentrating on product design and development, manufacturing and electronic systems.
A new initiative called “Deep Orange” has students designing and building automobile prototypes, transforming the Campbell Center into a model original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and supplier. The campus also includes private-sector R&D facilities and the Clemson University Computational Center for Mobility Systems, which offers unique simulation capabilities for testing vehicle designs. Private partners include BMW, which has a research-and-development facility on the campus; Michelin; AT&T; Sun Microsystems; Timken; and numerous others.
CU-ICAR recently earned the Emerging Research Science Park Award from the International Association of University Research Parks.
Energy project
Clemson is also launching a major initiative to address one of the great challenges of this century for South Carolina and the nation—energy. Not only is energy interwoven with the nation’s economic, environmental and national security interests, but it also impacts every citizen on a daily basis. The search for alternative, renewable and cleaner sources of energy also promises to stimulate scientific research and create jobs.
As one of the nation’s top-ranked public research universities—with a particular emphasis on science, engineering technology and a land-grant mission to serve the people of South Carolina–Clemson has both the capability and the obligation to tackle this critical issue. “For more than 100 years, Clemson has supported the state’s leading industries and nurtured the development of new economic sectors,” tells Clemson President James F. Barker in a statement. “It is not only appropriate for us to be involved in the development of a green economy, it is mandatory.”
Last year, the Clemson University Restoration Institute (CURI), in joint private partnership with General Electric and the S.C. Electric Cooperatives, hosted a series of events to bring leading energy experts together to share insights and stimulate discussion about clean and renewable energy.
A symposium on building intellectual capital for a green economy focused on workforce development, and a subsequent summit on renewable energy focused on South Carolina’s job opportunities in a green economy. Barker called the two topics “opposite sides of the same coin. Without a well-educated and entrepreneurial workforce, we won’t be able to attract or grow green industries. And if we don’t have the jobs, the workforce will go elsewhere, taking their ideas and expertise with them.”
Just days before the first symposium got under way, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that CURI would be awarded a $45 million research grant—the largest in university history—to build and operate a facility to test and enhance the performance, durability, and reliability of utility-scale wind turbines. The grant was matched by $53 million in state and private funding and could position South Carolina as a leader in development of an offshore wind energy industry sector. The facility will be located at the CURI campus in North Charleston, adjacent to shipyards and a deep-water port needed to transport the mammoth turbine parts.
Future outlook
In 2008, the university’s Board of Trustees approved a five-year strategic plan that called for continued investments in building academic quality, increasing access to a Clemson education, driving economic development, and delivering a distinctive education by integrating economic development and intellectual development—specifically by increasing student engagement and providing more opportunities for undergraduates to be involved in our off-campus research campuses, such as CU-ICAR and CURI. That plan continues to drive decisions, although it has been scaled to adjust to the current economic climate.
Clemson will continue on to be one of the nation’s top 20 public universities, as demonstrated through its substantial progress over the past decade. AB
www.clemson.edu
As one of the most established universities in the state, Clemson University—among the top ranked institutes in the country—has garnered the attention of several media outlets.
Founded in 1889, Clemson University was established through a bequest from Thomas Green Clemson, a Philadelphia-born, European-educated engineer, musician and artist who married John C. Calhoun’s daughter, Anna. The two settled at her family estate in South Carolina, but Clemson strongly believed that the way to rebuild his adopted state’s war-ravaged economy was through scientific education, so he left his home and fortune to the state of South Carolina to create the institution that bears his name.
Today, Clemson is considered to be one of best. Ranked 22 among national public universities, Clemson is a major land-grant science and engineering-oriented research university that maintains a strong commitment to teaching and student success. Its teaching, research and outreach are driving economic development and improving quality of life in South Carolina and beyond.
Growing interest in business and education
Clemson is proud of its reputable programs and research in engineering, science and agriculture. In more recent years, however, there has been a surge of interest in other fields of study. Student enrollment has increased in its business and education programs and the development of nationally recognized programs in architecture and communications across the curriculum has drawn the country’s top students.
The university’s strategic plan identifies the following eight academic emphasis areas: Advanced Materials; Automotive and Transportation Technology; Biotechnology and Biomedical Sciences; Family and Community Living; General Education; Information and Communications Technology; Leadership and Entrepreneurship; and Sustainable Environment. These areas of focus were identified as areas where Clemson could build nationally recognized programs based on existing faculty strength and interest, potential for external funding and alignment with state workforce needs and economic development priorities.
Budgeting for excellence
Clemson is a public university, but has seen a long-term trend in declining state support accelerate sharply in recent months. At the beginning of this decade, state funding accounted for approximately 40 percent of Clemson’s funding, but that figure is now about 15 percent. Tuition and fees are the number one source of revenue, and the university has become more successful at generating research and private funding. “We continue to explore alternative revenue sources,” says Catherine Sams, Chief Public Affairs Officer at Clemson University.
Student body
“We have approximately 18,000 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in Clemson, with approximately 70 undergraduate and 100 graduate degree programs offered by five colleges: Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences; Architecture, Arts and Humanities; Business and Behavioral Science; Engineering and Science; and Health Education and Human Development. Two-thirds of undergraduates are from South Carolina, but we also recruit students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands, as well as 96 other nations,” says Sams.
Project spotlight
There has been huge investment and interest in one of its latest venture, the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR) and a wind-energy grant that has been awarded investments in new economic development projects.
CU-ICAR
The Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research is an advanced-technology research campus where academia, industry and government organizations engage in synergistic collaboration. Launched in 2003 and opened in 2006, the 250-acre research campus off I-85 in Greenville is an engine for innovation in education and research, from advanced manufacturing processes to transportation planning and vehicle safety. To date, CU- ICAR has generated more than $215 million in public and private investments and created more than 500 jobs.
The heart of the campus is the 90,000-square-foot Carroll A. Campbell Graduate Engineering Center, which houses Clemson’s masters and doctoral automotive engineering programs and boasts world-class design and testing facilities and equipment, including automotive testing resources valued at more than $10 million. A faculty team led by four endowed chairs has developed a distinctive educational and research program—including the nation’s only doctoral program in automotive engineering—that focuses on the vehicle from a system’s integration perspective, concentrating on product design and development, manufacturing and electronic systems.
A new initiative called “Deep Orange” has students designing and building automobile prototypes, transforming the Campbell Center into a model original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and supplier. The campus also includes private-sector R&D facilities and the Clemson University Computational Center for Mobility Systems, which offers unique simulation capabilities for testing vehicle designs. Private partners include BMW, which has a research-and-development facility on the campus; Michelin; AT&T; Sun Microsystems; Timken; and numerous others.
CU-ICAR recently earned the Emerging Research Science Park Award from the International Association of University Research Parks.
Energy project
Clemson is also launching a major initiative to address one of the great challenges of this century for South Carolina and the nation—energy. Not only is energy interwoven with the nation’s economic, environmental and national security interests, but it also impacts every citizen on a daily basis. The search for alternative, renewable and cleaner sources of energy also promises to stimulate scientific research and create jobs.
As one of the nation’s top-ranked public research universities—with a particular emphasis on science, engineering technology and a land-grant mission to serve the people of South Carolina–Clemson has both the capability and the obligation to tackle this critical issue. “For more than 100 years, Clemson has supported the state’s leading industries and nurtured the development of new economic sectors,” tells Clemson President James F. Barker in a statement. “It is not only appropriate for us to be involved in the development of a green economy, it is mandatory.”
Last year, the Clemson University Restoration Institute (CURI), in joint private partnership with General Electric and the S.C. Electric Cooperatives, hosted a series of events to bring leading energy experts together to share insights and stimulate discussion about clean and renewable energy.
A symposium on building intellectual capital for a green economy focused on workforce development, and a subsequent summit on renewable energy focused on South Carolina’s job opportunities in a green economy. Barker called the two topics “opposite sides of the same coin. Without a well-educated and entrepreneurial workforce, we won’t be able to attract or grow green industries. And if we don’t have the jobs, the workforce will go elsewhere, taking their ideas and expertise with them.”
Just days before the first symposium got under way, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that CURI would be awarded a $45 million research grant—the largest in university history—to build and operate a facility to test and enhance the performance, durability, and reliability of utility-scale wind turbines. The grant was matched by $53 million in state and private funding and could position South Carolina as a leader in development of an offshore wind energy industry sector. The facility will be located at the CURI campus in North Charleston, adjacent to shipyards and a deep-water port needed to transport the mammoth turbine parts.
Future outlook
In 2008, the university’s Board of Trustees approved a five-year strategic plan that called for continued investments in building academic quality, increasing access to a Clemson education, driving economic development, and delivering a distinctive education by integrating economic development and intellectual development—specifically by increasing student engagement and providing more opportunities for undergraduates to be involved in our off-campus research campuses, such as CU-ICAR and CURI. That plan continues to drive decisions, although it has been scaled to adjust to the current economic climate.
Clemson will continue on to be one of the nation’s top 20 public universities, as demonstrated through its substantial progress over the past decade. AB
www.clemson.edu
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