The Graduate School of the College of Charleston Learning how to conduct good and valuable research is a vital part of a graduate school education. This is true whether your career path will take you into pure or basic research (advancing knowledge about the human world), applied research (dealing with practical, real-world problems) or neither. Life in the business world, the scientific community or the nonprofit world will always be about finding solutions for particular problems. And the most workable solutions are the result of solid research.
843.953.5614 gradstud@cofc.edu gradschool.cofc.edu
More often than not, the contributions that our graduate students make are important; they’re incorporated into policy decisions and frequently have far-reaching significance. If you’ve decided that graduate school is for you, and you’re looking for a university where you will receive individualized attention and help creating a program that is geared to your needs, consider the possibilities in Charleston. If you want ample opportunity for putting classroom theories into actual practice in very substantive ways, this is the place for you.
At The Graduate School of the College of Charleston, students Take a closer look at the opportunities that The Graduate conduct research. They do it all the time. In some cases, projects School of the College of Charleston has offered some of its develop out of a student’s personal experience. Sometimes graduate students. You, too can build your future here. local businesses and organizations bring their problems to the graduate school. Other times, graduate students conduct their research as part of a larger, ongoing project. The Graduate School of the College of Charleston | 3
the power of research Whether a graduate student’s chosen discipline is in the sciences, the arts, education or business, research is that part of the graduate school experience that links the knowledge acquired in the classroom to life beyond a master’s degree.
4 | College of Charleston
Left: randolph hall (circa 1828). the oldest building on campus. Right: the peninsula city of charleston sits at the confluence of the Ashley and cooper rivers.
Marine Management Mark Stratton, marine biology
From the deck of the research vessel Palmetto, some 50 miles off the South Carolina coast, Mark Stratton can survey vast stretches of open ocean, and everything appears just as nature ordered it – frothy, opaline seas and brilliantly clear, azure skies. But Stratton’s interests lie some 200 feet below the surface – among the offshore reefs where numerous species of grouper and snapper comprise much of the fish life. Stratton is part of a group of scientists with the Marine Resources Monitoring, Assessment, and Prediction program (MARMAP). MARMAP scientists are studying specimens collected on these voyages in order to assess the status of the species. Eventually, their research will help guide and inform the government agencies that
can give scientists an idea of how the average trophic level for the fish community has changed over time. “Ecosystem-based management places an emphasis on every aspect of the system,” Stratton explains, “including the human influence of fishing. After all, the human species is at the apex of the marine food web.” Thus far, Stratton’s isotope data makes sense. The work he is doing is important, in part, because multispecies approaches have not been applied extensively to reef fishes in this geographic region before. For example, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, which is responsible for managing reef fish stocks in the region, has only recently embraced the concept of ecosystembased fishery management and is experimenting with ways to eventually incorporate this approach into their management decisions.
“Red snapper in particular is a hot topic now,” Stratton explains, “because both commercial and recreational fishermen have overfished this popular species.” Marine scientists are concerned, and agencies have been issuing stricter regulations. “The people in fisheries management are trying to address declines in the red snapper population so that a balance between man and nature can be maintained.”
When he’s not at sea, Stratton conducts part of his research at Ft. Johnson, where the College’s Grice Marine Laboratory is located. A distinct advantage of the marine biology program is the easy access graduate students have to the many resources of the partner institutions at Ft. Johnson. Stratton, for example, readily acknowledges the guidance he has received from colleagues at the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, National Ocean Service, National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Medical University of South Carolina. “We’re in such close proximity to a large, diverse group of dedicated marine scientists, which makes this kind of collaboration so feasible.”
As part of his research, Stratton examines stable isotope ratios that he takes from fish tissue samples. His specimens, which come from 15 separate species, are used to calculate the trophic level of the species, i.e., the organism’s position in the food web. The mean trophic level has been used in other systems to gauge the overall health of fish communities in response to fishing, so Stratton studies data that goes back 20 years. Given a sufficient number of samples, the analysis of these values within a statistical framework
He also works with researchers at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography in Savanna, Ga., where he performs his stable isotope analyses. “I’m using an elemental analyzer to look at bulk nitrogen and carbon isotopes in fish tissues, as well as nitrogen isotopes in protein amino acids to answer questions about the trophic biology of these fishes. This approach involves aspects of biochemistry, which is often beyond the scope of my expertise. But I’m learning – with the help of others.”
manage this fishery, which stretches from the Outer Banks of North Carolina to the Straits of Florida.
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the importance of place Charleston is a unique setting for graduate research. Whether your studies require easy access to diverse ecosystems, a wealth of historic data, a thriving arts scene or an entrepreneurial business community, all that and more is available in the Lowcountry.
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Left: avery research center for african american history and culture Right: charleston is rich in african american history and culture.
The diverse habitats and serene setting of the college’s property on the stono river are popular with biology students and professors, and with art students.
“My actual thesis work takes place in a variety of labs housed within multiple institutions, most of which are located at Ft. Johnson. This is very collaborative work … if you consider how long our sampling program has been in place and the number of different individuals and research institutions that are involved.” – Mark Stratton, marine biology
arts integration Vanceto Blyden, arts management
Vanceto Blyden understands firsthand the power that the arts can have in a young person’s life. As a high school student, he attended the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities. Now, he’s an accomplished vocal soloist and a graduate student involved in research that will help other young people benefit from exposure to the arts in the same way he did. Blyden is interested in the concept of infusing the arts into school curricula. Arts infusion can be as simple as teaching elementary arithmetic by adding quarter notes and half notes in music. Or, it can be as complex as having students interpret a series of paintings as a way of teaching history. He’s playing out this interest in his work with Sanders-Clyde Elementary/Middle School in Charleston, S.C.
incorporated into a ballet “Off the Wall & Onto the Stage,” which Blyden has recommended be included in the curriculum. In addition, Green and William Starrett of the Columbia City Ballet have created a study guide for teachers to use along with the performances of the ballet. Additional research has confirmed for Blyden just how effective the arts are as a tool for learning. He cites “Champions of Change,” a report created jointly by the Arts Education Partnership and The President’s Commission on the Arts and the Humanities. “That document shows how a sustained arts involvement can increase the academic performance of any student, particularly one who is ‘at risk.’” And that’s where Blyden would like to focus his attention. “I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for the arts. I probably wouldn’t have attended college or graduate school,” he continues. “So, my feeling is, if the arts help just one child, art should be in our schools.”
“With my work, I’m trying to resolve an issue,” he explains. “The school district wants the arts to improve the climate at Sanders-Clyde, and the principal hopes that approach will boost teacher morale.” At the same time, funding for the arts in South Carolina has been dwindling at an alarming rate. Blyden conducted surveys and interviews as a way of analyzing the school’s organizational structure, its existing programming and fund-raising methodologies. Next, he developed a strategic plan for the school that culminated in a series of recommendations. Chief among them was the need for the school to strengthen its partnerships with arts agencies – theater groups, museums, arts associations and performance venues – throughout the community. Among those alliances is an important partnership that has developed with Jonathan Green, a renowned painter whose large mural overlooks the entrance to the school grounds. Green’s iconic paintings have also been The Graduate School of the College of Charleston | 13
A Sense of Inclusion From Day One at The Graduate School of the College of Charleston, you are a colleague. Your ideas are vital to the discussion and your research matters. The intimate scale of our programs and the supportive outlook of our professors guarantee that.
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Left: hollings marine laboratory, a world-class research facility. Right: college of charleston observatory and observation deck atop the rita liddy hollings science center
Living history Amber Clawson, history
Southern colonial history has intrigued Amber Clawson since early in her college career. As soon as she discovered Charles Towne Landing – a state park on the site of South Carolina’s first European settlement – she found the subject of her graduate school research project. Specifically, Clawson chose to focus on the pivotal role of women in that colony in the late 1600s. Now, the result of her independent study is one of the few treatises available on the topic. At first glance, women appeared to be absent from the historical record, which dates to 1670. “The English colonists transplanted the patriarchy of their homeland to the Carolina colony,” Clawson explains. But as she pored over private correspondence and official court records from the era, she discovered that women played a vital role in the development of the colony. Evidently, the drive for profit, coupled with the new world environment, eroded that patriarchy, and the “landed goodwives” enjoyed a legitimate form of power through community influence. Clawson’s study of their lives and activities highlights their political involvement in Charles Towne, which in turn is an indication of the unusual influence and power they wielded in the community.
the case of the lawsuit that Mrs. Affra Coming successfully brought against three of her indentured servants who attempted to escape. The Grand Council ordered that one of the offenders be “forthwth tyed to the Tree and there receive One and Twenty lashes upon his naked back.” Clawson’s interest in this era, however, took on an added dimension once she began her research. She fell in love with public history – the practice of presenting history through exhibitions and reenactments. For her, this approach makes history more accessible because it presents universal themes that people can easily relate to and understand. At Charles Towne Landing, which is only about six miles from downtown Charleston, Clawson found what has been for her the best of both worlds. Park administrators there needed additional scholarly inquiry into the lives of the women who were part of the original settlement, and that topic became the focus of her independent study. And, as a volunteer at the park, she regularly dons Colonial Era garb and educates visitors about Lowcountry life in the 17th century. As a result, Clawson has been able to integrate the results of her research into the work she does as a costumed interpreter, thereby incorporating her scholarly pursuits into the area of public history.
An interesting sidebar to her research: Charles Towne was the only British colony in the New World that granted land ownership to women. As a result, the political power of the women was not merely complementary to that of their male counterparts, but instead was shared through an interwoven web of personal relationships and colonial responsibilities. In her work, Clawson cites several instances of the power women had. For example, in 1672, Margaret Yeamans, along with other “gentlewomen” of the colony, influenced a jury of wealthy men to spare the lives of several indentured male servants who had been accused of crimes. And there was
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An Interdependent Community Our graduate students find themselves in demand within the community by nonprofits, businesses, institutions and schools. This leads to myriad opportunities where you can make a difference by putting classroom theories into practice in substantive ways.
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Left: the beatty center contains, among other high-tech resources, a trading desk where students track stock movements. Right: Charleston is an entrepreneurial city, a major seaport and an international business center.
direct experience with works of art in all media fosters creativity, individuality, innovation and education.
“Essentially, through my research, I tried to help a school resolve an issue. I began by speaking with the principal and the district arts curriculum coordinator. I had to learn from the arts consultant to the school. They each helped me understand the issues affecting the school. My work culminated in a strategic plan that will benefit everyone involved.” – Vanceto Blyden, arts management
community impact Ali Titus, public administration
Research can make a difference. When the Metanoia Community Development Corporation sought help from the Master of Public Administration program (MPA) through it’s Community Assistance Program (CAP), which was established to aid area nonprofits – Ali Titus and other CAP students were called on to formalize a curriculum for the Metanoia Young Leaders Program. The initiative is an after-school program for children from first to twelfth grade, and its focus is on helping them become the kind of citizens who can create positive change in their community. It is part of Metanoia’s efforts to help residents of the Chicora-Cherokee community in North Charleston, S.C., use their own assets and resources to establish quality housing, generate economic development and cultivate future leaders. This work is vital because the community faces challenges that include historically high crime, low homeownership levels and pervasive poverty – as well as the stigmas that accompany those traits. Titus and her colleagues were charged with developing a curriculum that reinforced the central tenets of the Young Leaders Program – character, presence and excellence. “Those aren’t easy concepts to define,” she says. “For instance, how do you define the character of a third grader? What does presence mean when you’re dealing with school-age children? And how do you measure those things?” So, her group began by observing the Metanoia students, talking with parents and meeting with the Young Leaders Program staff. In addition, some members of Titus’ group interviewed local organizations that were engaged in similar work in order to assess their strategies. Others researched the topic
of childhood development in general. Titus, who has an undergraduate degree in psychology, assisted with the latter. She also served as the main author on one of the two end products of the project – a narrative telling the story of the Young Leaders Program. “This is what public administrators have to do every day,” she explains. “They have to get to know a community really well so that the policies they enact will work for that particular community.” Unique to this project were the measurable standards that the organizers wanted to have built into the curriculum. “That’s really atypical for most after-school programs.” Titus says, “but it is a huge asset for them to have this information so that they can refine their efforts.” Titus’ team did not have backgrounds in education, but in psychology, communications and marketing instead. Therefore, the project was a lesson in creative collaboration and the unearthing of available resources. “Playing to the different strengths of our group was another lesson in public administration. In this field, it’s often the case that a lot of different people, many of them with different backgrounds, strengths and expertise, work on a shared goal. You have to learn to marshal all of that.” Titus is among the 60 percent of MPA students who opt to work in the nonprofit world, and according to her, this undertaking with Metanoia has provided invaluable experience. “This project really applies to my career aspirations; it will be the most useful thing that I take away from graduate school. My work with the Young Leaders Program will be what I mention in job interviews, and what I keep in my portfolio to demonstrate my abilities as a public administration professional.”
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Empowered by Choice From conception to execution, to publication or presentation, the research that our graduate students undertake is of their own design. Guided by faculty mentors and supported by a culture of opportunity, they are on equal footing as scholars, free to take the initiative and chart their own course.
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Left: main entrance to the marlene and nathan addlestone library Right: school of the arts is a vibrant community of practicing artists who are also teacher-scholars.
consumer as researcher Ryan Rowland, accountancy
Ryan Rowland is a pet owner. The idea for his research project originated with a visit he made to his local retail pet store. The result was a 20-page equity research report that was one of the most detailed and in-depth analyses his professors had ever received. And his estimate of the company’s intrinsic value – including a buy/sell recommendation – gave him the chance to test his assessment and forecasting skills on a bona fide NASDAQ firm. It was work worthy of a Wall Street veteran. What appealed most to Rowland about the selection of a research topic in the accountancy program was the chance he had to integrate his personal experience as a consumer into the research process and give his end product a certain human dimension. “For me, it was important to be able to select a company that mattered to me. In that way, I could use my own personal experience, which is really the most primary source you have as a researcher.
Rowland also employed extensive ratio analyses to identify distortions in the company’s financial reports. He made adjustments to PetSmart’s financial statements relative to the firm’s inventory reserves, its use of gift cards and its non-productive assets in order to build a solid foundation for his forecasts of future performance. Ultimately, he issued a positive report, which turned out to be right on the money. PetSmart’s stock price increased by more than 50 percent in less than a year after Rowland submitted his paper. “A big part of accounting and auditing in general is learning about the client you’re working with and the industry they work within as well as the economy in general, and that’s what all of us had to do for our research projects. … The entire master’s program really challenges you to think for yourself. A lot of our work was discussion based, which is not what you expect in accounting. That required some getting used to, but it’s really so beneficial in the long run.”
This kind of creative latitude in selecting a topic is not typical of most graduate accountancy programs, but Rowland regards it as basic to his graduate school training. “When I worked on those analyses, I really had to learn more than the average student. I had to research news articles from the past and visit the company. I had to dig deeply and learn about their operations and their stated goals. That involved so much more than simply reading financial statements.” Rowland opted to research PetSmart, the country’s largest specialty retailer of supplies, accessories and services for pets. In his report, he broke out the company’s different product lines, and one of those was vet care. “I had actually tried PetSmart’s veterinary services and I wasn’t very happy with them. That experience played into my report because it affected how I looked at future revenues from that part of the business.”
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the essence of research The research our graduate students conduct has important consequences for, and makes an impact on, their communities. It informs policy, influences behavior, magnifies the body of public knowledge and ultimately contributes to progress in solving society’s problems.
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Left: the school of sciences and mathematics building houses the lowcountry hazards center, gis and remote sensing labs, s.c. space grant offices and more. Right: marine geology students explore the southeast u.s. continental shelf.
researchers at the graduate school thrive in a culture of collegical support.
“We really had to learn more than any average accountancy student. We had to read about these companies and visit them, and dig in and learn about their operations and their stated goals. It’s so much more than simply reading the financial statements. That gave me perspective, and more of an ability to think about what I do as an accountant beyond just analyzing the numbers.” – Ryan Rowland, accountancy
natural selection Kate Skaggs, environmental science
When Kate Skaggs tells people she is studying the neoliberal policies involved in the privatization of natural resources, the typical response is “what does that mean and who cares?” In fact, her work matters a great deal to Mead Westvaco, a global leader in packaging solutions, and to residents who live adjacent to that company’s 78,000 acres along the eastern edge of the Edisto River. It is also important to residents and property owners near the Savannah River Preserve, a 110,000acre collection of private land tracts that are protected under a series of conservation easements.
What Skaggs’ research provided in both cases was a qualitative discourse analysis of the transcriptions, census data and planning documents. In the process, she discovered an unexpected moral discourse that brought to light the shared values of everyone involved, and suggested the formation of a new group of individuals that Skaggs has dubbed the “Nature Class.” In both cases – with East Edisto and the Savannah River Preserve – the Nature Class made clear what it wanted, and the non-profit and for-profit entities took those wishes into account with their designs – an example of environmental governance at work.
As part of her research, Skaggs conducted semi-structured interviews with the stakeholders of each project in order to assess their outlook and feelings – private landowners and lessees, real estate developers and environmentalists, residents and visitors. In the case of East Edisto, there was strong skepticism in the community regarding Mead Westvaco’s intentions. Once the company began to hold public meetings and encourage community input, much of the resistance dissipated and Mead Westvaco ended up with a 50-year, market-driven plan that emphasizes sustainability as much as profitability. A similar dynamic characterized the Savannah River Preserve. Many landowners were nervous about overdevelopment, sprawl and the parceling up of large, contiguous tracts of land, so they began to implement largescale conservation easements. On the other side were residents who were concerned that conserving too much open land would stifle economic development. The resolution in this case will see a continuation of both land conservation and development, but the latter will be marked by an emphasis on infill-style projects that use existing infrastructure (such as empty storefronts and abandoned buildings) instead of heretofore-untouched land. The Graduate School of the College of Charleston | 33
A Unique Experience At The Graduate School of the College of Charleston, research is a core component of our unique academic culture, and is linked inextricably to the way our professors teach. Research can be hands-on for every graduate student. And whether it is collaborative or solitary, it always connects our students – to faculty, to their peers and to the community and the world. Take the School of Education, Health and Human Performance for example, where faculty and administrators share a deep commitment to the community. Their master’s degree candidates have a distinct advantage over those at other institutions because they can focus their scholarly investigations on students, teachers or administrators anywhere along the education spectrum – from early childhood to high school, in rural, suburban or urban settings – because research subjects can be as close as a few blocks, but no further than a 20-minute drive. Tyler Beamer, for example, chose to investigate the efficacy of long-term professional development regarding the constructivist approach to teaching science. (Constructivism treats learners as active participants in the development of
an understanding of the world around them.) Working with professors from the Department of Teacher Education and the mathematics department, he surveyed and observed four science teachers in middle schools across the Lowcountry. Each teacher had experienced 225 hours of instruction in constructivist methodology. The results of Beamer’s study, which were published in the Journal of Elementary Science Education, suggest that teachers trained in this 225-hour program not only continue to use the constructivist approach, but increase their use of it as well. (Most professional development is of a much shorter duration, and ordinarily, teachers stop using it within a few months.) Beamer’s work was possible because of the strong partnerships that the School of Education, Health and Human Performance has built with local school districts and with several specific schools. Because they offer unparalleled opportunities for research, these alliances are an important component for the school’s master’s degree candidates. Tyler Beamer science and mathematics for teachers
If you want to go to graduate school at an institution where you can conduct important academic work with full faculty support augmented by deep-seated connections with the community, you should be looking at The Graduate School of the College of Charleston.
The Graduate School of the College of charleston 843.953.5614 | gradschool.cofc.edu | gradstud@cofc.edu