Creating High-Impact Workforce Development Programs

As communities across the nation continue to face persistent unemployment, many states are turning to community college workforce development programs to combat joblessness. However, state governments and community colleges alike are often unable to devote significant resources to building new workforce initiatives. This brief examines how community colleges in four states have worked with state governments and other partners to overcome budget constraints and create effective workforce development programs, highlighting funding models and innovative practices to make efficient use of limited resources.

Interview with Regina Varnadore

In her June 26, 2013 interview with Martha Manning, Regina Varnadore details her time at Winthrop from 1986-1989 as an Elementary Education major. In particular, Varnadore describes the process of earning a degree in Elementary Education. Varnadore discusses her experience student teaching and her career as a teacher. Varnadore mentions her opinions on education in Rock Hill and employees in the school district. Provided is information on Varandore’s family, the story of Varnadore earning her Master’s degree, and her future in the teaching profession. This interview was conducted for inclusion into the Louise Pettus Archives and Special Collections Oral History Program.

Interview with Stephen Lovegrove

In his December 2014 interview with Michelle Dubert-Bellrichard, Stephen Lovegrove shares his story coming to Winthrop as an “out” student recently kicked out of a religious college. Lovegrove details his perception of the attitude toward LGBTQ people and issues in Winthrop and Rock Hill. Lovegrove identifies resources in the community that are beneficial to LGBTQ people. He also comments on the LGBTQ social movement in terms of growing acceptance and the challenges it will face. This interview was conducted for inclusion into the Louise Pettus Archives and Special Collections Oral History Program.

Alceste's Return

A sequel to Moliere's drama, "The Misanthrope." As of January 2015, it had been selected as a semi-finalist in the AACT playwriting competition. If selected as a finalist, it will be performed in 2016 and published with Dramatist Play Service.

Interview with Leonard Hewell "Kip" Carter

In his February 10, 2012 interview with Robert Ryals, Leonard Hewell “Kip” Carter details growing up in the South during segregation and the Civil Rights Movement, as well as his life as political aide/campaign treasurer to Newt Gingrich. Included are details of his college education at UNC-Chapel Hill – classes, professor, and the Red Scare. Carter shares the history of his friendship and working relationship with Newt Gingrich, the scandals Gingrich faced, and the ultimate end of their relationship. This interview was conducted for inclusion into the Louise Pettus Archives and Special Collections Oral History Program.

Cutting Cursive: Is Handwriting Still Important to Today’s Preservice Teacher?

Handwriting is a tool for communication often untaught that has effects on learning and long-term development for students of the future. Handwriting used to be needed in order to function in society, however, today that skill is no longer needed. New technology, current teaching methods and societal needs have caused handwriting to be overlooked in many school districts. Classrooms are overwhelmed with information and many schools are simply running out of time to teach cursive, therefore no longer making it a priority. Handwriting is a perceptual motor skill requiring higher cognitive thinking, something that most primary school children find difficult, yet it is still needed in the school curriculum and provides a stable foundation for students of the future. The questions to be addressed by my research are to examine the factors that have led to the demise of cursive writing in elementary schools. I will research the complex issues that have contributed to the decline of cursive handwriting. This will include my investigation into the factors that technology has played, along with societal needs. I will interview preservice teachers, those students in college preparing to become teachers, and try to understand where the importance for teaching handwriting started and ended. By the end of my research I want to have constructed a timeline of events to explain the demise of this needed skill. My methodology for this research will be to gather information from various primary and secondary literature review sources. I want to understand when cursive started to disappear from the curriculum and why.

Student Reactions to Professor Use of Facebook

Mazer, Murphy and Simonds (2007) recently demonstrated that high self-disclosure, compared to low self-disclosure, on a fictitious professor's Facebook profile was related to students' expectations of a positive classroom environment and high levels of motivation. These findings raise the question of whether all types of self-disclosure would have the same effect. This study examined college students' perceptions of specific ways that professors might use Facebook. We created six Facebook profiles for a fictitious male professor, each with a specific emphasis: Republican, Democrat, religious, family- oriented, socially oriented, or professional only. While viewing a printed version of one of the randomly distributed profiles, participants responded to questions that assessed their perceptions of the professors' teaching ability, classroom demeanor and appropriateness of self-disclosure, as well as their own Facebook use. Students responded most negatively, but sometimes with greatest interest, to professors' posting of social and political information. Appropriate use of Facebook, including professional and family information, increased students' respect for the professor and his classroom. These findings could be very helpful in guiding professor Facebook use.

Robert M. Ward Photograph Collection - Accession 502

The Robert M. Ward Photograph Collection consists of approximately 400 prints and 900 negatives from the photographs that he took in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. Most of the events and individuals pictured are from the York County, SC area and include the Latta House in York, South Carolina, downtown Rock Hill, parades, baseball, military, aviation, sports, and other York County buildings and scenes. Also included are photographs of Landsford Canal State Park, York Technical College, Winthrop University, Catawba Indian chieftain King Haigler’s memorial, Andrew Jackson State Park, Kings Mountain State Park, Hall of Fame Golfer Sam Sneed's visit to Rock Hill, SC, and Charleston, South Carolina. The collection also contains newspaper articles from the York Observer, dated from 1988 to 1992, which helped to identify some of the people and events in the pictures.

Martha Thomas Fitzgerald Papers - Accession 273

The Martha Thomas Fitzgerald Papers consist of biographical data, correspondence, minutes, newspaper clippings, memoranda, reports, and photographs (of particular interest are the many photographs of rural S.C. school houses in the 1920s). The collection pertains to Mrs. Fitzgerald’s work with the South Carolina Department of Education, the South Carolina House of Representatives, and her work with various civic organizations such as the Altrusa Club, the League of Women Voters, the Daughters of American Colonists, United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), Business and Professional Women’s Club (BPW), Delta Kappa Gamma, South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation, and the Salvation Army. There is also information on the Status of Women Commission Council on Aging, agriculture, Queens College, University of South Carolina, Winthrop University, Columbia University, public health, South Carolina history, City of Columbia, South Carolina, and Richland County, South Carolina. Correspondents include Strom Thurmond and three letters from John F. Kennedy when he was senator. Mrs. Fitzgerald was the first woman elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in a general election.

Robert Lawrence McFadden Papers - Accession 378

The Robert Lawrence McFadden Papers consist of correspondence, reports, minutes, studies, legislative bills, and acts, amendment copies, financial records, news releases, policy statements, maps and newspaper clippings relating to Mr. McFadden’s career as a member of the S.C. House of Representatives for District #50 of York County. the papers relate to such diverse topics and organizations as the York County Nature Museum, alcohol and drug abuse, the Catawba Regional Planning Council, the death penalty, public education, social services, Winthrop University and York Technical College, rural fire departments, et al. The collection is arranged so that the general correspondence appears first in the collection followed by a subject file arranged alphabetically. A random collection of newspaper clippings closes out the collection. All records are arranged in their respective subject files in general chronological order.

Mary Eva Hite Papers - Accession 187

The Mary Eva Hite Papers consists of correspondence, speeches, newspaper clippings, family history data, photographs, awards, scrapbooks, and other records relating to Mary Eva Hite’s career as an educator and prominent South Carolina public servant. The photograph file provides a visual record of South Carolina elementary school life in the first half of the twentieth century. Correspondence relates to Dr. Hite’s many career activities, including her 1970 correspondence highlighting her work promoting the welfare of senior citizens. The speeches focus on her work with the aged, her travels abroad, and acceptances for awards presented to her by educational and civic organizations. Newspaper clippings provide information concerning awards presented to Dr. Hite and chronicle the advances in education made by the state of South Carolina. Scrapbooks relate to college friends and Dr. Hite’s work with Delta Kappa Gamma. There are also records relating to teacher retirement in South Carolina.

James Sisters Papers - Accession 869

The James Sisters Papers consist of personal correspondence between the sisters and their parents while they attended Winthrop and other papers, memorabilia, and photographs relating to their college and professional lives.

Eunice Ford Stackhouse Biography - Accession 15 - M1 (1)

This collection consists of a biography of Eunice Ford Stackhouse (1885-1980) titled Eunice Ford Stackhouse: Educator and Civic Leader by Mary Frayser in 1959. Mrs. Stackhouse was an educator and civil leader. Mary Frayser includes excerpts and original correspondence of Mrs. Stackhouse in the publication.

Mary Elizabeth Massey Papers - Accession 20

The Mary Elizabeth Massey Papers consist of Dr. Massey’s professional and organizational files and includes biographical data, correspondence, lecture and teaching materials, rough notes and unpublished drafts of Dr. Massey’s journal articles and books, speeches, research notes and photo and typescript copies of historical manuscripts from other repositories. Most of the material pertains to Dr. Massey’s publishing efforts, her work as a Winthrop faculty member and scholar and her involvement with professional organizations, especially the Southern Historical Association and the Civil War Centennial Commission. While there is material extending from Dr. Massey’s student days at Hendrix College (a 1937 graduate), most of the substantive material extends from 1953-1973.

Samuel Avon Smith Diary- Accession 284 - M121 (154)

The Samuel Avon Smith Diary is a journal written Samuel Avon Smith who was a Confederate soldier during the American Civil War (Company H, 5th Regiment, SC) and a doctor. The journal was written from ca. 1830-1876 or beyond (some pages have been destroyed). The first part is a reminiscence of his life from 1830 to ca. 1873 and from that point on he gives a monthly account of life in Bullock’s Creek, SC. Subjects covered in the journal are the battles of Manassas and Seven Pines, Confederate Troops at Leesburg, the reorganization of the Confederate Army, the march to Richmond, the conditions of the troops, wounds received at the battle of Seven Pines and his medical treatment at the Confederate hospital in Manchester, Virginia, his education at the Ebenezer Academy and the Medical College of SC in Charleston; his life, practice, and health conditions in Gaston County, NC, Lincoln County, NC, and in Bullock’s Creek, SC; and sentiments towards the reconstruction government and Ku Klux Klan. There is also mention of a conflict between Blacks and Whites in Chester County, SC in 1871.