Member Spotlight – Spartanburg Community College

Spartanburg Community College, Spartanburg, South Carolina | sccsc.edu | Established 1963 | Susan Moore, NISOD Liaison

Member Spotlight Question and Answer 

When did Spartanburg Community College become a NISOD Member?
Spartanburg Community College first became a member of NISOD in 1998.

Why is Spartanburg Community College a NISOD Member?
NISOD membership provides numerous benefits that contribute to Spartanburg Community College’s faculty development and student success. The wide variety of support offered, including webinars, Innovation Abstracts, and the annual conference, provide our faculty and staff varied and affordable opportunities for professional development, personal growth, and networking opportunities.

Which NISOD benefits does Spartanburg Community College use the most and how?
Spartanburg Community College participates in the annual NISOD conference and webinars. On March 6, 2020, the college will host a regional workshop titled, The Age of Artificial Intelligence and Learning. We are excited to welcome community college colleagues to our campus!

Interesting News Happening at Spartanburg Community College

SCC Mechatronics Program Provides Model for the Rest of the State
Major upgrades to college mechatronics programs across the state are on the way thanks to a major donation from the Heritage Classic Foundation and the RBC Foundation. The groups will commit $300,000 over the next three years to the South Carolina Technical College system.

Augmented Reality Represents the Next Frontier at Spartanburg Community College
New augmented reality tech tools could represent a big shift in the way Spartanburg Community College students learn new skills in the classroom. SCC President Henry Giles, Jr. calls the new tools a “game changer,” and says they bring new dimensions to the classroom and learning. Augmented reality applications and tools allow digital overlays and information on top of the physical world, according to Giles. “It’s one thing for students to read about a technique, but it’s a completely different learning opportunity for students to actually experience and complete a process in their own classroom/lab setting via AR,” Giles says.

SCC Facility Providing a Spark to Economic Development
The Spark Center SC, on the Tyger River Campus of Spartanburg Community College, was established in June 2006 to ignite economic growth and serve as a catalyst for business and entrepreneurial development not only countywide, but across South Carolina. Serve as a catalyst it has: an economic impact study in June 2018 revealed The Spark Center could be tied to 34,600 jobs and more than $2 billion in total earnings.

Spartanburg Community College Opens Center for Sustainable Agriculture
Located off Fairforest Road, the Center for Sustainable Agriculture features about a dozen gardening beds, a decorative silo, and a “barn” that has a large open area for events, indoor lectures, and project workshops, as well as a kitchen area for cleaning and sorting produce that’s delivered to community partners like Hub City Farmers’ Market. Students participating in the program are producing about 1.5 acres of organically raised, seasonally grown fruits and vegetables.

Every month, NISOD turns the spotlight on the effective ways member colleges use NISOD benefits. These member colleges exemplify NISOD’s mission of improving teaching, learning, and leadership, with the ultimate goal being to increase student success.