Charles H. Houston Center hosts career empowerment workshop for rising high school seniors

Published: May 10, 2012

CLEMSON — The annual Clemson Career Workshop invites rising high school seniors to discover Clemson's campus this summer while learning about career opportunities in engineering, biological sciences and public health.

The workshop is a one-week residential recruitment and academic development experience hosted by the Charles H. Houston Center for the Study of the Black Experience in Education. This year’s session will be held June 17-22.

Once on campus, students are introduced to Clemson University traditions while learning about academic degree programs, career services, financial aid, academic support services and other programs. They also have the opportunity to talk with professionals and take various campus field trips.

The workshop provides students with 30 hours of instruction from Clemson faculty in engineering, biological sciences and public health courses. In engineering, students explore various disciplines and practice their skills through hands-on projects and activities. In the biological sciences course, students participate in a microbiology experiment and embark on special tours of the Clemson Organic Gardening Facilities and the Biological Sciences Museum on campus. The public health course is a new addition this year and focuses on what public health encompasses and educational and career opportunities in this field. Students participate in workgroups to discuss real-world public health situations and take a field trip to Clemson’s public health sciences department and School of Nursing.

“This program strives to get the best minority students in the state to enroll in Clemson, and as a university we are committed to their success,” said Thomas Hughes, biological sciences professor and workshop instructor.

For students to be competitive for admission to the Clemson Career Workshop, they must be in the 11th grade at the time of application and currently enrolled in an advanced college preparatory curriculum. They must also be ranked in the top 10 percent of their classes and meet the early admission criteria for Clemson University.

Scholarships are available. The deadline for applications is May 21. Students must submit an official transcript, school picture and the completed application to the Charles H. Houston Center’s Office of Academic Excellence. The application can be found on the Center’s website or at http://www.clemson.edu/centers-institutes/houston/documents/application.pdf.

For more information, contact Starlett Craig, director of the Office of Academic Excellence at the Charles H. Houston Center, at 864-656-0676 or cstarle@clemson.edu.

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Charles H. Houston Center for the Study of the Black Experience in Education
The Charles H. Houston Center for the Study of the Black Experience in Education is located in the Eugene T. Moore School of Education at Clemson University. Established in 1988, it is the only research center housed at one of the nation's top research universities that is designed to disseminate empirical information and address issues pertaining to the educational experiences and outcomes of African Americans at all levels of the educational system throughout the United States. For more information about the Charles H. Houston Center’s research and programs, visit our website at http://www.clemson.edu/houston.