DATE: June 16, 2009

CONTACT: Jamie Williams, 864-656-6160
jamwill@clemson.edu

WRITER: Teresa C. Hopkins, 864-656-1222
hopkin1@clemson.edu

Williams takes national leadership role in scholars association

CLEMSON — Jamie Williams, associate director of the Clemson University National Scholars Program, has been elected to a two-year term as president of the Undergraduate Scholars Program Administrators Association (USPAA).

Williams has been part of the association since its informal beginnings in 2006.

“There was a niche that wasn’t being filled by existing professional associations,” Williams said. “Several colleagues began collaborating in 2006 to form this new group to serve professionals whose primary work on their campuses is to recruit, select, advise and instruct students invited to join highly selective scholars and scholarship programs.”

As more institutions offer scholars programs that pair significant financial awards with exclusive educational enrichment activities, the faculty and staff who run the programs must ensure that the investment in these students pays off, Williams said.

“USPAA aims to develop best practices to make sure we can all do that on our campuses,” he said.

To better understand this under-researched population of high-achieving college students, the association has conducted several studies focusing on their backgrounds and challenges.

“We’ve looked at these students’ demographics, attitudes and behaviors and have found some interesting results that have helped many of us tailor our advising and other programs to challenge and support these students to continued success,” Williams said.

For example, a spring 2009 study of 688 undergraduate scholars at nine institutions found that male scholars felt pressure from their parents to succeed at a significantly higher rate than female scholars. However, female scholars felt overwhelmed, depressed and like quitting school at a significantly higher rate than male scholars. This extensive study also investigated political and religious beliefs and the correlation between parents’ educational attainment and scholar behavior.

“One of the more interesting findings related to their parents’ education is that the more educated the father, the more pressure the students feel to succeed, but that’s not the case with increased education for the mother,” said Williams. “Further research will be aimed at understanding differences such as this.”

Prior to joining Clemson, Williams advised students at Emory University, Georgia State University, the University of South Carolina, Columbia College and Portland State University. Williams has taught CU 101, the Clemson first-year success seminar, since 2002, and has served on committees for the campus Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration, the Freshman Summer Reading Program, the Calhoun Honors College, Student Government and to establish the Clemson chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.

The Undergraduate Scholars Program Administrators Association 2010 conference will be at the University of South Carolina, with future conferences at Duke University, East Tennessee State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.