Stewards of the Region

USCB Stewards of the Region

As a small and localized university that is located in an up and coming yet semi-rural area, it is important for the University of South Carolina Beaufort to give back to its community and location. It is our "Duty to Serve." Here below is a list of some seventeen projects on community initiatives for our region.

• Arts in Beaufort SC Humanities grant (Chamber music and local area high schools) - Honors & Vivace etc
  • USCB Chamber Music
  • South Carolina Arts Grant Awards - Term Time Arts Education Projects Tab
• Beaufort Digital Corridor
  
  • Facebook - Beaufort Digital Corridor
  • Your Island News - Beaufort Digital Corridor
  • Beaufort Digital Corridor - USCB Student Led Team Claims Victory in Techstars Startup Weekend
• "By the River" - Communication students work as producers/crew on Emmy nominated national broadcast
  • SCETV - South Carolina ETV Receives Four Southeast Emmy Nominations
  • Your Island News - SCETV's "By the River" Returns for a National Season 3
• Cyber Maritime Security grant
  USCB was the lead on a $1 million National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines Development Award to establish the Maritime Cybersecurity Institute. Working with 12 regional partners, USCB is using the grant funds to research vulnerabilities, interdependencies, and risks in the regional maritime ecosystem and develop technologies and educational programming to enhance safety and security.
  • USCBe Informed - USCB Receives $1 Million NSF Regional Innovation Engines Development Award
  • Your Island News - USC Beaufort Celebrates Grant to Bolster Maritime Cybersecurity Program
  • Post and Courier - USC Beaufort Awarded 1 Million for Maritime Security, Aims for another $160 Million
• Daufuskie Portfolio Project & The Pat Conroy Literary Center 
  USCB’s Daufuskie Island Gullah Geechee Endowed Scholarship helps make college affordable for students who trace their ancestry to the Gullah Geechee people of the Sea Islands of South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. The scholarship was established by photographer and activist Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, wife of the late Arthur Ashe. 
  • Daufuskie Portfolio Project
  • Pat Conroy Literary Center
• Dr. Najmah Thomas's Dept of Agriculture and Gullah Community grant

Dr. Najmah Thomas, associate professor of public health and coordinator of the Human Services Program, is working with the South Carolina Department of Agriculture to make farming accessible to African Americans, including the local Gullah-Geechee community, and other socially disadvantaged groups. 

• • USCBe Informed - USCB's Dr. Najmah Thomas Works with South Carolina Department of Agriculture
  • Beaufort Lifestyle - Dr. Najmah Thomas in Coming Full Circle, A Gullah Geechee Doctor Continues a Legacy of Learning and Teaching from the Land
  • SARE Projects - Gullah/Geechee Agro-Culture: Sustaining Culture to Sustain Agriculture in the Lowcountry
• Dolphin research & Shark research
  Dr. Eric Montie, associate professor of biology, directs USCB’s Marine Sensory and Neurobiology Lab and the Lowcountry Dolphin Conservation Program. For over a decade, he and a team of researchers, including undergraduate students, have collected underwater sound data to better understand spawning and foraging patterns, dolphin communication, and the impact of human activity. His work is part of the Estuarine Soundscape Observatory Network in the Southeast, funded by NOAA’s Integrated Ocean Observing System and the Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association.  
  
  Dr. Kim Ritchie, associate professor of genetics and prokaryotic cell biology, is leading research on the beneficial bacteria found on sharks, skates, and rays that may lead to better antibiotics. Last spring, one of her student lab assistants spent 10 days working onboard an OCEARCH shark research ship. A member of the USCB faculty since 2016, she has received more than $4.5 million in grant and endowment funding over her career. She is also the director of USCB’s Pritchards Island living classroom. 
  
  • USCBe Informed - USCB's Dr. Eric Montie Featured in Eco Video
  • Bluffton Sun - USCB Engages in Innovative Dolphin Research in Local Waters
  • Coastal Discovery Museum - Adopt-a-Dolphin Program
  • Facebook - Marine Sensory and Neurobiology Lab at USCB 
  • USCBe Informed - USCB Student Joins OCEARCH's 45th Shark Research Expedition
  • USCBe Informed - Two USCB Students Join OCEARCH Expedition for Shark Research
• Education over $5 Million grant with Beaufort County School District

USCB has received a $5.1 million Teacher Quality Partnership grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Called MASTERY (Melding Academics, Support, and Training of Educators for higher Retention Yields), this grant project will expand USCB’s recruitment, preparation, and support of highly qualified, diverse teacher candidates to serve in 21 high-need schools in the Beaufort County School District. Aligned with local community needs, MASTERY will focus on developing teacher candidates in the critical shortage areas of early childhood education, gifted and talented education, middle and high school math and science, special education, and English as a Second Language. The grant also will provide teacher candidates and working teachers with university-based and district-level support. 

• • USCBe Informed - University of South Carolina Beaufort Receives $5.1 Million Grant from U.S. Department of Education
  • Beaufort County School District - New USCB $5 Million Education Grant to Support BCSD
  • WSAV - $5 Million Grant Designed to Help Lowcountry Teacher Retention Issues
• HHI/Bluffton Ambassador Program 

Collaborating with local community and business leaders, USCB’s Center for Lowcountry Hospitality Education has established tourism ambassador programs for Hilton Head Island and Bluffton. Trained in regional knowledge, culture and ecology, the Ambassadors provide a valuable service to the region’s many visitors, helping ensure a quality guest experience. 

• • Bluffton Center
  • Center for Lowcountry Hospitality Education - HHI Ambassador Program
  • Center for Lowcountry Hospitality Education - Bluffton Ambassador Program
• HHI Event Foundation/Institute 
• Nursing and Beaufort Memorial Hospital

USCB has been awarded a $1 million federal grant to advance healthcare education in the region and meet the growing demand for registered nurses in the Lowcountry. The grant project is a significant milestone in expanding enrollment in USCB’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing. It is a strategic partnership among USCB, Beaufort Memorial Hospital, the City of Beaufort, and Beaufort County. 

• • USCBe Informed - USCB Nursing Program Receives $1 Million Grant to Address Shortage
  • Your Island News - BMH Receives $1 Million in Workforce Development Funding
• OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute)
  USCB’s Osher Institute of Lifelong Learning offers engaging intellectual and social programs to adults in the region aged 50+. It is one of the strongest OLLI programs in the country, providing 240 programs a year to more than 1700 members. Courses are delivered in-person on USCB’s three campus and online. 
  • Bluffton Sun - OLLI Program a Perfect Fit for Those who Never Stop Learning
  • Facebook - OLLI at USCB
  • USCBe Informed - OLLI Program is Growing USCB's Impact in the Lowcountry
• Pritchards Island and all the projects/research happening at Pritchards
  Several USCB faculty and students teams are conducting research on Pritchards Island, a near-pristine barrier island that serves as a living classroom. Some of the research projects include the role of beneficial bacteria on sea turtle eggs, oyster reef eDNA to characterize biodiversity, sound scaping to survey marine life, cataloging endangered reptiles and amphibians, analyzing water quality for harmful and beneficial microbes, and beach erosion caused by climate change. 
  • USCBe Informed - Pritchards Island Sees Renewed USCB Activity
  • Beaufort County - Beaufort County Barrier Island Preservation Plan: The University of South Carolina Beaufort has Unveiled a New Preservation Plan for Pritchards Island
  • Beaufort Lifestyle - The Redemption of Pritchards Island
  • University of South Carolina Beaufort Facebook - Nature Showed Off on Pritchards Island
• Public Health Scholarship
  Over $2 million in this grant is being utilized for the Public Health Scholarship.
• Reconstruction NEH grants 

USCB’s Institute for the Study of the Reconstruction Era provides a week-long, hands-on professional learning experience for elementary, middle and high school teachers from across the state. Focusing on region’s history from 1861-1900, the program empowers educators to unlock African American history and inspire their students to engage critically with the past, promoting a deeper understanding of our shared heritage. The program is funded by a grant from the South Carolina Department of Education and presented in partnership with the South Carolina Council for African American Studies. 

• • USCBe Informed - NEH Funds 2022 Summer Institute
  • University of South Carolina Facebook - USCB Receives $200,000 Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities
• SKALE & Hyundai
  • Savannah Tribune - Savannah-Area High School Teachers Chosen for USCB Korea Fulbright Project
  • USCBe Informed - USCB Receives Fulbright-Hays Grant for South Korean and Asian Literacy Education Project
• Students Connected QEP Project 
  108,540 student Community Contribution Hours worth more than $3 million (total for the past 5 years).