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The first recipient of a new bachelor's degree designed for "place-bound" students at the University's regional campuses is a long-term substitute special education teacher who will use the degree to make her job a permanent full-time position.
"I feel blessed," said Janet Haigler of Pageland, who will receive the first bachelor of arts in liberal studies degree at summer commencement Aug. 9. "I'm achieving a goal I set for myself and I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel."
The inaugural graduate in the degree program that was launched last fall for students at the Lancaster, Union, Sumter, and Salkehatchie campuses plans to further her education with a master's degree in learning disabilities from Francis Marion University. She can get the degree by taking evening and distance education courses.
Ultimately, she wants to become a permanent member of the faculty at Central High School in Pageland where she has been serving as a substitute for students with learning disabilities.
Haigler always dreamed of being a teacher.
But after high school she married, raised a family, and all but gave up on the idea of teaching. Then she got a call from Central High principial J.R. Green to help with the substitute special ed job for ninth through twelfth graders with learning disabilities.
The experience opened her eyes to a new world and rekindled the dream of a career in education. But first she'd have to supplement an already earned associate degree in business administration with more credits for a bachelor's degree, and then earn teaching credentials.
Though the bachelor of arts in liberal studies degree wasn't designed only for mature students, Haigler is exactly the type of student Chris Plyler, vice provost and executive dean for system affairs, had in mind when he got the idea for creating a baccalaureate degree for regional campus students, said Sally Boyd, assistant vice provost for credit programs in Columbia, who also worked on the program's implementation.
There have always been those who couldn't continue work on a bachelor's degree elsewhere after they finished study at the regional campuses because they were bound to their communities by family, job, or other responsibilities, said Boyd, adding that the price of gas will probably be another reason people will be attracted to the new degree.
Awarded by the Columbia campus, the new degree included creation of an initiative known as Palmetto Programs, which offers a dozen additional courses per semester taught by regional campus faculty members that simultaneously reach students at multiple sites.
Students enrolled in the degree must declare one of three major options (science and mathematics, social and behavioral sciences, or arts and humanities), then select two disciplines within those options that total 27 hours of coursework.
Boyd monitors major options students have chosen and works with the academic deans on the campuses to schedule the courses students will need for their degrees.
Forty-six students are currently enrolled in the degree program, but Boyd anticipates that number will double by next year as awareness of the program grows.
Haigler is a poster student for the new degree, said Boyd, noting her remarkable work ethic, and her induction this past spring into Alpha Sigma Lambda, the adult student honor society that recognizes students over 25 who have top academic records.
"She's a highly motivated person who really seems to be focused on not only achievement, but also contributing to her community," Boyd said.
"I couldn't have done this without all of the encouragement and support I've received," said Haigler, who credits her husband, Jerry "Shug" Haigler; three sons; her church family; the faculty and principal, J.R. Green, at Central High; Ron Cox, associate dean of academic affairs at USC Lancaster; her professors, and Boyd, for helping her achieve her goal.
"This has been a wonderful experience."
7/08
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