CLINTON, S.C. — Presbyterian College, based in Clinton, is one of 11 South Carolina institutions named in a new four-year, $10 million National Science Foundation grant that launches a statewide network to expand STEM research and student pathways
The grant, awarded through the National Science Foundation’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (NSF EPSCoR), funds an initiative called the South Carolina Collaborative Academic Pathways in STEM, or SC-CAPS. Its purpose is to build research capacity and STEM workforce pathways across the state’s primarily undergraduate institutions and historically Black colleges and universities. The award goes to the South Carolina Research Authority, which will administer the funds across the network.
The SC-CAPS network includes Anderson University, Coastal Carolina University, Coker University, College of Charleston, Furman University, Lander University, Presbyterian College, South Carolina State University, University of South Carolina Upstate, Voorhees University, and Winthrop University. Presbyterian College’s Clinton campus is the only participating institution based in Laurens County, and the network’s 10 other institutions are spread across the Upstate, Midlands, Pee Dee, and Coastal regions.
Dr. Nadim Aziz, director of South Carolina EPSCoR, is the principal investigator and project director. Tim Stemmler, vice president for research at the Medical University of South Carolina, chairs the SC EPSCoR State Committee that oversees the program.
SC-CAPS launches with three interconnected components. The Experiential Learning Core engages high school, transfer, and undergraduate students across all 11 campuses to build research skills. The Building STEM Pathways Core focuses on retention, on-time graduation, and career readiness through articulation agreements, high school bridge programs, enhanced advising, and peer mentoring. The Faculty and Institutional Growth Core supports faculty development to strengthen research competitiveness and long-term sustainability.
Beyond the three cores, SC-CAPS opens additional capacity-building opportunities to all primarily undergraduate institutions and historically Black colleges and universities in South Carolina, including competitive seed funding for equipment, a proposal-writing academy, statewide best-practice workshops, and research experiences for students.
Christopher Korey, associate provost for student success at the College of Charleston and a co-principal investigator on the project, said the award creates “clearer pathways for student success,” with particular focus on “expanding support for students who begin their journeys at two-year institutions and transfer into STEM programs.” The transfer-student focus is directly relevant to Clinton, where Presbyterian College enrolls transfer students each year from two-year colleges across the Upstate and Midlands.
For Presbyterian College’s Clinton campus, participation in SC-CAPS means access to the network’s shared research infrastructure, the seed-funding pool, and the transfer-student pipeline programs, over a four-year grant period. Neither institutional release disclosed a Presbyterian-specific dollar allocation, and the consortium has not published a per-school breakdown of the $10 million total.
What’s next for Clinton
SC-CAPS begins its four-year grant period now. The three cores — experiential learning, STEM pathways, and faculty growth — are expected to launch programming across all 11 campuses during the academic year. Clinton students and faculty at Presbyterian College can expect the first opportunities to arrive through the seed-funding proposals and the statewide proposal-writing academy. Community members who want to follow the network’s activity will find updates through Presbyterian’s own communications and through SC EPSCoR’s public program pages.
Sources: College of Charleston Today; South Carolina State University News.
