Center Staff
Dr. Sam DrewInterim Executive DirectorE-mail: sdrew@clemson.edu Phone: 864.656.2873Dr. Drew joined the Center as Associate Director in July 2002. He holds a Ph.D. in Educational Administration from the University of South Carolina. He has over 39 years of experience in education ranging from an elementary school principal, to special assistant in the United States Department of Education, to State Director of Adult Education in South Carolina. His research interests are adult education and advocacy intervention for at-risk students. |
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Dr. Loujeania Williams BostDirector of the National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities (NDPC-SD)E-mail: lbost@clemson.edu Phone: 864.656.6976Dr. Bost holds a Ph.D. in Special Education from Pennsylvania State University. She has an extensive background in working with students with disabilities. Dr. Bost was the chief of statewide compliance, monitoring, and technical assistance for the Pennsylvania Department of Education. She has been a public school teacher, a program administrator for agencies serving adults and adolescents with mental retardation, and a researcher. |
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Dr. Terry CashAssistant DirectorE-mail: tcash@clemson.edu Phone: 864.656.2737Dr. Cash joined the Center as Assistant Director in April 2002. He holds a Ph.D. in Educational Administration from the University of South Carolina. Terry brings an extensive professional background to the Center, having served as a teacher and/or administrator at every level of public education. His research interests and background are in the areas of funding and effectiveness for alternative school programs serving at-risk youth. |
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Dr. Jay SminkProfessor Emeritus / Former DirectorE-mail: sjay@clemson.edu Phone: 864.656.2599Dr. Smink holds a Doctorate in Educational Administration from Pennsylvania State University. Jay has been the Executive Director since 1988. His experiences range from teaching at the local school level to research at the university level. He consults regularly in a variety of capacities and serves on several boards across the nation. Jay focuses a great deal of his research and writing on mentoring. |
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Mrs. Janet ArnoldAdministrative AssistantE-mail: arnold5@clemson.edu Phone: 864.656.1734Mrs. Janet Arnold joined the NDPC-SD staff in August 2010 as the administrative assistant for the center. She has 31 years of university experience as an administrative assistant and retired from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2008. She is responsible for all administrative matters for the center, including word processing, desktop publishing, database entry and reports, travel arrangements, and conference planning/coordination. |
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Mrs. Peg ChrestmanPublic Information SpecialistE-mail: merry@clemson.edu Phone: 864.656.2874Mrs. Chrestman has been with the Center since 1990. She is our desktop publisher and editorial assistant on all Center publications. |
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Mrs. Marty DuckenfieldPublic Information DirectorE-mail: mbdck@clemson.edu Phone: 864.656.2580Mrs. Duckenfield has a Master's degree in Nutritional Science from Clemson University. Formerly a teacher, she has been with the Center since 1988. Initially hired to develop a database of resource materials, today she supervises all Center publications, including production of The National Dropout Prevention Center/Network Newsletter. In addition to publications, Marty co-hosts the monthly radio webcast, Solutions to the Dropout Crisis, and coordinates the Center's service-learning activities. |
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Ms. Melinda FischerAdministrative AssistantE-mail: melindf@clemson.edu Phone: 864.656.3875Mrs. Fischer is an administrative assistant who joined the Center in February of 2009. She is responsible for accounting, payroll, invoicing and managing grants. Mrs. Fischer has been in accounting for more than 10 years and was previously an English Major at Appalachian State University. |
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Mr. John GailerProgram CoordinatorE-mail: jgailer@clemson.edu Phone: 864.656.2675Mr. Gailer joined the Center in 2011 as a Program Coordinator for national conferences. He has a Master’s degree in Human Resource and Organizational Development from the University of Georgia and over 20 years of experience in program development as an administrator and professor in higher education. Mr. Gailer also has extensive experience in program implementation, event management, and non-profit administration. |
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Ms. Denise GianforcaroAdministrative Specialist IIE-mail: jgianfo@clemson.edu Phone: 864.656.3882Mrs. Gianforcaro is an Administrative Specialist II and has been with the Center since April of 2008. She manages the Cvent online registration system and provides administrative support for all aspects of conference planning, registration, and implementation. She also manages the NDPN membership database and processes membership and literature requests. |
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Ms. Catherine Aurentz GriffithResearch AssociateE-mail: cgriffi@clemson.edu Phone: 864.656.2595Ms. Griffith obtained the degree Master of Education from Harvard University in 2002 and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Special Education at the Curry School of Education of the University of Virginia. She joined the Center in 2006 to implement, monitor, and evaluate a longitudinal research study that investigates the effect of the Jamestown Reading Navigator program on middle and high school students' reading skills and high school graduation status. |
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Mrs. Debbie HallAdministrative AssistantE-mail: hall6@clemson.edu Phone: 864.656.0252Mrs. Hall is an Administrative Assistant, and has been with the Center since 2005. She serves as business manager for the center and provides administrative and support services associated with personnel, grants and contracts, data processing and procurement activities. |
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Dr. Cathy HammondResearch AssociateE-mail: hammon3@clemson.edu Phone: 864.656.3099Dr. Hammond has a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Before moving to Clemson, she spent 15 years working with local and state school safety and violence prevention programs in Florida. She joined the Center in 2005 to carry out a systematic research synthesis of risk factors for school dropout. Currently she is the Co-Principal Investigator on the Center's longitudinal study of the South Carolina Personal Pathways to Success Initiative. |
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Dr. Matthew KlareResearch AssociateE-mail: mklare@clemson.edu Phone: 864.656.1253Dr. Klare joined the NDPC-SD in March 2005, coming from American Institutes for Research in Washington, DC. For the last 18 years, Dr. Klare's focus has been in the areas of assessment development and operations. While at AIR, he worked on alternate assessments, Braille and LEP accommodations for statewide achievement tests at grades K-8. At NDPC-SD he provides technical assistance to states and is assisting with the development of a model of dropout prevention for students with disabilities that incorporates research-based practices. |
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Mr. John PetersNetwork CoordinatorE-mail: pj@clemson.edu Phone: 864.656.0253Mr. Peters earned a Master's in Business Administration from the University of Michigan. He has been with the Center since 1992. Initially hired to provide Network support services, today he also handles the logistics of our professional development seminars, conferences, and workshops. |
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Ms. Bev SevickResearch AssociateE-mail: bsevick@clemson.edu Phone: 864.656.2741Ms. Sevick holds a M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction from Wayne State, specializing in Alternative Education, and a B.S. in Secondary Commercial Education/French from Montana State University. After many years of teaching economics, vocational education and French in Illinois, Ms. Sevick developed and administered a 5 - 12 alternative school-within-a-school on the Winnebago Indian Reservation in Nebraska. Bev has come out of retirement to act as team leader for the NDPC portion of the Alaska Native Success grant for Southeast Alaska. |
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Dr. Sandra Covington SmithResearch AssociateE-mail: sandras@clemson.edu Phone: 864.656.1817Dr. Smith holds a Ph.D. in Special Education with an emphasis in Behavior Disorders from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She is a Certified Positive Behavior Support Trainer as part of the University of Missouri-Columbia Research Collaborative Partnership with the National Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. Presently, Dr. Smith develops technical assistance documents to be used by state education agencies, policymakers, local education agencies, and parents; and coordinates and provides training and technical assistance to state education agencies to develop effective dropout prevention programs and interventions based on assessment of recipient needs. |
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Dr. Julia WilkinsResearch AssociateE-mail: wilkin6@clemson.edu Phone: 864.656.2595Dr. Wilkins holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She came to NDPC-SD in 2009 from St. Cloud State University where she was an assistant professor of special education. Since joining the Center she has been primarily responsible for researching reentry programs for out-of-school youth. Previously, Dr. Wilkins was a public school teacher in Buffalo, NY, where she taught students with disabilities as well as students at risk of dropping out. |
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Mr. David WindhamInformation Resource Consultant IIE-mail: dwindha@clemson.edu Phone: 864.656.2599Mr. Windham is a graduate of The College of Charleston. His specialties include management of information systems and computer programming. He is responsible for maintaining and creating new features for the NDPC/N and NDPC-SD Web sites. David also provides programming and database services as needed for the Center's various activities. |
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Ms. Cairen WithingtonResearch AssociateE-mail: cairenw@clemson.edu Phone: 864.656.0253Ms. Withington holds an M.A. in Economics from the University of South Carolina, specializing in the economics of human capital and education, and a B.A. in English from College of Charleston. She has worked off and on for Clemson University for over 20 years, most recently as a consultant for the Houston Center for the Status of Blacks in Higher Education, and has taught economics at Tri-County Technical College. She has been with the Center since the summer of 2006 and works part time. She is currently working on "A Longitudinal Study of the South Carolina Personal Pathways to Success Initiative." |
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