ORANGEBURG, S.C. — Thalia Butts is a senior majoring in mass communications at Claflin University. She hopes that a new partnership between Claflin and the University of South Carolina will position her and others budding journalists at Claflin for success as they apply for jobs in their field.
"I'm interested in developing my skills as a journalist and a media professional," Thalia Butts. "I'm hoping this program will attribute to that.
Claflin and USC are collaborating to allow students to earn a bachelor's degree at Claflin and a master's degree in communications or library and information science at USC within five years.
"This will be our first official M-O-A under our administration," said Dr. Dwaun Warmack.
Claflin President, Dr. Warmack, sees the partnership as a win for its students and both universities.
"You're eliminating one year of student debt and possibly student loans in graduate school," explained Dr. Warmack. "It allows them to get into the workforce faster."
Claflin is the first historically black college university in South Carolina to have this partnership with USC. The school's president Bob Caslen believes this will be the pipeline for other HBCUs in the Palmetto State to join. For now, the next move is to establish more partnerships between USC and Claflin's academic programs.
"Our strategic plans have the metric that connects every single one of our colleges," said Caslen. "Not just journalism and communications."
For students like Thalia, that's good news.
"This is not just any school; this is USC," expressed Butts. "They are very respected, so I think having access to a school like USC is a huge benefit for students."