FLORENCE — The Francis Marion University Board of Trustees approved a new bachelor’s degree in multi-categorical special education pre-K through 12th grade and autism studies at its Nov. 16 meeting. The program, expected to start in Fall 2024, will be the first in South Carolina, FMU President Fred Carter said. “We’ll be able to produce more education majors out of here with the knowledge and skills to more fully accommodate the needs of autism,” Carter said. The university’s School of Health Science, School of Education and Department of Psychology developed the degree’s curriculum. The curriculum will feature multi-categorical special education, school and clinical psychology programs, speech/language pathology courses and occupational therapy courses. “I’m so proud of our faculty for bringing that together,” Carter said at the meeting. “In many schools this would have taken three years, at Francis Marion, it took about four months.” The wide range of disciplines involved in the curriculum will help not only K-12 students, Carter said, but also adults in the workplace. Students who graduate from the bachelor’s program will earn a special education teaching certificate and have the coursework to become a board certified assistant behavioral analyst, said Crystal Hill-Chapman, chair of the Department of Psychology. Students will have the option to work in a school environment or clinical setting. Students will also have the opportunity to earn program scholarships. University alums Jim and Candace Brown recently donated $1 million to create scholarships for students seeking to earn the new degree and expand the university’s applied behavioral analysis laboratory and clinic, Carter said. Children and adults with autism will be able to get support at the lab — 201 W. Evans St. in downtown Florence. The Browns also made a donation in February to fund the James R. Faulkenberry Endowed Chair in Autism Studies. The chair will strengthen faculty teaching, research and service in neurodiversity. Francis Marion University didn’t request additional budget funds from the state it submitted its budget this past session. However, the university secured funding for the program anyway. Carter said he told the House Ways and Means Higher Education subcommittee chairman Nathan Ballentine he wanted to produce more educators who better understood autism. The Ways and Means subcommittee added $500,000 in recurring funds for autism studies. The Senate also added $500,000 in recurring funds after Carter spoke to former chairman of the Senate Higher Education subcommittee Sen. Ronnie Cromer. Francis Marion ended up with $1 million in recurring funding despite not asking for a dime, Carter said. “I couldn’t be more appreciative of our legislators for making this money available to us,” Carter said at the meeting. Francis Marion’s Board of Trustees also approved $2,000 holiday bonuses for all full-time faculty and staff — a practice the university has followed since 1999.
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