Wofford Student Chad Sauvola (Left); CIU student Cole Harper (Right)

 

Chad Sauvola, a senior biology major at Wofford College, is the J. Lacy McLean SCICU Student of the Year. Cole Harper, a junior double-majoring in Bible and Youth Ministry, Family, & Culture at Columbia International University, is the Sterling L. Smith Scholarship recipient for 2014.

 

 

The SCICU Board of Trustees recognized these two outstanding independent college and university students at its annual meeting and awards luncheon on September 24 at Wofford College.

 

The award winners were chosen from dozens of applicants by the prestigious Center for Scholarship Administration. To read more about these outstanding students, click here.

The awards luncheon was generously sponsored by American Student Assistance, Aramark Higher Education, Elliott Davis, PLLC, e-Procurement Services, LLC, McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture, PNCBANK, SchoolDude, Sodexo, Total Comfort Solutions, and the Wyche Law Firm.

SCICU is pleased to announce the creation of three new scholarship programs in 2014-15 as part of its Named Scholars Program. Started in 1994, the SCICU Named Scholars Program is an avenue for companies and foundations to establish scholarship programs for students attending private,  non-profit colleges or universities in South Carolina. There are presently 12 companies/foundations that have established scholarship programs at SCICU.  

 

For the 2014-15 academic year, over $300,000 will be awarded to eligible students at the 20 SCICU-member colleges. Since the inception of the program, more than $4.5 million has been awarded to over 4,000 students.

 

The three new scholarship programs include:

 

Sanders Family Foundation Scholarships

SCICU trustee Dan Sanders, through his family foundation, established this scholarship that operates in coordination with the Furman University Bridges to a Brighter Future Program, a program that assists at-risk youth with their educational goals. Ten students participating in the Furman Bridges Program will be selected by the Bridges program to receive $1,000 scholarships to attend the SCICU-member college of their choice. Recipients will be upper-class students who have extenuating circumstances in their financial aid packages.

 

Timken Company Scholarships

The Timken Company, based in Canton, Ohio, has been a donor to the SCICU Unrestricted Giving campaign for 38 years. Timken increased their award this year to $10,000 to establish the Timken Scholars Program. Two $1,000 scholarships will be awarded to selected students at the following five SCICU-member schools: Anderson University, Benedict College, Coker College, Converse College, and North Greenville University. Recipients will be traditional students, South Carolina residents, have GPAs of 3.0 or higher, and major in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math (STEM).

 

Williams & Fudge, Inc. Scholarships

SCICU trustee Gary Williams established a new scholarship program this year to reward leadership at each of SCICU's 20 members. College presidents select students who currently hold leadership positions at the colleges. The $500 awards are a way of saying "Well done, thanks for being a giver!" Students must have a minimum GPA of 2.5. 

 

At the recent meeting of the SCICU Board of Trustees at Wofford College,  SCICU Development Committee Chairman Lonnie Emard, who also serves as Executive Director of IT-oLogy, announced that SCICU and IT-oLogy will partner in a fundraising initiative that will provide forty $1,500 scholarships over the next two years to students studying in STEM-related majors (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) at the twenty SCICU-member colleges.

"We are pleased to announce," said Emard, "that SCICU has won a $25,000 Scholarship Challenge Grant from the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) that will be used to leverage at least $35,000 in new and increased gifts for student scholarships at our 20 member colleges. CIC earmarked $100,000 for four scholarship programs, and we congratulate Eddie Shannon and SCICU for writing a winning proposal and thank the Council of Independent Colleges for their support."

 

SCICU will raise at least $35,000 in new or increased funding from South Carolina businesses including current members and supporters of the IT-oLogy program. IT-oLogy will take the lead in helping SCICU contact IT-oLogy's business members to seek donations toward the $35,000 challenge goal. SCICU will supplement this approach by working with other SCICU Board members to seek support from other corporations.

 

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A $72,000 gift from the Duke Energy Foundation to South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities, Inc. (SCICU) will provide higher education scholarships and undergraduate research opportunities to deserving South Carolina students attending one of the state's private non-profit colleges or universities.

 

"Education has always been a focal point of our commitment to corporate giving," said Mike Wilson, government and community relations manager with Duke Energy and current SCICU trustee. "We're proud to partner with an organization like SCICU that continues to make a difference in the lives of so many students in the Palmetto State."

 

"Duke Energy has been a supporter of South Carolina's independent colleges and universities for more than 50 years, and we are extremely grateful to receive such a generous gift to provide scholarships and research opportunities to needy and talented students," said Eddie Shannon, executive vice president of SCICU.  

 

The $72,000 gift will provide $1,000 scholarships in 2014-15 in the name of Duke Energy to 66 students at SCICU's eleven member colleges located in the Duke Energy service area as well as providing $6,000 to the SCICU Student/Faculty Undergraduate Research Program which provides valuable undergraduate research experiences to outstanding students. 

 

The Board of Trustees of South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities elected eight new members at its annual meeting on September 24 at Wofford College. (Pictures correspond with list, upper left to lower right). Elected to three-year terms are:

• Clyde A. Best - Principal, Bess and Associates (Coward)
• Henry E. Barton, Jr. - Vice President for Government Affairs, SCANA Corp. (Columbia)
• Paul J. Bopp - Director of Wealth Management and Senior Vice President, First Citizens Bank (Columbia)
• Michael N. (Neil) Jones - Chief Accounting Officer, Colliers International South Carolina (Columbia)
• Jay Lasater - Senior Vice President and Commercial Bank Executive, South State Bank (Columbia)
• Amy Elizabeth Love - Director of Innovation, SC Department of Commerce (Columbia)
• Lucy Grey McIver - Assistant General Counsel, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina (Sumter)
• Kevin M. Short - Middle Market Carolinas Regional Group Director, TD Bank (Greenville)

 

To read more about our new trustees, please click here.  

 

In addition, the following members were re-elected to a second three-year term on the Board of Trustees:

•  Dr. Jo Anne Anderson - Educator (Columbia)
• John Benfield - Associate Dean of Admissions and Alumni Development, Charleston School of Law (Charleston)
• Steve Bryant - CEO, SYSTEMTEC, Inc. (Columbia)
• Jerry Cheatham - Director Financial Analysis, NAC, Sonoco Products Co. (Hartsville)
• Lonnie Emard - Executive Director, IT-oLogy (Columbia)
• Laura Hart - Of Counsel, Duff, White & Turner (Columbia)
• Charlotte Verreault - Retired, Milliken and Co., (Spartanburg)
• Larry Watt - Executive Director, SC Independent School Association (Denmark)

 

President Colleen Perry Keith of Spartanburg Methodist College was elected to a two-year term as chair of the SCICU Presidents Council and vice chair of the SCICU Board of Trustees.  

 

She succeeds Dr. Evans Whitaker, president of Anderson University. Joining Dr. Keith on the Board's Executive Committee are Ms. Beth Dinndorf, president of Columbia College, Dr. Walt Griffin, president of Limestone College, and Dr. Henry Tisdale, president of Claflin University

Kathy McKinney, SCICU Board of Trustees Chair, appointed Lonnie Emard, Brent Weaver, Henri Baskins, and Terence Roberts to chair standing committees. Emard, executive director of IT-oLogy, will chair the Development Committee. Weaver, VP and Relationship Manager for Government and Institutional Banking for Wells Fargo, will chair the Finance Committee. Baskins, executive director of the Greater Columbia Human Relations Council and past Board chair, will chair the Nominating Committee. Roberts, mayor of Anderson and owner of a State Farm Insurance agency, will chair the Public Policy Committee. Ms. McKinney is a shareholder with Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd in Greenville. 

The committee chairs will join the Trustee officers and the representatives of the Presidents Council to form the Executive Committee. Chair-elect Jim Reynolds, CEO and Partner with Total Comfort Solutions, is also a member of the Executive Committee.

 

We would like to post accomplishments of our members on our Member College News section of our website and feature a few of the outstanding links in our monthly newsletter.

 

Here are some of the articles we featured this month:

• Coker Alum Named in the 2014 Class of MacArthur Fellows
• NGU OPENS TIM BRASHIER CENTER
• Morris Professor among Heroes of Chemistry
• Dr. Pamela Wilson hired as new executive vice president at Voorhees
• SWU staff take part in challenge raising ALS awareness
• AU listed as one of the fastest-growing universities in the country
• SMC wins Visionary Award and will be Case Study for Hobsons

Let us share your news and celebrate your successes. Send your releases to Stephenie Helland at Stephenie@scicu.org.  

 

To see all of our Member College News, please click here. 

SCICU's on-line network of providers offers goods and services to the independent higher education community in South Carolina. The Business Partners program provides a convenient marketplace where SCICU member colleges and universities can preview offerings from some of the top companies in the country. 

We are pleased to announce that the following company has joined as a new business partner:

StemPremier

Aramark Higher Education 

Myers McRae Executive Search and Consulting

Scholarbuys