News & Notes 
Information for South Carolina's 
Independent Colleges & Universities  
Volume 7 Issue 4

 April 2014

In This Issue
Sen. Jackson Named Legislative Champion
Governor, General Assembly Honor Ind. Colleges & Universities
House Approves FY 2015 State Budget
Student Research Grants Awarded
Member College News
SCICU Business Partners
Calendar of Events
2014  

 

April 8

Teacher Recruitment Day

Presbyterian College

9am - 3pm

[Register] 

 

April 8

Excellence in Teaching Dinner 

Columbia Metropolitan Cntr

6pm - 9pm

 

April 9

Ind. Colleges & Universities' Day at the State House 

 

May 22

Retirement Plans Advisory Committee Meeting

SCICU, 2pm - 3:30pm

 

June 18

SC Tuition Grants Commission

SCICU, 10:30am - 12pm

 

June 16-19

2014 College Campus Tour

(Registration Closed)

 

June 24

Public Policy Meeting

SCICU, 10 - 11am

 

To view more info about these meetings and events, click here.

Our Colleges:
Business Partners:

   

401(k) 403(b) Advisors

ABM Building Services, LLC

Adirondack Solutions 

Affinity LTC, LLC

American Student Assistance

Aramark

AT&T

Benefit Controls of the Carolinas

CapinCrouse LLP  

Casagrande Consulting, LLC

Club Colors

CMD Outsourcing Solutions

Coleman Lew & Associates 

CSI Leasing, Inc. 

Elliott Davis, LLC 

First American Education Finance (FAEF)
Genworth Financial 

Gillis Specialty Advertising
Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd 
HRP Associates    

Learning House 

McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture 

Myers McRae Exec. Search

Pollock Company

Professional Insurance & Investment Associates 

ResCare 

SallieMae

Sammy Butler Printing & Graphics

ScholarBuys

School Dude

Sodexo 

The Payments Company

The Walker Company 

Total Comfort Solutions

UnitedHealthcare Student Solutions

VeriStor Systems, Inc.

Vulcan Materials

Walsh Consulting Group, LLC
Wyche Law Firm

 

Click here to view a full listing of SCICU Business partners...
Private College Purchasing Coalition:
CCCS
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Senator Darrell Jackson Named 

SCICU Legislative Champion

Senator Darrell Jackson of Columbia was named the 2014 SCICU Legislative Champion by the South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities for his untiring support of independent higher education throughout his distinguished career.

 

Elected to the State Senate in 1992, Senator Jackson's career is marked by his interest and passion for education, particularly higher education.  He is a member of the Higher Education subcommittee of the Senate Education Committee and an advocate for a reasonable and balanced approach to incredibly complex public policy issues in the rapidly changing world of higher education.

 

Senator Jackson is also a member of the Higher Education subcommittee of the Senate Finance Committee where he is a staunch supporter of funding for the Higher Education Tuition Grants program and the state's merit scholarship programs. In 2003, he was the primary sponsor of a bill that established the Higher Education Excellence Enhancement Program to provide additional assistance to institutions with an enrollment predominately of low-income and educationally disadvantaged students.

 

Jackson has degrees from two SCICU member institutions: a BA in Political Science from Benedict College and a MA from Columbia International University. While at Benedict College, he was president of the Student Government Association and recipient of the Most Distinguished Student Award. In 2002, Senator Jackson was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree by his undergraduate alma mater.

 

Senator Jackson' passion for public service extends beyond the State Senate. He is the Senior Pastor of the Bible Way Church of Atlas Road, a nondenominational independent mega church of over 13,000 members founded by his father, the late Bishop Andrew Charles "A.C." Jackson. As a businessman, Darrell Jackson, Sr. is the founder and owner of Sunrise Enterprise of Columbia, South Carolina's oldest African-American owned public relations firm, and Sunrise Family Health Benefit Services.

 

Students from SCICU member schools will gather at the State House for Independent Higher Education Day on April 9. At that time, Senator Jackson will be presented with the 2014 SCICU Legislative Champion Award.

Governor, General Assembly Honor Independent Colleges and Universities

 

Governor Nikki R. Haley and the General Assembly of South Carolina have marked the week of April 7-11, 2014, as "Independent College and University Week" and April 9 as "Independent College and University Day."

 

The Governor's Proclamation and a Concurrent Resolution passed by the members of the House and Senate recognize the unparalleled record of excellence in teaching achieved by the independent institutions of higher learning and their common commitment to promoting critical thinking and creativity by preparing students for full lives, productive careers, and active citizenship. The contributions of SCICU, which has for more than sixty years provided a voice for independent higher education in South Carolina, also were recognized.

 

During this specially designated week, the Governor and General Assembly encourage all South Carolinians to recognize the state's independent colleges and universities for their positive contributions to ensuring our state's continued status as a leader in higher education.

 

To help celebrate Independent College and University Week, SCICU will recognize and honor outstanding faculty from each of our 20 member institutions with the annual Excellence in Teaching Award. The celebration will be held on Tuesday, April 8 at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.

 

On April 9, students from around the state will rally at the State House for Independent College and University Day. During this time, the students will meet with their local legislators and thank them for supporting the needs-based Tuition Grants program and merit scholarships.

 

As part of the day's activities, the students will hear from Sen. Darrell Jackson of Columbia. Sen. Jackson is the 2014 SCICU Legislative Champion and introduced the Concurrent Resolution. In a noon ceremony on the State House steps, the Governor's Proclamation will be presented to students representing the state's private non-profit colleges and universities.

House Approves FY 2015 State Budget

The South Carolina House of Representatives recently passed a $24 billion spending plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

 

For budget items of interest to the independent higher education community, the final House vote affirmed the recommendations of the Ways and Means Committee. The Tuition Grants Commission is slated to receive an additional $258,784 in recurring state appropriations. The additional funds will allow the agency to increase the maximum Tuition Grant from $2,900 to $3,000 for the academic year beginning this fall.

 

Next year's proposed budget fully funds the state's merit scholarship programs and directs an additional $2.6 million in nonrecurring state appropriations to the need-based grants program at the Commission on Higher Education. The Tuition Grants Commission will receive a proportionate share-approximately $400,000-of the new money allocated to CHE's need-based grants. The House budget also recommends that PASCAL be given #1 priority consideration for up to $1.5 million in excess unclaimed lottery prize money above the $10 million certified level.

 

The annual appropriations bill now moves to the Senate for consideration. Executive Director Earl Mayo presented the Tuition Grants Commission's budget request to the Higher Education Subcommittee of the Senate Finance Committee on March 25. The Finance Committee will begin budget deliberations the week of April 15 and expects floor debate to take place the week of May 6. Members in both the House and Senate will be on furlough during the weeks before and after Easter.

Student Research Grants Awarded

Pictured: Student recipients from last year present at research symposium. 

 

Thirty-five students attending 10 SCICU member colleges and universities will receive grants to conduct independent research in a variety of subject areas during the 2014 academic year. The faculty-advised projects were chosen by a prestigious panel of scholars from among 40 applications.

  

Because of the generosity of individuals and corporations committed to helping students at small liberal arts institutions engage in the challenge of independent research and study, SCICU was able to fund 28 separate projects in the amount of $87,457. After the students finish their research, they will make capstone presentations at the Student Research Symposium in February 2015.

  

This year's sponsors include Belle W. Baruch Foundation, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, F. Lee Bryan, Charles W. and Elizabeth H. Coker Foundation, Joan S. Coker, Daniel-Mickel Foundation, Duke Energy, Mills B. Lane Memorial Foundation, and the SCICU General Endowment Fund. The students and faculty thank the many donors for providing this unique opportunity for intellectual growth and achievement.

Member College News

We love 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:

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

 

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

SCICU Business Partners

We are pleased to announce the following company 

has renewed its partnership 

 

United Healthcare Student Resources

 

 A complete listing of all the Business Partners may be found in the left margin of News & Notes or by clicking here

News & Notes is published by the South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities, Inc. Please send all comments or questions to SCICU President & CEO Mike LeFever at mike@scicu.org or 803-799-7122. Mailing address: P.O. Box 12007, Columbia, SC 29211