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 News & Notes 
Information for South Carolina's Independent Colleges & Universities  
Vol. 8 Issue 2: Feb 2015

In This Issue
National Advocacy Day
Register for the Retreat
Research Symposium
Career Connections
Summer Campus Tour
Cyber Security Consortium
Member College News
SCICU Business Partners
Quick Links...






Events 2015 

February 20 

IR Directors Meeting

CIU, 11am - 2pm 

 

February 20 

Career Services Dir Mtg

SCICU, 10:30am - 12pm   

 

March 5-6 (REGISTER)

Trustees Biennial Retreat

Westin Poinsett, Greenville

 

March 17

CFO Meeting/CapinCrouse Round Table 

CIU, 10:30am - 4pm  

(RSVP & More Info

 

March 24 

Public Policy Meeting

SCICU, 10- 11am 

 

April 14 

Excellence in Teaching Dinner

Columbia Metropolitan Cntr.

6pm - 9pm 

 

April 15  

State House Day  

Trinity Episcopal/State House 8am - 1pm 

 

April 27 

Teacher Recruitment Fair 

Presbyterian College, Clinton 

 

June 15-19 

Campus Tour - Summer 2015  

 

August 6

Development Committee 

SCICU, 10:30 - 11:30am 

 

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

Our Colleges:
Business Partners:

   

ABM Building Services, LLC

Affinity LTC, LLC

AlumniSync 

American Student Assistance

Aramark

Blackboard, Inc. 

CapinCrouse LLP  

Casagrande Consulting, LLC

Club Colors

Coleman Lew & Associates

Craig Gaulden Davis  

CSI Leasing, Inc. 

Elliott Davis, PLLC 

e-Procurement Services, LLC

First American Education Finance (FAEF)
Genworth Financial 

Gillis Specialty Advertising
Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd 
HRP Associates    

McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture 

Myers McRae Exec. Search

Pollock Company

Professional Insurance & Investment Associates 

SallieMae

ScholarBuys

School Dude

Sodexo  

Stalwart Systems Group  

STEMPremier 

The Payments Company

The Walker Company 

Total Comfort Solutions

Walsh Consulting Group, LLC
Wyche Law Firm

 

Click here to view a full listing of SCICU Business partners...
Private College Purchasing Coalition:
CCCS
The Coalition for College Cost Savings is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping SCICU members reduce and contain costs through collaboration.

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SCICU Takes Part in National Advocacy Day

      

Pictured: Dr. Samhat, Senator Scott, and Dr. Hunter discuss Independent Higher Education in SC.  

 

Independent college and university presidents from around the country took their message to Capitol Hill earlier this month. Organized by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, Advocacy Day is an annual event that brings private non-profit college presidents together with their members of Congress.

 

President Jairy Hunter of Charleston Southern University, President Nayef Samhat of Wofford College, and SCICU President Mike LeFever met with Senator Tim Scott, Congressman Joe Wilson, and staff from the office of Congressman Trey Gowdy. Topics of discussion included the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965, campus-based student aid, the Department of Education's proposed college rating system, and the additional burdens placed on institutions of higher education by an ever-increasing array of federal reporting, disclosure and compliance requirements.

 

The discussions were frank and helped to frame the higher education issues before the members of the South Carolina Congressional delegation and open the door for more dialogue in the months to come. 

2015 SCICU Biennial Retreat

 

Time is running out to register for the 2015 Board of Trustees Retreat scheduled for March 5 and 6 at the Westin Poinsett Hotel in Greenville.  

 

This year's retreat will feature a keynote address by Dr. S. Georgia Nugent, Senior Fellow at the Council for Independent Colleges, a national political update by NAICU President Dr. David Warren, a look at a successful college access program led by Dr. Jolley Bruce Christman, Chair of the Jolley Foundation, and three interactive presidential panel discussions.

 

Trustees who plan to attend, but have not yet registered, may complete the registration process by registering HERE.

 

 

Students Present Research at SCICU Annual Symposium  

On February 12, over 70 students and faculty from SCICU member institutions met at the Milliken & Company Customer Center in Spartanburg, SC. The students presented on the topics which they researched for the SCICU Undergraduate Student/Faculty Research Grant.

Nine member colleges participated in the presentations including Anderson, Coker, Converse, Erskine, Furman, Limestone, PC, SWU, and Wofford. The students presented their work and interacted with other student researchers and faculty from SCICU member institutions.  

 

Presentations covered topics ranging from cancer research to geology to the recent independence referendum in Scotland.  (A full list of projects is available here.)  


The research symposium was sponsored by:
Belle W. Baruch Foundation
BlueCross BlueShield of SC
Bryan Family Foundation
Charles W. and Elizabeth H. Coker Foundation
Joan S. Coker
Daniel-Mickel Foundation
Duke Energy
Mills B. Lane Memorial Foundation
SCICU, Inc. Endowment Fund  

 

The grant program is off to a running start for this year, as well. We are looking forward to seeing the research projects that our students will present in 2016! 

2015 Career Connections 

 

 

On January 26, approximately 200 students from SCICU member colleges and universities attended the Career Connections Networking & Interview event held at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center. Students visited 43 employer booths and interacted with nearly 80 recruiters present. The recruiters in attendance represented a variety of corporations, state and federal agencies, and non-profit organizations. In the 20-minute interview sessions which took place that afternoon, 179 students had the opportunity to interview with recruiters.

 

The Career Connections event was organized and hosted by the SCICU institutions' career services directors with the support of SCICU office staff. This is the twenty-second year for this career event. We are proud to be a part of giving SCICU students the opportunity to achieve their internship and career goals. 

Summer 2015 Campus Tour
Registration Open   


SCICU's Campus Tour 2015 has opened for registration. High school counselors, teachers, coaches, and other educational professionals are signing up to visit 10 of our member institutions. The tour will take place the week of June 15-19.

The participants will visit (in order of travel); Columbia College, Benedict College, Claflin University, Charleston Southern University, Voorhees College, Presbyterian College, Erskine College, Southern Wesleyan University, North Greenville University, and Furman University. The tour participants meet on the campus of Columbia International University, where check-in and orientation is hosted.


We look forward to another great trip, full of informative and fun interaction between faculty/staff and the participants who hold such pivotal roles in guiding students in their higher education choices.

SCICU wants to thank Bill Brown from Columbia International University and Sami Baird from Newberry College for their service last year as tour guides, as well as their continuing commitment for this year. Thank you!

If you know of any HS counselor or educator who has an interest in the tour, feel free to share this registration link. We expect a full tour this year, and spots are filling up!

Five SCICU Institutions Named to National Cyber Security Consortium   

 

Twenty-five million dollars has been awarded by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for cybersecurity education. SCICU members Allen University, Benedict College, Claflin University, Morris College, and Voorhees College are among the HBCUs participating in the consortium. The grant will support the creation of a new, nation-wide cybersecurity consortium consisting of 13 Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory, and Charleston County School District.

 

The grants will help NNSA to institute a partnership with the next generation of future leaders and increase the number of minority students pursuing cyber security careers. The consortium will also help support NNSA in meeting its future cyber security demands. The grants will also help to attract minority graduates for employment within NNSA laboratories and plants.

 

Grant recipients will work to enhance cybersecurity-related research and scholarly activities; provide professional development for faculty; provide k-12 outreach and pipeline development; provide k-12 teaching training and education; host student interns in its labs; provide advice on k-12 STEM - science, technology, engineering and mathematics - development and activities; and participate in building cybersecurity awareness student, faculty, parents and the community.

 

South Carolina schools will receive the bulk of the awards, with seven of its HBCUs and the Charleston County School District receiving some $16 million of the funds for cybersecurity education.

 

U. S. Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina sees the grant as an invaluable academic opportunity for students: "The ability to offer students at these schools the opportunity to diversify their education in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields is invaluable," Clyburn said. "I have worked with the National Nuclear Security Administration to support math and science opportunities at HBCUs, and this program continues those efforts. I am looking forward to seeing students at these institutions excel in this field and become the leaders for the next generation."

Member College News

SCICU posts news and accomplishments of our member institutions on the
Member College News section of our website. Here is a selection of news recently featured:

Share your news with the SC independent college community! Place Communications Coordinator Stephenie Helland (stephenie@scicu.org) on your media relations email list. Thank you!

SCICU Business Partners

We are pleased to announce the following companies have joined us as a business partners:    

 


 

 A complete listing of all the Business Partners may be found in the left margin of News & Notes or on our website.
 
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