News & Notes 
Information for South Carolina's 
Independent Colleges & Universities  
Volume 7 Issue 3

 March 2014

In This Issue
State Budget Moves Forward
Winter Weather Claims Second SCICU Program
Dr. Swinton Named to Federal Panel
Study Highlights Major Expected Shortfall in SC's Future College-Educated Workforce
Member College News
SCICU Business Partners
Calendar of Events
2014  

 

March 12

Retirement Plans Consortium

Hammond School, Columbia SC

10:30am - 1:30pm

 

March 18

Public Policy Meeting

SCICU, 10 - 11am

 

April 2

Chief Academic Officers Mtg

Columbia College

11am - 1:30pm

 

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 

 

June 18

SC Tuition Grants Commission

SCICU, 10:30am - 12pm

 

June 16-19

2014 College Campus Tour\

Only two spots left

[Register]

 

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 

Live2Create Interactive 

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 Solu.

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
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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State Budget Moves Forward

Statehouse After being delayed by inclement weather, the House Ways and Means Committee adopted a spending plan for Fiscal Year 2014-15 on February 21. The committee recommends that the Tuition Grant Commission receive an additional $258,784 in recurring state appropriations to enable the agency to increase the maximum Tuition Grant from $2,900 to $3,000 for 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 grant 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 Ways and Means Committee did not follow Governor Haley's recommendation that PASCAL (Partnership Among South Carolina Academic Libraries) receive an increase of $500,000 in general appropriations. The committee did recommend 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 committee's version of the appropriations bill for the year beginning July 1, 2014, moves to the House floor for debate beginning on March 10.

Winter Weather Claims Second SCICU Program

 

The second major snow and ice storm of the season forced SCICU to cancel its Student Research Symposium originally scheduled for February 13 at the BMW Zentrum Center in Greer. The program cannot be rescheduled because of scheduling conflicts.  In January, inclement weather forced the cancellation of Career Connections, SCICU's job fair and interview day for graduating seniors.

 

Last year 32 students from 9 SCICU member institutions were awarded almost $90,000 for independent research projects. The results of the students' year-long research efforts were to be presented at the Symposium. SCICU has encouraged faculty advisors to find other venues where the students can present their research.  

 

Funding from the research program was made possible through generous donations from the following: Belle W. Baruch Foundation, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, Bryan Family Foundation Endowment, Joan S. Coker, Daniel-Mickel Foundation, Duke Energy, Mills B. Lane Memorial Foundation, and the South Carolina Independent Colleges & Universities, Inc. Endowment Fund. In addition, the following contributed to the success of the program by participating in a special Council of Independent Colleges Challenge Award: Averyt Management, Colliers/LCK Construction, Gregory Electric, Haynesworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A., Maddrey Foundation, NBSC, and Systemtec.

Dr. Swinton Named to Federal Panel 

 

Benedict College President David Swinton is one of 15 persons appointed by the U.S. Department of Education to the Program Integrity and Improvement Negotiated Rulemaking Panel. The purpose of the committee is to develop a package of proposed student financial assistance regulations pursuant to the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended.

 

The panel will address six topics that relate to student aid programs:

  • Clock to Credit Hour Conversion
  • State Authorization of Distance Education Providers
  • State Authorization of Foreign Locations of Domestic Institutions
  • Campus Debit Cards
  • Retaking Coursework
  • PLUS Loans

Dr. Swinton was appointed to represent the minority serving institutions community of interests. At his first meeting, Dr. Swinton zeroed in on PLUS Loans and the consequences of the Department of Education's abrupt tightening of credit standards in 2011. According to the National Association for Equal Opportunity, more than 38,000 students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities left those institutions because of the stricter standards. Other estimates have suggested the changes caused 400,000 students overall to leave or change colleges.

 

The goal of the committee is to develop proposed regulations that reflect a final consensus of the committee.  If the committee reaches a final consensus on all issues, the Department will use this consensus-based language in its proposed regulations. If consensus is not achieved, the department is free to draft regulations and publish them in the Federal Register.

 

For more information on the negotiated rulemaking for Title IV regulations, click here. 

Study Highlights Major Expected Shortfall in SC's Future College-Educated Workforce 

South Carolina is facing a major shortfall of skilled, college-educated workers by the year 2030 to fuel its economic growth, according to a major new study prepared by two University of South Carolina professors. The study projects that at current rates, the state will have a shortfall of more than 100,000 graduating students with the necessary post-high school education to be hired.  To put things in perspective, that shortfall is greater than the seating capacity of either Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia or Memorial Stadium in Clemson. 

 

The study was conducted by Dr. Doug Woodward and Dr. Joey Von Nessen, top research economists in the Darla Moore School of Business. The study will guide the efforts of the Competing Through Knowledge initiative, a group of civic and business leaders seeking to enhance the state's workforce preparedness through improved higher education. 

 

Based on economic and demographic trends, Woodward and Von Nessen project that by 2030 South Carolina will have a shortfall of 44,010 workers holding two-year degrees and 70,540 workers who hold bachelor's degrees or higher. This major projected deficit - if not addressed - could cast a shadow over South Carolina's future, as the USC study notes: "The percentage of the population with a college degree is the single best predictor of a state's national ranking in personal per capita income levels."  

 

The state's need for skilled, college-educated workers by 2030 will double or almost double across the three levels of higher education cited in the report: jobs needing some post-high school work, those requiring a two-year degree or those requiring a four-year degree. This outlines a major challenge for the state's technical colleges as well as four-year colleges and research universities. 

 

Read more of this article...

 

To view the USC study, click here.

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 

 

 

 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