Volume 11 | Issue 7 - September 2019
September 2019 News and Notes
September 2019 news highlights include:
  • SCICU Board of Trustees Fall Meeting scheduled for October 8 at Coker University
  • 20 for 20 - Message from SCICU President and CEO Jeff Perez
  • SCICU posts another strong fundraising year
  • Federal update
  • Back-to-school highlights from SCICU campuses
  • S.C. Commission on Higher Education names Missouri higher Ed leader as new president
  • Member college/university news
  • 2019 upcoming events
  • Business partners
SCICU Fall Board of Trustees Meeting
Coker University
October 8, 2019
Trustees - Because we have such a full agenda, there will be TWO meeting sessions - one in the morning and another in the afternoon following the Awards Luncheon.

Please watch your email for more details.
20 for 20

Message from SCICU President and CEO Jeff Perez
Jeff Perez, Ph.D.
SCICU President and CEO
I am very proud to report that in my first year as president & CEO of SCICU I have visited the campuses of all 20 SCICU member institutions. I had the opportunity to get a campus tour and sit down with our presidents to hear their experiences and perspectives on the future.

Let me share my top three takeaways from these visits. 

Each campus is unique. Our campuses offer prospective students a rich array of options. They each offer their own palette of academic programming and activities from which their students paint their individual collegiate experience. Students can find the setting in which they’re most comfortable, and thus most likely to succeed.

Of course, one experience we do not offer is the “big campus.” Our institutions are smaller, and that is their great strength. Our students aren’t lost in the crowd. SCICU colleges and universities have the advantage of offering a sense of community from which students draw strength.

SCICU posts another strong fundraising year
SCICU posted another strong year of fundraising in support of independent colleges and universities in S.C. During its fiscal year ending August 31, 2019, SCICU raised $496,253 in support of scholarships, emergency student financial aid, student research, and special functions. Highlights of the fundraising year include:

Named Scholars Program - $350,000 contributed by major corporate donors for a wide range of donor-specific scholarship programs.

Discretionary Scholarship Program - Nearly $82,000 raised for assisting SCICU students with unexpected financial hardships.

Undergraduates Student Research - $54,375 donated specifically for supporting student research at SCICU member institutions. SCICU supplements this amount with earnings from its endowment.
 
Federal Update
Noteworthy Capitol Hill actions impacting S.C. independent higher education include:

  • Reimbursement for Perkins Loan Cancellations
  • Higher Education Act Reauthorization
  • Senate version of Federal Budget
  • Borrower Defense
  • Admissions and the Department of Justice
Back-to-school highlights from SCICU campuses
SCICU's 20 member colleges and universities commemorated the beginning of the 2019-2020 academic year in 20 different ways. Click on the links below to learn more about the celebrations at your favorite college or university.

(L-R) Jeff Perez, SCICU president and CEO; and Rusty Monhollon, new president and executive director at S.C. Commission on Higher Education.
(L-R) Jeff Perez, SCICU president and CEO; Rusty Monhollon, S.C. Commission on Higher Education president and executive director.
SC Commission names Missouri Higher Ed leader as new president and executive director
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Dr. Rusty L. Monhollon, a seasoned higher education leader and history professor from Missouri, has been named president and executive director by the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education (CHE), the State’s governing body for public higher education in S.C.

“Dr. Monhollon will be a great advocate for higher education in South Carolina,” said Jeff Perez, SCICU president and CEO. “SCICU is looking forward to continued opportunities for collaboration with CHE under Dr. Monhollon’s leadership.”


Member College News  

SCICU curates news from its twenty member colleges and universities. Click  here  to read college news in the Newsroom on the SCICU website.

The following is a sampling of recent member college / university news:

Allen University

Anderson University

Benedict College

Charleston Southern University

Claflin University

Coker University

Columbia College

Columbia International University

Converse College

Erskine College

Furman University

Limestone College

Morris College

Newberry College

North Greenville University

Presbyterian College

Southern Wesleyan University

Spartanburg Methodist College

Voorhees College

Wofford College


Click below to access important information from each of the SCICU member colleges and universities:

2019 Upcoming Events

The SCICU Business Partners program provides a convenient marketplace in which SCICU member colleges and universities can preview offerings tailored to the needs of the higher education community in South Carolina.

SCICU welcomes the following new Business Partners:


SCICU thanks the following Business Partners for their renewals:



Directory - Click   here   for a complete list of Business Partners, or access information on individual Business Partners via the links shown below.

ABM Building Solutions, LLC  |  Acumen IT, LLC  |  Affinity LTC, LLC (Genworth Financial)  |  Aramark Higher Education  |  Argent Financial Group | Blackboard   |  Blue Cross Blue Shield of SC | Cantey Tech Consulting  |  CapinCrouse LLP  | Cherry Bekaert, LLC |  Church Mutual Insurance Company  |  Coleman Lew Canny Brown  |  Collegiate Financial Services (IOA)  |  Colonial Life | Craig Gaulden Davis  |  CSI Leasing, Inc.  |  Diligence, LLC | Dominion Energy |  Duke Energy | Elliott Davis  |  Enterprise Holdings | Find Great People, LLC  |  First American Education Finance  | Gillis Specialty Adverstising  |  Giraffe Web Design  |  Harper Corporation General Contractors  |  Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, PA  |  HillSouth iT Solutions  |  Howard Technology Solutions  |  HRP Associates, Inc.  |  Hypersign, LLC  | Immedion LLC  |   The LearningHouse, Inc.  |  MB Kahn Construction Company, Inc.  |  McAllister & Quinn  |   McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture  | Met@data IT LLC  |  Metz Culinary Management  |  Myers McRae Executive Search and Consulting  |  National Management Resources Corporation  | Nephron Pharmaceuticals | P2Ops, LLC  |  Paymerang (fka AP Advantage)  |  Pioneer College Caterers |  Pollock Company  |  Purple Briefcase  |  PVC Fittings Online | Regions Bank | Resource Financial Services | S2K Group, Inc.  |  SC Student Loan Corporation  |  ScholarBuys  |  SEGRA (formerly Spirit Communications | Sodexo  |  Spinx Company | STEM Premier |  Stroz Friedberg  |  Thompson & Little  |  Timely MD | Total Comfort Solutions  | UnitedHealthcare Student Resources  |  USI Insurance Services, LLC | VEMO Education | Vulcan Materials Company  |  Walsh Consulting Group LLC  |  Williams & Fudge | Wyche, PA  | 


SCICU is a member of the Coalition for College Cost Savings (CCCS). This organization, comprised of 33 member organizations in 32 states, serves close to 900 higher education institutions and 3 million students across the United States. The organization and staff are dedicated to helping private higher education institutions improve processes and reduce costs through collaboration.

All SCICU member colleges and universities have access to CCCS's national contracts and services. More information on this important benefit may be found here .
News & Notes is published by the South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities, Inc. Please send all comments or questions to SCICU President & CEO Jeff Perez at [email protected] or 803-799-7122. Mailing address: PO Box 12007, Columbia, SC 29211.