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News & Notes 
Information for South Carolina's Independent Colleges & Universities
Volume 4  Issue 5                                                                May 6, 2011


In This Issue
Approprations Bill Stalls in Senate
CHE Recognizes Furman, PC
Bill Jones Elected to Foundation Board
SCICU Honors 20 for Teaching Excellence
Students Rally at Statehouse
Student Research Grants Awarded
Trustees to Meet on October 13
New Business Partners
Calendar of Events
2011 

 

May 24

Student Affairs Officers

10:00 a.m. at SCICU Office 

 

June 13 -17

Guidance Counselor Campus Tour

 

June 23

Library Directors

12:00 p.m. at SCICU Office

 

August 4

Development Committee

10:30 a.m. at SCICU Office

 

August 25

Finance Committee

9:30 a.m. at SCICU Office

 

September 23

Institutional Research Directors

12:00 p.m. at SCICU Office

 

October 13

SCICU Board of Trustees

10:30 a.m. at Converse College in Spartanburg 


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

 

 

 

 

Our Colleges:


Business Partners:

 
Advanced Communication Systems, Inc.
Aramark
Bath Fitter
Benefit Controls of the Carolinas

Benefit Controls of the Midlands, Inc.

CapinCrouse LLP
Coleman Lew & Associates, Inc.
Daniels Graphics - Greenville SC Office 
Edvance360 LMS-SN (Formerly Scholar360)
Elliot Davis
Frank A. Casagrande Consulting, LLC
Gillis Specialty Advertising
Globalpundits, Inc.
Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A. 
HRP Associates,Inc.
IronTree Partners
John Hancock
Live2Create

lynda.com
Myers McRae   

Nelnet Business Solutions 

Pollock Company

PrimeTRUST Advisors

Provista
ScholarBuys

Sodexo
Trane
Unimarket
U.S. Foodservice Charlotte
The Wyche Law Frim


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.
Quick Links...

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Appropriations Bill Stalls in the Senate
Statehouse

After two weeks of often contentious debate, the South Carolina Senate still cannot agree on a spending plan for FY 2011-2012. Working late into the night on several occasions, the members have argued over numerous issues including the use of state insurance premiums to pay for abortions, funding the deficit in unemployment benefits, health education in schools, and the constitutionality of a number of temporary provisos.   

 

Funding for higher education tuition grants and for merit scholarships have held steady throughout the floor debate. As recommended by the Senate Finance Committee and the House, tuition grants will be funded at the current year's level and Palmetto Fellows, LIFE, HOPE, and Tuition Assistance grants will be fully-funded for all who qualify. PASCAL is slated for up to $1.5 million in excess unclaimed lottery prize money should the certified amount exceed $12.4 million.

 

The Senate will continue discussing the budget on Wednesday after a break for Confederate Memorial Day. Once the Senate approves a budget for FY 2012, the bill will go back to the House. The significant differences between the Senate and House versions undoubtedly will lead to a conference committee.

 

SCICU will continue to monitor the bill's progress. Thanks to a significant grass-roots effort by supporters of independent higher education, we are guardedly optimistic that funding for state student aid will hold together through the important final stages of the budget process.

CHE Recognizes Furman, Presbyterian
CHE AwardsAt a meeting on May 5, the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education recognized two SCICU member schools for outstanding accomplishments. Furman University's Teachers of English for Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Support through a Latin American Civilization Class received the Commission's 2010 Service Learning Award in the independent college category. Lt. Brian Stevens from Presbyterian College was honored as the 2011 Campus Safety Officer of the Year. The awards were presented by Ken Wingate, CHE chair and a member of the SCICU Board of Trustees.

Under the leadership of Dr. Sofia Kearns, tutors are paired with a TESOL in a Berea school and assigned to work with one or several students at least twice a week for 10 weeks, providing valuable long-term, individualized attention to the students served. Last fall, Furman students tutored approximately 40 elementary, middle and high school students at eight Berea schools. The tutors' command of Spanish means that they are able to communicate easily in oral and written form with the students.

 

CHE Awards IIA veteran law enforcement officer, Lt. Stevens was selected by his fellow campus safety officers from around the state through the South Carolina Campus Law Enforcement Association for his extraordinary professionalism and dedication to the students, faculty and administration at Presbyterian College.

 

Bill Jones Elected to Foundation Board
Dr. Bill Jones

Columbia International University President Dr. Bill Jones was recently elected to the Board of Trustees of the South Carolina Higher Education Foundation. The Foundation is a non-profit organization that promotes interest and participation in higher education and provides for statewide activities that enhance the quality of instruction, research, and services at both public and private colleges and universities in South Carolina.

 

Bill Jones has been president of CIU since 2007. He serves as chair of the International Leadership Team of Crossover Communications International, an organization he cofounded in 1987. Crossover works to plant churches in 20 countries. Bill was nominated to the Foundation Board by SCICU's Council of Presidents at their February meeting.

 

SCICU Honors 20 for Teaching Excellence
Excellence in Teaching 2011

Outstanding faculty from South Carolina's private, non-profit colleges and universities were honored at a dinner on April 5 with SCICU's Excellence in Teaching Awards. A member of the faculty from each of twenty institutions of higher learning is nominated for the award according to rigorous guidelines. This group of teacher-scholars represents many different academic disciplines and brings a rich diversity of education, experience, and interests to their campuses.

 

The hallmark of South Carolina's independent colleges and universities is their emphasis on individualized learning and student achievement. This can only be accomplished by a faculty of the highest quality working in a supportive environment that encourages and fosters serious inquiry, critical thinking, and a broader understanding of the world in which we live.  

 

In addition to a certificate of achievement, each 2011 award winner receives a $3000 professional development grant and is featured on the SCICU website

  

SCICU gratefully acknowledges the following sponsors for their support of the Excellence in Teaching Awards Dinner for 2011: AT&T, BB&T of South Carolina, Charlotte Berry, Duke Energy, NBSC, TIAA-CREF, Vulcan Materials, and Wyche Burgess Freeman & Parham, P.A.  

 

SCICU campuses are rich with outstanding instructors, and we are pleased and proud to recognize the following individuals with Excellence in Teaching Awards for 2011.

 

Mrs. Chasity Green, Professor of Biology, Allen University 



Dr. Bryan H. Cribb, Assistant Professor of Christian Studies, Anderson University 

Dr. Milton A. Morris, Assistant Professor of Environmental Health Science, Benedict College  

 

Dr. Rachel Walker, Associate Professor of Experimental Psychology, Charleston Southern University  

 

Dr. Ingrid Watson-Miller, Assistant Professor of Spanish, Claflin University  

 

Dr. Kevin T. Kenyon, Associate Professor of History, Coker College 

 

Dr. Leigh Ann Spell, Professor of Speech Language Pathology, Columbia College  

 

Dr. Daniel F. DeLozier, Communications Program Director, Columbia International University  

 

Dr. Erin E. Templeton, Assistant Professor of English, Converse College  

 

Dr. Chrystal D. Bruce, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Erskine College  

 

Dr. Victoria Lynn Turgeon, Associate Professor of Biology, Furman University  

 

Dr. Harry H. Hill, Professor of Music, Limestone College  

 

Dr. Marc C. David, Associate Professor of English, Morris College  

 

Mr. William R. Long, Associate Professor of Music and Director of Bands, Newberry College  

 

Dr. Jeff Briggs, Professor of Sport Management, North Greenville University  

 

Dr. Terry Barr, Professor of English, Presbyterian College  

 

Mr. Greg Day, Associate Professor of Music, Southern Wesleyan University  

 

Mrs. Tywana C. Branch, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Voorhees College

Mr. John E. Lane, Director of Environmental Studies, Wofford College

 

 

Students Rally at Statehouse, Thank Legislators
Statehouse Group PicMore than 100 students and staff from 14 independent colleges and universities met in Columbia on April 6 to thank their legislators for supporting financial aid for students. The rally was part of Independent College and University Day as proclaimed by Governor Nikki Haley and recognized by a concurrent resolution of the General Assembly.

 

During the day's activities, SCICU honored Representatives Chip Limehouse, Joe Neal, and B.R. Skelton with its 2011 Legislative Champion Awards. This trio of House members forms the Higher Education subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee. Their recommendation to level-fund Tuition Grants and Palmetto Fellows, LIFE, HOPE, and Tuition Assistance scholarships, in the face of significant budget reductions in other programs, set the tone for the budget debate in the House. As a result of the subcommittee's leadership and the support of many of their colleagues, the House exempted student aid from cuts for the fourth year in a row. The House also included PASCAL as the #1 priority for up to $1.5 million in surplus unclaimed lottery funds.  

 

One-on-one visits with members of the House and Senate later in the day were preceded by a letter-writing campaign that yielded almost 6700 personal letters of support written by more than 3400 student-recipients of Tuition Grants and other scholarships. For more than 17,000 students, the prospect of obtaining a degree from one of South Carolina's independent colleges or universities is made possible by the state's generous award of approximately $75 million in student financial aid.  

 

Day at Statehouse 2011The rally concluded after Ted Pitts, Deputy Chief of Staff for Governor Nikki Haley, presented the students with the Governor's Proclamation at noon on the Statehouse steps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Student Research Grants Awarded
Research

SCICU is pleased to announce that a faculty advisory committee has selected 28 projects from 11 colleges for funding as part of the 2011 Undergraduate Student-Faculty Research Program. Students from a variety of disciplines and majors will complete work on their projects over the course of the next year and present their findings next February at the 2012 SCICU Student-Faculty Research Symposium.

 

The 2011 awards were selected from more than 50 applications. Since its inception in 1995, the program has awarded more than $1.1 million. Funding for the program is made possible through generous donations from Belle Baruch Foundation, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of SC, Charles W. and Elizabeth H. Coker Foundation, Daniel-Mickel Foundation, Joyce and Bob Hampton, Dr. Scott Koerwer, Milliken Foundation, Mills B. Lane Memorial Foundation, and the SCICU Investment Fund.

 

Earlier this month, SCICU Executive Vice President Eddie Shannon presented the research program as a national best practice at the annual meeting of the Foundation for Independent Higher Education.

Trustees to Meet on October 13
The SCICU Board of Trustees will meet at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, October 13 in Spartanburg on the campus of Converse College. Converse President Betsy Fleming will host the Board's annual meeting which will include a luncheon recognizing the independent college students of the year. Please mark your calendars.  Additional information will be forthcoming.

 

Business Partners
SCICU's on-line network of providers offering goods and services to the independent higher education community in South Carolina grew by two partners in the last month. 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 proudly recognize and thank the following companies for their support:

Nelnet Business Solutions
Sodexo

In addition, the following companies have renewed their partnership:

Coleman Lew & Associates, Inc.
Frank A. Casagrande Consulting, LLC
ScholarBuys


A complete listing of all the Business Partners may be found in the left margin of News & Notes or by clicking on the following link: http://www.scicu.org/scicu-business-partners-listing.

SCICU is a member of the Coalition for College Cost Savings. CCCS is comprised of 26 member organizations in 24 states that collectively serve 600 private colleges and over 1.2 million students across the United States. The organization and staff is dedicated to helping private institutions of higher education improve processes and reduce and contain costs through collaboration.  

 

Because of their membership in SCICU, all of our member schools have access to CCCS's national contracts and services. We are pleased to offer all of the resources of CCCS to our members. Links to the CCCS website can be found in this newsletter and on the  Business Partners pages of the SCICU 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