After sustaining 34 of Gov. Nikki Haley's 81 vetoes, the General Assembly completed work on the FY 2013-14 state budget last week in time for it to take effect on July 1.

 

The budget contains more than $1.6 million in new recurring general appropriations for the Higher Education Tuition Grants Commission. The additional funds will allow the Commission to establish the maximum award at $2,900 for the coming year. The General Assembly also increased the amount the Commission will receive from the lottery by more than $233,000 to a level of $8 million.

 

The General Assembly continued its commitment to the students of South Carolina by fully funding the Palmetto Fellows, LIFE, HOPE, Lottery Tuition Assistance, and other scholarship programs in the budget that begins on July 1. It takes almost $300 million annually in general appropriations and lottery revenue to fund these programs at the levels set by statute. A 2-3% increase in scholarship awards was projected for the coming year.

 

The House and Senate compromised on funding the Partnership Among South Carolina's Academic Libraries (PASCAL) by placing the program in the #2 priority position for excess unclaimed lottery prize money above $8 million. A school bus purchase up to $3.3 million is the #1priority.

 

PASCAL could receive as much as $1.5 million if unclaimed prizes exceed $11.3 million in FY 2013-14. In an average year, unclaimed prizes amount to $13 million or more.

 

In the FY 2012-13 budget, PASCAL was in the #1 priority position for excess unclaimed funds above $12.4 million. At fiscal year end, it is estimated that PASCAL will net less than $50,000 this year because of lower than average returns.

 

SCICU's Public Policy Committee will meet on July 8 for a final review of the organization's Legislative Strategic Plan for 2013 and to begin work on next year's efforts.

 

SCICU thanks all the members of the Board of Trustees, staff, faculty, and students at member colleges and universities, and supporters of independent higher education across the state for the grass roots efforts needed for the organization to achieve its legislative goals.

July 1 marked the day that Furman University and Wofford College officially welcomed new presidents to their campuses.

 

Dr. Carl Kohrt will serve as interim president of Furman University replacing President Rodney Smolla who resigned on June 30 after serving in the position for three years.

 

A native of Tuscola, Illinois, Dr. Kohrt is a successful business executive and an accomplished academic with deep Furman ties. He was graduated magna cum laude from Furman in 1965 with a B.S. degree in chemistry, and earned a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Chicago and a Master's degree in Management Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

 

Dr. Kohrt has been a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow, a National Science Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellow at the James Frank Institute, a Woodrow Wilson Fellow (honorary), a Sloan Fellow, and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He is the recipient of an honorary Doctor of Science degree from both Furman and Ohio Dominican University.

 

Dr. Kohrt enjoyed a 29-year career at Eastman Kodak Company, joining the company as a scientist and retiring as executive vice president and chief technical officer, where he was responsible for research laboratories on four continents. From 2001 until his retirement in 2008, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Battelle Memorial Institute, one of the world's largest, non-profit research and development corporations.

 

Today he is the lead director of Scotts MiracleGro Company and is a director of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. Dr. Kohrt also has been a longstanding member of Furman's Board of Trustees, serving as its chair from 2006 to 2008. He and his wife, Lynne, are the parents of three sons, one a Furman graduate (Kris '84), and they have 10 grandchildren.

 

Dr. Nayef H. Samhat is the 11th president of Wofford College. He succeeds Dr. Benjamin B. Dunlap who retired on June 30 having served as president since 2000 and who will return after a yearlong sabbatical to continue as the Chapman Family Professor of Humanities.

 

Dr. Samhat served as provost and professor of political science and international studies at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, since 2009. Prior to that he held several positions at Centre College in Danville, Ky., from 1996 to 2009, including associate dean of the college, the Frank B. and Virginia Hower Associate Professor of Government and International Studies, chair of the Division of Social Studies, and the National Endowment for the Humanities Associate coordinator of the Environmental Field Experience Program and an instructor in the Department of Political Science at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., from 1995 to 1996.

 

After receiving his bachelor's degree in international economics from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. in 1983, Samhat received his master of international affairs degree from Columbia University in New York City. He received his Ph.D. in political science from Northwestern University, where he also received a minor in comparative political economy.

 

While at Kenyon, Samhat has overseen a number of major grants, including two from the Mellon Foundation: a Critical Languages and Innovative Pedagogy grant to support post-doctoral teaching fellowships for Russian and Arabic languages, and a grant for the Center for Innovative Pedagogy and The Essentials: Renewing General Education within the Curriculum to enhance the endowment for a previously Mellon-funded Teacher Teaching Teachers grant.

 

A native of Detroit, Michigan, Samhat is married to Prema Samhat, director of the Knox Community Hospital Foundation and director of marketing and communications for Knox Community Hospital. They have three daughters, Alia, 26; Jehan, 24; and Leila, 19.

Mark your calendars now for the SCICU Board of Trustees annual meeting scheduled for October 1 at 10:30 a.m. Our host is President Evans Whitaker and Anderson University. Dr. Whitaker is chair of the Presidents Council and vice chair of the Board of Trustees.

           

The agenda will include the election of officers and trustees as well as year-end committee reports and consideration of the organization's budget for FY 2013-14. A noon luncheon will feature the J. Lacy McLean Independent College Student of the Year and the recipient of the Sterling L. Smith Scholarship Award.

At the October meeting, the Development Committee, under the leadership of Chairman Randy Horn, will report on its efforts to raise money to fund scholarships at SCICU's 20 member institutions. A key component of the committee's campaign is the strong and unselfish support of SCICU's trustees. Each year, the Development Committee looks forward to receiving 100% support from fellow board members and from the SCICU staff.

 

Individual, corporate, or directed gifts need to be received at the SCICU office by the end of the fiscal year on August 31 to be included in the annual report. For more information, please contact Eddie Shannon at eddie@scicu.org.

SCICU features some of its member colleges and universities' news on our website each month. Here are some of the articles we featured this month:

• Tracy Bender Joins Columbia College as Executive Director of Marketing and Communications 
• ANDERSON UNIVERSITY TO ACQUIRE, REPURPOSE DOWNTOWN CHIQUOLA CLUB
• BEVERLY MCADAMS NAMED TO NEW PRESIDENTIAL AFFAIRS POST AT ANDERSON UNIVERSITY 

To have your school featured in the "Member College News" section, please send your press releases to Stephenie Bergen at stephenie@scicu.org. 

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

SCICU's on-line network of providers offers goods and services to the independent higher education community in South Carolina. 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.