USC News - Pastides holds town-hall meeting, addresses questions from eight campuses

December 12, 2008

Pastides holds town-hall meeting, addresses questions from eight campuses

University of South Carolina President Harris Pastides told faculty, staff and students Friday (Dec. 12) that the university was approaching budget cuts “strategically and compassionately” and said he was dedicated “to our future progress.”

In a town-hall meeting held at the School of Law and transmitted to the university’s eight campuses, Pastides discussed measures that the university is taking to address the budget cuts, now totaling just under $52 million, and took questions from faculty, staff and students. The meeting also was viewed online via live streaming by approximately 300 computer users.

The university community had the opportunity to e-mail questions before and during the meeting.

“The budget crisis is real and dire,” he said. “It is affecting each one of our eight universities; all of our faculty, all of our staff, all of our students will feel it.”

However, the president said that the university will achieve its goals by working “smarter, harder, longer and leaner.”

Among the decisions made:

No mid-year tuition increases, nor system-wide furloughs, will be imposed at this time.

No major academic programs will be eliminated at this time, although low-enrollment and specialized programs are being reviewed.

New construction projects and major renovations not yet started will be delayed.

The OneCarolina initiative, which was to renew and replace the university’s data-management systems, will be delayed and re-engineered.

Tenure-track positions will be protected, although salary increases are unlikely.

Approximately 30 tenure-track positions will not be refilled in the short term, and approximately 100 adjunct professors will not be hired to teach in the spring. Fewer than five full-time instructors will not be re-hired for the spring semester; the number will be fewer than 50 in the fall. In some cases, tenure-track faculty have agreed to teach more to account for these changes.

Low enrollment classes will be canceled, and some sections will be combined, but relatively few classes will be cancelled.

Only about 100 of the approximate 3,000 graduate assistant slots will be affected.

Fewer than 20 staff members will lose their jobs.

There will be service reductions across the university, although not in campus security.

The university will take significant conservation measures, including the conservation of power, and changes to work schedules may be implemented in the future.

The purchase of equipment and non-essential supplies will be reduced.

The future of some of the university’s centers and institutes is being studied, although no decisions have been made.

The announcement this week that the university would face a cut of about 7 percent was greater than anticipated, Pastides said.

“The reality is that the news on cuts is coming about weekly now,” he said, emphasizing that the university is preparing for additional cuts in the spring.

“These cuts could have been even worse if there were not dramatic acts of collegiality, generosity and citizenship for Carolina,” said Pastides, who will take a week without pay. “People are coming forth from everywhere to volunteer to increase a teaching load here, to take on an added responsibility there, or to contribute to the welfare of another person over there.”

Pastides said that the cuts will affect the future of South Carolina, where only about 15 percent of the state’s citizens have college degrees. Nevertheless, he praised the university’s faculty, staff and students for the measures that they are taking to deal with the changes and to maintain the university’s commitment to provide a quality education for students.

In spite of the bleak economic outlook, Pastides said that he believes that he is the luckiest university president in the nation. “I say that with complete belief,” he said. “I see local acts of heroism every day.”

Columbia, SC 29208 • 803-777-5400 • uscnews@sc.edu