Clemson employees rally to protect public service programs

CLEMSON, S.C. - More than 300 Clemson University employees worried about losing their jobs under Gov. Mark Sanford's proposed budget cuts gathered for a meeting Friday.

John Kelly, Clemson's vice president for public service, said "if this budget is implemented, Clemson would never be the same again."

The campus meeting came two days after university officials voiced told House Ways and Means subcommittee members about their concerns. Kelly said members of that panel were responsive to concerns.

Sanford's proposed budget calls for Clemson's Public Service Activities to focus on agricultural productivity, which the governor says is the program's core mission. His spending plan would slice millions of dollars in support for the agency's four other areas of work - economic and community development, environmental conservation, food safety and nutrition and youth development.

Clemson's Public Service Activities receive about $38 million in state funds each year. Sanford's budget would cut $8.1 million used for programs in the four areas outside of agriculture. An additional $7.5 million would be cut from unspecified areas, amounting to a total cut of $15.6 million.

The proposal suggests Clemson could recoup $7.5 million, at least for one year, by selling land at its Sandhill Research and Education Center in Columbia.

Kelly said the proposed cuts threaten Clemson's College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences because many of its faculty members also work in Public Service Activities, which, in addition, provides much of the college's budget for areas such as research. The cuts all tie back into Clemson's agricultural mission, Kelly said.

Calvin Schoulties, the college's dean, said the university "would move heaven and earth" to maintain the quality of its courses for students.

Sanford spokesman Will Folks said the governor is not suggesting programs in those other areas have no value. He said the governor is trying to prioritize spending, giving extra consideration to areas such as education and health care, in the wake of the state's $350 million shortfall.

Information from: Anderson Independent-Mail