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Date Published: January 27, 2004
Sanford defends opposition to a 4-year USC Sumter
By BRADEN BUNCH
Item Staff Writer
bradenb@theitem.com
Gov. Mark Sanford defended his stance against USC Sumter receiving four-year status on Monday by reiterating that the state needs to come up with a master plan for higher education first.
Sanford has drawn criticism from local leaders for saying he does not support the local campus becoming a four-year institution. The governor has been overt in his opinion, going as far as referencing it in his State of the State address last week. Officials in his office have confirmed the governor would veto current legislation making the University of South Carolina Sumter a 4-year school.
Attached to the South Carolina Life Sciences Act at the end of last year’s legislative session, the bill has passed the state House of Representatives and could come up for a vote before the state Senate as early as today.
“Our point, before we go forward, is simply to say, can we, before we do that, create some kind of governance system that looks at the big picture?’” said Sanford, a proponent of creating a board of regents system.
Even though his stance against the Sumter campus makes local residents unhappy, Sanford said he still believes many people in the state, even in Sumter, want that type of a system in place.
The governor said four-year status for USC Sumter “could very well be part of that state strategy” once an overall policy is in place.
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“I’m not trying to dictate the strategy,” Sanford said. “All we’re trying to say is can we come up with a management system that looks at the big picture, which is something that’s currently ignored in South Carolina as it relates to higher ed.
“I’m not crazy enough to think that I’ve got the only road map to get there, but I think it’s critical that we get there,” Sanford said.
A sign the state has no overall plan, Sanford said, is the statistic showing South Carolina has one of the highest ratios of four-year institutions per capita in the nation.
“I don’t blame legislators, because again, rightfully, you have your districts and you have to be an advocate for that district,” Sanford said. “But in terms of somebody looking out for the whole company store, nobody bothers with it because it’s too much brain damage.”
The governor has received criticism from throughout the state for other proposals in his executive budget, especially the proposals to close two other two-year institutions, USC Union and USC Salkehatchie.
He said those decisions are difficult but are in the best interest of the state.
Sanford has also been criticized for not saying whether he would veto the Life Sciences bill because of a similar amendment to create a four-year culinary arts degree at Trident Technical College in Charleston.
While he would not say the Trident Technical College proposal would force a veto, Sanford said, “I think it’s poor placement on this bill. It’s something we’d rather not see on this bill.”
The governor said the two issues are difficult to compare, since one was to replace a lost school – Johnson and Wales University, which recently closed its campus in Charleston – while the other increases the responsibilities of an existing school.
Still, he adamantly denies some accusations that he is not considering Sumter in his plans.
“While we might disagree on whether we should proceed on USC Sumter four-year versus two-year … there’s a whole lot that we do agree on, for instance probably the most important in the near term is the need to protect Shaw (Air Force Base),” Sanford said.
Contact Staff Writer Braden Bunch at bradenb@theitem.com or 803-774-1222.
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February 12, 2004
