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Date Published: February 22, 2004
Governor should keep open mind about USC Sumter
Gov. Mark Sanford made a positive impression by visiting here Thursday to tour the USC Sumter campus and listen attentively to local advocates of a four-year status for the institution.
We remain hopeful that the points made in favor of four-year status by local leaders and USC Sumter officials were persuasive in convincing the governor to withdraw his opposition to this initiative that has been in the works since the campus was created nearly 40 years ago.
The fate of USC Sumter becoming a four-year campus is in the hands of the Legislature, where a conference committee of the House and Senate is refining two versions of the Life Sciences Act that includes the local institution. If the Sumter portion of the bill remains intact and is approved by both houses, it will wind up on the governor’s desk where it could face a veto if Sanford remains unconvinced of its merit.
The case for USC Sumter becoming a senior campus within the University of South Carolina system has been put forth by the Sumter Legislative Delegation, the Mid-Carolina Commission for Higher Education, Sumter City Council, Sumter County Council and Art Bahnmuller of Sumter, a member of the USC Board of Trustees. It is a fully documented and thoroughly objective study, reinforced by a transition plan outlining how a four-year campus would be self-supporting without additional funding from a currently stressed state budget. It behooves the governor and his staff to review the case for USC Sumter in a fair and open-minded manner.
If they do, they will discover USC Sumter to be a non-traditional campus with a student body averaging 25 years of age, many of whom hold jobs that make them “place-bound” because of these and other responsibilities, preventing them from commuting to USC Columbia to continue their pursuit of bachelor’s degrees. They deserve the opportunity to complete their higher education locally in order to become more productive and successful members of society.
It should not be lost on the governor and other opponents of this initiative that Sumter is at a competitive disadvantage in industrial recruitment because it does not have a state-supported four-year university, the only metropolitan statistical area in the state (and the eighth largest) that lacks one.
In addition, obtaining four-year status for USC Sumter would strengthen Shaw Air Force Base’s efforts to survive the 2005 round of base closures, as pointed out by Sumter County Development Board President Steve Rust during a presentation Thursday to the governor. The base is vital to the local economy, contributing over $500 million annually.
We understand and are supportive of the governor’s efforts to restructure and make more efficient the higher education system in South Carolina; however, granting four-year status to USC Sumter would be a positive move toward achieving efficiency by attracting and retaining more students in this area who currently either conclude their education after two years or leave for other USC campuses in an often costly and inconvenient effort to complete their studies for bachelor’s degrees. It is no more costly to provide bachelor’s degrees in Sumter than elsewhere in the state in fact, when all the pros and cons are weighed, it is less costly.
This community is striving mightily to improve its quality of life, not only for local citizens but also for military personnel at Shaw Air Force Base, which dedicated its new education center on the same day as Sanford’s tour. This $5 million center, thanks to the efforts and support of 5th District Congressman John Spratt and local leaders, will not only provide a centralized location for Shaw military, their dependents, retired military and civilians as a host for six colleges and universities and the Community College of the Air Force, it also reinforces the base’s efforts to remain off the endangered list during the next round of closures.
Recognition of and support for this spirited community effort by Sanford as he ponders his position on four-year status for USC Sumter should weigh heavily in his decision-making process. If it does, and it should, he should have no problem in withdrawing his objections to Sumter becoming a community striving to make a positive contribution to South Carolina higher education.
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March 30, 2004
