<p>We received the following e-mail today from the pres of CofC. Thought some of you may be interested. I was somewhat surprised how little financial support CofC receives from SC (as a "state" school.) Sounds like they are forward thinking. </p>
<p>As we head into the home stretch of Spring semester, I want to update all of you on several important issues and highlight a few noteworthy achievements.</p>
<p>Budget</p>
<p>The College, along with all of public higher education in South Carolina, continues to face significant declines in state support. In December, the state mandated a 5 percent across-the-board budget cut for all state agencies. For the College, this cut represented a loss of $1.25 million dollars. This followed previous rounds of cuts over the past two years totaling almost $10 million dollars. The state now provides only 11.6% of the Colleges total operating budget.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, we expect this downward trend to continue. At this time, it appears that our base budget will be cut by another $5 million on July 1. This would lower the level of funding that the College receives from the state to just 9.4%. Put another way, these latest proposed cuts would reduce the Colleges state funding to levels not seen since 1988. </p>
<p>Strategic Plan</p>
<p>Despite our states economic challenges and their negative impact on higher education, the College is moving forward with the implementation of its new Strategic Plan. In fact, the Strategic Plan, which was approved by our Board of Trustees in October 2009, anticipated this falling state support. The plans new financial model includes the creation of new revenue-generating entrepreneurial programs, higher enrollment at our North Campus, increased fundraising, more out-of-state students, and higher tuition.</p>
<p>In order for the College to remain nationally competitive, we must be able to generate revenue sufficient to attract and retain the best faculty, to offer students significantly more financial aid, and to maintain the facilities and infrastructure that are crucial to fulfilling our educational mission. The proposal to implement a new financial model for the College, including any increase in tuition for 2010-2011, will go before our Board of Trustees in early June.</p>
<p>Diversity</p>
<p>This semester, the College and the surrounding community began a healthy and informative discussion regarding diversity on our campus.</p>
<p>Quite clearly, the College is not where it needs to be with respect to diversity. In fact, were not even close. For Fall 2009, African-American students accounted for 4.9% of new freshman and 5.4% of the total undergraduate population. International students are also underrepresented at the College. For Fall 2009, international students accounted for 0.5% of new freshman and 1% of the total undergraduate population. We can do so much better!</p>
<p>Diversifying our student body, our faculty, and our staff is one of my highest priorities. </p>
<p>We cannot become a university of national and international distinction without a serious, focused effort to improve in this area. One person, in particular, who is already playing an integral role in the Colleges diversity efforts, is Dr. John Bello-Ogunu. He joined the College in January as Associate Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer for the Office of Institutional Diversity.</p>
<p>Dr. Bello-Ogunu and his team have wasted no time in delving into the challenge before them. They have already conducted a series of diversity town hall meetings with the campus community and have many more diversity initiatives and programs in development. Dr. Bello-Ogunu also has written about the Colleges diversity efforts in an op-ed, which was published in The Post and Courier on March 25, 2010.</p>
<p>In support of our diversity efforts, I am forming a Community Advisory Board. The board will be made up primarily of African-American leaders who will advise me on ways that the College can strengthen our connections to the African-American community, ways we can assist the African-American community, ways we can improve our diversity efforts, and, more generally, provide counsel on the strategic initiatives and programs of the College.</p>
<p>Sustainability</p>
<p>Another important initiative gaining momentum this semester is sustainability. As we weather the tough economy, it is more important than ever that the College continue to look for efficiencies in its operations. As a signatory to the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, I am committed to identifying, studying, and implementing cost-effective sustainability efforts that can save us money and help our environment.</p>
<p>To underscore this commitment, our new Strategic Plan embraces respect for the environment and commitment to sustainability. To support this initiative, we plan to establish a new administrative position at the College for a Director of Sustainability. He or she would be the point person for campus sustainability initiatives and a liaison between the Executive Team and the campus community. We will create and fill this position, hopefully, by Fall semester.</p>
<p>So far, most of the sustainability initiatives on campus have been driven by our Sustainability Committee, which is chaired by Librarian Burton Callicott. This committee has done some excellent work and is bringing forth good ideas that can help the College become greener. One recent initiative that I happily endorsed was the Eco Rep program, which designates volunteers from each academic and administrative department to serve as recycling representatives for their respective areas. Eco Reps are responsible for reporting missing or damaged recycling bins, encouraging colleagues to recycle, and attending training sessions on recycling, reducing waste, and conserving electricity.</p>
<p>Of note</p>
<p>Our students, faculty, and staff attain far too many achievements each semester to list them all here. But I do want to highlight a few recent examples:</p>
<p>o In February, the student body participated in the Dance Marathon student philanthropy event, raising a record $75,000 for the MUSC Childrens Hospital. Jane and I had the honor of kicking off the event with the first dance. Over the past four years, the annual event has raised a total of $225,000 for the charity.</p>
<p>o Jack Tate, a South Carolina entrepreneur who founded Carolina Baby Superstores, committed in March to donate up to $1 million to the College of Charleston Foundation. The gift will help fund two key initiatives in the School of Business: a new Center of Vietnamese Enterprise and the pending M.B.A. program.</p>
<p>o In May, our Mens Soccer Team will travel to Italy to compete against some of that countrys best professional clubs and teams. The team will visit Milan, Spoleto, Rome, and other locations. This trip is an opportunity of a lifetime for these student-athletes. Most impressive of all is that the team members raised enough money to pay their own way. We wish them safe travels and buona fortuna! </p>
<p>As always, I value your feedback.</p>
<p>George Benson</p>
<p>President</p>
<p>College of Charleston</p>
<p>66 George Street</p>
<p>Charleston, SC 29424</p>
<p>(843) 953-5500</p>
<p>(843) 953-5831 Fax</p>