Higher education in South Carolina

[Spartan]

Interesting. But I can understand why. There is way too much tradition with CofC and The Citadel.

[CorgiMatt]

I still can't find where it said USC was #54 in public universities, but for that matter I can't find a list on US News & World Report's website that has Clemson as #27. But here is an article from "The State" that includes a #41 ranking (up from #50) for USC's business school overall.

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archiv...&p_docnum=1

No comments on the referenced post about another college rankings list?

[knightrider162]

No comments on the referenced post about another college rankings list?

For those rankings, all you do is take the private schools off the list and tada, you have public school rankings.

[Spartan]

No comments on the referenced post about another college rankings list?

Its good information to have, but there isn't really anything to say other than all of our major institutions are improving nationally, and in multiple areas within themselves. Its all good news for our state.

[CorgiMatt]

The University of South Carolina has broken its record again in research funds received.

http://uscnews.sc.edu/RSRC248-07.html

[kyley5]

Jesse Jackson is speaking at Winthrop... Pretty neat I thought.

http://www.heraldonline.com/109/story/118485.html

[Greenville]

Jesse Jackson is speaking at Winthrop... Pretty neat I thought.

http://www.heraldonline.com/109/story/118485.html

He is speaking at Clemson as well:

http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...NEWS01/70912019

[Spartan]

I saw this in the State paper today: http://www.thestate.com/news/story/179758.html

Carolina is going to spend $1 million to guarantee debt-free tuition for some of the poorest students in the state, the program is called the Gamecock Guarantee. They expect that around 200 will recieve the grant the first year, and 800 over time. Apparantly Davidson College and UNC have similar programs

I think that this is a fantastic idea. This actually makes a stride towards combating poverty in this state by offering the possibility of an advanced education.

[krazeeboi]

Yes, I first saw this program offered by UNC. It's good to see USC adopting something similar.

[GvilleSC]

Clemson has hit a new high for research funding and is another step closer to its goal of $150 million for 2008. The school recently surpassed $141 million. I'm sure that CU-ICAR helps with this and I bet this will help Clemson continue to climb the ladder of rankings, where the school currently sits at #27.

Article

[CorgiMatt]

At $184 million and $141 million respectively, USC and Clemson are making great strides.

[fupaladin]

According to the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education, Winthrop University was named the top ranked University in the state according to evaulations done this past year. Clemson was 2nd. I believe this has been put on Winthrops wikipedia page as well and all over there website.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winthrop_University

As well as 8th public university in the SouthEast by US News and World Report. Great pub for Winthrop.

Winthrop is a decent school. My mom went there when it was still all women. But, top ranked in what? The CHE collects all sorts of information, but I have never heard of them ranking schools. I am fairly certain they don't do any ranking of overall quality of SC colleges and universities.

[fupaladin]

Winthrop is a decent school. My mom went there when it was still all women. But, top ranked in what? The CHE collects all sorts of information, but I have never heard of them ranking schools. I am fairly certain they don't do any ranking of overall quality of SC colleges and universities.

I must reply to myself! I pretty much forgot that just before I left FMU in 2000, the state had instituted something called Performance Based Funding where a portion of the state's allocation to each institution was determined by a rating. I don't recall the particulars of the various criteria, but I do remember that the methodology was questioned strongly. Have no idea if this is still actually being used to allocate funds.

[Spartan]

I've never heard of that.^

[whitehourseview]

I must reply to myself! I pretty much forgot that just before I left FMU in 2000, the state had instituted something called Performance Based Funding where a portion of the state's allocation to each institution was determined by a rating. I don't recall the particulars of the various criteria, but I do remember that the methodology was questioned strongly. Have no idea if this is still actually being used to allocate funds.

Performance based funding for higher education in South Carolina was starting to be implemented back in the late 90's. Winthrop is not in the same category as Clemson, USC or MUSC (research based institutions), but for its category (with CofC, El Cid, Coastal, etc.) it is ranked as meeting all the performance objectives. I think Winthrop has been at the maximum for several years now.

[goodbye]

Clemson University has earned additional very high recognition recently:

Clemson University has been named the Best Place to Work in Academia among academic institutions and No. 3 overall in The Scientist magazine

[CorgiMatt]

Another big feather in the University of South Carolina's cap.

http://uscnews.sc.edu/RSRC334-07.html

[Spartan]

Finally some directly-related progress towards the whole "fuel cell" thing Carolina has been pushing. Great news

[krazeeboi]

Finally some directly-related progress towards the whole "fuel cell" thing Carolina has been pushing. Great news

USC has been attracting loads of faculty and research funds related to fuel cell technology (and other focus areas of the research campus) within the last year or two. It's just that there haven't been any specific fuel cell technology firms that have relocated to Innovista.

[Spartan]

^Thats true. And this guy seems to have a lot of clout, so I look forward to the day that Carolina is recognized nationally as a center for fuel-cell (and other) technologies.

[Captain Worley]

It's just that there haven't been any specific fuel cell technology firms that have relocated to Innovista.

That'll come if the technology pans out to be marketable and USC becomes the leader in the field. Barring a huge breakthrough, I'm not optimistic about fuel cell companies locating here. But that's what research is for.

[krazeeboi]

^Definitely. In this case, I see the investment following the expertise. Also, it's just as much about growing local companies than it is about relocation of existing companies located elsewhere.

[Spartan]

With USC President Sorenson's retirement announcement comes a lengthy article in The State. This article highlights his accomplishments, and it also highlights some criticisms. While his performance overall is lauded, the article makes an interesting point about the way USC does things and the way Clemson does things....

Article from The State

And in the background, the traditional rivalry with Clemson University gnaws at diehard Carolina alumni and trustees. Clemson’s football program seems to retain the edge. Clemson’s model of holding down enrollment and emphasizing academic excellence would better suit some USC trustees than the dramatic growth they have seen on Sorensen’s watch. And Clemson’s climb in the U.S. News & World Report rankings of public universities to No. 27, while USC languishes at No. 54, frustrates the quality-first faction on the board.

The seeds for today’s impatience for change can be found in the record of a June 2002 trustees meeting, just a week before Sorensen took office. USC officials, seeking to compensate for legislative budget cuts, allowed 300 to 400 additional students to enroll for the fall semester.

With the state’s new LIFE scholarships and academic improvements driving demand, even more high school graduates were clamoring for admission. The 2002 increase in enrollment was on top of growth of almost 500 the previous year.

“It’s too big,” Hubbard said that day. “We have to be careful that we maintain quality, and I have concerns that we’re bumping against that limit.”

So the question is- do you think that an enrollment cap like Clemson has would improve USC? For example, say they set that cap where it is now- at 27,000. It makes sense to think that this would work. You could get more use, and perhaps have greater emphasis on the senior campuses around the state.... sort of a "spread the wealth" mentality. I would not be opposed to the senior campuses having more autonomy... but going down that road leads to the need for SC to create a Board of Regents.

Thoughts?

[CorgiMatt]

Private dollars and the number of donors continues to rise for the University of South Carolina.

http://uscnews.sc.edu/ADMN343-07.html

[krazeeboi]

With USC President Sorenson's retirement announcement comes a lengthy article in The State. This article highlights his accomplishments, and it also highlights some criticisms. While his performance overall is lauded, the article makes an interesting point about the way USC does things and the way Clemson does things....

Article from The State

So the question is- do you think that an enrollment cap like Clemson has would improve USC? For example, say they set that cap where it is now- at 27,000. It makes sense to think that this would work. You could get more use, and perhaps have greater emphasis on the senior campuses around the state.... sort of a "spread the wealth" mentality. I would not be opposed to the senior campuses having more autonomy... but going down that road leads to the need for SC to create a Board of Regents.

Thoughts?

I think the real tragedy is that USC is somewhat forced into this position to begin with. This state still doesn't get it when it comes to making education a top priority.

I'm not sure if this has anything to do with USC's ranking, but one of my cousins who attended USC for undergrad (majored in biology) and Winthrop and Clemson for graduate studies told me that USC's professors are more research-oriented and don't really do the greatest job of making sure that the students are able to grasp the material.