Revisions to USC’s state funding for fiscal year 2017-18 show the university is looking to stay on par with a state economy shifting toward medical service and information technology.
State law requires agencies to submit budget requests for the following fiscal year each Nov. 1. USC’s request for revisions to existing programs and one-time appropriations shows the University is placing emphasis on investing in its medicine and technology programs. However, a state-requested contingency plan reveals that cutbacks could be ahead for the quickly-expanding School of Medicine if the South Carolina General Assembly looks to shave the state general fund in 2017.
In its request for fiscal year 2017-18, USC budget officials filed for the following revisions to state-funded programs:
- Nearly $5.6 million to launch the new Undergraduate Information Technology and Computing Learning Collaborative
- $5.4 million in additional funding for the Health Sciences program, including 12 new faculty
- $3.5 million in “Other Funds” for the School of Medicine
- $2.5 million in “Other Funds” for the USC School of Medicine Greenville
- $2.5 million for the Student Success Initiative, to go toward new Honors College faculty, advisors, tutors and instructors for University 401 courses
- $1.75 million for the School of Medicine to hire new faculty in biomedical engineering and basic sciences and coordinators for Graduate Medical Education and recruitment
All measures outlined in the request are unconfirmed, pending General Assembly approval.
The University also seeks a pair of one-time, non-recurring appropriations worth a combined $71.5 million for 2017-18, among them $50 million to relocate the USC School of Medicine. Currently, the School of Medicine leases 329,000 square feet of space on the grounds of the Dorn Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Garners Ferry Road, five miles from the heart of the USC campus. The University estimates that bringing the current medical campus to “modern serviceable condition” would cost $75 million, with projected annual maintenance costs exceeding $8 million in coming years.
The first phase of relocation involves a 130,000-square-foot medical teaching facility worth $80 million, to be completed by 2020. The second phase, a $120 million facility for basic sciences and research, is slated for completion in 2023 and is expected to be funded outside of the state budget.
The second one-time appropriation would be for $21.5 million to renovate the current USC School of Law building on Greene Street, which will become vacant this fall. Opened in 1972, the building is one of the largest on USC’s flagship campus. Among other actions, removal of lead-based paint and asbestos, a complete HVAC system replacement, and conversion of vacant spaces into instructional science labs are planned. The state approved an initial appropriation of $3.5 million for fiscal year 2015-16.
Additionally, the university seeks $2 million in new federal funding for the School of Medicine, citing state objectives “directed at improving health care in rural South Carolina” and increasing faculty development.
The request also outlined the university’s plan of action should the State House pass a sweeping three percent reduction of the state general fund, which would slash USC’s state funding by $3.8 million. Via email correspondence, USC associate director for public relations Jeff Stensland said university officials are “optimistic” that plan will not be necessary and added that the university prepares such contingency plans regardless of state requirements.
If put into action by the General Assembly, the reduction would preempt USC’s hiring of 10 new faculty and 12 staff members, saving just over $2 million. Stensland said this would affect the university’s student-faculty ratio, estimated by U.S. News and World Report at 18:1. He went on to say that the reduction in faculty funding would also affect USC’s Evening Program.
To save a further $439,255, the USC School of Medicine would eliminate two Information Technology Department staff and two Ph.D. faculty under the plan. Jeffrey L. Perkins, associate dean for administration and finance at the School of Medicine, did not respond to a request for comment.
The reduction would further affect university service units, such as Administration and Finance and Student Affairs, to the tune of $1.2 million. Stensland said a reduction in the service budget would result in cutbacks in marketing and campus transportation, fewer student and temporary employees on campus, and a “likely” end to the Division of Law Enforcement and Safety’s Campus Safety Officer program.
In addition to Stensland’s estimations, the request mentioned “reduce participation in a National Student Engagement program,” the elimination of “research supplements,” and, pending further review, the loss of “at least four staff positions” within university service units.
A further $41,627 would be reduced from the USC Law Library, the Small Business Development Center and the Palmetto Poison Center.