Higher-ed panel tackles statewide plan

The chairman of a new committee charged with developing a statewide plan for higher education says he's optimistic the effort will be successful as long as members focus on the good of the entire state, not their individual constituencies.

Daniel Ravenel, a board member of the state's Commission on Higher Education for the past seven years, said three or four higher education plans have been bandied about during the past six or seven years. But none of them have been fully implemented.

This effort will be different, however, because it's backed by the Legislature, "which ultimately makes the decisions about statewide higher education," he said.

One of the important issues he thinks the plan should address, he said, is providing access to higher education. That includes tuition costs, diversity and grants and scholarships, he said. He also said the plan should address "getting the individuals in this state prepared to compete for the best jobs."

The recommendation to develop a statewide plan originally came from the final report of a task force launched by Gov. Mark Sanford last year.

"We support the process although it's not as far as we'd like to go," said Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer.

Sanford would like to see a statewide governing board, or board of regents, for the state's colleges and universities, much like those in other states, Sawyer said. The Commission on Higher Education is simply a coordinating body.

Sanford also would like to limit tuition increases, Sawyer said, and to more clearly define each institution's role in higher education. "Our suspicion is there's a whole lot of mission creep out there," Sawyer said.

Layton McCurdy, chairman of the Commission on Higher Education and one of Sanford's appointees on the committee, said the group also is charged with reviewing whether state- and lottery-supported grants and scholarships "are doing what we want them to do."

Most people are satisfied with the impact of scholarships and grants with one exception, he said. They don't think the state offers enough need-based assistance to low-income students, he said.

According to the commission's Web site, the group, which is called the Higher Education Study Committee, consists of nine members appointed as follows: three by the governor, one by the president pro tem of the Senate, one by the speaker of the House of Representatives, one by the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, one by the chairman of House Ways and Means Committee, one by the chairman of the Senate Education Committee and one by the chairman of the House Education and Public Works Committee.

To learn more about the group and for a schedule of meetings, see www.che400.state.sc.us/InfoCntr/HiEdStudyComm.htm.

Reach Diane Knich at 937-5491 or dknich@postandcourier.com.