Dear Clemson:
Yesterday, I was invited to present Clemson's budget requests to the Higher Education Subcommittee of the South Carolina House Ways and Means Committee. I would like to share those comments with you this morning.
Sincerely,
Jim Barker
I'd like to begin my remarks with a brief "state of the university" message. You probably know by now that it's hard for me to speak for more than five minutes without bragging about Clemson. But you have invested significant state resources in Clemson, and we need to be accountable. We need to let you know what South Carolina is getting in return for that investment.
First and foremost, we're providing a high-quality educational experience for thousands of young people. We're ranked 30th among the nation's 162 top public universities by U.S. News & World Report, 29 ahead of us and 132 behind us, and 29th among the nation's best values in higher education by Kiplinger's Magazine - a ranking that measures both quality and affordability.
This year's freshman class has the second-highest SAT average in Clemson’s history. Nearly half of them were ranked in the top 10 percent of their high school class. We also enrolled more than 200 students in the Bridge to Clemson program, a unique partnership with Tri-County Technical College that is increasing access to a Clemson education. Nearly 90 percent of those students are from South Carolina.
Doctoral applications increased 64 percent this year, and our Ph.D. student enrollment is the highest ever at 1,008. Growth at the Ph.D. level is critical to building an economy based on scientific and technological innovation.
Nearly half of our classes have fewer than 20 students enrolled, and we have a student-to-faculty ratio of 14 to 1. This is a ratio that's more typical of a small liberal arts college than a research university. What it means is that our students are engaged in their academic experience and they receive individual attention. They are having a small-college academic experience with the benefits of being at a major research university. This structure has proven to better prepare students for the future.
This year we welcomed more than 100 new faculty members, including two endowed chairs at CU-ICAR, the former director of the National Parks Service, and the founder of the Southeastern Natural Sciences Academy.
Secondly we are delivering on our promise to help South Carolina build a knowledge-based economy, and raise per capita income. In 2006, we brought a new partner to CU-ICAR. Those of you who attended the December meeting at the Timken facility are well aware of what that partnership will mean for our state. In 2007, we will break ground on an Innovation Center at the Center for Advanced Materials in Anderson County. This center will help small companies grow, and help research spin-off companies get started. We are moving forward with plans to build an economic development center in North Charleston focused on the restoration economy.
Third, we're improving the quality of life in South Carolina through direct aid to families, industries and communities in our Public Service Activities programs, through partnerships with K-12, and through special programs such as Emerging Scholars and Call Me Mister. Both of these programs increase educational and career opportunities for African Americans.
Our mission and responsibilities go beyond the borders of South Carolina, however. Our faculty members are at the forefront of research that is tackling some of our nation's most pressing health, educational and environmental issues. For example, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research is helping fund a Clemson researcher's search for a cure for Parkinson's disease - research that is supported through our bioengineering alliance with the Medical University of South Carolina.
Another team of bioengineering researchers has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health to study a novel way of stopping aneurysms, which often occur without warning and can be fatal.
A chemistry research team has developed an agent that clings to anthrax spores. This agent makes it harder for the spores to be inhaled into the lungs - which could also make it harder to weaponize anthrax and use it as a tool for terrorism.
Some of the work is on simpler ideas, with everyday benefits. One of the best inventions of 2005 was the "TWEEL" - an airless tire developed by Michelin. Our students in mechanical engineering and business are now working with Michelin to re-invent the TWEEL for other applications and markets.
This year, Popular Science magazine's 2006 Innovation of the Year was a precision-engineered nail called the "Hurri-Quake" nail. It's designed to protect houses from hurricanes and earthquakes. And it was invented by Clemson civil engineering graduate Ed Sutt.
A medical support pillow to help surgical patients recover was developed by an Upstate entrepreneur, and manufactured at the Clemson Apparel Research Center. It was one of the finalists in the New Carolina Business Idea Contest.
Clemson researchers, in conjunction with the Savannah River National Laboratory, are testing vegetable oil as a way to prevent contaminants from getting into groundwater. Their research has the potential to help clean up chlorinated solvents. These are among the most common groundwater contaminants caused by industry.
These are just a few examples of the important, relevant, potentially life-saving work that is taking place in Clemson research facilities around the state.
The progress that we have made this year - --and are continuing to make - is a direct result of the investment you have made in research infrastructure, endowed chairs, LIFE and Palmetto Scholarships, and our academic plan for quality.
When you invest, South Carolina can be competitive. We can retain our top students, and attract nationally regarded faculty. We can bring new companies and new jobs to South Carolina. We can multiply your investment through research grants and private gifts. So my message today is: It's working. Let's keep it up.
Unfortunately, the Executive Budget does not reflect the same commitment you have shown to investing for the future. It is about making cuts, not strategic investments, - and higher education bears the brunt of those cuts. Higher education represents about 13.3 percent of the state budget, but it accounts for 29 percent of the cuts recommended in the Executive Budget.
Clemson University's state appropriation for both E&G and public service activities represents 2.4 percent of the total budget, and yet we bear 14 percent of the recommended cuts. And these substantial cuts are coupled with a tuition cap that would leave us with no option other than reducing quality.
The Executive Budget is clearly unfair to Clemson and to higher education, but what's worse is that it is a setback for South Carolina. It represents a plan for mediocrity, not competitiveness.
We have a plan for making Clemson and South Carolina more competitive. Last year, you invested in that plan, and we delivered. We're here today to ask for your continued support. This plan, which we call the Clemson Roadmap, is responsible for all of those success stories I shared with you earlier. Its funding calls for a combination of increased state appropriations, appropriate student fees, more private gifts and competitive grants, and internal efficiencies and reallocations. Although Clemson is already more efficient than most of our peers, we have just completed a comprehensive external study of our business operations to identify ways to save even more so that we can invest in our Roadmap.
Our highest budget priority is continued improvement of the base budget that funds the core of our enterprise. Despite last year's investment, our state appropriation for education and general programs remains $14.2 million below year 2001-02. This funding shortfall did not occur in one year, and we recognize that it cannot be made up in one year. It will take a long-term commitment from both the state and Clemson. Therefore, we are supportive of the $45 million in increased funding recommended by the Commission on Higher Education.
Our second priority is for your support of a compensation increase for state employees, since any university is only as good as its people.
Our third request is funding for specific initiatives to increase academic quality, foster economic development, and make South Carolina more globally competitive.
We ask you to support the following requests for recurring funds:
- $4.8 million for the Academic Roadmap - which will fund faculty, start-up and operating support, and graduate assistantships.
- $1.5 million for the Campbell Graduate Engineering Center at CU-ICAR to staff, equip and operate the new automotive engineering academic programs.
- $900,000 for the Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies (COMSET), to help make South Carolina a magnet for the growing photonics industry. Since its founding, COMSET has generated more than $30 million in external funding, 25 patents and two spin-off companies.
- $1.3 million for Call Me Mister, the collaborative effort with four of South Carolina's historically black colleges and universities, four tech schools and, most recently, the College of Charleston. Mister recruits, trains and certifies African American men to teach in the state's elementary schools. This program is recognized as a national model. In fact, a crew from ABC News is on campus today, filming a story about Call Me Mister. So not only is this program addressing a significant need, it is also generating positive publicity for South Carolina.
- Our final request for recurring funding is for $1.5 million for the South Carolina Light Rail, to provide a premier network to connect universities, research institutions, and Health Sciences South Carolina partners to enhance collaboration and make us more competitive for federal and other external funding.
Should the Committee address capital funding, I would like to focus on our top two requests:
- $20 million for an information technology center to provide a computing infrastructure and resources for faculty and students in a centralized, campus location;
- $30 million for Hunter Chemistry Building to construct a 90,000-square-foot research wing;
In addition to Clemson-specific priorities, I would like to make sure the Committee is aware of our support for the following collaborative initiatives:
- Continued funding for the Endowed Chairs Program at $30 million,
- Recurring funding of $2 million for the Statewide Higher Education Electronic Library
- Funding for the One Voice, One Plan Nursing Initiative, and
- Funding the CHE request for a $3 million line item for EPSCoR. Over the last five years, the state's investment in EPSCoR has resulted in a ten-fold match from federal grants.
One final issue that I would like to address is the Governor's proposal for a tuition cap. We remain philosophically opposed to a tuition cap. In the absence of adequate state funding, it simply becomes a quality cap. An across-the-board fee structure also does not recognize the different mission and unique resource requirements of research universities. The best way to reduce pressure on tuition is to give institutions adequate base funding. Last year, we promised that if you would invest in academic quality, you would not see another double-digit fee increase. We kept our promise, with a 5.8 percent fee increase - the lowest since 2001.
Those are our funding priorities for 2007. We know that you will give them careful consideration, and we hope that you will agree that these strategic investments are right for South Carolina.
In the aftermath of elections, we often hear people talk about having a mandate. And it's true that there is no clearer signal of support or dissatisfaction than what happens at the ballot box. But we believe that Clemson University also has a mandate. This year's double-digit increase in applications is a mandate for quality from high school students and their parents. The 700 jobs at CU-ICAR is a mandate from our economic development partners. The $60 million we generated in private gifts is a mandate from our alumni and friends. The $135 million in competitively awarded grants and contracts our faculty received last year is a mandate. It's a mandate when 9 out of 10 South Carolinians surveyed, say it's important for this state to have a top-tier research university.
If all of those people could have voted for Clemson, they would have. Instead, they voted for you. But we believe the message is clear. They have entrusted you with South Carolina's future, and we are eager to work together with you to deliver the future South Carolina deserves.
Sincerely,
James F. Barker, FAIA
President