dailygamecock.com UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
VOL. 113, NO. 19 • SINCE 1908
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2013
H
Thad Moore
TMOORE@DAILYGAMECOCK.COM
arris Pastides had been USC’s president three weeks when the first cut came.
State funding ($)
Spencer Scott Nelson / THE DAILY GAMECOCK
Another came in October. One more in December. There were five budget cuts that year,
Years
Source: USC Budget Office
wort h $36.9 million on t he Columbia
campus. More than 23 percent in a year. South Carolina’s tax revenue was falling in 2008, and
politicians’ talk of austerity grew. USC’s cuts — real presidency. “Those were scary times,” Chief Financial Officer
Ed Walton said. “People did not know what was coming next.” To compensate, the university froze hiring, losing
Student enrollment
and rumored — formed a bleak backdrop for a budding
273 employees to retirement and other jobs. It brought in extra students: about 5,000 more in five years. It raised tuition: more than 22 percent for in-state
Source: Institutional Assessment & Compliance
Years
students and nearly a quarter for everyone else. Pastides, 59, is credited with navigating the Great Recession, improving key measures of academic quality and posturing it to improve more.
Out-of-state In-state
But stay ing af loat had consequences, and t he Five years later, USC is forced into a corner. It can’t raise tuition any more, and an already-packed campus can’t handle more students.
Tuition ($)
university will feel them for years, officials say.
USC is at a pivot point: It faces big-picture questions of what it wants to be — and what it can afford. How big should it be? How can it grow more? Whom does it serve?
Years
Source: USC Budget Office
And mostly, what’s next?
INSIDE
PASTIDES • 2
10
SPORTS
MIX
VIEWPOINTS
Women’s soccer finished its nonconference season with an undefeated record.
Recent 3-D films have been lackluster, but some directors have made use of the medium.
Editorial Board: USC needs creativity to handle the repercussions of rapid growth.
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WEATHER Wednesday
Thursday
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