RIP... SC State University?

[Easy Mac]

Legislators are going to vote on whether to shut the school down for a year. I'm not sure I've ever heard this happening for a state school.

COLUMBIA: House panel votes to close SC State for two years | The Buzz | The State (http://www.thestate.com/2015/02/10/3980563_house-panel-votes-to-close-sc.html?rh=1)

[Thomkal]

wow that's pretty hard to believe-its also going to happen more and more with these small colleges with declining enrollment I think. That's a lot of money they have to pay back-they may find it impossible unless rich alumni step in. I'm just glad Coastal Carolina broke away from state control many years ago.

[Dutch]

Because South Carolina needs less schooling... :(

[NobodyHere]

Another article has stated that the state senate is unlikely to close the school.

[JPhillips]

If it closes the likelihood that it will ever come back is very slim. All the hiring and student recruitment takes time. You can't just start up a college inn the summer and have full classes come Fall.

[Dutch]

I would prefer the state have some sort of power to remove the powers that be that got them in their financial mess and work to fix it than screw over the students that go there. That said, how do you get $18m in the hole as a small state school? Surely the administrators could have tapped the knowledge of their economics programs to figure things out.

[CU Tiger]

1 the proposal includes free transfer to other state schools and covering cost of board I for locals.
2 SCSU has a 17 % 4 year graduation rate, and a 27% 6 year graduation rate.
3 the corrupt leaders who took $40mM and never started the construction project need to be jailed
4 if it is shut down,they must find a new home for marching101 ...the best thing about the school IMHO.

[CU Tiger]

Dola they also have a drive thru masters in education program that has cost this state millions in unjustified teacher salaries.

Not saying teachers are fairly or adequately compensated (they are not) but sham degrees advertised as "get what you're due" are a disgrace

[Dutch]

Oh, so it's a school that exists for the purpose of existing? The marching band is the best thing? Ugh...

[Butter]

4 if it is shut down,they must find a new home for marching101 ...the best thing about the school IMHO.

Oh, so it's a school that exists for the purpose of existing? The marching band is the best thing? Ugh...

I had both of these thoughts... Oh no, what about the marching band!

And then, if that's my first thought, maybe that doesn't say great things about the school.

[Buccaneer]

How can any good things be said about a school that has a 17 % 4 year graduation rate, and a 27% 6 year graduation rate (assuming those are really bad rates)?

[NobodyHere]

How can any good things be said about a school that has a 17 % 4 year graduation rate, and a 27% 6 year graduation rate (assuming those are really bad rates)?

Strategic Measures - Performance Scorecard - CollegeMeasures.org (http://collegemeasures.org/4-year_colleges/institution/South-Carolina-State-University-SC/scorecard/strategic-measures/)

According to the above link the university is 20th percentile for graduation rates. So they're pretty bad.

[JPhillips]

I don't know enough about the situation to have a strong opinion on closing. My only point is that once it's closed, it's probably closed for good. This isn't like renovating a car wash where it's closed for a few months and then opened and operating.

[Butter]

Antioch College in Yellow Springs, OH was able to survive a closure. Granted, I don't know how well they are doing and they basically had to offer free tuition when they opened back up after 3 years in order to lure students and try to build back toward accreditation... and they are not a state university.

[JPhillips]

I doubt SC will do the work that Antioch alums and board members did. Even after all the free tuition, the growth plan is hoping for 250 students by 2016. They have to be relying very heavily on donations to keep that up.

Would SC State have donors willing to step up to do that for a few years or would the legislature be willing to significantly subsidize the school?

[panerd]

Dola they also have a drive thru masters in education program that has cost this state millions in unjustified teacher salaries.

Not saying teachers are fairly or adequately compensated (they are not) but sham degrees advertised as "get what you're due" are a disgrace

Yes this is likely a whole other thread topic but as a teacher I couldn't agree more. Unfortunately the bureaucracy of a pay scale based only on years of service and level of education combined with a strong teacher union make this a reality in more than just your state. I don't know the answer... I actually got a legit masters degree from a real university but have to say that I don't fault some of my colleagues who wish to put their energies into more useful projects that actually help their kids but also go to drive thru universities like this because its the only way besides time served to get a raise.

[JPhillips]

That's hardly limited to education. Lots of career paths give benefits to advanced degrees, and so schools have filled the market desire for credentials with as little work as possible. Bosses don't have the expertise or time to check the content, so employees often take the path of least resistance.

Just look at the proliferation of bullshit MBA degree mills.

[panerd]

That's hardly limited to education. Lots of career paths give benefits to advanced degrees, and so schools have filled the market desire for credentials with as little work as possible. Bosses don't have the expertise or time to check the content, so employees often take the path of least resistance.

Just look at the proliferation of bullshit MBA degree mills.

True. I won't argue with any of that though it seems like union jobs like education are one of the few where there are only three ways to get more money...

1) Work more outside of your main purpose... sponsor clubs, coach, etc
2) Get a degree
3) Get another year of experience

No benefit to actually being good at your job or no cost to being terrible. (Except being fired I guess but that rarely happens)

[flere-imsaho]

True. I won't argue with any of that though it seems like union jobs like education are one of the few where there are only three ways to get more money...

1) Work more outside of your main purpose... sponsor clubs, coach, etc
2) Get a degree
3) Get another year of experience

Well, here's the threesome for private industry:

1. Get a degree or cert.
2. Stick around long enough.
3. Make the right friends.

No benefit to actually being good at your job or no cost to being terrible. (Except being fired I guess but that rarely happens)

True in much of private industry as well, despite anecdotes to the contrary.

Relevant:

Peter Principle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Principle)
Dilbert principle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilbert_principle)

[panerd]

Well, here's the threesome for private industry:

1. Get a degree or cert.
2. Stick around long enough.
3. Make the right friends.



True in much of private industry as well, despite anecdotes to the contrary.

Relevant:

Peter Principle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Principle)
Dilbert principle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilbert_principle)

Probably true though all of my friends in the private industry seem to have bonuses and some incentive to do well at their job and/or switch jobs to get raises and not just laterally move to the same pay scale. My job is purely intrinsic motivation.

[flere-imsaho]

Yes, I won't argue that working in private industry is the same as working in education from a compensation perspective. That's crazy.

But I wanted to point out it isn't always (or even often) great from a compensation perspective either.