S.C. State University President Thomas Elzey told Diverse last December that he anticipated a $3M deficit for the fiscal year ending June 30.
Meanwhile, new university President Thomas Elzey, who has pledged transparency as a hallmark of his leadership, and James Openshaw, the university’s new chief financial officer, have indicated in communications this month with state legislators and an interview with the Orangeburg (S.C.) Times and Democrat, that belt tightening will be expanded and that further means to cut expenses are on the table.
“The university plans to meet its payroll through June, 2014,” Elzey told the Times and Democrat, according to a transcript of the interview. “Payments for utilities and other vendors/contractors will be delayed significantly.”
Elzey, who took the helm of SCSU last summer after a stint as chief financial officer at The Citadel, said the university “will continue its hiring freeze, possibly reduce some temporary positions, reduce discretionary funding, eliminate low producing programs, increase enrollment and increase and enhance our fundraising efforts.”
Among money losing programs set to be seriously reviewed is the university’s athletic program, said several people associated with the university. Like those at many institutions, including most at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), the SCSU athletic program is operating at a loss. It is expected to cost more than $9 million dollars next year and bring in only about $2.9 million.
Elzey said in a December interview with Diverse that he expected a deficit of $3 million for the current year ending June 30, based on what he had learned about the university’s financial condition since coming on board.
That deficit estimate largely reflected the impact of the loss of hundreds of students because their families had lost access to federal Parent PLUS Program loans due to a tightening of loan rules.
