Clemson trustees approve budget, academic and facility plans

GREENVILLE, SC – July 16, 2010 – Clemson University trustees heard some good news about the upcoming academic year during their quarterly meeting in Greenville.

“We are expecting a freshman class of 2,950 this fall, and statistics show they could be the strongest class ever academically,” said Provost Dori Helms. “We also will see an increase in transfer students.”

President James F. Barker reported that the university’s version of an economic stimulus plan for students — a need-based “completion grants” program and funding for work-study jobs, will continue this year. The program is seeded with $200,000 in existing resources and another $485,000 in private gifts, and it leverages federal funding that provides 75 percent of work-study salaries. The goal is to target financially needy students near the end of their academic careers to ensure that they can graduate on time.

Eligible students — South Carolina seniors who meet certain income and academic criteria and are considered at risk for dropping out because of costs — may be able to receive up to $2,000 in one-time “completion grants” to help them complete their academic careers.

The program also will fund work-study jobs, which are open to all students who meet federal requirements, regardless of residency. A key component of the program’s funding is an annual giving initiative called the Leadership Circle, which has raised more than $1.4 million in unrestricted donations since its inception in 2009.

The board also approved the $797 million budget for fiscal year 2010-2011 that included both good and bad news. The budget shows a 17 percent decrease in administrative and support costs, reflecting the impact of state budget cuts, but also an anticipated 23 percent increase in scholarships and fellowships awarded to students.

In other action, the trustees:

• approved a request to create a new graduate-level department of automotive engineering, tapping existing faculty from the mechanical engineering department and using the existing curriculum for master’s and doctoral degrees in automotive engineering. The department will be housed in the Campbell Graduate Engineering Center on the campus of the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR). It will use existing staff, equipment and facilities in the center and require no additional funding.
• approved a proposed new Ph.D. program in human-centered computing, a relatively new discipline that integrates computing with people, technology, information, policy and sometimes culture. The degree will include core computing classes as well as training in such fields as psychology, policy studies, communication and industrial engineering. Only two other such degree programs — at Georgia Tech and the University of Maryland — exist in the United States. A dozen Ph.D. students currently enrolled in Clemson’s School of Computing will serve as the foundation for the program. Because the degree program borrows from existing academic departments, no new costs are associated with it
• approved a request to establish a new Clemson University Canada Center, a virtual center through the school’s Office of International Affairs that will serve as a clearinghouse for projects and collaborations between universities in the United States and Canada. Initial projects planned for the center include the creation of an online depository listing all active research, teaching and outreach activities involving Canadian institutions, and a joint conference of U.S. and Canadian universities to be held at Clemson.
• gave concept approval for an addition to Freeman Hall, which houses the burgeoning industrial engineering program.
• gave final approval to complete Memorial Stadium’s West End Zone northwest plaza.
• approved delegation of authority to the administration to approve grant rights-of-way and easements and structure demolition in work related to the wind-turbine drive-train test facility at the Clemson Restoration Institute in North Charleston.