Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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WWW.GAMEC0CK.SC.EDU UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA ' COLUMBIA, S.C. Rumors surround Business School’s future Interim dean claims Darla Moore School of Business won't lose accreditation by Charles Prashaw Senior Writer Recent rumors among students and profes sors at the Darla Moore School of Business have claimed that the school faces a possible loss of its national accreditation. A peer review team from the International As sociation for Management Education which re views schools’ accreditation every ten years, has recently visited the Darla Moore School of Busi ness. According to Interim Dean Rodney Roen feldt, the accreditation body has not taken any action and will not until April 8. Thus, the board has made no decision, and the school is n’t under continuing review at this time. But it is believed the review team will place the school under con tinuous review after April 8. The continuous review process has taken three years in the past, and after which a decision by the board would either reaffirm or suspend a school’s accreditation. An earlier review-team report said, the con tinuing review process does not change the ac credited status of the institution.” “As of now, there is no chance of the school los ing its accreditation,” Roenfeldt said. “The rumors of the school losing its accreditation are just that — rumors.” Roenfeldt has been acting dean of the school since September, when former dean David Schrock left after USC didn’t renew his contract. Roen feld, who has been a professor at USC since the early 1970s has also been the department chair person for banking, finance, insurance, and real es tate from 1985-1999 at the business school. Roenfeldt also said the board will most likely put the school under continuous review after April 8 to request further information about the school financial and administrative status. Specifically, the board is concerned about the school still not hav ing a permanent dean, its current debt and its fi nancial plan for the future. Roenfeldt said the problems at the business school stem from the state legislature not giving the school the money it needs. “Undergraduate enrollment here is up 50 per cent, and that has caused the real problem... the funding has not matched that increase,” Roenfeldt said. As for the current debt, Roenfeldt said the provost, the president and himself have came to a resolution to settle it. - “No school is without flaws, and we will al ways have things to work on improving,” Roen feldt said. Provost Jerry Odom, who wasn’t available for comment, has recently announced at a faculty enate meeting that the search for a permanent dean for the school is almost over. The list of possible deans, which was more than 20 people, will soon be down to three possible deans. That list of three possible candidates has not been released. “The search [for a business school dean] has been very active lately, but it has not gone as quick ly as we would like,” said Russ Mckinney, USC di rector of public relations. “ Palms has insisted not to hire a dean just to hire a dean.” The business school has recently been ranked 34th in the world by the Financial Times of London. The newspaper also named the busi ness school first in the nation when it comes to mobility in the international job market, beating out prestigious business schools at Harvard, Yale and Penn State. Treasurer reflects on campaign promises by Kelly Haggerty Assistant News Editor As her term as student body treasurer comes to a close, Elizabeth Fondham said she fol lowed through on most of her cam paign promises and that she wants “lobe remembered as the student body treasur er who tried to light a battle in Mudent Government to make a positive change.” The one component of her campaign that she didn’t accomplish was the “Student Advantage Card.” Fordham said she wanted students to be able to use dis count cards throughout Columbia as area high schools students do. "1 researched the idea, and it was go ing to cost a significant amount of mon ey that Student Government did not have,” Fordham said. “It would have also cost students money, and that almost defeat ed the purpose of the idea.” Fordham said she did follow through with her campaign promise to ensure all student organizations a fair allocation process. Fordham said both she and the Finance Committee researched each organization’s past and current budget his tory before making decisions. “Although the treasurer doesn’t have an actual vote on the numerical amount of money allocated, my advice and in fluence were taken into account before any decisions were made,” Fordham said. Fordham said she also provided stu denis wun an open-door policy. “1 fell that this was very important, for students to have the opportunity to check on my progress as an executive of ficer,” she said. “As it was evident dur ing the mishaps last semester, this proved to be a worthy component for my cam paign." Those “mishaps” refer to the im peachment chaiges brought against Ford Mi ham for allegedly not carrying out her du ties as treasurer. The Senate Judiciary Committee and chief justice of the Judi ciary Council voted Nov. 9 to dismiss the chaiges because they were either factu ally or constitutionally unsound. Even though her term got off to a “rocky start,” Fordham said she “did the job to the best of my ability. I have added some fresh ideas to the Finance Com mittee and to the treasurers of campus Fordham see pact A2 Fordham | Health Center receives national honor Tab Henderson The Gamecock The Thomson Student Health Center was recently awarded national accreditation. Only 120 In the nation are considered to be nationally accredited. The Thomson Student Health Center will come up for re-evaluation In Sept. 2002. Health Center retains national accreditation by Amanda Silva Staff Writer The Thomson Student Health Center has received national re-accreditation by the Accreditation Association for Am bulatory Health Care. “We’re pleased and proud to have achieved accreditation,” said Dr. William Hill, director of Student Health Services. “We think accreditation is very im portant and has helped us improve the quality of care we provide,” Hill said. “We feel that our patients are the ultimate bene factors from our participation in the ac creditation program.” Accreditation is a voluntary process by which an ambulatory health-care or ganization can measure the quality of its services and performance against nation ally recognized standards. USC received accreditation in De cember, one week prior to winter break, after beginning the process in mid-Sep tember. The health center held off an nouncing the honor until after Christmas because the student body was away on va cation, Hill said. The health center underwent an ex tensive survey of its facilities and services for the accreditation process. The survey team, made up of physicians and health care administrators, evaluated all aspects of patient care. Hill said the health center has received full accreditation for three years. According to the AAAHC, not every health-care organization that undergoes an on-site survey receives accreditation. “The dedication and effort necessary to achieve accreditation is substantial,” the president of the AAAHC said. “Thom son Student Health Center is to be com mended for this accomplishment.” According to the AAAHC, accredi tation is valued by ambulatory health-care organizations as a measure of profes sional achievement and quality of care. USC which has been accredited since 1982, is one of only 120 student health centers that have achieved national ac creditation. The standards for accreditation, as out lined in the Accreditation Handbook for Ambulatory Health Care, include such ar eas as quality of care, quality of manage ment and improvement, clinical records, surgical and pharmaceutical services, environmental safety, gover nance, administration and professional de velopment. This set of standards has been devel oped over a 20-year period by people who represent the highest levels of achieve Health Center see page A2 Constitutional amendment defeated in last SG meeting by Brandon Larrabee Associate News Editor In their last meeting of the term, stu dent senate decisively defeated a consti tutional amendment Wednesday, which would have allowed senators to more eas ily fill an open senate seat if they switch colleges. The senate did pass a bill adding “Clean Carolina” to the list of the Stu dent Services Committee’s responsibili ties. The amendment, sponsored by Stu dent Services Committee Chairwoman Melissa Fletcher and Vice President-elect Sen. Corey Ford, failed by a 15-20 vote, with Sen. Charaka Cook abstain ing. Approval would have required a two thirds majority vote of the senate for the amendment be sent to the student body. The amendment would have allowed senators who change colleges to fill an open seat in their new college, provid ed the move is approved by the Powers and Responsibilities Committee. Cur rently, persons wanting an open senate seal must apply and be interviewed by the committee, then by the senate. The amendment’s supporters said the change would have kept senators from having to leave senate or stop projects while they applied for an open seat. “The reason that we wrote this is to allow good senators... to be able to con tinue them [projects],” Fletcher said. She said the amendment would speed up that process, which currently takes three or four weeks. “It could happen in that same week,” Fletcher said. Ford said the amendment would have kept good senators in senate. “We don’t want to kick someone out of senate who has done the job ...just be cause they have an academic change,” he said. Opponents of the bill said it wouldn’t have improved the process, and some said it might even make selecting a senator for open seats unfair. “This ain’t broke,” said Sen. Adam Dawkins, co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee. “Don’t fix it.” “This is a democratic system,;we need to make sure that everybody has the chance” to fill an open senate seat, Dawkins said. He also said a senator switching col leges might not know the concerns of his or her new constituents. “1 don’t know the issues facing the college of liberal arts,” Dawkins said. Sen. Christian Stegmaier also opposed the amendment. “One of the aims of legislation is to fix problems,” Stegmaier said. “We don’t have any problems.” Stegmaier also said the bill might “foreclose” on someone who wanted to fill an open senate seat but wasn’t in sen ate. “What this bill would do, in essence, is totally cut this person out of the process,” Stegmaier said. “And I don’t think that’s very fair.” Ford said he was disappointed in the senate’s decision. “I’m disappointed, but the opponents did have some valid points,” Ford said. “I think we should reward senators who have done a good job,” he said. “But, hopefully, the Powers and Responsibili ties Committee will acknowledge the work of senators who may switch col leges.” Fletcher said senators might not have voted with the primary goal of the amend ment in mind. “I think that it’s a worthwhile bill to keep good senators in office and that over all point was kind of missed,” she said. Senate see pace A2 Returning Senators in 2000 The following is a list of students returning to Student Senate for 2000-2001. Name: Kevin E. Cogsdill Charaka C. Cook Leigh E. Edmonds Melissa Fletcher Hydrick Harden Kristen Heatherly Jessica C. Lentini Sara Mareno Adam Musgrave Rebecca Ann Payne College Representation: Pharmacy Liberal Arts Applied Professional Sci. Journalism Business Administration Science and Math Liberal Arts Liberal Arts Public Health Science and Math i Weather ' % Inside Dathbook . . Online Poll • ■ Today 69 48 Saturday 60 48 r Gamecocks softball extends streak Page B1 Friday • Baseball vs. Florida, 7 p.m. (home) !) Saturday • Round Table Gaming Society, noon to 11:45 p.m. • Baseball vs. Florida, 4 p.m. (home) As holidays end, should USC make its residence halls accessible earlier? 76%-Yes 24%-No Look for next week’s poll question in Monday’s edition of The Gamecock. i <