Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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I (CM to revolutionize USC linancial decisionmaking |r COREY GARRIOTT ...• : GAMECOCK After two years of debate, USC inbarked July 1 on a budgeting system that recasts colleges in a business mold. Called value-centered man agement or VCM, it redesigns the budget to reward colleges for ef ficiency and competitive courses, according to Vice President of finance Richard Kelly. “Do we expect the colleges to ecome entrepreneurial?” Kelly :,aid. “You bet.” Previously, he said, university expenses came out of a general fimd. VCM instead pays the col •ges and then makes them han their own expenses. Colleges ^P.l get paid out of three pools: rudent tuition, government unding and other sources like grants. Controversially, VCM will por ; an out the first pool, tuition • oney, according to the number * students who enroll in a col ege’s courses. The university ad [ministration will continue to di xde up the government funds on .ts own. Kelly said he sees VCM as an information tool. Because VCM distinguishes tu ition from government money, t the administration can tell which departments are self-supporting and which need the most invest ment. The nursing school, for in stance, is predicted to require around $2 of government funds for every dollar of tuition earned. The Liberal Arts College, which has higher enrollments, is pre dicted to need only about 60 cents on the tuition dollar. “We’re now able to know how much money we have to invest,” Kelly said. Because the adminis tration values the nursing school, the only of its kind in the state, Kelly^said the university would be willing to in even more in the nursing school. But invest ment has its lim its, he said, and especially in a time of budget cuts the univer sity might not value certain units enough to float large losses. In these cases, he said, VCM provides the uni versity with a scale to measure exactly how much things cost to compare with how much it values them. “So you start seeing some of the questions that VCM is going to allow you to ask,” he said. “Where are your priorities?” Critics object to the controver sial way VCM applies competitive incentives. Kelly said VCM encourages colleges to offer courses in de mand because they are paid by enrollment. But student enrollments might not be the only useful criteria to ♦ VCM, SEE PAGE 5 Zg&Stfr BY GABRIELLE SINCLAIR THE GAMECOCK USC students taking more than 16 credit hours this fall will pay an extra fee, under a new pol icy change made this summer. In state students will pay $80 for each additional hour; out-of-state students will pay $208. According to USC President Andrew Sorensen, the change stems from a longtime problem concerning students who sign up for an overload of classes but in tend to drop some later, leaving empty seats in the classroom. “College is about having the freedom to explore different interests, and being limited to ‘what is required’ for fear of costing your parents too much money is counterintuitive to the college experience.” JULIE COOK THIRD-YEAR HISTORY AND POLITICAL SCIENCE STUDENT “I have to pay the professor the same for teaching 20 students as teaching 25,” Sorensen said. “So we’re losing enrollment by not having those five students there as a result of these kids oversub scribing. And they know when they do it that they’re not going to take those courses.” The payment system now brackets students into three cat egories: part-time students who take less than 12 hours; full-time students who take from 12 to 16 hours; and students who take be yond 16 hours. It is a permanent change, and was not influenced by the budget shortfall, according to Vice President of Finance Richard Kelly. “It’s another one of the many things that’s happening right now as a result of tighter financial times that we are having to charge what we are providing for,” said Kelly. Sorensen said he was not sure whether the change would deter students from taking electives or double majoring. “I hope that people will be able to afford it,” he said. “I hope they will be able to say ‘I can afford $240 more to take University 101.’” Many schools have changed to a similar system, Sorensen said. The University of Michigan and the University of Colorado use a 12 to 18 hour bracket. The University of Missouri and the University of Florida charge tu ition entirely by credit hours. While 85 percent of students take 16 or fewer hours each semester, students double major ing or working toward degrees in art, chemical engineering, music and physical education cannot graduate in four years without taking 18 hours for at least one semester. Some students and professors ♦ BRACKETING, SEE PAGE 4 ♦ READ MORE ABOUT TUITION CHANGES. PAGE 4 PHOTO BY COREY GARRIOTT/THE GAMECOCK The Russell House not only will change Its entire lineup of restaurants but has a women’s bathroom on the first floor, new plumbing, a credit union, access to the bookstore from within and this new indoor staircase. bussed House makeover to finish before llasses begin utudent union building will be unrecognizable ■ WES WOLFE HiiAMGCOCK PA summer’s worth of renova ons will wrap up before classes °gin on Aug. 21, said Carolina 'ining Director Michael heffres, when dining will offi ’ Jy reopen the entire Russell >use. Freshmen who move in ug. 16 can even eat at several * tores in the Russell House that vill open early. The first floor has been wiped ut and the old Grand Market Place is completely gone. In its place, brick pillars used in streetscaping projects around USC have been erected to reconnect the eatery to the university, accord ing to Scheffres. The new floor will offer several self-contained restaurants, in cluding a grill, an open-air bakery and a vegetarian section that will provide made-to-order salads. An exhibition-style cooking area, “Fire & Ice,” will provide stir fry and sautes made right in front of the customer. Additionally, the first floor will feature a women’s bathroom. The inclusion of the bathroom answers one of the major complaints by fe male students about the GMP area. The first floor of the Russell House already offered Italian eatery Pandini’s, juice shop Zia, Cinnabon and Sub Connection. The second floor of the Russell House features a new indoor stair case that deposits students in an open dining area much different from the old, partitioned layout. By demolishing the Golden Spur and the Blue Room, 150 more seats have been added. A “new look” Chick-fil-A, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut will be joined by newcomers Einstein Bagels, Burger King Express, another Jazzman’s Cafe and Mein Bowl. For those dreary mornings, Einstein Bagels cooks fresh bagels from dough, while Jazzman’s will offer salads and sandwiches in the afternoons. Jazzman’s will also provide several soft leather chairs and couches. As for Mein Bowl’s menu, it features exhibition-style Asian food with four meal selec tions daily. At the far end of the second floor is a private conference room that student organizations can rent out for lunch or dinner meetings. Groups can rent the room at the Russell House information desk. What’s more, the condiments and ice will reach the customer in unique ways, tt two sides of the second floor Aning area, taps will smoothly deliver ketchup, mus tard, or mayonnaise using carbon dioxiA pressure. And the ice will never run out again — a central ice hopper, running on an auto mated system, will send ice though a series of pipes to each soft drink fountain. According to Scheffres, the changes to the Russell House din ing area were decided by “seeing what is popular and what students want, while being able to be worked into a meal plan.” Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com [index I Crossword_ B9 I ClassifiedsCIO I Horoscopes_ B9 Editorial _ All ftnline Poll All ■ Comics B9 Weather BD High 88 High 87 Low 70 Low 70 In this issue ♦ NEWS Check out while you missed while you were on vacation with summer briefs. Page A9 ♦ VIEWPOINTS Corey Hutchins warns students about putting on their USC car stickers. Page All ♦ THE MIX Welcome Week Fest conceit offers students 12 bands in one day. Page B1 ♦ SPORTS Track finishes off a fantastic summer, while the fall sports are ready to begin the year. Page Cl -) Mars drops by Earth this month BY GABRIELLE SINCLAIR TH K BAM ECOCK Tonight, stargazers will have an oppor tunity to view Mars shared only with the likes of our Neanderthal predecessors. The red planet vui De me closest to uartn than it has been * recorded history on Aug. 27, and USC’s <>-year-old observatory on Greene Stree^fU be open tonight from 11 to midnight,r lucky students on campus to check out f*s astronomic event. Exact for the amount of time since Mars aiv^arth came this close in their cy cles ardhd the sun are uncertain, but es timate range from 63,000 to 65,000 years, said1111 Overcash, professor of astronomy •If ;S clear, we should be able to see the (Id storms on Mars and the polar ice caps,” Overcash. The telescope uses a 700X ' MARS, SEE P^GE 5 l PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK USC’s observatory will have special viewing sessions when Mars approaches.