COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - The group that awards accreditation the University of South Carolina has determined Gov. Henry McMaster had undue influence on last year’s search for a new president.
The determination by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools means the university will have to submit a report and be visited by a special committee from the accreditation group, The State newspaper reported.
The group has already told the university it won’t receive any additional punishment from the president search. Universities that lose accreditation cannot get financial aid from the government, crippling the institution.
The organization opened an investigation into the university after the tumultuous hiring of new president Bob Caslen, a retired Army general who was the superintendent of West Point for five years.
Caslen was named one of four finalists for the job, but University of South Carolina trustees in April voted unanimously to reopen the search. Gov. Henry McMaster then asked board members to not continue to search and vote for Caslen.
“The institution has not yet demonstrated that its governing board protects the institution from undue influence by external persons or bodies,” the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools wrote in a letter to the university.
A spokesman for the governor pointed out McMaster is by law a ex-officio trustee, complicating his political influence.
“”o suggest that he can’t make phone calls to fellow board members about such an important decision is ludicrous. This obsession over a clearly legitimate decision raises more questions about inappropriate outside influence by SACS than it does about this enormously successful South Carolina institution,” McMaster spokesman Brian Symmes tod the newspaper.
The University of South Carolina had no comment on the latest letter from its accreditation organization, instead pointing to a statement the school made in December.
In that statement, the university said it hired a consultant to help trustees better understand their role. Trustees also are undergoing training to improve transparency, clarify the roles of the board and its members and have better orientation and yearly education programs.
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