SwampFox

We don't want more of this in South Carolina? Really? Are you sure?

Submitted by: John Warner on Oct 06, 2010 at 12:52 am Tagged with: Higher Education Source: Swamp Fox

The image above is of the Carroll A. Campbell Jr. Graduate Engineering Center at the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research. CU-ICAR's mission is bold and challenging: to be the world's premier automotive and motor sports education and research facility. CU-ICAR has dared us to believe that we can be among the world's best in leading a global mega-trend that will transform a massive industry like mobility. Nothing is more emblematic of the inflection point South Carolina reached a few years ago in striving for a more educated and prosperous future than CU-ICAR.

CU-ICAR is not just about the university. It is an advanced-technology research campus where academia, industry and government organizations engage in synergistic collaboration. It's about established industry leaders like Michelin Americas Research Company and the BMW Manufacturing Corporation. It's about emerging game changing business ventures like Proterra and CT&T. With more than $200 million in commitments, CU-ICAR represents the ultimate public/private partnership, directly fueling a knowledge base critical to the mobility.

On September 30, 2010, the South Carolina Budget Control Board placed a moratorium on all new construction by all colleges and universities that did not meet an arbitrary tuition increase target they set. The Budget and Control Board said, in effect, that South Carolina doesn't want to make investments in bold visions for how the state's citizens can be leaders in major global market opportunities.

Really? Are you sure?

South Carolina has a long history of self-inflicted wounds. It's time to be very concerned we're at it again.