TIGERVILLE, SC (courtesy ngu.edu) — It’s official: Dr. Gene C. Fant, Jr., has wrapped up his first year as president at North Greenville University!

Wondering what NGU’s been up to since he arrived? Here are the highlights.

125th Anniversary Celebration and Presidential Inauguration – Fant took office on June 1, 2017, just as the 125th Anniversary Celebration at NGU was beginning, which included a slew of special events that culminated in his official inauguration on April 13, 2018. Among the nearly 1,000 attendees at the inauguration were Fant’s relatives and friends, NGU family, and delegates from more than 22 fellow universities.

Unit G Renovation – Last fall, NGU’s Campus Enhancements team did a total remodel of Unit G, a residence hall for male students that now boasts new electrical, heating and air, flooring, LED lighting, roofing, furniture, and more. NGU hopes this will be the first of many residence hall remodels as funding becomes available.

Dillard Field – Ashmore Park is underway, a project that will add a new 700-seat athletic stadium, residential options, and recreational spaces to NGU’s Tigerville campus. Phase one included a complete reworking of the newly named Dillard Field, where NGU hosted its first National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II regional baseball tournament in May.

Martin Timothy Brashier Graduate Scholars Program – Made possible by a gift from the T. Walter Brashier family, Fant has introduced the Martin Timothy Brashier Graduate Scholars Program to provide scholarships to residents of Upstate South Carolina and NGU alumni who are enrolled in one of NGU’s online undergraduate or graduate programs.

Mary Black School of Nursing Partnership – Through a new partnership with the Mary Black School of Nursing at the University of South Carolina Upstate, NGU biology majors can now earn a dual degree in nursing within just five years. NGU’s new biology and nursing degree is intended to meet the growing demand for nurses in the state.

Campus Safety – Fant has also worked to improve campus safety at NGU by adding additional lighting throughout campus, better vehicles and training for Campus Security officers, and new safety measures such as Nightlock devices for faculty and staff to use during emergency situations.

Red Carpet Gala – The NGU family gathered last October at the Poinsett Club in downtown Greenville, SC, for a Red Carpet Gala to celebrate the community that has nurtured the institution for the past several decades. At the event, the university recognized donors who have shown exemplary service, commitment, and a lifetime of giving to NGU.

Chick-fil-A Restaurant – Under Fant’s leadership, NGU has opened a brand new Chick-fil-A at its Tigerville campus. The restaurant officially opened on Aug. 15, 2018 — just in time for the start of the 2018-19 academic year.

COLUMBIA, SC (courtesy thestate.com) — On the job for just 93 days as of Friday, Roslyn Artis is not sitting still.

The new president of Benedict College has been moving fast to make changes at the historically black college in downtown Columbia, and wants to see a bigger change in the next school year.

Artis says she plans to cap enrollment at Benedict at 2,000 students next fall. She also wants to slash the school’s $29,000-a-year tuition in a bid to make the 147-year-old school more attractive to new students.

The 47-year-old Artis sees the changes as part of a new era of cost cutting at Benedict in hopes of stabilizing the school’s financial situation.

“The board has been forthright about some of the challenges Benedict is facing,” Artis said in an exclusive interview Friday with The State. “Enrollment has fluctuated over time, and since we’re largely enrollment driven (in terms of revenue), that creates a bit of a problem. So when coming here, my first task was really to stabilize our financial picture, to be quite frank.”

In recent years, Benedict has dropped from a high of more than 3,000 students in 2011 to a little more than 2,000 today. In the same span of time, Benedict’s reported incoming revenue has fallen from $81 million in 2012 to $71.8 million at the end of 2015, according to IRS filings.

“The last chapter in Benedict’s book saw a president who was visionary and interested in expansion,” Artis said of her predecessor, David Swinton, Benedict’s president for 23 years. Swinton’s time in charge saw an increase in enrollment, new construction and expansion beyond the school’s Harden Street campus.

But that growth came at the cost of stretching the college’s finances.

“I’m interested in transitioning us from what was to what must be, frankly in order to remain solvent,” Artis said.

No more open enrollment

Changes in enrollment and tuition are meant to make Benedict both more attractive to incoming students, but also “create a sense of urgency” for those considering Benedict, Artis said.

“We have historically been known as an open enrollment institution, which brings with it a certain negative connotation. It does not speak to opportunity, which it was really intended to speak to, but it just means, ‘Oh, I’ll just go there.’ That’s not really how this works.

“If you want to choose Benedict, you should probably do that early, because we will close the door at a certain point,” she said.

Likewise, the lower tuition – which has yet to be set – is meant to make the school more competitive in the education marketplace. Today’s high price tag might discourage some students from even considering Benedict, while scholarships, discounts and subsidies mean the college only sees 41 cents of each dollar nominally owed to the school.

The cost also doesn’t match the community that Benedict serves. Sixty-four percent are first-generation college students, and 85 percent receive federal Pell grants.

“That doesn’t get these kids there,” Artis said. “They are borrowing money. We do not want those kids to leave here with a debt load that is oppressive. It’s not giving them a fair shot when they start out in the world if they have oppressive debt loads.”

‘I am going to be aggressive’

Artis said she is a big believer in the value of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) like Benedict. Growing up as a coal miner’s daughter in an almost all-white corner of West Virginia, Artis says she was “racially confused” before she attended historically black West Virginia State, becoming the first in her family to go to college in the process.

She first went to law school, then decided on a career in education after teaching a legal research class. At the end of the course, “my student left me a note saying, ‘You changed my life,’” she said.

She earned her doctorate from Vanderbilt University and went on to serve as president of Florida Memorial College, an HBC in Miami, for four years until this past summer.

“Amongst her peers, Dr. Artis is a star,” said Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin, who sits on Benedict’s board of trustees. “She’s an educator, a lawyer and an expert in higher education finance, but her first priority is the students.”

J.T. McLawhorn, president of Columbia’s Urban League, was impressed with Artis after she gave a talk at his church.

“Dr. Artis has a passion for education, and she’s able to connect with the underserved as a first-generation college graduate,” McLawhorn said.

Part of Artis’s appeal to the board was her reputation as a fundraiser. At Florida Memorial, unrestricted gifts rose by 20 percent on her watch, and restricted gifts jumped 38 percent.

In comparison, Benedict received $12 million in outside contributions in 2015. Of that, Artis said only $2 million was gifted by donors, half by Benedict alumni and another $500,000 from Benedict-affiliated churches.

“We have not had what you would want to see from our corporate foundations, (or) from a private foundation standpoint,” Artis said. “We are a great bang for our buck. $1 million here is a significant, transformative gift when you think about the kind of kids we’re educating and the content of our budget.”

Artis points to a study that shows Benedict and its students had a $130 million impact on the surrounding community in 2014.

“If I’m doing business to the tune of $130 million, I ought to be getting something back from those businesses that we patronize and support,” she says. “So I am going to be aggressive and engaged with our business community.”

‘There’s a little fear of the unknown’

As part of her efforts to cut costs, Artis already has put some Benedict-owned off-campus housing properties – some as far away as St. Andrews – up for sale to consolidate Benedict’s students on campus.

The president says Benedict’s current faculty size – 116 full-time, 46 part-time – is the right fit for the newly capped class size. Her next step, she said, is to “update classroom technology and wireless infrastructure” to teach a more high-tech generation – as long as the faculty can keep up.

“There’s a little fear of the unknown, and that’s fine,” she said. “If you’ve been teaching one way for 25 years, you’re going to want to keep doing that.”

She has the support of her bosses to make changes. Benjamin says the board wants Artis to do a “full, top to bottom assessment” of the school.

“We are beginning a new chapter in the history of Benedict College. We are focusing very specifically on our core population and our core mission,” Artis said. “We are hopeful our business community will embrace our students.”

“And,” she added. “Send checks.”

ANDERSON, SC (courtesy andersonuniversity.edu) — Anderson University has received a grant of $200,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency to aid in the further development of the Rocky River Nature Park adjacent to campus. The funds will be used to clean up an industrial site (known as the Seabrook facility), which abuts the Rocky River wetlands.

The University has partnered with the Rocky River Conservancy, Upstate Forever and others in the development of the natural wetlands into a nature park and environmental education facility for the community. Whatever funds from the grant that are not needed for the cleanup of the Seabrook facility will be used for community outreach and education regarding the Rocky River.

“EPA is committed to working with communities to redevelop Brownfields sites which have plagued their neighborhoods. EPA’s Assessment and Cleanup grants target communities that are economically disadvantaged and include places where environmental cleanup and new jobs are most needed,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “These grants leverage considerable infrastructure and other investments, improving local economies and creating an environment where jobs can grow. I am very pleased the President’s budget recognizes the importance of these grants by providing continued funding for this important program.”

The conservancy previously received an additional grant to develop a boardwalk through part of the wetlands for public use. That project is underway.