USC President Adding Administrative Positions
University of South Carolina president Harris Pastides is adding new administrative positions at the same time he is complaining to lawmakers that the school is facing a funding crisis, sources tell FITS.
Some of these positions are said to pay out over $300,000 a year to the bureaucrats lucky enough to land them.
Details of Pastides’ reported staffing moves were obtained by FITS as we investigated the hiring of a left-wing opinion writer by the school – for $6,000 a month.
Specifically, Pastides has created the postion of “Special Assistant to the President,” which is currently manned by Cantey Heath.
Sources say Heath is the University employee who first advocated the controversial hiring of Brad Warthen, former editorial page editor at La Socialista (a.k.a. The State newspaper).
Pastides has also created the positions of VP of Planning and VP of Research and Graduate Education – which will be staffed with external hires at the same time the school is searching for a new VP of advancement and a new Provost.
The total cost of these four administrative positions? An estimated $1.3 million annually.
Frankly, it’s amazing that USC can afford to make such costly administrative hires given the position it is currently putting its faculty in and the sacrifices it is having to make with regard to student scholarships.
Yet in spite of that disconnect, the top two candidates for the VP of administration position are interviewing publicly next week, while public interviews for the VP of research and graduate education will take place next month.
The search for a new provost is currently underway, with interviews scheduled to begin in the fall.
Pastides’ new VP of Planning was hired last August – and currently makes $254,000 a year. No recent salary information for his new “Special Assistant” was available, although Heath made $134,000 a year in his previous position in the University Advancement office.
University advancement, you’ll recall, was the office that used taxpayer resources to attack Gov. Mark Sanford and recruit protesters to a pro-government rally earlier this month.
Meanwhile, USC’s interim VP’s of research and advancement make $202,000 and $166,000 a year, respectively.
Each of these hires is at the sole discretion of Pastides, who along with Clemson president James Barker has been dealing with scorching criticism for his financial management during this “budget crisis.”
Based on state salary information, 224 USC employees making $50,000 received raises of 10% or more last year.
Also, some of these exorbitant state salary totals are supplemented by USC education foundation dollars, although sources tell FITS that this fund has dropped from $250 million to $180 million as the economy has cooled and contracted endowment giving.
Comments
By USC Grad on April 22nd, 2009 at 9:17 am
Considering the USC Board is stacked with big spending Democrats, why is this a surprise? A better story would be a move to replace entire the board of trustees over the next couple of board elections.
By baker on April 22nd, 2009 at 9:17 am
Brad Warthen is “left-wing”?
Yeah, like all liberals, he supported the Iraq war. And he endorsed that noted left-winger John McCain for President.
In all seriousness, I guess anyone who thinks SCRG is sketchy and that PPIC (or whatever it is now) is badly flawed shall now be dubbed a “left-winger.”
By fitsnews on April 22nd, 2009 at 9:28 am
B.M.-
Why are you so fixated on school choice as the perceived M.O. for everything we write. Get over it … please.
You’re starting to sound like those rabid educrats who press the “Howie Rich” button when they can’t think of anything intelligent to say.
The fact is Warthen never met a tax increase he didn’t like – locally, statewide or federally.
He was always fawning over bigger budgets for every agency under the sun and chose to use his platform as a means of perpetuating the status quo’s failure in virtually every aspect of state g’ment rather than exposing it for what it is – costly, collosal failure.
Sure, he called for g’ment restructuring way back in the day and has consistently supported that, but that’s frankly the only redeeming quality the man has.
-FITS
By BC on April 22nd, 2009 at 10:26 am
What continues to amaze me over this entire situation is the disparity in pay between administrators and staff. Sadly, many of these employees are often informed that there are no funds for pay increases (not including cost of living adjustments/COLAs) because of a tight budget (this is before the current crisis.) While now mahy of you see that the reality is the budget was tight because some guy or gal at the top has been stuffing their pockets with it. This is very discouraging and a slap in the face of the hundreds of thousands of staff (not including faculty) that work hard everyday at campuses across the state. The real questions should be what can be done to better align compensation within the University system?
To add injury to insult many of those employees affected by reductions-in-force (layoffs) will read this at some point. There should be mechanisms in place to reward and encourage performance on the job without someone at the top sticking his/her hand in the register to increase their already inflated six figure salaries (with supplments in the thousands of dollars.)
By franksboy on April 22nd, 2009 at 10:50 am
Hey BC – thanks for entering this very clear discriminatory world with me. I don’t know as many people at USC as I do at Clemson but, it is clear that they have the some “Birds of the same Feather” over there. It’s a travesty of justice, a slap in the face to the employees of these Universities, a showing of true greed and contempt for the employees who do not have the political clout to help the Presidents or have a position to cover their rears in all of these continuing dastardly decisions.
As I’ve stated and it is well known, Jim Barker has shown time and time again that his only agenda is his own agenda. Both from fairness in compensation to utter discregard for the ugly acts of sexual harassment, emotional battering, bullying of defenseless employees by Dept. Heads and Asst’s (educated – w/ Clemson PhD) are prime examples of complete people idiots, evil and slimy folks exist and thrive in the disguise of educated teachers and leaders.
All of this is covered by the likes of Cathy Sams, a PR (better named Barker’s Bi__h) who is there for the sole purpose of controlling the media and distorting or covering the facts.
Both Universities have some serious financial mismangement, some serious people skill flaws and a real propensity to want to create and empire ahead of results by vision and work.
By baker on April 22nd, 2009 at 11:38 am
I guess you’re right, Will. How would one ever get the idea from this blog that your stance on education is a central theme in your opinions on politicians or political writers?
By UpYers on April 22nd, 2009 at 2:40 pm
The last thing we need is more administrators. Before you know it USC will have as many overpaid butt-wipers as SCSU. And THAT is a lot of butt-wipers…
By Clemson2009 on April 22nd, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Ohh just blame it on Clemson — I’m sure its our fault somehow.
By franksboy on April 22nd, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Clem2009
Not Clemon’s fault – But it is (and you’re included if you are an Administrator at Clemson),much less than honorably, led by the Clemson University Administration.
By USC palm iranian on April 22nd, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Want to see how prevalent this is? Just check out the ,ost prominent source nationally for higher education trends:
The Chronicle of Higher Education
From the issue dated April 24, 2009
STICKER SHOCK
Support-Staff Jobs Double in 20 Years, Outpacing Enrollment
By Correction on April 29th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
The VP for Research & Graduate Education is not a new position. It’s simply renaming the position of VP for Research & Health Sciences (which Pastides held prior to being named President).