The governing board of the state Commission on Higher Education on Thursday, June 6, 2024, named Jeff Perez, president of South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities, as its next executive director. (Provided by Commission on Higher Education)
COLUMBIA — The president of a non-profit that advocates for South Carolina’s private colleges will take the helm of the state’s higher education agency.
The governing board of the state Commission on Higher Education on Thursday named Jeff Perez, president of South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities, as its next executive director.
“Dr. Perez brings a great deal of experience in higher education from the public and private sectors, and a strong understanding and knowledge of the General Assembly,” Wes Hayes, the commission’s chairman, said in a statement. “He brings a great energy to this position and is a leader who will take the CHE to the next level.”
In his current position, Perez represents 21 colleges across the state with a joint enrollment of about 36,000 students. In his new role as head of the higher education agency, his responsibilities will newly encompass 17 public colleges, including the University of South Carolina’s satellite campuses, with 112,000 total students.
Perez has worked in higher education for 25 years — 16 of those in South Carolina. He previously served as vice president for university relations at Winthrop University and vice president for external affairs at The Citadel.
Perez called the appointment a “tremendous opportunity” to lead an agency that has “such a huge impact on the future of our state.”
He steps to the helm at a turbulent time for the commission.
The agency allowed $152 million in unspent state lottery profits intended for college scholarships to pile up over six years, a December 2023 report from state Inspector General Brian Lamkin found. Fallout from the report led to the resignation of former director Rusty Monhollon, who had served in the role since 2019, and the installation of a series of interim directors until Perez takes over.
Report: More than $150M intended for SC college scholarships unspent
Voters approved the lottery in 2000 as a way to fund college scholarships and make a degree affordable for South Carolina students, who can put it toward costs at the private or public college of their choice.
While the money sat untouched, no eligible student was denied scholarship funding. The error was in predicting how much was needed to fully cover the state’s three largest scholarship programs. The agency has since switched up its funding formula to avoid future missteps.
Perez called the report “strong medicine” but said Acting Director Greg Little and the rest of the staff have made great strides in addressing its recommendations and preparing the agency to move forward.
State legislators are still debating how to spend the excess funding.
Both the House and Senate want to finance internship programs at Clemson University and the University of South Carolina; training equipment for high-demand job programs at the state’s technical colleges; school buses and learning materials for the state’s K-12 school system; and grant money to be spread among eight colleges in the state with a high percentage of low-income, Pell Grant recipients.
K-12, tech schools, hospitals could reap benefit of $152M surplus lottery goof
Where they disagree is on the amounts.
The Senate also wants to invest in a pair of pilot programs — one for developmentally disabled students seeking to attend a state technical school and one offering bonuses to certain teachers working in the state’s “highest-need” schools.
The House, on the other hand would rather see money go to hospitals employing medical school students as residents. That proposal is a match for federal Medicaid to pass more dollars to hospitals to increase the number of residency training slots and incentivize those residents to remain in South Carolina once they complete their program.
Finally, Gov. Henry McMaster proposed a study of South Carolina’s two- and four-year public colleges to assess whether the state should consolidate some of its colleges or whether there’s too much overlap in certain degree programs and campuses.
House budget writers agreed, setting aside $3 million to fund it. The Senate did not.
Legislators will return to the Statehouse later this month to try to work out the funding differences.
The commission has yet to set a start date for Perez. But Little is set to depart the agency next month to take over for retiring Midlands Tech President Ron Rhames on July 1.
Legislators will decide Perez’s salary. Little’s salary as the agency’s director is $192,408.
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