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Student forum addresses tuition, new hospital  by Cindy Abole Public Relations Tuition and financial issues, updates on the new hospital, campus relocations of student facilities and hurricane safety were topics discussed at the semester’s first student town hall meeting on Sept. 15. Working in tandem, MUSC President Ray Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D., Provost John Raymond, M.D., and Associate Provost for Educational Programs and acting Dean of Student Life Valerie West, Ed.D., were on hand to discuss issues and answer questions with students from each of the six colleges in the hour-long gathering. Headlining the session was Raymond's review of student tuition and the university’s budget. His PowerPoint presentation outlined the university’s financial challenges, which stem primarily from diminishing state appropriations during the last four years, and from decreased hospital revenues precipitated by the passage of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. The institution used to receive more than $100 million in state appropriations as an academic enterprise. Statewide cutbacks and a declining national economy have reduced academic support by more than $25 million. Although the hospital and university have gained steadily in their overall revenue streams, a gap of almost $15 million in academic funding exists for 2003 that needs to be made up in other areas.  Last month, the MUSC Board of Trustees approved a 10 percent mid-year tuition increase which will take effect Jan. 1. The academic funding gap will be narrowed by a combination of tuition increases, voluntary transfers from the Medical University Hospital Authority and the University Medical Associates, increased efficiencies in the clinical enterprise, and by attrition in the work force. “Tuition increases can not cover the state cuts alone,” Greenberg said. “For example, our physician practice plan and the hospital have been helpful by voluntarily transferring support to benefit the academic enterprise.” Greenberg provided updates on the hospital replacement project. He explained the need to replace the main teaching hospital, built in 1955. New hospital plans include a multiple-phased replacement plan through the next 20 years.  Set to begin construction in spring 2004, Phase 1 will provide a 150-bed patient tower and an outpatient/ technology facility along Courtenay Street. Beginning early next year, pricing from the construction management firm will confirm the amount needed to borrow for the project. This will be followed by  Housing and Urban Development (HUD) approval to insure bonds in the spring. Groundbreaking could take place by the middle of next year.  The construction will displace several student facilities including offices and programs housed in the Alumni Memorial House wings of the Harper Student Center beginning in March. West hasdiscussed the process of the renovation schedule and displacements with Student Government Association leaders for several months. The Center for Academic Excellence and Clinical Evaluation Unit/Doctoring Curriculumand classrooms  will temporarily move to McClennan-Banks and Charleston Memorial Hospital. Student Health and the Counseling and Psychological Services will move permanently to 30 Bee Street. The MUSC Gives Back and International Programs offices will be located with the current Student Programs Office with the new combination of offices using additional space in the current Student Lounge. The weight room and studios will be incorporated into the Wellness Center. In the meantime, the Office of Diversity and Financial Aid/Student Accounting will remain in their respective locations. Matthews MUSC Bookstore will move temporarily to the bank building at  the corner of Cannon and Courtenay streets. West assured students that the Wellness Center will remain intact and functioning and is not being demolished.  The Library/Administration Building will undergo changes to make it an academic and  student-focused site. Along with the library, the building will house additional classrooms, meeting and learning spaces for student use.  “We hope these changes will encourage more interdisciplinary interaction among students from all of the colleges,” West said.  Although construction in these areas will continue for the next few years, West reassured students that  every effort will be made to accommodate and assist students in their needs. West will  provide regular updates and related changes through MUSC’s Web site and other communications to keep students informed. A student advisory committee has also been formed to assist in the transitions. West reminded students of the university’s weather emergency plan.  During weather emergencies, information will be posted for students through several resources including broadcast messages, the red alert button on the MUSC homepage, local media reports and MUSC’s 24-hour information line, 792-MUSC. During an emergency, students should make the necessary arrangements to evacuate the area when directed by authorities.  Students without transportation or who cannot physically evacuate should  notify their dean’s office. They will be contacted and asked to report to room 100 in the Library/Administrative Building for transportation to a nearby designated shelter. Following official clearance, the university will provide transportation for the students to return back to campus. West also reminded students to create their own personal evacuation plan and checklist of necessary items needed to prepare for an oncoming storm or emergency. Editor's note: The following Q and A session was led by Dr. Greenberg with commentary by Drs. West and Raymond). How can the campus afford to build buildings when we have such a tight financial situation with state appropriations and support? No state dollars are being used to fund any of the current construction. For the hospital, patient revenue generates the funds. Our hope is that clinical services will be available within the first phase of the 150-bed hospital. Realistically, MUSC operates with 650 beds, but when you remove beds for services in psychiatry, pediatrics, OB/GYN, we only have 350 beds  for medical/surgical patients. Most of our capacity problems involve accommodating the demand for these beds.  Other campus construction includes the new Children’s Research Institute. We borrowed money, via university bonds for funding, in addition to one third private fund-raising for costs. Part of how an institution pays for this type of construction is through indirect funds from research grants. The grants include a facility charge for the construction and operation of a building. For the new College of Health Professions offices, plans are in place to begin renovation of the old Charleston High School as their new home. This project is possible through the CHP's budget. Overall, there’s a mix of different campus projects at this time. In the four years of my presidency, there has only been one bond bill from the state to authorize money to help fund 1/6 the cost of the new College of Dental Medicine Building. We’ve waited three years to have another bond bill. We’ve raised a third of the money for the building through philanthropy.  With all of this construction, how does that affect parking on campus? How about teaming with CARTA? The renovation of the old Charleston High School project will create 750 new spaces for parking. We are currently in discussions with Charleston County to purchase the county parking garage near Charleston Memorial Hospital, adding another 100  spaces. Parking will also be available at the new hospital site and at a site where Meducare is located. Parking construction is financed through parking revenues. Parking is certainly an issue that concerns all of us. We’re discovering that more students each semester are commuting from off the peninsula and need parking. We need to discover ways to car pool or shuttle people across the river, specifically from a designated site.  Trying to get people onto campus in a more efficient way is an important part of what we’re working with to get federal traffic dollars to improve interchanges, particularly at the Crosstown. The future of CARTA is currently uncertain. The Supreme Court is being asked to review its decision denying the legality of the referendum approving Charleston County’s half-cent sales tax increase. Nevertheless, the three downtown state colleges (MUSC, College of Charleston and The Citadel) are working together as  a group to look at infrastructure issues and propose suggestions to CARTA, about a coordinated  shuttle service.  Can you explain the reasons for tuition increase and why it affects MUSC students harder than students from other institutions? Cuts that we’ve taken in the last three or four years (about 30 percent) are the same as those at all South Carolina institutions of higher education. Schools with significantly larger student bodies, however can make up more ground with tuition increases. So, when they raise their tuition by 10 percent they can make up for the losses in state funding in a given year. Comparing our student body of 2,200 to USC’s 25,000, there’s no way that tuition increases can make up for the magnitude of losses in state funds on this campus. Given that tuition alone cannot solve the problem here, we've asked the faculty to be more productive. They have responded admirably, as have our dedicated staff. We’re at least a year away from a pickup in the economy raising state  revenues. We’ve taken a 1 percent additional cut in this year’s budget, with more cuts likely to come. I  hope that we'll be able to see an economic turn in about a year, but the reality of today is that it just isn’t there yet.  In the plans for renovation of the Library/Administration Building, where will the President’s Office be located? The President’s office will move temporarily to a building on Cannon Street and eventually into the renovated Colcock Hall, next to St. Luke’s Chapel. To date, little renovation has been done  on this historic property. Currently it houses the campus print shop, archives and offices for the College of Dental Medicine. Through this process, we’ll be able to preserve an architecturally beautiful  building. Most importantly our goal is to make the Library Building as accessible to students as possible. What will be the biggest physical challenge of renovations? Keeping the library and study spaces open for students during the construction phase. Overall, the Library/Administration Building’s infrastructure will be improved, but the construction phase will involve some inconveniences. Are there any plans to provide improvements for Internet/electrical connections for laptop computers in the 24/7 Room and Student Lounge areas?   We’re considering the use of fiberoptic or wireless options and hope to provide a truly state-of-the-art learning environment. What provisions will there be for students to find a quiet place to study beyond the 24/7 room and student lounge during this construction period? Dr. West: New classrooms at the renovated McClennan-Banks space may be available at Charleston Memorial Hospital. It’s a well-protected area with security patrols at night. We’ll look into making it available for students.  Dr. Greenberg: One of the challenges of renovating space is dislocation. We'll have a year and a half of some dislocation but questions like these are good for us. We want to disrupt as few people as possible. Do you anticipate another tuition increase next semester/year? I’ve been here since 1995 and every year we have had a tuition increase. I think the experience of past history would suggest there will be future increases. All of the colleges are concerned about the rising cost of education, as am I. We’re getting to the point where cost will be a limiting factor in terms of  who can afford to attend our school and the amount of debt students take on. Debt level affects  career decisions when students leave here. It’s a tremendous concern to all of us.  There has been previous talk about merging USC’s and MUSC’s medical schools to help cut duplication and costs? What is the status of this? Duplication of the two schools of medicine is probably the most politically sensitive on our two campuses. We also have schools for nursing and pharmacy on both campuses. I can tell you that there have been discussions with leaders at USC to discover ways we can operate more efficiently. Redundancy in the administrative costs of running two separate programs is a big issue. We’re also looking at distance education as a way of not having to offer duplicate courses in different geographic locations. It is a set of very complicated issues that we must work through. The last thing we want to happen is to  decrease the quality of the educational experience.  We have to look at how we spend state dollars more efficiently and effectively.  Changes can be intimidating. But quite frankly, we don’t have the money to run things the way they have been operated historically. It’s a reality that’s going to be challenging, but we need to have these conversations. The interactions we’ve already had with USC President Dr. Andrew Sorenson, and Provost Dr. Jerry Odom,  have been extremely positive. We’ve never had a better climate for talking about cooperation between the campuses.  They’ve cut the Sunday hours in the library which opens from 3 to 11 p.m. Can something be done to provide students with library access and study time on campus?  Dr. Raymond: Probably not in the short term. Dr. Tom Basler, director of libraries and learning resource centers, has done everything he can do to make  his budget neutral. He can’t spend money he doesn’t have, however as we showed you at the beginning, tuition has gone up by $4 million during the last four years. We really are in a tough situation.  The library has frozen salaries, cut back on support staff and reduced journal offerings and have done everything they can to put more offerings online. The 3 p.m. Sunday opening was chosen after conducting a time survey getting student input. The 24/7 room gets very crowded on Sundays. Unfortunately, the library faces a significant budget deficit. Hopefully we won’t curtail the library's hours. That’s why we have a 24/7 room and student lounge. Dr. West has worked hard to accomplish this.  Dr. West: We made provisions for classrooms in the Basic Science Building to be open on Sundays. These are BSB, rooms 302, 402, 435, and 502. We’ve cleared it with Public Safety to allow students into some classrooms for study. We can’t make the library accessible via card access without looking at upgrading anti-theft procedures in library. Although we’ve discussed this subject in the past, security issues seem to be the major stumbling block. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t continue to look for better ways to make the library and its holdings available to its students. We’ll be happy to take any suggestions that you might have on this topic.       Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.