South Carolina wants audits of board spending at research universities
COLUMBIA — Audits have been ordered for South Carolina’s three research universities after revelations that their trustees spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on luxury hotels, expensive dinners and travel to football games.
The South Carolina’s Commission on Higher Education’s director, Gary Glenn, said the state inspector general was being asked Friday to review “alleged excessive spending” by the boards overseeing Clemson, the University of South Carolina and the Medical University of South Carolina.
The commission voted unanimously Thursday to request the audits after a report by The Post and Courier of Charleston that Medical University of South Carolina board members were reimbursed $560,000 over five years for spending on luxury hotels, dining and alcohol while in Charleston for meetings.
While the article focused on Medical University of South Carolina’s board, the newspaper reported finding that Clemson’s governing board spent more – $750,000 since 2011 – and that trustees of University of South Carolina, the state’s largest university, spent less than $400,000 in that time frame. Clemson and USC boards each spent more than $100,000 on football travel.
Read more: http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/metro/2016-09-02/south-carolina-wants-audits-board-spending-research-universities?v=1472860509