University's Clyburn Center to be audited

The state legislative Audit Council voted unanimously Wednesday to audit what has become of millions of dollars intended for the James E. Clyburn Transportation Center at S.C. State University.

Several state legislators requested the audit after The (Charleston) Post and Courier reported finance officials at the school cannot account for millions in state and federal money intended for the center.

South Carolina State's trustees voted in June to have an outside auditor work with the university's in-house auditor to provide a summary of how much money the Transportation Center has received and where that money has been spent.

South Carolina State president George Cooper pledged Wednesday not to impede the work of state auditors. "S.C. State is completely committed to transparency and accountability," Cooper said. "During this process, I will ensure that the university fully cooperates with the mandates that the council sets forth."

U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., a graduate of the university and the third-ranking Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, has expressed frustration with the lack of progress on the center bearing his name.

Twelve years after the center was launched, its site sits vacant. Meanwhile, the Post and Courier reported, $50 million has been directed to the center, and school officials have not been able to account for millions of federal dollars set aside for transportation programs.

Thomas Bardin, director of the Legislative Audit Council, said the council will conduct its own review of the center. However, it could make use of information gleaned from the audit ordered by S.C. State's board. There is no timeline for when the state audit will be completed, Bardin said.

"We want to see what the university's going to do," he said, adding he plans to call S.C. State Board chairman Jonathan Pinson today to learn how the university plans to proceed.

Both audits will be paid for by the state taxpayers; S.C. State is a public university and the Legislative Audit Council is a state agency.

Bardin said the cost of the Audit Council's audit will depend on how much independent work is needed.

"It's hard to say right now," he said. "We need to see what documents they have. Are they there, easy to get? Is it all there? Will we have to go back into the archives?"

The audits are only the latest challenge for S.C. State, which has been dogged by infighting on its board of trustees, financial shortfalls and enrollment drops. Those problems contributed to the board's decision last month not to renew Cooper's contract as president. However, S.C. State's board subsequently reversed that decision, after new members joined its board, and voted to renew Cooper's contract.