Dive Brief:

• South Carolina state legislative leaders are moving to replace the board of trustees at financially troubled South Carolina State University.
• South Carolina State, the state’s only historically black public college, is on probation with its accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, because of financial and governance issues, and is up for a review in June.
• The proposed state legislation would have the governor and legislative leaders appoint a temporary five-member board to replace the current trustees, the State reported.

Dive Insight:

One immediate benefit of replacing the board would be buying more time with the accrediting commission. A possible snag, however: The commission would have to approve any changes to the university’s leadership, and the commission requires its schools to operate without undue political influence. Under the state Senate's version of the bill, the new temporary board would make the decision on whether the university’s president, Thomas Elzey, should stay or go. Also under the proposed legislation, the new appointed trustees for the university would need experience in finance, higher education administration, or public administration. New trustees would be elected in 2018. The head of the state Senate Finance Committee says he lost faith in the university’s board after the school received a $1.5 million payment from the state, then saw its debt to vendors increase to $11 million from $1 million.