Friday, Nov. 13, 2009

Clemson University travel costs top state agencies

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A travel report released Friday shows South Carolina's research universities spent the most on trips among 110 state agencies, but college officials note the amounts include private funds and grants.

Overall, state agencies spent $62 million on travel in the fiscal year that ended June 30, or $18 million less than a year earlier, as state budget cuts amid the recession prompted officials to reduce travel. The latest tally was in line with agencies' spending five years ago. The report ranks agencies by total spending, and lists the top 25 travelers in each.

Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom said his office's annual report is "an important tool for greater government transparency, letting taxpayers view details about how their money is being used, which agencies spend the most on travel and who their top travelers are."

However, the report includes all funding sources, and does not break them down, so it's unclear how much of it came out of taxpayers' pockets.

Clemson University continued to top the travel list - as it has since colleges were first added to it for 2004-05 - spending $9.8 million, nearly 70 percent of it outside South Carolina. That's down from $13.7 million in 2007-08, and $14.2 million in 2006-07.

"We did reduce travel but didn't want to bring everything to a grinding halt if we could fund travel through grants or private funding," said Clemson spokeswoman Cathy Sims, who could not immediately provide a breakdown. "We do have continuing expenses related to running a major research enterprise and Division I athletics."

That Clemson tops the list is not surprising, she said, considering the land grant school has extension operations in every county, five agricultural research centers and several economic research centers across the state.

Three of Clemson's top five travelers are coaches, whose expenses are covered by athletics revenue, Sims said.

The other three include a research center director, chairwoman of the engineering department, and a chemistry professor, whose travels where funded primarily through grants and the school's foundation, said spokesman John Gouch.

The University of South Carolina came in second for travel costs, spending $8.9 million, 72 percent of it outside the state. That's down from $11.5 million in 2007-08. School officials there also could not immediately provide a breakdown of the funding.

The tally does not include the school's satellite campuses, which are listed separately, with USC-Upstate ranking first among those and 20th overall.

The university's top traveler spent $55,000 on trips, all out of state. The physicist travels to Geneva to do particle accelerator research, funded completely by U.S. Department of Energy grants. The school's No. 2 traveler, at $36,000, travels on private industry funds for research in Equatorial Guinea, said USC spokeswoman Margaret Lamb.

The Medical University of South Carolina ranked third on the report at $5.1 million, followed by the Department of Health and Environmental Control at $4.6 million, and the College of Charleston at $3.4 million.