Budget forces layoffs at S.C. State: Some trustees concerned by lagging enrollment - Diane Knich, The Post and Courier

South Carolina State University has laid off 12 employees, and officials are monitoring low student enrollment numbers to safeguard the budget in lean financial times. The school's Board of Trustees held a special meeting Wednesday to discuss a reduction-in-force plan and legal issues surrounding it; the 2009-10 budget; and fall enrollment, which currently stands about 20 percent short of projections. Board chairman Lumus Byrd said the meeting was "driven by fiduciary and stewardship responsibilities." S.C. State President George Cooper announced last week that 12 employees would be laid off effective Friday. He would not say Wednesday which employees he let go or the departments in which they worked.