Monday, Sep. 28, 2009

College officials' flights scrutinized

The presidents of the state's three major research universities have used their school's planes more than 500 times since 2004 at a cost of more than $500,000, flight records show.

Gov. Mark Sanford's staff earlier this month asked the three universities to provide copies of flight records showing how they used their planes and any charters. Swati Patel, Sanford's chief legal counsel, said at the time that she wanted to examine the records to have proper context in examining the issue of state officials' plane use.

Sanford's air travel has been the focus of criticism and an ongoing state Ethics Commission investigation. The governor has said he believes any transgressions found would be "technical" in nature and not worthy of impeachment.

Some have questioned whether some of Sanford's flights were for personal or political purposes, a violation of state law that requires flights in state planes to be for state business only.

State Sen. David Thomas, R-Greenville, who is chairing a legislative subcommittee examining the governor's travel expenses, said he also would be interested in looking at the universities' flight records. He said he wants to know if officials can choose flying even if travel by car would be far more economical, absent an emergency.

"We're open to anything that will help us with the administration of state government," he said. "Anything that arises at this point is fair game. I'm glad the governor asked for it."

Ben Fox, Sanford's spokesman, said, "We're very much in the process of taking a look at these records. We believe they will provide further context to how state aircraft have been traditionally used."

The records submitted to the governor make it difficult to compare the presidents' flying habits. The Medical University of South Carolina and the University of South Carolina record the costs for each flight on the records while Clemson University notes the hours of each flight but not its cost. MUSC's records submitted to Sanford start in 2004, while Clemson's start in 2005 and USC's begin in 2006.

Looking at just trips between 2006 and 2008, Clemson President Jim Barker used a school plane for about 130 flights, compared with 112 for former USC President Andrew Sorensen and about 60 for MUSC President Ray Greenberg, the records show.

The presidents used the planes for a variety of trips, including meetings with state officials, school sporting events, national board meetings, fundraising, commencement ceremonies, alumni gatherings, speeches, weddings and funerals.

The state's lean budget times are also having an impact on the universities' plane use, said officials at the schools.

MUSC has put its Beechcraft King Air turboprop up for sale. And Clemson's Barker has flown 51 flights since July 2008, about 30 flights fewer than he did three years earlier. MUSC spokeswoman Heather Woolwine said her school sacrificed the plane to budget constraints.

PRESIDENTS' TRAVEL

Each of the state's three universities have operated their own planes for many years, in addition to the planes operated by the state and based in Columbia.

Clemson and USC have access to two planes at each school, one for general university use and one designated primarily for athletic use, though the presidents have used both.

"The primary reason we maintain a university airplane is to enhance productivity and maximize the use of the president's and other administrators' time for Clemson's benefit," said Clemson spokeswoman Robin Denny.

"Because of our location, a one-hour budget presentation in Columbia could easily consume an entire day if he goes by car. By flying to the meeting, the president is able to make better use of that five hours of drive time and maintain a very demanding, tightly scheduled calendar."

Among the flights reported by the three schools since 2004:

- An August 2007 trip by Barker and his wife to Ottawa, Canada. Denny said Friday she didn't know the reason for the trip.

- An August 2008 trip by Greenberg to Columbia in which he was the only passenger on the plane. The flight cost $2,200, according to the records, or $11 per mile.

- An April trip by USC President Harris Pastides, his wife, a trustee and his wife, on USC's athletic plane to visit the National Shakespeare Theater in northern Virginia, at a cost of $1,647.

- An Oct. 23, 2006, trip by Sorensen and his wife, along with Pastides and his wife, to Greenville to visit Mack Whittle, a USC board of trustees member and a former USC board chairman.

Margaret Lamb, spokeswoman for Pastides, said the Shakespeare trip was because of the school's 20-year relationship with the theater company and also to meet with former White House chief of staff and USC alumnus Andrew Card.

USC trustee Tommy Stepp, the board's secretary, who accompanied Pastides, also serves on the national board for the Shakespeare company, she said.

"President Pastides' schedule is packed, and if he can be more efficient by reducing travel time through flying, getting work done on a flight and then back in a timely way to fulfill obligations, he may use the plane, particularly if other university colleagues are traveling with him," she said.

USC currently leases its plane, a King Air that seats eight, for $1.3 million under a five-year contract. MUSC was spending about $360,000 annually on its plane, which also was used to take MUSC physicians to clinics around the state, Woolwine said. The school stopped using it last fall, she said.

Clemson's Rockwell Turbocommander twin-engine plane, which seats six, costs $650 per hour for state-funded use in flight time, plus $30 per hour for ground waiting time, according to the school's Web site. Non-state use costs $980 per hour.

IN-STATE TRIPS

Most of the flights reported by the presidents were for in-state destinations. MUSC's Greenberg flew to Columbia almost 80 times for meetings with lawmakers, legislative committees, agency boards and officials with various research initiatives, according to the records.

Greenberg said he used the plane to be able to attend tightly scheduled events on either end of the trip. "A secondary reason," he said, "is attending nighttime events, where driving would either require returning very late at night or staying over the night."

Barker, according to the records, flew to Columbia about 90 times, including five times in which he stopped first in Greenville.

"Trips less than an hour are generally made by car, but occasionally flights to Greenville may be required if they are coupled with other meetings - in Charleston, for example - or for a connecting commercial flight," Denny said.

Barker took his wife on dozens of his trips, according to the records, including flights to St. Louis, New Orleans, Omaha, Washington, Orlando, Nashville, Houston, Dallas and Boston. Clemson's plane also delivered the couple to Atlanta or Charlotte to pick up connecting flights to California, according to the records.

USC's Lamb said time, distance and costs are key considerations in whether Pastides uses the school's plane, which is leased to USC by the school's Development Foundation. The athletic department plane is owned by that department, she said.

"Bottom line, President Pastides is judicious and always balances time and costs," she said. "As you know, the president is the leader of eight universities around the state and is frequently expected to attend events on different campuses. In many cases, driving means spending the better part of the day on the road."

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