COLUMBIA — South Carolina government has seen an increasing number of sensitive positions in recent years, but the chairmanship of the Commission on Higher Education may be one of the most sensitive in recent years.
Since former CHE director Rusty Monhollon resigned in 2024 following a scathing inspector general report that found the agency sat on about $152 million in unspent lottery-funded grants during his tenure, the agency responsible for overseeing each of the state’s 33 colleges has been in a rebuilding phase of sorts.
It’s been a challenging few months, with an agency whose average tenure is less than two years, a constant turnover of leadership, increased legislative scrutiny, growing political pressure on higher education institutions – all at a time when Governor Henry McMaster had raised the prospect of exploring a method of restructuring the administration of South Carolina’s public colleges and universities.
Speaking to state lawmakers for the first time on Aug. 20, the commission’s newly installed president, Jeff Perez, sought to reassure members of a House legislative oversight subcommittee that the 37-person agency was ready for the turnaround.
“At CHE, we’re not trying to put a man on the moon,” he said. “But I believe we’re in the future business. And that’s what I tell employees: We want to build a future for South Carolina.”
The new president of the Commission on Higher Education, Dr. Jeff Perez. Perez became the new head of CHE in June after the resignation of former head Rusty Monhollon. Monhollon had resigned after an inspector general report found that his administration had been sitting on over $152 million in lottery funds intended for scholarships.
So far this year, things are moving forward. Of the 47 audits the Office of Inspector General was required to conduct earlier this year, 28 have been completed, one is in the final stages, and another dozen are “actively underway,” putting the agency back on track by July 2025.
They plan to request more money for the agency’s employees to improve morale.
And in the run-up to this semester, the agency had succeeded in awarding lottery-funded scholarships to all students who were eligible under current law.
“We’ve had a good start,” said Perez. “But we’re certainly not finished yet.”
Perez also expressed a desire to keep the agency apolitical in future legislative sessions, declining to take a position for or against specific bills at a time when public universities are under increasing pressure over student conduct and curriculum.
“I think it’s important for lawmakers to know that I’m not going to support them on one bill and then oppose another,” Perez said in an interview. “Whatever they ask for, we’re just going to give them the pros and cons and then move on.”
“I want them to know that they can come to CHE and we will not have any particular agenda,” he added.
“We will only focus on what is good for the state of South Carolina.”
When asked about the future of the agency, Perez – a former administrator at both Winthrop University and The Citadel – declined to comment specifically on his opinion of a more entrenched oversight body called a Board of Governors, as favored by McMaster, but acknowledged that the agency may occasionally lack “bite.”
He has worked in states like New York, where government is highly centralized, he said, but also in states like South Carolina, where government is highly decentralized. But he has also worked in Ohio, where there is a system somewhere in between.
Ultimately, it is not his decision what is best, he said.
“Ultimately, the decision is up to the legislature, not CHE,” he said. “We are here to be whatever they want us to be as a resource in terms of higher education.”
