Look Ahead: Governor's School construction to be completed in 2009

Construction of the S.C. Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics’ 70,000-square-foot activity and academic center is on schedule to be completed at the end of 2009.

“It’s actually going along very smoothly and is advancing very rapidly,” Dr. Murray Brockman, the school’s president, said.

Brockman previously said the school would have the opportunity to increase enrollment and faculty once the final phase was completed, but has since learned the school will not see an increase.

“We are not anticipating growth,” he said. “We’ve always wanted to increase the number of students that we served, but we realize that the state of the economy is just not going to support that for a while.”

The school will instead focus on what Brockman calls “renewal.”

“We need to take advantage of this downturn and do the things we can do without spending money,” he said. “To prepare ourselves ... to sprint forward on a global track when this recession finally lifts.

“We are already one of the best schools of our kind in the nation,” he said. “We need to be among the best in the world. That’s what we need to prepare ourselves for.”

Brockman said he has asked faculty to evaluate the school’s programs for areas of improvement.

The school will continue to make plans to add economics and finance programs, even though those programs could be delayed, he said.

The school has, however, potentially found some private funding to pursue the internationalization of its research program.

“It looks like we will have an exchange program, privately funded, with Germany next summer to do mentored research,” Brockman said. “We want to do what we can do without spending state funds to prepare ourselves to be among the best in the world.

“We’re not going to be discouraged,” he said. “We live with these young people who are so full of hope and promise that we’re not about to get depressed and down in the dumps.”

Brockman said the school will continue to prepare students for a “great life in science and mathematics.”

He said the school has cut back “every conceivable expense” and he’s determined the students’ education won’t be affected by the state of the economy.

“So far, we’ve been successful,” he said.

The school has been operating in a partly complete building since 2003, and the additions will continue to follow the school’s original building plans.

The activity part of the center, which will extend the north arm of the existing building, will include a gym, an engineering projects center, a kitchen for use with extracurricular activities, a dance studio, exercise rooms and equipment, and lounges.

The academic part of the center will extend the south arm and include advanced classrooms, labs, a music room, language labs and an art room.

The fourth floor of the existing building, which will be used as residents’ rooms, will be completed in addition to the two centers.