Former SC State Vice president to fight demotion

ORANGEBURG, S.C. (AP) — The former vice president for Academic Affairs at South Carolina State University says the school president violated her contract by demoting her.

Joyce Blackwell told The Times and Democrat of Orangeburg (http://bit.ly/vogP3k ) that she is appealing the decision by President George Cooper to the university’s board of trustees.

Blackwell says her contract requires a 90-day notification before she can be moved to another position. She says the $50,000 pay cut ordered by Cooper also violates her contract.

Cooper wouldn’t talk about what happened to Blackwell with the newspaper, calling it a personnel matter.

Blackwell thinks university leaders were angry she started the process to eliminate eight academic programs at the school.

Blackwell came to the university in 2009 with tenure.

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Information from: The Times & Democrat, http://www.timesanddemocrat.com