By Dan McCue

CHARLESTON -- Reports of a hiring freeze at Charleston Southern University are premature, said the university’s business school dean on Thursday.

The university has found itself in the middle of an investment scandal involving one of its former professors, Al Parish, who allegedly bilked investors out of $134 million. CSU is said to have invested $10 million of the university’s funds with Parish.

Dr. John B. Duncan said in an e-mail to the Charleston Regional Business Journal, sister publication to SCBIZ, that at least two individuals have been on the campus this week interviewing for open positions.

“I believe any statement that (CSU president) Dr. Jairy Hunter and others in the administration may have made about hiring delays probably refers to new positions that are being sought by academic departments and not existing open positions,” he said.

A thornier issue is what to do about the university’s Center for Economic Forecasting.

Duncan said he has not been involved in discussions about the future of the center, but added that “the center basically consisted of Al Parish.”

“We do not have anyone else on the faculty with the expertise to continue the operation of the forecasting center,” he said. “In order to continue to operate the center, CSU would have to hire a new business professor with the expertise and the desire to run it.”

Hunter has already told staffers that the university will persevere and move forward without cutting jobs or student scholarships. Salaries and tuition would also not be affected, he said.

CSU has put its losses through investments with Parish at $5.3 million from its endowment—about one-third of total value of the endowment—and $5.3 million from its operating budget.

Duncan said CSU has made remarkable progress during the past four years “and we plan to continue to make great strides in the coming year.”

“Our enrollment has outpaced our expectations and we have been able to attract outstanding students, faculty, staff and coaches to the university,” he said. “If you polled my colleagues, I think you would find that our faculty members agree with me in thinking that this setback will not stop our positive momentum.”