The university's board of trustees added Gloria Boutte and Brian Canada to its presidential search committee and approved a $1.76 billion budget during its Friday meeting.
Boutte, a USC faculty member, will be a non-voting member. Canada, the Beaufort faculty senate chair elect,will be a voting member of the committee.
"She is an additional voice on behalf of the faculty from USC Columbia," committee Chairman Thad Westbrook said of Boutte.
The budget includes $22 million more in state funds than last fiscal year. Instruction, research and public service are the top three areas in which funds are planned to be used. The total budget is shared across the entire USC system.
Even though tuition will remain constant, the university expects to receive more revenue from tuition because of increasing enrollment numbers, Associate VP for Finance and Budget, Kelly Epting said. The incoming freshman class for the Columbia campus is expected to be one of the largest in its history with an estimate of 6,150 incoming students.
The number of Black freshman applications and admits increased in the incoming class, according to an email memo from Interim President Harris Pastides, who was absent from the board meeting.
In the same email, Pastides stated he is reviewing the Title IX Task Force's report, and he expects to release the report and a response to it next week. The Title IX Task Force was charged with reviewing systems at USC that handle sexual violence.
The board also reviewed a number of contracts for university head coaches.
Mark Kingston, who led the Gamecocks' men's baseball team on a 34-23 (16-14 SEC) season in 2021, received a two-year extension to his contract. Kingston's buyout terms were reset to $2.2 million, with the buyout decreasing each subsequent year.
Incoming Men's Soccer Head Coach, Tony Annan, received a four-year contract and will be paid $172,850. He was previously the interim head coach at Atlanta United FC.
The university also plans to hold a soft opening in July for the iHub store which will be located on the Horseshoe, according to Chad Hardaway, associate director of the Office of Economic Engagement. The official ribbon cutting will occur before August student orientation.