Courtney Tkacs reflected on her time as USC’s student body president in her State of the Student Body address held at a specialty senate meeting.
In her opening remarks, Speaker of the Senate Maura Hamilton described Tkacs as the most selfless person she has ever met and said it has been an honor to work with her in Student Government.
“She is committed to the school, its students and our future,” Hamilton said. “It’s never been about the position. It’s just been about benefiting the university as a whole.”
During her time at USC, Courtney Tkacs has served in Student Government in various roles throughout all four years. She was part of the Freshman Council, was chief of staff to the speaker of the 115th student senate, vice president and now president.
In her address, Tkacs discussed the guiding question for her as student body president, which was centered around how to best advocate and support students.
Tkacs said the three priorities she found to answer this question were student life, financial communication and academic experience.
Under the student life category, Tkacs discussed the Student Government collaboration with President Michael Amiridis to host the second Imagine Carolina event.
“This initiative created space for students to share their lived experiences and imagine what the University of South Carolina could become,” according to Tkacs. “Conversations were bold, honest and forward-thinking. We applaud every student who showed up with courage to envision something better.”
According to Tkacs, the most prominent topic of discussion at Imagine Carolina was parking and transportation.
To help solve the issues, Tkacs said she worked with parking services to give students who are 18 or older and have a valid driver’s license access to transportation around Columbia on an hourly basis.
Tkacs also discussed her initiative to expand Uber discounts, with two drop times on game days to allow for students to safely travel to and from Williams-Brice Stadium.
While discussing student life, Tkacs mentioned working to improve infrastructure and resources on campus, specifically at the Russell House.
"This year, I re-established the Russell House Expansion Project, bringing together student leaders to reimagine a student union that reflects our ever-growing campus,” Tkacs said.
Tkacs acknowledged Vice President Jordan Richardson’s work to expand the Stigma-Free Week Walk-A-Thon for mental health, which raised over $13,000.
In discussing her financial communication priority, Tkacs spoke about Treasurer Ashley Reynolds' work to make the university's vendor list more accessible and transparent for students. In addition, she talked about Reynolds' streamlining the reimbursement process for student organizations.
Tkacs mentioned Reynolds’ work with the student senate's finance committee to implement a partial funding system and split the budget for student organizations across the fall and spring semesters.
According to Tkacs, these processes enabled Student Government to fund 117 student organizations, while it received over $262,000 in funding requests.
“This process underscores both our impact and our continued need for increased student organizational funding,” Tkacs said.
For academic experience, Tkacs specifically discussed her work to expand access to AI on campus, including free student access to ChatGPT.
Tkacs discussed Student Government’s efforts to get feedback from students on challenges with registration and long-term academic planning to help improve those areas.
“By bringing student voices directly into conversations about advising reform, we are building a more transparent and responsive system that will benefit students long after this administration,” Tkacs said.
Tkacs said one of her priorities this year was to strengthen relationships with colleges across South Carolina, specifically with the other USC campuses. In visiting their campuses, she said she was better able to understand the different student experiences that each USC campus offers.
These visits led her to initiate the South Carolina Student Government Exchange, which brought eight South Carolina schools together to discuss common issues.
“The conference sponsored meaningful dialogue about affordability, mental health, marketing, student advocacy, and created partnerships that will extend far beyond this year,” Tkacs said.
After discussing her initiatives, Tkacs thanked all of those who helped her during her time at USC and as president to help accomplish her goals. To end her address, Tkacs discussed her gratitude in being USC’s student body president.
“I'm not the beginning of this work, nor am I the end,” Tkacs said. “I am simply a stepping stone in a long line of leaders who care deeply about this institution and the students who call it home. Thank you for allowing me to serve. Forever and ever to thee.”