The USC Board of Trustees approved funding for the athletics department in several areas at its April 24 meeting. This included funds for the Williams-Brice Stadium renovations and the issuing of athletic facility revenue-refunding bonds.
The board approved a contract for a new assistant men’s basketball coach, Bob Donewald. The contract term is two years, ending on March 31, 2028, and his annual salary will be $400,000. He will receive incentive compensation and other benefits if the team makes it to the NCAA Tournament and the Final Four.
The board approved a two-year extension for the university’s current software licensing and maintenance agreement with Oracle for $1.64 million. It also approved a five-year extension of the current services agreement with the Alumni Association for $2.67 million annually and an amendment to the multimedia rights agreement with Learfield.
Vice President for Development Michelle Dodenhoff provided an update on campus development to the board.
According to Dodenhoff, the university has passed its financial contributions goal of $170 million for this year and has received $286 million in donations. Dodenhoff credited the McNair Foundation as the largest contributor and said it just recently donated $25 million to the university.
These funds have gone to things such as programming, activities and athletics, Dodenhoff said. The next steps for development are to create a university-wide campaign to help raise more money, according to Dodenhoff.
Dodenhoff said the university’s growth and strong application pools have positively changed USC development.
“I think the success of the university, the growing, it makes an impact here in our development,” Dodenhoff said.
Alumni Association CEO Tiffany Foxworth also gave a presentation to the board. The Alumni Association has created new events and increased attendance and is now looking to get more alumni connected to the network, Foxworth said.
Four seats on the Alumni Association board will open on July 1 and there are four main priorities for the association that will be presented to its board at its June meeting, according to Foxworth.
Alumni Association priorities:
- - Strengthening alumni engagement worldwide
- - Finding business development opportunities
- - Enhancing communication and outreach
- - Growing their hospitality business
Foxworth said a major goal is to raise awareness for the Alumni Association and the support it offers among current USC students so that they can take advantage when they become alumni.
“We really have made a concerted effort to make sure we're investing there,” Foxworth said.
There has been an increase in both scholarship funding and the number of alumni wanting to offer scholarships, according to Foxworth. She also mentioned a new chapter of the Alumni Association started in Honolulu, Hawaii, and a chapter re-started in London, England.
Associate Vice President for University Communications Jeff Stensland provided the board with an update on non-athletics communications. According to Stensland, the number of FOIA requests received by the university has increased by 92% from 2022 to 2026.
Stensland believes two potential factors are increased knowledge and training for how to make FOIA requests and changes to college athletics leading to increased requests from sports journalists.
The communications department is looking to promote research, innovation, access, affordability, the student experience, academic distinction, the economy and quality of life in South Carolina, according to Stensland.
Stensland said when it comes to USC’s place in the national discussion, he is happy but not satisfied and wants his team to be more entrepreneurial and aggressive in spreading stories.
The communications department has created an “AI for Communicators” guide on how to ethically use AI in communication and a “Media Best Practices” guide to assist in training for staff and faculty to better interact with the media.
Executive Vice President and CFO Ed Walton provided the board with a government relations update.
Walton discussed the legislation passed this year, including the NIL law, policy efforts, tenure legislation, campus safety and bathroom regulations. He also discussed adjustments made to rules regarding who qualifies as a South Carolina resident for tuition purposes, parking regulations, issues with the Heritage Act and foreign influence.
One of the priorities next year will be affordability, according to Walton. He said it will be the university’s eighth year of not raising tuition, which is done in coordination with the South Carolina General Assembly, who appropriates tuition mitigation.
“Affordability for students is always in,” Walton said.
Other updates from specific colleges include that the Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing's new Bachelor of Arts degree in biomedical engineering is seeing high enrollment and medical students' matching rates to residency programs are at 96% across the board.
The board of trustees will meet again June 19 in the Pastides Alumni Center.