The official minutes of the University of South Carolina Board of Trustees are maintained by the Secretary of the Board. Certified copies of minutes may be requested by contacting the Board of Trustees’ Office. Electronic or other copies of original minutes are not official Board of Trustees' documents.

The Student-Trustee Liaison Committee of the University of South Carolina Board of Trustees met on Wednesday, April 21, 2004, at 4:00 p.m. in the Carolina Plaza Board Room.

Members present were: Mr. James A. Shuford, III, Chairman; Mr. Arthur S. Bahnmuller; Mr. Mark W. Buyck, Jr.; Mr. Miles Loadholt; Mr Eugene P. Warr, Jr.; and Mr. Herbert C. Adams, Board Vice Chairman. Dr. C. Edward Floyd and Mr. Mack I. Whittle, Jr. Board Chairman, were absent. Other Trustees present were: Mr. Toney J. Lister and Mr. M. Wayne Staton.

Others present were: President Andrew A. Sorensen; Secretary Thomas L. Stepp; Vice President for Student Affairs Dennis A. Pruitt; Vice Provost and Executive Dean for Regional Campuses and Continuing Education Chris P. Plyler; Director of Student Life, Division of Student Affairs, Jerry T. Brewer; Director of Academic and Student Support Services, Regional Campuses and Continuing Education, David Hunter; Director of Student Activities, USC Lancaster, Tracey Taylor; Associate Dean for Student Services, USC Salkehatchie, Jane Brewer; Administrative Assistant, USC Salkehatchie, Kathy West; Director of Student Life, USC Sumter, Shannon Mewborn; Public Information Officer, Office of Media Relations; Karen Petit; and a member of the media.
Student Government Association (SGA) representatives present were: USC Aiken: President Steve Miano and Vice President Mebane Youmans; USC Columbia: President Zachery Scott, Treasurer Cameron Burnette, Chief of Staff Betsy Curry, and Institutional Affairs Director Ashley Gallentine; USC Lancaster: Outgoing President Keisha Brace; USC Salkehatchie: Incoming President Diane Hardy and Outgoing Vice President George Todd, Jr.; USC Sumter: Chairperson Joanne Brown, Trevor Ivey, Christopher Drake, Victoria Player, and LaToya Jackson; USC Union: President Ricky Farr, Vice President Tanya Breitenbach, and Secretary/Treasurer Brandie Montgomery.

Chairman Shuford called the meeting to order and welcomed those present. He invited Board members and the Administration to introduce themselves. Ms. Petit introduced a member of the media who was in attendance. Chairman Shuford stated that the agenda had been posted and the press notified as required by the Freedom of Information Act; the agenda had been circulated to Committee members; and a quorum was present to conduct business.

1. Introductions: Chairman Shuford invited the students to introduce themselves and to indicate if they were outgoing, continuing or incoming SGA officers.
   
   
2. Report on State Student Association: Chairman Shuford called on Mr. Zachery Scott from USC Columbia who commented that approximately three weeks ago students from the various University campuses as well as two year and four year public and private institutions and technical colleges across the state had gathered at Clemson University to hold the first constitutional convention of the South Carolina State Student Association (SCSSA). During that meeting a constitution, by-laws and rules of order were formulated. It was the consensus of those students attending the event to move forward with the establishment of SCSSA as an effective legislative lobbying tool on behalf of higher education. Mr. Scott noted that USC Columbia was chosen as the hosting sight for the first annual conference scheduled for October 2nd.
   
   
3. Student Support of Carolina Action Network (CAN): Chairman Shuford called on Mr. Zachery Scott who stated that the Alumni Association had sponsored the Carolina Action Network on March 24. During that day, a significant group of University alumni, faculty and students had visited legislators to campaign for higher education. Approximately 20 student leaders from the various satellite campuses had also attended the event "to really show them that higher education is a priority." The students had also met with Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer to convey that message and were recognized in the State Senate.
   It was hoped that students would again work with the Alumni Association to organize another Carolina Action Network and that student participation would increase.
   
   Chairman Shuford complimented the student participation; President Sorensen also expressed his accolades for their show of support. "It was incredibly successful and more than 100 participants had attended a luncheon the University hosted on that day." Later in the week, legislators had inundated him with expressions of surprise that so many students had participated. Mr. Scott hoped to mobilize students throughout the year to contact legislators; he urged each of the representatives attending this meeting to return to their respective campuses and to rally their students into action.
   
   
4. Reports on Highlight of Year from Outgoing Student Government Officials: Chairman Shuford commented that Ms. Katie Dreiling, outgoing USC Columbia SGA President, was not able to attend the meeting. He requested reports from each of the represented campuses.
   
   
   1. USC Aiken: Steve Miano, newly elected SGA president, reported that students were eagerly anticipating the opening of a 340-bed dormitory (Pacer Commons) for the Fall 2004 semester. In addition, a groundbreaking ceremony will be held in August for a new convocation center/sporting facility on the campus; the athletics offices will move from the student activities center to this building.
      Various campus activities included a band fest scheduled on Friday of this week and the annual student activities awards banquet; the Student Government Association was honored as the Organization of the Year. Mr. Miano noted that the SGA organizational structure and constitution had been revamped this past year.
      
      
   2. USC Lancaster: Keisha Brace, outgoing SGA president, commented that student participation in campus activities had increased during the spring semester. "Spring Fling" had been held last week; activities included laser tag, an American Idol contest, a sidewalk art contest, and a barbecue feast. Other recent campus activities were a movie night, a Valentine's Day party, and a St. Patrick's Day party; a blood drive was scheduled the following week.
      
      The USC Lancaster SGA had participated in the first meeting of the SCSSA; students had learned a great deal of useful information.
      
      
   3. USC Salkehatchie: George, Todd, Jr., outgoing SGA vice president for Walterboro, explained that Governor Sanford's recent proposal to close USC Salkehatchie had brought attention to the campus; there had been a large outpouring of support from students, faculty, staff and the surrounding community. Newspaper editorials had strongly touted the value of the institution in that area. In March, an ad had appeared in The State newspaper which listed more than 3,000 names of individuals who supported the campus. "We have all worked hard together to give the governor the accurate information he needed to understand that we are a great return on the investment the state makes in us bringing in much more money and providing much more service than a financial investment the state pays out to us." Throughout this campaign, the Student Government Association had been very involved; letters had been written to the local newspaper editor and various students had been available to discuss the situation with legislators and the media.
      
      During the past year many social events had been scheduled on both the Allendale and Walterboro campuses every month; activities included the annual luau, the 35th annual Feast Day, basketball tournaments, cookouts, carnivals, and this year the first annual ghost hunt had been held. In addition, the first spring dance for both campuses had occurred the previous week; it was hoped that this event would continue every year.
      
      Community activities included participation in the yearly blood drive sponsored by the American Red Cross, as well as involvement in the American Cancer Society and March of Dimes annual events.
      
      The Student Government Association had recently held an election to select the outstanding faculty member for the year; the winner will be announced during the upcoming May commencement exercises. Producer/director Mike Tolin had accepted the offer to speak at that event; he had directed the movie Radio, part of which had been filmed on the campus.
   4. USC Spartanburg: The following report from Ashish Patel, incoming Student Government Association president, was distributed to members of the Committee; no representatives from this campus were able to attend:
      
      Recent Issues/Accomplishments
      • Completed first on-line SGA Elections with more than 10 percent of the student population participating
      • SGA has been involved with the naming of a new athletic mascot and currently has on-line polling for final selection.
      • Currently transitioning new officers and planning for Fall 2004.
      • USCS recently opened new tennis, softball and baseball facilities.
        
        
      Significant Campus Activities/Biggest Successes
      • USCS recently participated in first College Consortium for a city wide Community Service Day involving 6 higher education institutions in Spartanburg; more than 160 students participated.
      • College Fest, an outdoor festival featuring entertainment, food and games was held in October 2003. This was the first festival coordinated and sponsored by 6 area higher education institutions. This event attracted over 10,000 people.
      • Spring Fling was held on campus and had over 500 students in attendance.
      • The opening of Palmetto House, our 350 bed freshman housing facility, has provided programming space for residential life in which over 60 programs were completed this year.
      • Our intramural program continues to grow, with over 14 sports offered and over 1000 participants.
      • We sponsored the first outdoor recreation trips for our campus this year.
      • Our alternative spring break trip logged over 350 volunteer hours in 3 days
      
      
      
      Greatest Challenges
      • Resources for increased number of clubs and organizations on campus.
      • Facilities for Campus Recreation and overall Programming.
      • Increased tuition costs translates into students needing to work more instead of being involved in campus life and leadership roles.
      
      
      
      How is SGA Helping to Address Them
      • Representation on budget process decisions regarding clubs/organizations
      • Meeting with administrators to discuss growth and the master plan for campus
      • Representing students in planning for Wellness/Fitness Center and expansion of Campus Life Center
        
        
   5. USC Sumter: Joanne Brown, chair of the Student Government Association, remarked that the previous year had been challenging but successful. Successes included two town hall meetings (one held each semester with the dean); more than 20 students had attended each meeting. Topics had included food service, tuition increases, four year status, maintenance issues, and improved water drainage on campus. In conjunction with the campus faculty organization, the SGA had submitted a recommendation to limit smoking near building entrances; a campus policy announcement was anticipated in the near future.
      
      In an attempt to increase community involvement, the SGA had hosted and sponsored a Sumter County Republican Party Sheriff's Debate the previous evening on campus; more than 150 citizens had attended this event.
      
      "We continue to have many challenges like most other campuses as we strive to increase student involvement by sponsoring different activities and encouraging students to participate." The most significant ongoing challenge for the SGA was the development of a campus hot food service. As representatives of the student body, the officers were committed to examining every potential option.
      
      
   6. USC Union: Ricky Farr, the newly-elected president at USC Union, initially thanked the Board of Trustees for their support of the USC Union campus.
      Various events which had occurred during the past year included a Valentine's Day Social; more than half of the campus had attended this function. A Silly Putty Awards Day had also been held; faculty and students had received various awards during that event. Two blood drives had also been held and more than 100 pints of blood had been given.
      
      Because of the frugal management of funds during the past year, the Student Government Association was able to report that it was under budget; sponsorship of additional clubs was planned for the upcoming fall semester as well as more activities on the USC Laurens campus.
      
      
   7. USC Columbia: Zachery Scott, newly elected president of the SGA, reported that the Student Government Association had campaigned for the past one and one half years for an academic course to teach American sign language; it had been approved and was scheduled as an evening class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He did specify that the class would be credited toward graduation as an elective, but would not satisfy a foreign language requirement; that would necessitate coupling it with a cultural awareness class.
      
      Currently the SGA was negotiating with the Commission on Higher Education to host the South Carolina State Safety Conference next spring; the Columbia campus had available an array of resources to offer.
      
      Also planned was expansion of the very successful readership program; during the previous academic year, students had been able to receive free of charge daily issues of USA Today and The New York Times. Mr. Buyck expressed his hope that the other campuses will consider this program; Dr. Pruitt will discuss this possibility with Mr. Brewer, Director of Student Life at USC Columbia.
      
      The Student Senate was very active this year; most of the slots had already been filled. Under consideration were various ideas to improve their role on campus and to increase their interaction with the Board of Trustees.
      
      Mr. Scott thanked those students from the satellite campuses who had attended the SCSSA conference; their attendance and input into the discussion had made a difference.
      
      
5. Other Matters:
   
   
   1. MUSC/USC Schools of Pharmacy Merger: Chairman Shuford called on President Sorensen who was pleased to report that he had met the previous week with the School of Pharmacy faculty; and, today, he had met with a group of pharmacy students concerning the proposed merger. He would again meet with the faculty on the following day. "My message is to keep making sure that we get facts and that we get straight information. There are various rumors about what is going on that are unfounded."
      
      Mr. Scott voiced various student concerns which had been brought to him. Perhaps the most disturbing issue for them was the fact that the consultants' report had not recommended USC Columbia as the site for the dean's office; Presidents Sorensen and Greenberg had accepted that recommendation. In response to this concern President Sorensen noted that "because the dean is going to be in Charleston doesn't mean that one school is necessarily better or superior than the other. Unfortunately, the students on our campus are taking it as a 'we lost/they won' kind of attitude." He viewed this situation as one in which the citizens of South Carolina would gain immeasurably because more pharmacists would be trained to serve them since that field was already experiencing a severe shortage in the state.
      
      President Sorensen explained that Frank Pinckney, CEO of the Greenville Hospital System, would very much like to have a pharmacy doctoral training program in that area; he hoped that this request would become a reality in the relatively near future. In addition, it was anticipated that a pharmacy distance education program would be established throughout the entire state so that pharmacists in Spartanburg, Barnwell, Laurens, Conway, for example, could enroll in distance education courses to remain current with the complex developments in that field. Moving beyond territorial feelings and understanding the "big picture" was Dr. Sorensen's fundamental hope.
      
      Chairman Shuford commented that the Board of Trustees had discussed this topic in detail earlier today; serious and profound dialogue was guiding the process of consideration.
      
      
   2. Adjournment: Chairman Shuford again thanked everyone who had attended the meeting today and especially those individuals who had traveled from out of town to represent their respective campuses and to keep Board members informed about the various activities.

There being no further business to come before the Committee, Chairman Shuford declared the meeting adjourned at 4:35 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Thomas L. Stepp
Secretary