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.

University of South Carolina Board of Trustees
Intercollegiate Activities Committee
February 8, 2002

The Intercollegiate Activities Committee of the University of South Carolina Board of Trustees met Friday, February 8, 2002, at 1:15 p.m. in the Carolina Plaza Board Room.

Members present were: Mr. Toney J. Lister, Chairman; Mr. Arthur S. Bahnmuller; Mr. Alexander English (via telephone); Mr. Miles Loadholt; Mr. J. DuPre Miller; Mr. Michael J. Mungo; Mr. M. Wayne Staton; Mr. Othniel H. Wienges, Jr.; Mr. Mack I. Whittle, Board Chairman; and Mr. Herbert C. Adams, Board Vice Chairman. Other Trustees present were: Mr. James Bradley; Mr. A.C. Fennell, III; Dr. C. Edward Floyd; Mrs. Helen C. Harvey; Mr. William C. Hubbard; and Mr. Robert N. McLellan.

Others present were: President John M. Palms; Secretary Thomas L. Stepp; Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Jerome D. Odom; Vice President and Chief Operating Officer J. Lyles Glenn; Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Richard W. Kelly; Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer William F. Hogue; Vice President for Student and Alumni Services Dennis A. Pruitt; Vice President for Human Resources Jane M. Jameson; General Counsel Walter (Terry) H. Parham; Vice Provost and Executive Dean for Regional Campuses and Continuing Education Chris P. Plyler; Chancellor of USC Spartanburg John C. Stockwell; Associate Chancellor for Business and Finance, USC Aiken, Virginia S. Steel; Executive Director of the Office of Foundations and NCAA/SEC Representative Susie H. VanHuss; Director of Athletics Michael B. McGee; Assistant Treasurer Susan D. Hanna; Director of Student Life, Division of Student and Alumni Services, Jerry T. Brewer; Director of the Department of Internal Audit Alton McCoy; Assistant to the Vice President, Office of Business and Finance, Ken Corbett; Assistant Athletics Director Brad Edwards; Director of Governmental and Community Relations, Office of the President, Shirley D. Mills; President of the USC Letterman's Association Bernard L. Friedman; Director of Public Affairs Russell McKinney; and members of the media.

Chairman Lister called the meeting to order and invited those present to introduce themselves. Mr. McKinney introduced members of the media who were in attendance. Chairman Lister stated that notice of the meeting had been posted and the press notified as required by the Freedom of Information Act; the agenda and supporting materials had been circulated to members of the Committee; and a quorum was present to conduct business.

Chairman Lister directed the Committee's attention to the agenda and called on Dr. McGee.

  1. Athletics Director's Report: Dr. McGee initially distributed to the Committee a summary of current performance information about the various University sports teams. He noted that the women's basketball team had won 19 of the 21 games played this season, which was an outstanding record; nationally, the team was ranked 9th in the SEC Conference. Dr. McGee expressed optimism that this team would continue to exhibit a consistency of winning.

    In the sport of swimming and diving, the men's team was ranked 8th in the nation. In the sport of track and field, the women's team was currently ranked 2nd; it was projected that this team would perform well in the NCAA championship. It was also anticipated that the baseball team would win the eastern title this season.

    In addition, Dr. McGee discussed recruiting activities commenting that the University had attracted the most outstanding class of athletes during his tenure as Director of the Athletics Department. Four of the top five prospects in the state had chosen the University of South Carolina; of the top twenty prospects in North and South Carolina, ten had signed with this institution, more than any other school in the two states.

    The 2002 football signees, many of whom Dr. McGee had met, were impressive. Coach Holtz had stressed the importance of attracting athletes who would bring a history of prior successes to the University; several had been captains of their high school football teams. Dr. McGee also pointed out that winning football seasons greatly influenced the success of a recruiting season. With the completion of two successful seasons, he believed that the University was positioned to recruit at a high level.

    Dr. McGee announced that the football team, as well as the women's tennis and the women's soccer teams, had posted the highest grade point average (GPA) for the current fall semester since records had been maintained at the University. The women's swimming team had posted the highest recorded team GPA of 3.577. Eight varsity team sports had achieved better than a 3.0 GPA. The mean GPA for the 460 current student athletes was 2.840. A total of 17 athletes had earned a 4.0 and, as a result, had been named to the President's List. And, 100 athletes had earned better than a 3.5 GPA.

    The Athletics Department was very pleased with the academic progress of these athletes. Dr. McGee specifically thanked Dr. Susie VanHuss who "has been a real factor in the academic success of our athletics program."

  2. Proposed Football Ticket Price Increase: Dr. McGee recommended that the Committee approve a football ticket price increase of $2.00 effective the 2002 season; regular season game tickets would increase from $22.00 to $24.00; the two premium game ticket prices would increase from $27.00 to $29.00. He referred to information previously distributed to Committee members regarding comparative ticket price figures from other SEC Conference institutions, noting that University prices were well below most of the other listed schools.

    Dr. McGee reminded Committee members that ticket prices had remained fairly static during those periods when the program had not enjoyed success. Historically, not until 1992 did the University charge $20 per football ticket; at the same time, Gamecock Club members had been offered a $2.00 discounted price per ticket. Therefore, during a ten-year time span pending this approval, the ticket price will have increased a total of $4.00.

    Mr. McLellan questioned an increase which appeared to be determined solely by the actions of other institutions in the SEC. In response, Dr. McGee indicated that the athletic budget of the University was below other conference rivals such as Tennessee and Florida. In addition, the cost of conducting business in the conference, as well as efforts to broaden and strengthen Olympic sports, particularly the women's programs, were primarily subsidized through football-generated funding.

    Mr. McLellan also asked if the department carried a surplus. Dr. McGee explained that the current $5.4 million departmental surplus was considered an appropriate amount to have available for various unforeseen contingencies including the possibility of an economic downturn. Further, based upon yearly expense requirements, the department tapped this resource in order to avoid borrowing money during the fiscal year.

    In response to Mr. McLellan's question regarding the amount of revenue this increase would produce, Brad Edwards, Assistant Athletics Director, estimated that an additional $300,000 would be generated per $1.00 increase during a season. Dr. McGee believed that inevitable increases in the "cost of doing business" warranted the ticket price increase at this time. He noted, for example, that the team travel budget in various sports had substantially risen to accommodate jet airplane travel rather than bus or prop airplane transportation.

    Mr. Mungo supported this increase noting that within the Southeastern Conference, USC's football ticket price was ranked 10th of the 12 members in cost and yet the team was ranked 3rd or 4th in playing position. Mr. Bahnmuller also believed that the requested increase was reasonable particularly since Carolina fans were clamoring to buy as many of these tickets as possible. In addition, he stressed the importance of supporting other sports programs, especially women's sports with concomitant Title IX requirements, which depended upon generated football revenue.

    Mr. Mungo moved approval of the proposed football ticket price increase as described in the materials distributed for this meeting. Dr. Floyd seconded the motion.

    Mr. Hubbard suggested that the Athletics Department consider the possibility of generating an academic scholarship fund to attract outstanding students in the state through increased football ticket pricing of selected games. In response, Dr. McGee indicated that such a proposal would need to be considered within the context of the entire Athletics Department budget, citing, for example, the expense of opening the new arena. He asked that the Athletics Department budget not sustain further allocation requests at this time.

    Mr. Mungo believed that the department needed to "put its own house in order" before contributing toward additional academic funding. He stressed the importance of accumulating maintenance reserves to handle adequately the demand of facility upkeep, and strongly supported the idea of conservative fiscal responsibility particularly in today's world.

    Mr. Bahnmuller added that, hopefully within the next six months, decisions will have been made concerning state lottery monies allocated for scholarship funding.

    Regarding the matter of available reserves, Mr. Bradley observed that the amount should be strengthened because the University was entering into a financing program for the arena which involved a substantial amount of money; he was concerned about the possibility of fluctuating interest rates which may create problems in the future.

    The vote was taken, and the motion carried.

    At this time, Dr. McGee addressed the Board of Trustees' goal to be nationally ranked (top 25) annually in all sports observing that of 19 sports offered at the University, 13 had already been ranked in the top 25. He believed that the department was diligently working toward successfully achieving this objective.

    Dr. McGee noted that this day was number 311 of 568 arena construction days or 54.7 percent toward completion of the project. Later today, Board members would have an opportunity to tour the site.

    The contractor had indicated that arena occupancy would be possible by October 31; however, Dr. McGee was concerned that this projected date may not be realistic; the next several weeks of construction were critical to the schedule.

    Global Spectrum, the company which will manage arena scheduling, was in the process of establishing a calendar of events beginning November 1 of this year. Various plans under consideration were a black tie VIP dinner and basketball opening, ice shows, family shows, and major concerts; advertising for these events would begin in the near future. In addition, under consideration was a three-sided matrix marquis to be located at the corner of Blossom and Assembly Streets. And, finally, design of the four-sided video scoreboard was nearly completed.

    Chairman Lister thanked Dr. McGee and stated that this report was received as information. On behalf of the Committee, Chairman Lister asked to join Dr. McGee in recognizing and congratulating the student athletes, especially the ladies' basketball team for its winning game against Georgia the previous evening. He also applauded Dr. McGee for his outstanding recruitment of the various coaches to the University.

  3. Resolution Honoring Football Team: Chairman Lister recognized Secretary Stepp who read the following resolution:

    Mr. Mungo moved approval of the adoption of this resolution. Mr. Bahnmuller seconded the motion. The vote was taken, and the motion carried.

    Mr. Wienges requested that the full Board be given the opportunity to adopt this resolution. Without objection on behalf of the Committee, Chairman Lister would recommend Board approval of the resolution later today. Dr. McGee thanked the Committee for this display of support.

    Responding to Chairman Lister's request for information concerning the status of stadium expansion, Dr. McGee indicated that consideration had been given to the logical next step of a Williams Brice Stadium expansion. He stated that this process had not evolved beyond the preliminary concept stage. The architect who had developed the West Side and South Side stadium projects had been retained on a limited basis to submit ideas and a preliminary budget.

    The projected expansion, designed to interface with the current structure, would increase seating to 88,000 and would include 20-24 retracted boxes. Cost estimates ranged between $20-22 million with the resulting generated revenue exceeding the anticipated debt service of this addition. Dr. McGee envisioned the creation of a large atrium leading into space which could be developed into a Hall of Fame and museum as the front entrance to the stadium; escalators would provide access to the upper decks. In conclusion, Dr. McGee hoped to explore the possibility of taking the next steps in this process in the near future.

There were no other matters to come before the Committee, and Chairman Lister declared the meeting adjourned at 1:55 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Thomas L. Stepp
Secretary