After approving the University budget for 2004–05, which included an 11 percent tuition increase (see related story), USC’s Board of Trustees OK’d a six-year enrollment management plan that will allow a measured increase in undergraduate enrollment on the Columbia campus.

The 2004–10 enrollment plan was offered by President Sorensen as a compromise for the trustees, some of whom wanted sharp limits on freshman enrollment and others who advocated a more open enrollment policy. Under the plan, undergraduate numbers will continue to increase but not as quickly as they have in the past two years.

Columbia campus undergraduate enrollment stood at 15,266 in 2000 and was recorded at 17,133 in 2003. The enrollment plan calls for about 18,600 undergraduates and a freshman class of about 3,650 by 2010. The 2004–05 budget includes $1.25 million to expand student enrollment management services.

Trustees also approved a name change for the Spartanburg campus (see related story). Established in 1967, the campus now is called USC Upstate to reflect its increasing offering of courses at the University Center in Greenville and its regional status as a metropolitan campus on the I-85 corridor.

The board also approved an array of construction and renovation projects including:
• new roofs for the Campus Room and cafeteria at Capstone
• roof replacement for several of the Roost residence hall buildings
• development of recreational fields near the Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center using land acquired by a long-term lease from Norfolk Southern Railroad. In addition, fields beside the Blatt P.E. Center will be improved
• streetscaping and landscaping on Wheat Street near the new West Quad residence hall and behind East Quad and South Quad. Irrigation and new plantings will take place on Pickens Street near the pedestrian bridge
• major renovations to the Moore School of Business, which will include new entrances on the north and south sides of the buildings. USC trustee Darla Moore’s recent $45 million gift to the school will help fund the project
• improvements to the Blossom Street pedestrian bridge to make it more compatible with new pedestrian bridges leading to the Wellness and Fitness Center
• improvements to Long Street Theater, changing the stage from its current arena style to a thrust (three-sided) configuration. The project will be funded with private donations
• replacement of controls on five elevators at 1600 Hampton St.
• an increase in the budget for the future parking garage on Blossom Street to accommodate rising steel and concrete prices and the need for additional foundation work
• an increase in the budget for USC Aiken’s Convocation Center because of rising steel and concrete prices
• construction of a $24 million health and education complex at USC Upstate (formerly USC Spartanburg).

7/04