The incoming class will number about 3,700, which is 250 more than last year. The average SAT score is expected to be 1165, up 16 points from last year’s average of 1149.

“I think this is terrific news,” said Sorensen, adding that more students will create the need for more faculty. “I’ve talked with the deans about the fact that we need to continue hiring additional faculty.”

The University hired 108 new faculty members this year, and 92 faculty members either retired or resigned for a net increase of 16 new faculty members starting next fall. The University plans to replace up to 350 faculty members expected to retire in the next year and also will recruit 25 additional tenure-track faculty members every year for six years.

The incoming freshman class also will include more students from out of state, 35 percent, than ever before.

“It’s an indication that our academic reputation is thriving and is noted more widely,” Sorensen said. “It’s a challenge. We’ve got more and more students who are interested in coming here. We have to make sure we’re providing adequate quality.”

Recapping the 2005–06 budget, Sorensen noted that the General Assembly provided funds toward a 4 percent increase on average for faculty and staff salaries. The University’s budget from legislative appropriations was cut by only $272,000. “That was a very modest decrement from our annual appropriations,” Sorensen said.

A proposed 12.3 percent increase in tuition will generate about $13.5 million. That money will be used as follows:

• $2 million for salaries to make up the portion of the 4 percent average salary increase not covered by state appropriations
  
• $3.5 million for hiring and adding new faculty
  
• $4 million for improving the quality of the information technology system
  
• $1 million for information technology security
  
• $1 million to add several police officers to improve security on campus
  
• $2 million to help pay increased utility bills.
  

Other funding the University has received includes $1 million for nanotechnology research, $1 million for hydrogen research, and $3 million for deferred maintenance.

Reporting on the research center, Sorensen said the city of Columbia and Richland County have provided $33.9 million to construct two new parking garages, one beside the S.C. Department of Transportation near the Colonial Center and another at the corner of Wheat and Assembly streets for faculty and staff who will work in the new research campus buildings.

With the construction of a 1,000-car garage at the corner of Bull and Blossom streets, the University will gain 3,400 additional parking spaces during the next two years.

The Budget and Control Board unanimously approved $58 million for the research campus from the Life Sciences Act. The research campus’ developer Craig Davis Properties is putting up $26 million for two buildings, one (part of the Horizon Center) at the corner of Blossom and Assembly streets and another behind the new Arnold School of Public Health on Assembly Street.

The University also received $6 million from the U.S. government in grants specifically dedicated to the construction costs of faculty-operated laboratories and facilities. Another $17 million in research campus funding comes from indirect cost recovery from grants generated by the faculty.

Harris Pastides, vice president for research and health science, reported that the search committee for the dean of the College of Nursing has named a finalist, and the search committee for a director of the Carolina NanoCenter has chosen three finalists. Pastides said he hopes to make appointments for the positions in the next several weeks. He also reported that Donna Richter, dean of the Arnold School of Public Health, is the chair of the search committee for the dean of the USC pharmacy program of the new S.C. College of Pharmacy.

Provost Becker announced that Tangali S. Sudarshan, a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, and Mary Anne Fitzpatrick, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, will co-chair the search for a new dean for the College of Engineering and Information Technology. Becker is accepting nominations for interim dean of the college.

The next Faculty Senate meeting will be at 3 p.m. Sept. 7 in the School of Law Auditorium. The meeting will follow the fall General Faculty meeting at 2 p.m., also in the School of Law Auditorium.

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