It's a refrain that's been repeated the past couple of years and is true again for 2006: USC has welcomed its best freshman class ever.

"The quality of the 3,681 freshmen enrolled here this fall is the highest and best in the history of the University," President Sorensen announced at the General Faculty Meeting Sept. 6.

The class has an average SAT score of 1171, up seven points from last year's freshman class. Nationally, the average SAT score dropped seven points, and the average score in South Carolina dropped eight points, Sorensen noted.

More than 310 freshmen, with an average SAT score of 1398, enrolled in the Honors College, and the Capstone Scholars program enrolled 530 freshmen with an average SAT score of 1304.

The University continues to attract students from South Carolina. "In fact, 80 percent of our undergraduate student body is from South Carolina," Sorensen said.

In its most recent issue, The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education reported that USC has the highest proportion of African-American students of any public flagship university in the country. "I'm very, very proud of that," Sorensen said.

This year, 98.5 percent of the incoming freshman class received some form of lottery scholarship, up from 96 percent last year, and 22 percent received a Pell Grant, which is based on income.

"I'm proud to report that our University continues to dedicate itself to education all South Carolinians," Sorensen said. "Our University is increasingly becoming a destination of choice."

The School of Medicine also has become increasingly competitive, Sorensen said. The new class has the highest MCAT scores since the school's inception in 1975, and the school received more than 1,000 applications for 75 openings. The School of Law also reported the highest LSAT scores in its history for this year's beginning students.

The first class enrolled in the new S.C. College of Pharmacy includes 110 students at USC and 80 at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston. The two colleges became fully integrated last year.

Sorensen also announced that a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Public Health Research Center, at the northwest corner of Assembly and College streets, in the Arnold School of Public Health will be held Oct. 27.

At the Faculty Senate meeting, which followed the General Faculty Meeting, Provost Becker welcomed 151 new faculty members at the Columbia campus and the two-year campuses. "I also believe that this will be the most diverse faculty group whether by gender, race, or ethnicity," Becker said. "It's truly an outstanding and impressive group."

Harris Pastides, vice president for research and health science, reported that the search committee for the dean of the School of Medicine soon will begin airport interviews with six candidates and should invite three or four finalists to campus in late September of early October. Concerning the dean for the Columbia campus of the S.C. College of Pharmacy, Pastides said that the search is in the final stages, and "I hope I have something positive to announce by the next Faculty Senate meeting."

Robert Best, a professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the School of Medicine, was nominated chair-elect of the Faculty Senate. The election will be held at the Oct. 4 meeting.

Marje Warehime, chair of the Faculty Welfare Committee, reported that 300 flu shots, 50 more than last year, will be available to faculty members at the Thomson Student Health Center.

Bill Hogue, vice president and chief information officer, will speak at the next Faculty Senate meeting at 3 p.m. Oct. 4 in the School of Law Auditorium.

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