Throughout its rich history, the University of South Carolina has continually found new ways to meet its mission of transforming the lives of all South Carolinians by delivering the highest quality education for all qualified students in South Carolina while providing research, leadership, and service to all sectors of the state. This commitment to focused research and active community engagement throughout the state as well as to outstanding educational programs across disciplines and regions is essential to the future of the state. In addition to these shared values, each of our campuses, also has a history, a distinct mission, and a set of strengths that impact the nature and scope of its activities. The unique qualities of our campuses must be nurtured and sustained, not only with an eye to how they complement one another but also with due consideration for what sets them apart from their peers.

Relationships among the USC institutions are collegial and collaborative, but in order to mobilize the educational, intellectual, economic, and human resources of the full university, President Harris Pastides instituded a USC System Academic Planning Council. Through its deliberations, the USC System Academic Planning council further strengthens the relationships among our institutions as they share best practices and approaches to academic and other matters.

The general purpose of the council will be to discuss each institution’s long range academic plans; to strengthen system collaboration, planning, and information sharing; and to advise the president on ways to promote and ensure the continued quality and effectiveness of our system institutions and initiatives.