USC plans $15 million Honors College addition

The University of South Carolina is not finished building at its acclaimed Honors College in downtown Columbia.

School officials say adding a $15 million wing to the college’s 537-bed residence hall — with more residential suites, classrooms and office space — will allow Honors College administrators to move their offices to the six-story facility. Most staff offices now are on USC’s historic Horseshoe, though a few are at the residence hall.

The addition will make room for the Honors College’s growing incoming freshman classes, Honors College dean Steve Lynn said.

“We don’t want the size of our dorm to be a limiting factor in recruiting such superb students,” Lynn said.

The addition has not yet been approved by USC trustees. But the school already has landed some state money for the project, which will add a third wing to the now-F-shaped building on Blossom Street, between Main and Sumter streets.

Construction tentatively is scheduled to begin during the 2018-19 academic year, USC spokesman Wes Hickman said.

“This is a project that has been looked at for quite a while,” Hickman said. “We know we have the top honors college program in the country, and we believe it’s important for that program to have a home, a headquarters, something that we can point to and say, ‘That’s where the nation’s best honors college is.’ ”

Officials said moving administrators’ offices into a newly built third wing will bring an added sense of unity to the college, established in 1978 and considered one of the best public honors programs in the country.

It also may save some honors students an uphill trek on Sumter Street to the Horseshoe to meet with advisers or deans.

“When students are walking past an adviser’s office, it’s easy to say ‘Hi,’ ask a question, and engage in conversations that might be very useful,” Lynn said. “When we're able to add more offices where students live, we’ll be able to rotate more people into that area and work with the housing people to facilitate even more interaction and sense of community.”

The third wing was included in early plans for the Honors Residence, which opened in 2009. But it was nixed before construction began because of costs, Hickman said.

USC already has secured $5 million from state lawmakers for the project. That allotment made up a hefty chunk of the $8.5 million in one-time money for capital projects across the USC system approved by legislators.

The other $10 million must come from USC’s housing and institutional fund. Under state law, the school cannot use tuition or state appropriations for the project because housing – like parking – is considered an auxiliary expense.

“This is one of our crown jewels, and it is an asset that we need to take care of,” Hickman said.

This story was originally published September 1, 2016 at 10:43 AM.