USC’s Board of Trustees heard several updates during its February meeting Friday (Feb. 21), including presentations from the Brain Health Network, the Division of Development and more.
Brain Health update
Leo Bonhila, senior associate dean for research at the School of Medicine, provided an update on the progress of USC’s Brain Health Network over the past year.
The network already has five clinical sites across the state in Darlington, Fairfield, Oconee, Orangeburg, Richland and Sumter counties. Since January 2024, the network has had over 400 patient visits and included 56 referring providers.
Thanks to the Brain Health Network, the time it takes from a patient’s referral to developing a patient care plan has been cut from the national average of nine months to four weeks or less.
USC has also been awarded a $1 million grant by the Duke Endowment that will fund three new Brain Health Network sites in Colleton, Florence and Jasper counties. This allows the network to expand into rural areas with historically underserved populations.
Completion of the Brain Health Center in Columbia is still on schedule with the plan to begin seeing patients there in early 2026.
Other updates, approvals
The Division of Development gave a brief update on its performance this fiscal year. The division has already raised over 75 percent of its fundraising goal of $145 million and is on pace for what could be a record-breaking year.
Development is 66.1 percent of the way toward hitting its goal for total alumni donors and 53.7 percent of the way towards hitting its first-time donor goal.
The division already has 11 donors pledging a million dollars or more this fiscal year.
Student Health and Well-Being gave a presentation on mental health resources at USC, introducing the university’s first executive director of mental health Brian Lusk.
The presentation highlighted a “stepped care” approach that will offer tailored approaches that cater to individual student needs. The approach is designed to provide alternatives to traditional individual therapy sessions to increase the access to mental health resources.
The board approved a resolution Friday declaring institutional compliance with non-discrimination laws.