University of South Carolina head to get pay boost

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The president of South Carolina’s flagship university is set to receive a 21 percent raise that boosts his pay to $724,000 a year.

The State newspaper reports (http://bit.ly/R5PwsB ) that University of South Carolina President Harris Pastides also is set to receive a $250,000 bonus if he remains at the university in five years.

Pastides now receives $600,000 a year. That includes $265,000 from state funds, $270,000 from the USC Educational Foundation and deferred compensation.

The school’s board of trustees is asking the foundation for another $125,000 to take Pastides’ total compensation to $724,000 a year when it meets next month.

Pastides is in his fifth year leading USC, a period within which the school has set records for research grants and fundraising and the Gamecocks’ athletics programs has flourished.