Part 137: Faculty Unionization at USC – What Does It Mean to Be a Trojan?

Published December 8, 2024. Updated Deember 9, 2024.

Dec 08, 2024

Provost Andrew T. Guzman, Dean Emily Roxworthy of the USC School of Dramatic Arts, USC President Carol Folt and Dean Elizabeth M. Daley of the USC School of Cinematic Arts celebrate the renovation of the United University Church of Christ. (USC Photo/Gus Ruelas)

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By Zachary Ellison, Independent Journalist

The faculty at the University of Southern California (USC) had seen enough. The last time things approached this point, it was 2016, and I worked in the Office of the Provost, led by then Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs Michael Quick. A skilled administrator, Provost Quick was largely well-liked on campus and respected, and the biggest and first challenge that he faced was unionization. The efforts of the labor movement in Los Angeles, and most directly the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), were being directed at USC to organize faculty unions at three academic units, the Dornsife College of Letters Arts & Sciences, the Roski School of Art, and the new International Academy. Now non-tenured, so-called Research, Teaching, Practitioner, and Clinical Faculty (RTPC) are organizing under the United Auto Workers (UAW) just as graduate student workers have in a rebuke to USC.

I don’t blame them. The trust of shared governance, as Provost Quick advocated for in both creating the RTPC term (really it sounded better) and ultimately beating the unionization effort at the ballot box in Dornsife by a narrow margin, legally beating back the effort at Roski, had some promise worth believing in on campus. After announcing sweeping cuts to staff benefits with limited rollbacks, the threat of faculty members organizing is one that USC simply can’t afford to ignore because, at the end of the day, someone has to actually work in the classroom to generate tuition. USC is the largest private employer in Los Angeles, with more than 22,000 faculty and staff. After a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) report found the USC had undermined the election, Provost Quick said in a statement: “The election in Dornsife College that rejected the SEIU was free and fair,” adding, “The USC faculty knows I am a strong supporter of faculty governance and never threatened it.” There never was a re-vote.

The broad support of the faculty this time appears to be so significant that it’s unlikely that USC’s administration can squash the effort. The United Faculty UAW (UF-UAW) Instagram already features 13 faculty profiles with support, noting 2 days ago that a majority of “non-tenure track full-time, part-time, and adjunct faculty at USC support forming our union” and have side official cards to that effect. The movement appears too big and too widespread for the administration to engage in the type of alleged union-busting that I witnessed happening in 2016. Much of this is about compensation, but the USC UF-UAW also describes “working conditions and having a stronger voice in our workplace” as an issue. The UF-UAW must still go to the NLRB and then hold an election on campus in order to formally organize. There appears to be less concern that there should be about the grievance process, something that graduate students sought a particular carve-out for last year in unionizing given that reportedly USC is still pursuing disciplinary charges against multiple faculty for having participated in campus protests earlier this year over the Israel-Palestine conflict.

This despite President Folt being censured by faculty. Compared to students and staff, faculty are less vulnerable to administrative abuse given the strength of USC’s Academic Senate in contrast to USC’s Staff Assembly or student governments. Strangely, these types of retaliatory investigations, above and beyond a normal response to protests on college campuses, are being carried out by USC’s Office of Professionlism and Ethics (OPE), which was created in 2018 following the initiation of the Task Force on Workplace Standards and Employee Wellness in 2017. Literally, USC rolled over its administrative response to Carmen Puliafito into a defense of university response to George Tyndall, and it didn’t come off well. President Max Nikias resigned, and now President Carol Folt, having announced her retirement set for June 30, 2025, is now a proverbial lame duck. USC is supposed to roll out a search committee next year, but the new unionization effort is likely to slip under the leadership blanket. President Folt has made no statement, nor has still new Provost Andrew Guzman, formerly the Dean of the Gould School of Law. Wise move?

One of the cruxes of the Task Force was how to respond to bad behavior, and the conclusion of so many was that had there been a proper investigation into Carmen Puliafito, much less George Tyndall, that the investigators, whomever they made be, would nip it in the bud. It’s no small irony that OPE created ostensibly to protect the USC Community is now a vehicle of repression, with experienced faculty advisors acting to counsel colleagues through a Byzantine administrative process. As highlighted in the Los Angeles Times by journalist Jaweed Kaleem, the discipline has been handed down at the student-level by the Office of Community Expectations, housed under Vice Provost of Student Affairs Monique Allard, who in turn reports to Provost Guzman. The process left one student remarking, “USC’s really leaning into the idea that the process is the punishment.” Accordingly, this has included requiring students to write forced apology letters. It’s not clear if USC is still pursuing students or staff, but now, for the first time since 1880, with the addition of a metal gate, USC is entirely a locked-down campus. Strangely, some take this as a sign of progress.

In just the span of a little over 10 years dating back to 2013, USC has gone into security-state mode. The campus used to have an open feel, and it also used to have better engagement with the community. USC famously was featured for its community engagement, but now it doesn’t even seem to want to disclose how much money annually is being raised as part of its Good Neighbors Campaign, a university-community partnership grant program. In its 30th year now, dating back to USC’s response to the 1993 riots, the university leadership comes off as less progressive than ever before in its modern history. Without even getting deep into the transparency issues around its campus climate, it suffices to say that OPE led by Vice President Michael Blanton, plus or minus, mostly minus, it’s Equal Opportunity and Title IX Office (EEO-TIX) have failed in re-instilling confidence in USC’s administration. Graduate student workers had to all but threaten to strike to get out of its system.

The good vibes at USC are long gone, as I am personally. For nearly a decade, as an alum and staffer, I believe in the power of USC to be a force for exceptional good, but now it mostly seems to be a force for senior administration to self-enrich itself, failing to appreciate the most basic principles of true leadership. USC’s Board of Trustees has hardly revitalized itself, despite promised reform, which mostly seemed to be a slight reduction in size under Rick Caruso’s right-hand, former Chief of Staff and current SVP of University Relations Sam Garrison. The increasingly secretive and opaque senior administration, which ultimately reports to Board Chairwoman Suzanne Nora Johnson, has simply retrenched itself, failing to make major changes in spite of the scandals and making a mockery of the phrase culture change. Simply put, USC’s Board of Trustees is comprised of extremely wealthy individuals; many with only fleeting connections to the school or Los Angeles are unrepresentative and trapped in the dark. Just four days ago the Board rules were amended without any statement.

None have made any visible public statements to show that they are listening to the campus despite the faculty uproar over USC’s Israel-Palestine response, which included blacklisting the valedictorian and cancelling the main commencement ceremony. All of which leaves you questioning if USC even will have a graduation this year. Most certainly, these issues aren’t going to just go away by waiting them out; there will always be some threat, and peace in the Middle East still seems quite a long way out. The ability of USC to turn against its own has real consequences, including in the classroom. An otherwise seemingly successful student who, in a moment of frustration, attacked a faculty member faces a preliminary hearing on January 13, 2024, for felony charges. USC has made no statement about that matter, nor has it moved to replace its first Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Dr. Christopher Manning, who left in February 2024 and still has not been replaced. I met with Manning on the day of my termination to highlight how inconsistently USC had diversity, equity, and inclusion content on its webpages and how inconsistently it made crucial mental health support resources available online to students. Violent outbursts, feelings of frustration, and high tension are the consequences.

To their credit, some USC faculty get it. One states about the unionization effort, “Let’s ‘Fight On’ together to make USC a more equitable, fair, and just working and learning environment.” Others state a need for a “collective voice” and a need to “fight to uphold our values.” Make no mistake, after being retaliated against, I’ve gone without a steady paycheck and quality, reliable benefits now for more than 2 plus years. I get it; bread and butter issues are critical at the end of the day, and USC’s Academic Senate has been far from perfect at leveraging, but they’ve tried! In response to an Academic Senate investigation into the Israel-Palestine protests, Provost Andrew Guzman sought to argue that they had unfairly acted in censuring President Folt and analyzing the response, writing that it was “euphemistic and incomplete” in regards to acts of vandalism. Moreover, he suggested that “the report fails to consider the significant legal obligations under which the university operates” and that there was no viable alternative to cancelling the main ceremony in Alumni Park or to moving it to the Coliseum. With all due respect to Provost Guzman, there’s always a choice, even if you might have to move mountains to achieve our goals.

The cowardice of USC leadership has never been worse, and there’s nothing to guarantee that it’s going to get any better. USC is now frantically ordering international students to plan to return before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. President Carol Folt has made no statement on the election, nor has there been any move by institutions broadly yet as happened to protect the Deferred Action for Childhood Programs (DACA). To their credit, both former Provost Quick and President Max Nikias sent a clear message that they wouldn’t accept it, with Nikias writing on September 4, 2017: “As president of one of the most global and diverse university communities in the world, I am deeply concerned about the adverse impact that potential DACA changes might have on our DACA and undocumented students.” Nikias added, “As naturalized citizens, we know firsthand the foundational role that higher education plays in empowering and enabling us all to succeed and flourish, both personally and professionally.” How hard is it to stand by this principle?

Where is Carol Folt’s statement to reassure the community at this time? Will she be afraid to be seen as somehow too partisan in standing by her students? I can still remember the DACA students praying outside of my office in the Bovard Administration Building. I’m glad their prayers were answered. At a contentious Academic Senate meeting on November 20, Folt and Guzman had scant little to say on this issue, focusing mostly on the financial impacts of a Trump administration. Sadly, USC’s almost been financially run into the ground, with President Folt stating, according to Annenberg Media, “that USC’s individual schools are no longer enrolling enough students to meet their budgets and international students’ visas could be affected under the Trump administration, affecting how much money USC can spend.” USC has implemented a “hiring pause” and slashed budgets across the board. Yet there’s no evidence of any reductions in executive compensation, much less a new business plan to enroll more students at the famously selective institution. Tuition now stands at $69,904 for 2024-2025, not including room and board. There are absolutely no indicators that Folt and Guzman know how to turn this ship around, and that should be extremely worrisome to all members of the USC community.

Will USC simply go broke under the weight of its own behemoth? Tuition is the single largest source of revenue. Faculty union or no faculty union, USC is going to have to figure this out, and it’s going to have to do it without me! Thanks to the capriciousness of certain members of USC’s administration, I’m a goner, having been effectively blacklisted for having to dared challenge USC’s bloated ranks of bureaucrats to do their jobs. Standing against political corruption was my other mistake, and there’s little sign of a sudden infusion of moral courage into leadership. The powers that be at USC have never been so certain, with Provost Guzman refusing to answer questions about the cost of new security measures. During my time, we built the Academic Senate a new meeting room in Doheny Library, the old gathering places in USC’s Religious Centers having grown too stagnant. It was an overture of clear respect, of honor. Sadly, USC shows little respect for its tradition these days.

When USC’s leadership refuses to engage in honest dialogue with their own faculty, staff, and students, they fail the USC community. By all signs, whoever inherits USC from Carol Folt is going to take over an administrative and financial mess. Restoring true order on campus, rather than forced security, much less breaking even, won’t be easy. Instead, so often as of late, USC’s leadership has chosen to act dishonorably, whether out of convenience or fear; they’ve taken the easy way out. In replacing USC’s Five Traits of the Trojan with Six Unifying Values, the place simply became more reticent, more bureaucratic, and more cloistered than it needs to be in order to achieve security. You don’t have to be Benjamin Franklin to know that there’s a trade-off there! Whatever is wrong with these people, it’s beyond clear that a university that features a statue in the middle of its main campus as a tribute to youth lacks vitality. USC leaders are now even planning to slash the printing budget of the Daily Trojan!

When you run away from the difficult decisions, when you lack true accountability, and you avoid meaningful transparency. When you spend a small fortune on attorney’s and refuse to accept what you’re being told about the conduct of your most privileged employee’s, this is what you get—a failing institution. Whoever takes over USC is going to need to learn to cut the fat in order to grow more bone. Tommy Trojan didn’t get lean by lacking fortitude. After a rules tussle, USC’s Trojan Knights overcame encampment rules to guard Tommy this year, but the USC Helene’s refused to guard Hecuba at the sparkling USC Village overnight in solidarity. Issuing a statement that the “Helenes Executive Board holds ideals of progress, social good and civil action at its core.” Boldly pronouncing opposition to a “double standard,” judging, “It is clear now that the recent tradition of our administration does not,” and ringing out, “For these reasons, this year, we will not be resuming our traditions as normal.” Let’s hope for peace in the Middle East, and that USC gets it together.

UPDATE: USC’s reported budgetary loss for 2023-2024 was $158 million. Annual gaps over the last 6 years have ranged from $36 million to $586 million, which USC attributing this to “legal cost repayments and COVID,” according to an Annenberg Media report. USC says they working on a “brighter and more sustainable future.”

Link: USC’s non-tenure track faculty and adjuncts intend to form union

Link: (UF-UAW) UAW United Faculty - Research, Teaching, Practitioner, and Clinical Faculty at USC

Link: Union withdraws petition, drops charges against Roski

Link: University plans to cut employee benefits

Link: USC violated labor rules by interfering with union vote, federal report says

Link: United Faculty_UAW Instagram

Link: Task Force on Workplace Standards and Employee Wellness

Link: Apology letters. Suspensions. After protest citations, students face campus consequences

Link: USC fully enclosed by permanent fencing

Link: USC Good Neighbors Campaign

Link: USC Release Annual Title IX Data to the USC Community

Link: USC Board of Trustees