William G. Tierney in Los Angeles Times: USC has a new president. Now the trustees and faculty have to change
This op-ed — authored by Pullias co-director William G. Tierney — was originally published in The Los Angeles Times on March 21, 2019.
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To say USC has had a dramatic couple of years would be an understatement.
A drug-using medical school dean, a health center doctor accused of sexual misconduct, President C.L. Max Nikias pushed out under duress, a business school dean repositioned and now, USC occupies the front and center position in an admissions scandal that has implicated four members of the athletic team in bribery charges. To make matters worse, earlier this month a senior at USC’s music school was shot to death in a robbery attempt a few blocks from campus.
Into all this tribulation comes Carol L. Folt, named USC’s new president on Wednesday. Folt is the former chancellor of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and a biologist by training. Taking charge at USC — under normal circumstances a dream job in higher education — will without doubt test her leadership skills. Just as surely, the coming days will test the entire university’s capacity for long-needed change.
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Read the rest of the op-ed in The Los Angeles Times. Tierney is an expert on higher education policy analysis, governance, and administration; his research interests pertain to faculty productivity, decision making, organizational re-engineering, and issues of equity.