The Daily Trojan weighs in on USC’s new CFO, and the need to invest in the workers and faculty who make our university great:
“As the University grows in reputation as a top-ranked research university, students and University workers alike have consistently challenged its stance on socially responsible growth. In June, the removal of the University’s employees’ $30 per month reduced-price transit passes caused public media blowback and made employees’ daily lives more difficult. The proposed re-development of the University Village raised further concerns over gentrification in the local community. The recent rally by subcontracted USC janitors protesting contractor Aramark’s lack of raises and unfair work conditions have made issues with employment plain. A litany of protests by non-tenured faculty demanding higher wages and a right to unionize further question USC’s growth.
As new administrators like Provost Michael Quick and Staten determine the course of the University, responses to worker rights have consistently denied more negotiating power to those who serve the foundation of our University. As Staten becomes a new voice which profoundly influences University financial decisions, he should focus on expanding services for University workers and listening to student voices on socially responsible investments.”
Read the whole thing here.

From Annenberg TV News:

 
“USC collected $1.3 billion in tuition money in 2014, 65% of its total revenue. Most of that money went to employee compensation. 63% of expenses, some $1.2 billion, were employement-related, including salary, bonuses and health care. 
Still, some employees are getting paid more than others. President Nikias makes almost $1.6 million a year. Athletic director Pat Haden made $2.5 million in 2013.” 
ICYMI: Non-tenure track faculty make an average of $5,044 per course.
Read the whole article here.

The LA Times reports:
“Haden, whose annual salary and benefit package at USC is $2.5 million, collected about $135,000 combined in annual fees from four charitable foundations, according to the most recent Internal Revenue Service filings for the school and the nonprofits.
Most foundations and other types of charities do not pay their board members, nonprofit watchdogs said, expecting them to volunteer their time. Asked why he accepted fees from the organizations, Haden said through a USC spokesman that the other directors for the four foundations also are paid.”
That’s a lot of money.
ICYMI, many of our professors are barely making ends meet.

From the AP’s Josh Boak, more on rising student debt loads and the long term effects on families:
“America’s crushing surge of student debt, now at $1.2 trillion, has bred a disturbing new phenomenon: School loans that span multiple generations within families. Weighed down by their own loans, many parents lack the means to fund their children’s educations without sinking even deeper into debt.” 
USC is no exception. The average borrower is now looking at $28,474 in undergraduate student debt upon graduation.¹

Among all universities in the country, USC is ranked 5^th in graduate student loan debt. That’s $460 million of debt to USC graduate students in 2013-2014.²

Read the whole article here.

1 SOURCE: College Insight indicates USC’s graduates average $28,474 in debt upon graduation: http://college-insight.org/#spotlight/go&h=0ec593691290fb03da41effda3bf4911

² SOURCE: Center for American Progress Analysis of U.S. Department of Education Data: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/about/data-center/student/title-iv

Fed up with a higher education system that prioritizes profits above all else, students and faculty are fighting back against exploitation in universities across the country. From Salon:
“Per-course pay for adjunct faculty averages around $2,800. Three courses is typically considered full-time. Trevithick is teaching six. At the average rate, if he did that in both spring and fall — the equivalent of working 80 hours a week, 10 months of the year — he’d make less than $34,000 pre-tax. And that’s at the high end: According to a 2014 congressional report, the median salary for an adjunct was $22,041. 
This exploitation of low-wage faculty is part of what’s known as the corporatization of higher education. Increasingly, both public and private colleges are being run on the cost-cutting model of American business. Which presents a burning question: If faculty are being paid less, class sizes are growing and tuition is higher than ever, where is the money going?”
Head over to Salon for the full article.