Dear Trojan Advocate,

I’m going to do my best to distill a complex and layered problem into small bite size pieces so that we can all be on the same page. I’ll begin with the problem, go into a little bit of history and then you can proceed to deep dive into the update titled “Your Tuition Dollars Went Where?!” below.

One more note, as you will notice, I am basing this off of credible sources of articles that have recently published the relevant stories about the (VAC) online USC Social Work Program. These sources include the Wall Street Journal, LA Times and others as well.

Lastly, please support this petition by signing and sharing it with a fellow Trojan, if this resonates with you. 

Fight On!

Key Players

Here are some names you should become familiar with, if you aren't already so:

Provost C.L. Max Nikias

Marilyn Flynn

Karen Bass

Mark Ridley-Thomas

Chip Paucek 

The Problem

Two Things To Be Aware Of:

“An analysis conducted by the century foundation concluded that “by and large, contracted online programs in higher education are wolves in sheep’s clothing: predatory for-profit actors masquerading as some of the nation’s most trustworthy public universities.” (Hall and Dudley, 2019)”

"As the LA Times noted, USC gave 2U control over marketing and recruiting based on a 60-percent revenue sharing agreement. "Enrollment exploded," increasing from 900 in 2010 to 3,500 in 2016 — unsustainably, according to the paper. (Schaffhauser, D. 2019)“

In a nutshell, the problem is about transparency and accountability or the lack thereof on the part of USC Social Work Program in this case.

Sources indicate that between 2008 and 2010, Nikias entered into an agreement with a for-profit firm known as 2U INC. 

After this agreement was made, student enrollment soared. In fact, so much so, that the social work program realized that it was unsustainable due to associated costs with having to hire more teachers to keep up with the demand (Ryan and Hamilton, 2019). 

Eventually, everything came crashing down hard, like an implosion and caused a budget crisis because of money matters (Ryan and Hamilton, 2019). 

The situation got desperate as sources state that this is when the former USC’s Social Work Dean Marilyn Flynn started to accept students that did not meet the 3.0 GPA requirements, on a conditional basis. It is also worth noting that the contract with 2U was renewed until 2030 (Schaffhauser, D. 2019). 

"As part of a contract renegotiation, the company donated $2.5 million to the social work school to endow Flynn’s academic chair and made a separate donation to a $6-billion capital campaign spearheaded by Nikias. Paucek’s wife, Gabrielle, enrolled in USC’s online master’s in teaching in 2012 and later that year recorded a promotional video extolling it as “the best program there is. (Ryan and Hamilton, 2019)"

The bottom line is that it affected learning outcomes as many part-time professor jobs were eliminated. Professors came out stating that it was “impossible” to teach this way and that it was not good for the teachers nor the students (Ryan and Hamilton, 2019). Professors complained that they had to work harder to get students up-to-speed to do graduate level coursework (Ryan and Hamilton, 2019). 

Here’s the kicker:

Politicians such as Karen Bass were being favored by getting full-scholarships into the program without even applying to the USC Social Worker program (Beals, 2021). It was presented and offered to her. "According to a 2011 letter to Bass from the House Ethics Committee, Flynn told officials that she personally made the decision to give the scholarship to Bass without any application because she viewed Bass as a “worthy recipient,” the Times said. (Beals, 2021)“

In addition, a relative of Ridley-Thomas, also received a full scholarship and this where dirty politics came into play as you’ll find out in the updates below (Tapp, 2021). 

In summary, we had periods of unsustainable growth and sharp crashes and in the midst of this, bills still had to paid. However, it begs the question, how much time was put into creating a quality program if there was all this pressure throughout this time? 

Think about:

• The quality of your instruction and the feedback you received as a student. 
• The quality of your ASYNC material. Were there any classes that you felt the ASYNC was inadequate?
• Your field placement experiences especially those outside of the Southern California area.
• Your lack of access to educational services such as the immersion programs that got cancelled due to budget concerns.
• Your experiences with career services as a VAC student and being able to apply for jobs outside of the Southern California area 
• And compare it with the amount of debt you have now accrued. How would you feel knowing that a good chunk your debt was going towards a for-profit firm that relies on USC for 20% of its overall revenue and not on your education? What if your experience could have been better? 

Ask yourself:

1. Did the cost justify the value if you consider the environmental context of what has transpired, without any disclosure to you?
2. Would you still have enrolled to USC if you knew what was going on behind the scenes?

Sources show that previous responses from the university, for the most part echoed the following: "In a statement to the times, USC said that it could not comment on "what policies and procedures were in place at the School of Social Work 10 years ago," as the social work program was under "new leadership. (Beals, 2021)”

Meanwhile the partnership between USC and 2U still stands until 2030 based on a decision that was made over a decade ago.

Is that your burden to bear?

I hope you enjoyed this appetizer and will share it with others who are hungry for change.

Dinner can be found in the updates below.

Bon Appetite!

Sources:

Beals, M. (2021, November 11). Ethics panel cleared bass for $95K USC scholarship: Report. TheHill. Retrieved November 15, 2021, from https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/581051-ethics-panel-cleared-bass-for-95k-usc-scholarship-report

Hall, S., & Dudley, T. (2019, September 19). Dear colleges: Take control of your online courses. The Century Foundation. Retrieved November 15, 2021, from https://tcf.org/content/report/dear-colleges-take-control-online-courses/?session=1

Ryan, H., & Hamilton, M. (2019, June 6). Must reads: Online degrees made USC the world's biggest Social Work School. then things went terribly wrong. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 15, 2021, from https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-usc-social-work-20190606-story.html

 Ryan, H., & Hamilton, M. (2019, May 8). USC considers deep cuts at Social Work School after revelations of gaping deficit. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 15, 2021, from https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-usc-social-work-finances-20190508-story.html

 Schaffhauser, D. (2019, September 12). 2U calls for Transparency In Online Program Management. Campus Technology. Retrieved November 15, 2021, from https://campustechnology.com/articles/2019/09/12/2u-calls-for-transparency-in-online-program-management.aspx?admgarea=news&m=1&fbclid=IwAR2yVaJsEhOXQKXxPAyCKcpp7rMxV-mu4-PEsikodWavTqMOiaunF8FuWhk

 Tapp, T. (2021, October 20). L.A. City Council suspends Mark Ridley-Thomas after federal bribery and conspiracy indictment. Deadline. Retrieved November 15, 2021, from https://deadline.com/2021/10/los-angeles-city-councilman-mark-ridley-thomas-usc-dean-indicted-on-federal-corruption-charges-1234855684/