USC’s next president should have unimpeachable moral character and integrity, embrace meaningful community involvement and exhibit a deep commitment to transparent and accountable leadership.
That is the overarching message that USC faculty members, students, employees and other stakeholders emphatically shared with university leaders as the search for the institution’s 12th president continues.
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Currently, our anticipated changes encompass the broad areas of ethics and core values; culture change; reporting and investigations; and human resources. As part of these changes, we will introduce needed infrastructure and technologies, recruit new leadership in critical areas, and revisit important policies and procedures with far-reaching input. Among our most pressing priorities, there was a clear and immediate need to improve in the area of complaint reporting, so we have already established the Office of Professionalism and Ethics (OPE). This new unit is transforming USC’s system for complaint monitoring and investigation, creating a centralized flow of information that improves our ability to address sensitive matters swiftly and systematically….
With the addition of ten new counseling positions, new counseling and mental health services director Dr. Robert Mendola is expanding capacity to better meet mental health needs of USC students. Brenda Ingram, who came to USC in July to oversee relationship and sexual violence prevention and services, is already workings towards creating a cultural sea change. USC Student Health has also created a series of patient education materials (including several videos) to help them navigate to resources, understand standard of care for sensitive exams (publication is available in Chinese translation), and advocate on behalf of their own health….
Attorney and USC alumnus Michael Blanton oversees the university’s new Office of Professionalism and Ethics, a new office dedicated to handling complaints and sensitive investigations across the university. The new office will streamline and update the university’s processes for registering and dealing with complaints at all levels on both campuses. By introducing a centralized tracking system, USC administrators can spot trends and respond swiftly when necessary. Blanton, USC’s vice president of professionalism and ethics, expects the office to be formally announced and operational in the next two to three weeks….
The chair of the executive committee of the USC Board of Trustees, Rick Caruso, announced in an August 28 message, the process leading to the selection of the 12th president of the University of Southern California. The search process includes all-campus “listening sessions” (Sept. 13, 17, and 25) on both the University Park and Health Sciences campuses….
Dear Trojan Family, On behalf of USC Student Health, I would like to welcome you back to campus and share updates about our programs and services. Earlier this month, I celebrated one year at USC. During this time, I have focused on improving both the care we provide as well as our ability to improve students’ health and well-being so they can achieve their personal and professional goals. This summer’s developments in the investigations of former gynecologist George Tyndall makes it imperative that this work continues in earnest. I also hope to communicate regularly about the progress we have made….
We continue to improve our student health center, with Dr. Sarah Van Orman, Chief Health Officer at USC Health, leading this transformation. In August 2017, USC brought student health systems under the auspices of our academic medical center, Keck Medicine of USC, in order to further professionalize our care and to bring the resources of our academic medical center to provide the best services to our students, whose well-being and safety is our top priority. Our newly formed Office for Professional Ethics (OPE), led by vice president Michael Blanton, is now operating as a central hub for monitoring, investigation, and tracking of complaints to ensure that, going forward, any issues are rapidly identified and addressed….
Caruso, a USC alumnus, will continue to lead a special committee of the board of trustees overseeing the investigation of Tyndall and the USC student health center. In a letter to “members of the USC Family,” he announced that the special committee hired O’Melveny & Myers, an international law firm, to investigate the conduct and reporting failures of the student health center. Caruso also pledged to bring accountability and transparent reporting practices to the university….
In response to Chinese students’ concerns about the recent scandal, the USC Student Health plans to hire a new Chinese-speaking medical assistant by the start of fall classes, in addition to the current Chinese-speaking assistant on staff. Since April, the USC Student Health has been recruiting a mental health counselor who “is not only bilingual in Chinese, but also understands college student issues,” Chief Student Health Officer, Dr. Sarah Van Orman, told USC Annenberg Media, “It’s a good opportunity for us to look at how we’re taking care of the Chinese students.”…