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145 5 Faculty Governance at the University of Southern California Laura Pulido If USC ever wants to be taken seriously amongst the Big Boys of higher ed, it MUST institute a faculty controlled promotion and tenure system to provide legitimacy. This is something administrators will have a hard time comprehending, because they think prestige is all about grabbing big-name profs with big money, or building big centers for this and that sexy topic, or pleasing the big donors. Those things help, and USC has done a lot of it, but in the end a university’s academic prestige is a subtle thing that rests on the quality of faculty and their reputations among large networks of scholars. That is, the faculty ARE the university. Students come and go, and so do administrators. Faculty need to stay and feel respected, inside and out, for the university to succeed. —Richard Walker, emeritus professor of geography, UC Berkeley1 I write as a faculty member of a wealthy, private institution, the University of Southern California (USC). While there is a rapidly growing literature that explores the current economic crisis and how it is restructuring public universities—and higher education more generally—USC is enjoying unprecedented wealth in addition to new opportunities and privileges. While in some ways, these two situations could not be more distinct, in fact, they are deeply connected. Christopher Newfield has argued that the latest round of attacks on public institutions is restructuring all higher education so that soon only private schools will make up the top-tier universities.2 While many public school faculty are fighting privatization and the erosion of academic quality, there is no escaping the fact that the public–private chasm is growing . Already a small set of elite, private institutions are considered the pinnacle of higher education in the United States and set the standards in many areas of the academy. One sphere that is of grave concern in this moment of 146 · laUra PUlIdO transition is faculty governance. While long considered a hallmark of higher education, its strength and vitality is being challenged by privatization. USC offers one example of how faculty governance works—or perhaps more accurately, does not work—in a culture steeped in privatization. USC has spent the last twenty years working very hard to join the ranks of top-tier private institutions. While its academic profile has improved tremendously and the school continues to advance academically, far less attention has been paid to faculty governance. Yet the issue of faculty governance in a private university should be of concern to everyone in the academy, as the policies, practices, and philosophies of private elite schools are disseminated through the larger culture of higher education. However, it is equally true that care must be taken not to draw too stark a distinction between public and private universities. While there are significant differences, USC is a nonprofit institution that is tax exempt and supposed to serve the public good. While USC routinely uses its private status as a shield to deflect any demands for openness, I wish to problematize the supposed sanctity of its private status in light of the massive public subsidies it receives. In reality, this latest round of “privatization” in higher education is the latest struggle over “who learns, who teaches, what, and to what end.”3 It is my intent in writing this chapter to encourage all members of the academy to reflect on the importance of faculty governance and the price it exacts—either by ignoring it or by fighting for it. A second purpose is to encourage USC faculty in particular to reflect on the current state of faculty governance on our campus and whether this serves us, students, and the larger community. The focus of this chapter is a struggle over USC’s tenure process. Because many people have and are participating in this effort, this chapter should in no way be seen as a definitive or comprehensive account. For one, the story is too vast to be told in the allotted pages. In addition, I am writing from my personal vantage point and experience, with particular attention to issues of faculty governance. It is my hope that others will write their own experiences so a more robust and accurate narrative will emerge. There is much to be learned, analyzed, and shared. I write this chapter as someone involved in critical ethnic studies (CES). My disciplinary affiliation and identity is important because from my perspective , CES...

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