Academic freedom, free expression, and open discourse are among USC’s core values and essential to advancing the university’s educational and research missions. Across the country, those values are being tested in new and unexpected ways, and sometimes causing significant disruption to university communities. The Joint Provost-Senate Task Force was created to review USC’s existing policies and procedures in light of ongoing developments across the country and at USC. The task force will assess how well prepared the university is to meet emerging challenges, examine both the rights and responsibilities of faculty in defending and promoting academic freedom, and consider whether and how existing policies can be amended to provide a more robust institutional setting.
The task force is charged to:
- Summarize the state of academic freedom and open discourse in higher education.
- Summarize the legal environment regarding academic freedom, including federal laws (especially Title VI and Title IX), California’s Leonard Law, and agency rulings such as those from the Department of Education, and how those laws and regulations affect the university’s practices.
- Summarize the rights and responsibilities of faculty with respect to academic freedom and open discourse under current university policies, procedures, and practices.
- Consider whether modifications to university policies, procedures, and practices would support the core values of USC and help the university to advance its mission.
Co-Chairs
- John Matsusaka; Charles F. Sexton Chair in American Enterprise and Professor of Finance and Business Economics (Marshall School of Business)
- Robert Rasmussen; J. Thomas McCarthy Trustee Chair in Law and Political Science and Professor of Law (Gould School of Law)
Members
- Hossein Hashem; Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (Viterbi School of Engineering)
- Velina Hasu-Houston; Distinguished Professor of Theatre in Dramatic Writing (School of Dramatic Arts)
- Anna Krylov; USC Associates Chair in Natural Science and Professor of Chemistry (Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences)
- Morris Levy; Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations (Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences)
- Etan Orgel; Professor of Clinical Pediatrics (Keck School of Medicine)
- Dan Pecchenino; Professor (Teaching) of Writing and former President of the Academic Senate (Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences)
- Neeraj Sood; Professor of Public Policy (Price School of Public Policy)
- Miki Turner; Professor of Professional Practice of Journalism (Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism)
Advisory Members:
- Andrew Guzman; Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
- Beong-Soo Kim; Senior Vice President and General Counsel
- Marty Levine; Vice Provost and Senior Advisor to the Provost; UPS Foundation Chair in Law and Gerontology, and Professor of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Science (Gould School of Law)