USC responds to administrative staff increase

University administration responded to a study showing a 305.8 percentage increase in administrative employees at USC, arguing that the data may not accurately reflect administrative staffing. The administration is currently looking into the data released by the New England Center for Investigative Reporting in a 2014 study.

Todd Dickey, senior vice president of administration, commented on the staffing increase. Dickey said that the way the government classifies employees changed in 1990, so the data may not portray staffing levels accurately.

“Regardless, USC has grown over the past 25 years,” Dickey said in a statement to the Daily Trojan. “Our healthcare enterprise expanded as USC acquired hospitals and clinical practices, increasing administrative and clinical staff who are not on faculty. The increase in university staffing also includes new researchers and their laboratories, centers and institutes, which require more staff to ensure the highest levels of academic research.”

According to the U.S. Department of Education, a university administrator is someone whose work “is directly related to management policies or general business operations of the institution,” which includes employees working in a range of capacities such as marketing, food services, residence and health services.

Dickey said the University also hired additional staff to support the $6 billion fundraising initiative.

“This fundraising — achieved with an improved cost-to-dollar-raised efficiency — helps generate additional support for faculty, students and academic programs,” Dickey said. “However, the University is always looking for ways to streamline costs by reviewing appropriate staffing levels, with a careful eye towards maintaining or improving academic service levels.”