Vice Provost for Graduate Programs to step down


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Vice Provost for Graduate Programs Sally Pratt will step down from her administrative position June 30, Executive Vice Provost Elizabeth Graddy announced in a communitywide email Friday. She will continue to serve the University by returning to her position in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures in the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.

“Vice Provost Platt has worked continuously to advance graduate education at USC, implementing new policies to enhance communications between graduate students and administration, and empowering faculty and staff by providing the data and tools necessary to make our graduate programs as strong, diverse, and competitive as possible,” Graddy wrote.

Graddy commended Pratt’s leadership over the past 10 years in the role and the advancement of new and existing graduate programs under her purview, including the creation of the Graduate Deans Council, the Graduate School Advisory Council and the Friends of the Graduate School. These working groups, comprising deans, faculty and a mix of faculty and staff, respectively, were formed to further oversight of graduate academic policies and strengthen communication between graduate programs and the University administration. 

In addition to bolstering intrauniversity ties, Pratt established the Graduate Initiative for Diversity, Inclusion, and Access to increase the access underrepresented students could have to USC with various community and school partnerships, the email read.

Graddy traced Pratt’s work to strengthening the visibility and prestige of USC’s graduate programs with her previous presidential role on the executive board of the Association of American Universities Association of Graduate Schools and her current position as chair of the board of directors of the Council of Graduate Schools. 

Before assuming her role as vice provost, Pratt served as the dean of academic programs in Dornsife from 1997 to 2005. Along with her faculty position in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Pratt holds the post of Dornsife’s faculty development director of the humanities. 

“Her commitment and leadership have been essential to the programs’ continued success, and her tireless efforts have produced far-reaching benefits across the university,” Graddy wrote. “I wish her all the best in her return to the faculty.”