VP of admissions to step down in June 2020
Vice President of Admissions and Planning Katharine Harrington will step down in June 2020, Provost Charles Zukoski announced Thursday. Harrington oversees the offices of Admission, Financial Aid, Institutional Research and the Registrar, as well as Orientation and Welcome Week programs.
Under Harrington, who previously served as dean of admission and financial aid, USC’s acceptance rate decreased from 27% to 11%, standardized test scores for admitted students rose from the 87th to the 96th percentile and the University’s graduation rate increased. She has served in the role since August 2010.
“On behalf of the USC community, I express our deepest gratitude for her extraordinary work and our enormous pride in what she has accomplished over the past 15 years as our chief enrollment officer,” Zukoski wrote. “She has been an essential part of USC’s growth into a top-tier global university.”
According to the memo, Harrington will take a sabbatical and then return to teach at the Marshall School of Business, where she is currently a professor of clinical management and organization. Harrington also holds an academic appointment in the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.
The University has not announced Harrington’s successor, and said the administration will keep the community informed on the selection process.
“She provided the leadership and the strategic guidance that has transformed our undergraduate population into one of the most geographically, socioeconomically and culturally inclusive student bodies in the country,” Zukowski wrote. “Her work has strengthened our university community, bolstered our academic achievements and heightened the quality of the student experience. She simultaneously developed financial aid strategies that have ensured all of our students receive as much support from us as possible.”
USC declined to comment, and Dean of Admissions Timothy Brunold could not be reached for comment.
The announcement comes months after an FBI investigation revealed a college admissions scheme that allowed wealthy parents to pay to falsify their children’s test scores and bribe athletic officials to get their children a spot at elite universities such as USC, Stanford University and Yale University.
USC was the most implicated University in the investigation, and multiple high-ranking officials and coaches in the Athletics Department have been terminated and charged. Since the investigation, USC’s admissions processes have been under intense scrutiny.
Former interim president Wanda Austin announced sweeping admissions reforms, including changes in the relationship between the Office of Admission and the Athletics Department.
Since the selection of Carol Folt as president, multiple administrative officials have stepped down. Provost Michael Quick and Senior Vice President for Legal Affairs Carol Mauch Amir retired in June and Athletic Director Lynn Swann resigned earlier this month.