The Culture Journey survey first ran in 2019 and has become a biyearly occurrence under Carol Folt. (Photo by Ling Luo)

ECI recently consulted with USC to conduct a culture assessment.  The article below from USC Annenberg Media discusses the results of the culture assessment.  

Five positive and five worrying findings from the 2024 USC Culture Survey

The survey includes responses from roughly a quarter of USC’s community — but very few students.

USC President Carol Folt on Wednesday released the full results of the 2024 USC Culture Survey, which assesses USC’s commitment to its values of accountability, diversity, equity and inclusion, integrity, excellence, well-being and open communication.

Some results from the more than 15,000 responses showed confidence in the university’s administration. Some did not.

“Our Board of Trustees, the entire university leadership team, and I are committed to ensuring an ethical and inclusive culture at USC that enables us to achieve our moonshots, fulfill our mission, and support every Trojan,” Folt wrote in the email. “Our ongoing Culture Journey is USC’s roadmap for building on the unique strengths of our university community, while helping us address challenges and plan for the future.”

Folt released abbreviated early findings from the survey on June 6. This is Folt’s first university-wide communique of her new term, after university officials told Annenberg Media on Tuesday that her contract had been “amended and extended.” The six values the survey assesses were defined in 2019, the same year Folt started her tenure.

USC partnered with the Ethics & Compliance Initiative (ECI) to create the surveys, choosing ECI based on its experience with high education and reasonable costs as a non-profit, said Stacey Giwa, the Vice President of Culture, Ethics and Compliance, Chief Compliance Officer.

To promote outreach on campus, the university uses more than 40 students and faculty who have previous facilitation training and are being trained specifically to lead discussion sections rather than using a third party. In addition, USC plans to partner with student groups and student government in the Fall to generate ideas for the best approaches to informing students about discussion sessions.

“ECI was a great partner for us because they checked all of those boxes,” Giwa said in an interview Thursday. “Entities will often pay third parties when they want to go into the discussion sessions or the report outs. We think our community primarily wants to talk to other community members.”

The troubling

1. Students didn’t share their thoughts

Only 14% of undergraduates and 17% of graduate students submitted responses for the culture survey. This excludes the input of thousands of students, the majority of the community here at USC.

“On its face, we really want input from our community, especially around the values of open communication and accountability. [Those values] are not as high as excellence, D.E.I. and integrity,” Giwa said.

2. Almost half of respondents said USC leaders don’t take responsibility

40% of all respondents disagreed with the idea that university leadership accepts responsibility for their actions.

3. Faculty said university leaders don’t facilitate open communication

Only 39% of faculty respondents said university leadership actively listens and solicits dialogue. Similarly, only 40% of faculty members said that USC encourages them to speak up.

4. Tenured or tenure-track faculty had the least confidence in the university’s accountability and integrity

Only 36% of tenured or tenure-track faculty said they see accountability at USC, and a mere 45% said they see integrity. Faculty who don’t have tenure or aren’t on the tenure track are slightly more confident, with 46% seeing accountability and 59% seeing integrity.

“I would say, no matter where you score, it’s all valuable information. We do plan and have been engaging with the Academic Senate about the best ways to get the faculty’s input on their responses,” Giwa said. “We want to engage with all the groups because there’s room to highlight our strengths and improve.”

5. Almost a quarter of respondents fear retaliation if they speak out at USC

22% of respondents disagreed with the statement “members of their peer group can raise concerns without fear of retaliation,” and another 23% were neutral on the topic.

“We will stress that [value of communication], and it’s going to be something we focus on. How do we get that confidence [from students to talk]?” Giwa said. “When we do the discussion sessions, we don’t disclose who comes to them, and we summarize and roll up themes. And that’s just a best practice because we want candid conversation.”

The positive

1. Each of the six unifying values was recognized at USC, according to most respondents.

The university community was most confident in USC’s commitment to excellence, with 83% saying they see it at USC. Accountability came in last out of the values, but 59% of respondents still agreed that it was present on campus.

2. The majority of respondents said they believe USC supports their wellbeing

A vast majority of respondents, 83%, said USC provides resources for mental health and wellbeing support, and 82% reported that their peers at USC support their wellbeing.

“When we saw that come in, and it does carry some of the numerous highs, it doesn’t mean we can’t get ideas to keep moving forward on that. But I would say that was a proud and humbling moment,” said Giwa. “Our community really wanted well-being as a value.”

3. We have confidence in our peers

79% of respondents said their peers act as good role models of ethical behavior. Faculty was the most confident in each other, with 83% agreeing.

4. USC encourages students to chase their dreams

88% of undergraduates and 87% of graduates report being encouraged to pursue their goals. Faculty and staff felt less motivated by the university, with 62% and 65% agreeing.

5. Most of us are proud to call ourselves Trojans

82% of faculty, staff and students at USC said they’re proud to be a member of USC.