Marshall’s Ousted Dean Assails USC For ‘Fabrications’

OED RECORDS, CLAIM A REVIEW TEAM, ARE INCONSISTENT & DISORGANIZED

Thirteen other cases – or 22% – led to investigations of claims by students that a professor made them feel uncomfortable, harassed or discriminated against. Dean Ellis was copied on five of those cases. Two were found to have violated university policy but the disposition of those cases was decided by the university’s central HR or legal departments. Ellis was told there were another eight complaints that were being withheld from the review pending investigation.

The review team was particularly struck by the inconsistency and disorganization of the OED records. The three members of the review team concluded that the files contradict USC’s characterization of a problematic culture at Marshall and that they do not provide any evidence whatsoever that Ellis or his leadership team tolerated inappropriate behavior during his 12-year tenure as dean of the business school. The group also found that USC had made no attempt to benchmark the numbers of complaints at the Marshall School to either other schools on campus or other business schools across the country.

The 59 cases represent an average of six complaints per year in USC’s largest school with nearly 6,000 students, 250 faculty members, and 300 staffers. The review of case files found no indication that Dean Ellis was even notified of 78%, or 46 of the 59 cases. More telling is that even in those rare instances when Ellis was looped into the process, the outcome was largely determined by the university’s centralized legal or HR departments. Thus, the decision-making on discipline for the vast majority of cases was out of Ellis’ hands.

‘UNIVERSITY LEADERSHIP LEAKED DAMNING MISINFORMATION ABOUT ME’

In his letter, Ellis acknowledges that it is the prerogative of the university president to terminate a dean. “Had I been asked to step aside for new leadership, I would have done so cooperatively and collaborated in the transition,” wrote the 71-year-old dean who was on his third consecutive five-year term. “Instead, university leadership fabricated—and then leaked to the media—damning  misinformation about me, all while praising my work in written performance reviews and rewarding me with merit bonuses—which they had done every year for 12 years.”

Ellis added that to this day, USC has failed to provide him or his attorney with a review of the OED files by the law firm of Cooley LLP which was apparently used to support Austin and Provost Michael Quick’s decision to fire him. “USC never shared a copy of that report with me,” he wrote. “However, the report has been reviewed by others under USC imposed secrecy, and I am informed that the Cooley lawyers themselves issued a caution about the validity of their findings.

“That is because they apparently were not permitted to conduct interviews, either of Marshall personnel, students, or administrators. They only reviewed OED files, which they indicated were often incomplete or missing due to slipshod record keeping. They admittedly did not perform either a thorough or independent investigation; nor did Cooley lawyers conduct primary research of their own.

ASKED TO LEAVE WITHOUT PAYING OUT THE THREE YEARS ON HIS CONTRACT

“After all of this, the administration nonetheless agreed that I would stay on as dean until a new dean was hired and started work,” added Ellis. “However, when USC memorialized this agreement in writing, I was provided with a release agreement that included confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions. The administration had already violated those agreements with me, and yet were asking me to be silent and not defend myself. I declined to do so.

“As a result, I was asked to leave on June 30, without compensation for the remaining three years of my contract, as previously agreed to by the USC administation.  Former USC employees such as Dr. George Tyndall and former USC Medical School Dean Carmen Puliafito were paid lucrative severance and bonus packages in exchange for their silence. I find this pattern of buying silence disturbing and contrary to the transparency espoused by university leadership.

“I will not be bought off. It is my hope that the new administration will immediately put a halt to USC’s practice of rewarding those who agree to leave quietly in shame. Secrets and shadows are hard to fight. We must be open and transparent at all times.”

‘THE CULTURE OF MARSHALL IS AS STRONG, AS DIVERSE AND AS AMBITIOUS AS EVER’

Mostly, however, Ellis takes issue with any suggestion that the culture of the Marshall School is in need of repair. “In the process of showing me the door as dean, the university’s administration painted a picture of Marshall that is both inaccurate and offensive. The culture of Marshall is as strong, as diverse and as ambitious as ever. Culture is never the result of one person – good or bad – and together we have established an academic environment that is inviting and inclusive.”

His letter goes on to cite several sources to back up his beliefs. “The strength of that culture is independently confirmed by the December 2018 faculty survey that gave the Marshall School ratings of 4.5 – 4.8 out of 5.0 across the board; Bloomberg Businessweek’s December 2018 ranking of the best B-schools that awarded Marshall its highest rating for its treatment of (i) racial, religious and ethnic minorities, (ii) women, (iii) people of all sexual orientations and gender identities, (iv) international students and (v) people with disabilities; and, earlier this month, Bloomberg Businessweek’s survey of graduating students that ranked Marshall among the Top 5 B-schools in the world for (a) providing inspiring and supportive instructors, (b) teaching skills directly applicable to real-world business situations, (c) inspiring students to pursue an ethical career, (d) providing recruiters representing a wide range of geographies and (e) providing courses taught by the right mix of academics and business professionals (see How MBA Students Rank Their Business Schools).

“What is wrong is the way the university administration created a false narrative about Marshall by suggesting we fostered a hostile environment completely at odds with the one we have actually built.”

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