USC Enforces Guidelines for Vendors
Photo/Dietmar Quistorf
The guidelines – among the strongest in the nation for higher education – are meant to ensure that companies with which the university does business are socially responsible in regards to workers’ rights.
The new standard was announced in a message to the USC community from Senior Vice President Todd R. Dickey and Michael L. Jackson, vice president of student affairs.
“USC has for many years had a workplace code of conduct that sets standards and controls to help ensure that the workers creating products bearing our name receive fair compensation and enjoy decent working conditions,” said Dickey and Jackson in their message. “Requiring these vendors to perform an audit as a condition of receiving a contract is one more step we are taking to show we mean business about fair labor conditions.”
Under the program, every USC licensee is required to submit to a third-party audit to monitor compliance with the USC Workplace Code of Conduct. In an outreach to vendors, USC provided a list of acceptable third-party auditors as well as a list of countries with which the university allows business operations.
Prior to implementing this new initiative, USC had about 250 vendors on its licensed retail product rolls – creating everything from USC-branded mustard (for tail-gate parties) to clothing at the USC bookstore. This past summer, the university dropped 88 vendors after the firms failed to sign agreements to produce independent audits to ensure decent conditions for workers creating the products.
The vendors still working with USC either already have supplied audits or pledged to complete them in a timely fashion.
USC officials underscored that they have no reason to believe that the 88 vendors dropped from the list are in non-compliance with USC’s labor code but that verification is needed.
Elizabeth Kennedy, director of Trademarks and Licensing, said: “Some of our vendors looked at their arrangements with USC and decided not to implement an audit. But we are very encouraged to have the participation of more than 120 licensees: We want every branded USC product to be created in fair labor conditions.”
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The Chronicle of Higher Education mentioned USC’s $6 billion fundraising campaign. The story noted that USC had already raised $1 billion in a “quiet phase,” including the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College.
The Guardian (U.K.) highlighted two major gifts to USC in a list of the 10 biggest philanthropic benefactors in America. The list included the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College, and the $110 million gift from USC Trustee and USC Viterbi School alumnus John Mork and wife Julie to create the USC Mork Family Scholars Program.
The New York Times featured the USC U.S.-China Institute documentary “Assignment: China — The Week that Changed the World.” The documentary, part of a series, examines media coverage of the 1972 Nixon trip that reshaped U.S.-China relations after a quarter century of isolation and hostility. “People look back now and take it for granted that the outcome was preordained,” said the institute’s Mike Chinoy, who produced the documentary. Voice of America also featured the story.
Los Angeles Times featured the Oscar Senti-meter, a tool developed by the USC Annenberg School, Los Angeles Times and IBM that analyzes thousands of tweets about the Academy Awards nominees. The story noted that Mexican actor Demian Bechir received an enormous boost on Twitter the day of the nominations, with a total of 6,893 tweets mentioning him, a 47-fold increase from the day before. The story noted the tool uses language-recognition technology developed in collaboration with USC Viterbi School’s Signal Analysis and Interpretation Lab.
The Times of India (India) featured a three-day medical emergency training workshop organized in association with USC. At the workshop, held at GCS Medical College in India, 50 doctors and more than 100 paramedics learned how to improve emergency support systems. William Mallon of the Keck School of USC said that discussion topics included the use of portable ultrasonic devices to scan patients. “The ultrasound applications help physicians make accurate and timely decisions,” he noted. Daily News & Analysis (India) also featured the workshop.
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