Newsletter #13

Hello Everyone,

It’s Spring Break week for LAUSD, so I’m home with the kids! My son broke his patella (kneecap) a few weeks back so that changed our plans just a little bit. While I’m bummed our family will miss his Spring soccer season, on the positive side, it gives me some downtime and a chance to dedicate some time to this effort. So far this week I spent some time building out our Discord server and doing some Spring cleaning on our past surveys and open docs. I’m excited to share some of that today.

It’s a lengthy update, but hopefully you’ll get something from it.

Surveys (2) and Open Docs (1)

Thank you for responding to the Re-engagement survey!  I used your responses to generate a word cloud of emotions.  It’s attached here and posted on LinkedIn. If you haven’t responded yet, it’s not too late.  

I also built a survey to gauge our community’s thoughts on USC’s alignment with the Unifying Values. It’s like a miniature Culture Survey, except just for us, and allows us to express our feelings in light of the recent decisions.

I’ve also started a “Feelings v2.0” document. I hope you'll contribute. There are a few prompts, but it's an opportunity to share anything you'd like. Looking back, our first Feelings document was really impactful. It has been archived and the link is below.

So, please provide your input on any/all of the following:

• (STILL OPEN) Re-Engagement Survey

• (NEW) Culture Survey Alignment (Survey)

• (NEW) Feelings v2.0 (Open Doc) 

Public Data

As mentioned, I’ve been revisiting our past surveys and open docs, and I’m committed to finding ways to share this data back with our community.  I’ve created a public folder which has data from 3 different efforts:

• Re-engagement (Survey) – Our most recent survey (w/ results as of 4/12/25)

• Feelings 1.0 (Open Doc) – The open doc from last Fall

• Petition Form (Survey) – Survey used during our tabling event through late November

I’ve reviewed each of these documents and tried to remove all identifying information. If you have any concerns, please let me know and I can edit or remove your specific comments. Longer-term, these comments will serve as a starting point for the website content, and not just be accessible via Google Drive.

Discord Launch

I’ve created an invite link to the My15atUSC Discord server (good for the next 7 days).  

Once you join, I will privately message you for your name. This is only so I can make a personal note of who you are and assign you a tag (or “role”) on this server. My plan is to have an area for general comments, including those that want to remain completely anonymous.  Those who choose to identify themselves (to me) will be added to additional channels visible only to verified members and any leads. Once we get the initial group in and do a little tinkering, I’ll switch to a Discord sign-up form and provide invite links as new members request to join.

Please know you will have the ability to change your display name on Discord, either as a whole or in just the My15atUSC server, so you can remain anonymous to others.  I am happy to help anyone who is having issues or wants assistance with access, settings, or has general questions about Discord. If you have suggestions or feedback on any of this, don’t hesitate to email me. And as I’ve always promised, I’ll keep the group appraised via this newsletter, and through our surveys and open docs.

Connections to Other Efforts

In revisiting some of the feedback, I’ve heard calls for us to express our advocacy (or frustration) on a wider range of issues. Examples include the DEI change to our Unifying Values, merit increases, remote work, and the Extended Winter Recess. I’m hesitant to do this, because unlike the TAB changes, those issues have a variety of different opinions and reasons for the decisions. The gutting of TAB was uniformly unethical, explicitly counter to our community values, and it nullified promises made to ALL employees. The quiet cancellation of the “15-Year Letter” and our already vested tuition benefit was unfathomable. The full reinstatement of TAB- based on the terms we were hired under- is what I believe most of us are shooting for. Celebrating the stories of our long-serving staff-and their dependents- is a secondary goal of mine.

As an example, I heard your feedback loud and clear on the idea of a “Parallels” video.  A majority (2/3rds) of the My15atUSC community felt that comparing the actions of USC Leadership against the recent Executive Orders was either something they disagreed with, or felt it was accurate but not appropriate. The slide of that question is in the public data I shared. I hope you’ll take a look. Regardless, thank you to all of you for weighing in, it helped in my decision making and made sure I was in better alignment with our community.

All that being said, as I become aware of any other initiatives or groups that have some synergy with ours, I’ll do my best to share them with you.  I’ll leave it up to you to decide if what I share is aligned with your beliefs. Think of it as “an endorsement to check it out”. Here are a few of them that may be of interest:

• USC AAUP – I had the chance to speak with USC AAUP Chapter President Christina Dunbar-Hester.  A My15atUSC member connected us. In March 2025, USC AAUP sent “Open Letter re. Recent Federal Actions” to USC Leadership. While the letter has already been sent, you can still sign on to the open letter.

• Current Staff can share any concerns with any issue via Staff Assembly, specifically through the USC Staff Feedback Survey

• A good (and funny) way to stay up to date on recent USC-related news is through the Morning, Trojan newsletter.

Contact Consent Form (Sunset)

As you may have noticed, we have moved to Beehiiv for our subscriber management. The Contact Consent Form is now closed. It had a good run and got us to 270 members!

To share our cause with any new/potential subscribers, you can forward them this link: https://my15atusc.beehiiv.com/. I’m going to forego the legalese in our new sign-up form that most of you endured. 

Hopefulness

In closing, I just want to share thoughts of hopefulness. With all the uncertainty nationally, now in higher education, and not to mention what is happening in our own lives everyday (like my son breaking his freaking knee!) there’s an undercurrent of resistance, and a growing number of people who are willing to come forward to speak out against things that are unjust.  I’m hopeful that you’re still on board, and that we can channel more of that energy with this group. I have some ideas of how to do that, but I want to hear from you, too.  

Hopefully talk to you soon!

With care and gratitude,

Phil

[email protected]