USC's Marshall Business School in Crisis: 52 Tenured Professors Demand Dean's Management Overhaul

The Marshall School of Business, one of USC's marquee professional schools, is facing a faculty revolt that's exposing deeper institutional tensions at the university. In a stark rebuke obtained by L.A. Material, 52 tenured professors—roughly a fifth of the school's full-time faculty—have penned a letter to Dean Geoffrey Garrett questioning his stewardship and warning of a troubling "downward trajectory in terms of academic reputation, commitment to excellence in research and the demonstrated academic excellence of the students." Current and former USC administrators described the letter as extraordinarily unusual, a sign of how badly morale has deteriorated.

The school's troubles are both cyclical and homegrown. Business schools nationwide are bleeding enrollment as MBA programs lose their allure; international student declines and new loan barriers compound the problem. But Marshall's slide has been sharper than most: its full-time MBA program tumbled from a stellar 16th in U.S. News rankings in 2021 to 25th today—a fall that stings enough to prompt faculty griping that "we're ranked below UT Dallas." The school also absorbed brutal cuts as part of USC's broader 2024 crisis, when the university initiated aggressive layoffs to close a $251 million operating deficit.

Yet the faculty letter points to a structural management failure. Professors claim Garrett's administration has failed to grant academic leaders sufficient "authority and visibility," leaving faculty bewildered by cost-cutting without strategic direction. "We're seeing cuts and cuts and cuts, but we're not seeing a strategy and vision for where we're headed," one business school professor lamented. The dispute exposes a widening chasm between academic and administrative priorities—a battle Dean Garrett, who arrived from Wharton in 2020 and just won reappointment last June, seems unprepared to lose. The school's unique structure—serving both 4,100 undergraduates and 2,800 graduate students—adds complexity to any turnaround strategy.