{"id":494253,"date":"2026-10-13T03:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T03:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/494253\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T03:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T03:30:09","slug":"student-government-presidents-say-seeking-student-input-should-be-a-top-priority-for-new-provost-annenberg-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/494253\/","title":{"rendered":"Student government presidents say seeking student input should be a top priority for new provost \u2013 Annenberg Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

As David Madigan prepares to assume the role of provost<\/a> and executive vice president for academic affairs tomorrow, student government leaders say seeking student input on academic decisions, supporting international students and setting a clear artificial intelligence policy should be some of his top priorities. His previous role in the police removal of a pro-Palestinian encampment at Northeastern University has also raised concerns among student leaders. <\/p>\n

As provost, Madigan will serve as the second-highest-ranking official at USC, reporting directly to President Beong-Soo Kim. Madigan\u2019s responsibilities will focus on setting the policies that shape the quality, direction and integrity of the university\u2019s academics, according to a statement from the provost\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt USC, the provost oversees 22 schools, as well as academic programs and administrative units that support the work of faculty, including teaching, research, and student success,\u201d the Office of the Provost said in a statement. Since Madigan is new to the role, the office declined to comment on his plans for existing or future academic initiatives. <\/p>\n

Madigan\u2019s predecessor, Andrew Guzman, announced he would be stepping down<\/a> this fall on May 19 after almost three years as provost. In 2024, the Academic Senate approved a resolution censuring Guzman<\/a> and former university President Carol Folt over \u201cwidespread dissatisfaction and concern\u201d about actions taken in response to campus events related to the \u201cconflict in the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n

Madigan faced similar scrutiny over campus protests during his tenure as provost at Northeastern University. In April 2024, he and then-Chancellor Ken Henderso co-signed a statement<\/a> defending the university\u2019s decision to use police to dismantle a pro-Palestinian encampment, which resulted in 98 arrests, including 29 Northeastern students and six faculty and staff members. <\/p>\n

The statement described the encampment as an unauthorized occupation of university property and said the university had to balance freedom of expression with campus safety. Madigan and Henderson said protesters had been given advance notice before police intervened. <\/p>\n

\u201cAll of these factors, taken together, left university leaders with no choice but to act,\u201d the statement said. <\/p>\n

The incident came during a wave of pro-Palestinian demonstrations at universities nationwide, including USC, where the Los Angeles Police Department arrested 93 people during the April 2024 Divest from Death encampment. <\/p>\n

The provost is also responsible for faculty affairs and resource allocation, according to the provost\u2019s office. USC\u2019s full-time, part-time and adjunct research, teaching, practitioner and clinical-track (RTPC) faculty voted in favor of unionizing in June 2026. USC asked the National Labor Relations Board to review the validity of the result, according to a letter co-signed<\/a> by Guzman and Steven Shapiro, the senior vice president for health affairs. The situation remains ongoing as USC faculty rallied in September to demand the university recognize their union<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The provost search committee included university faculty and administrators, as well as the undergraduate and graduate student government presidents, who represented the student body during the selection process.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of the time the reason why students don\u2019t know what a provost does is because they can sometimes feel a little bit disconnected from upper administration within universities,\u201d Undergraduate Student Government President Syrabi Nur Rahman said in an Oct. 12 interview with Annenberg Media. <\/p>\n

Rahman said that a priority for the committee was finding a provost who would be committed to \u201chaving an active presence in their students\u2019 lives\u201d and understanding the student body\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n

In an Oct. 6 interview with Annenberg Media, Rahman emphasized the importance of student involvement in university decisions. <\/p>\n

\u201cI would love the provost to know that USC students are very passionate and very ambitious, and every student has very strong opinions of how they want to lead their lives in the way that this university makes decisions,\u201d Rahman said. <\/p>\n

\u201cSomething that he mentioned in his interview that I really think stood out to me was his emphasis on not being a command-and-control leader, but being a collaborative leader,\u201d Rahman said in the Oct. 12 interview. \u201cHe is someone who has a lot of appetite for impact and believes in the community of scholars and believes in being on the ground with students.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Rahman also expressed concern about Madigan\u2019s involvement in the Northeastern protest response, calling his record \u201cdefinitely alarming for our students\u201d in the Oct.6 interview. She emphasized that USG intends to maintain close communication with the new provost to ensure student perspectives are represented in administrative decisions. <\/p>\n

\u201cDiane and I would pull out [all] stops to uplift our students\u2019 voices in these conversations and bring those voices into those rooms,\u201d Rahman said in the same interview. <\/p>\n

In a September interview with Annenberg Media<\/a>, Madigan emphasized the importance of free expression within universities. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo deliver on our missions, it is critical that we have freedom of ideas, freedom of communication, that people can freely express ideas that can be offensive, and are certainly provocative,\u201d Madigan said. \u201cThis isn\u2019t just nice to have, this is core.\u201d<\/p>\n

USC Graduate Student Government President Janielle Cuala said she hopes Madigan will uphold former Provost Guzman\u2019s \u201cwillingness to engage directly with students and student leaders,\u201d and take student perspectives into account when making decisions that affect their education. She said above all she hopes to see Madigan ensure graduate students get appropriate academic and personal support from the university.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope graduate students are viewed not simply as recipients of university decisions, but as partners in making USC better. Investing in their success strengthens USC\u2019s teaching, research and broader academic mission,\u201d Cuala said in a statement to Annenberg Media. <\/p>\n

Cuala also said the university must support international students, who have faced visa issues, changing immigration policies, and employment restrictions, in addition to acclimating to a new country and academic environment. According to university data from the 2025-26 academic year<\/a>, nearly 12,000 international students were enrolled at USC.<\/p>\n

The Department of Homeland Security\u2019s termination of the duration of status rule<\/a> was postponed due to litigation, but the system could still be replaced with fixed periods of stay based on students\u2019 program end dates. Additionally, in August, the Office of International Services announced<\/a> that it will authorize Curricular Practical Training requests only when practical training is a degree requirement for graduation.<\/p>\n

Rahman said another major concern for students is how the university will lead on artificial intelligence use in classrooms and research. According to the university\u2019s artificial intelligence policy<\/a>, \u201cthe use of AI Tools creates new opportunities for the USC community. That same usage can present substantial legal, regulatory, and reputational risks that USC must balance.\u201d<\/p>\n

All active USC students, faculty and staff have unlimited access to ChatGPT Edu, though instructors set their own course-specific policies regarding the appropriate use of generative AI in coursework. At the time the university\u2019s OpenAI partnership was announced, students were divided in their attitudes toward AI use<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For Rahman, Madigan\u2019s ability to connect with students will be an important measure of his leadership. <\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to see David show up in student affairs more,\u201d Rahman said in the Oct. 6 interview. \u201cI would love for the provost\u2019s presence to be known, for students to know who the provost is, to know that that\u2019s someone that\u2019s approachable that you can talk to, because David is that kind of person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edited by Zayane El Solh<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As David Madigan prepares to assume the role of provost and executive vice president for academic affairs tomorrow,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":494254,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[9631,405,48,52,51,47,50,49,192242,1282,16975,36771,10002,44610,4574,3533],"class_list":["post-494253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-david","tag-government","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-madigan","tag-new","tag-position","tag-presidents","tag-priority","tag-provost","tag-student","tag-usc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=494253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/494254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=494253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=494253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=494253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}