Seven senior-level positions in USC’s administration have been merged into four in an attempt to increase efficiency, USC President Harris Pastides announced at a Friday board of trustees meeting.
The positions merged in finance and planning, facilities and transportation and communications will cut administrative salary costs by more than $400,000, according to a university release.
“As we examined the structure of the senior administrative staff it became clear there was room for streamlining our operation,” Pastides said in the release.
No one was fired in the reshuffle; the newly defined positions merged with vacant posts and were retitled to create four new vice presidents.
Ed Walton, who has served as USC’s chief financial officer, was named senior vice president for administration and chief operating officer. Walton will now oversee facilities, communications, governmental relations, finances and safety.
Walton will now be the university’s third-highest paid employee, making $321,473 a year. Only Pastides and provost Michael Amiridis earn higher salaries.
Leslie Brunelli, current associate vice president for finance and planning, will serve as chief financial officer. Brunelli will also be vice president for finance, a position that had been vacant.
Brunelli’s salary will remain the same, at $245,197 a year.
Vice president for transportation and parking and associate vice president for facilities have been combined to create the vice president for facilities and transportation position, which will be occupied by Derrick Huggins. Huggins has served as the interim head of facilities since 2012 and has been the head of USC’s transportation and parking division for 20 years.
His salary will rise to $190,000.
University spokesman Wes Hickman will become director of communications and chief communications officer, a hybrid position of vice president of communications and director of news and internal communications. He will continue as USC’s primary spokesperson and his salary will increase to $147,826.