USC opens search for new financial executives

The University of South Carolina has opened a search for two top financial officers.

The positions are chief operating officer and chief financial officer, according to USC spokesman Jeff Stensland.

USC is seeking these new positions because the chief operating officer used to do the job of both a traditional chief operating officer and a chief financial officer, Stensland said. The previous chief operating officer was Ed Walton, who will remain as a senior vice president.

When USC President Robert Caslen was at the University of Central Florida, he determined that having one person do both of those roles was one of many problems that led to the school misspending $85 million, he told The State in a previous interview.

USC has posted the chief operating officer job, but not the chief financial officer job, on its website, Stensland said.

Compared to other high-level positions USC has sought to fill — namely provost and chief diversity officer — the search for a chief operating officer is expected to be quick. Jobs posted to USC’s website must be there for a minimum of five business days. The application period for chief operating officer opened last Thursday and will close on Wednesday — which is five business days, according to USC’s website.

It’s unclear whether the chief financial officer position will be open for only five business days, Stensland said.

By comparison, USC has been searching for a new provost and chief diversity officer since shortly after Caslen took office on Aug. 1. The search for president took 10 months. However, those were all national searches and the chief operating officer search is for internal candidates only, according to the job posting.

“We’re anxious to have the positions filled,” Stensland told The State when asked about the short timetable for finding a chief operating officer.

University officials want an internal candidate because they want someone with a “deep institutional knowledge, including an understanding of existing operations, personnel and culture of the university,” Stensland said in a follow-up email.

Should USC hire the new chief operating officer before the provost or chief diversity officer, this would be Caslen’s highest-level hire since taking office.

The job posting does not list a salary range. The chief operating officer will also include overseeing facility maintenance, parking, transportation, human resources, USC’s planes, risk management and postal services.

This story was originally published November 26, 2019 at 8:55 AM.