USC provost, head of all schools, resigns ahead of fall semester
Donna Arnett, the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of South Carolina has resigned, according to an email sent from USC President Michael Amiridis to faculty and staff last week.
The resignation is effective Friday. It’s ahead of the fall semester, which begins Aug. 19.
“I wish to express my gratitude to Provost Arnett for her unwavering dedication to student success and academic excellence during her three-year tenure,” Amiridis wrote.
Amiridis applauded Arnett’s time as provost, a role that oversees all the schools and colleges on the Columbia research campus, including 300 degree programs. He pointed to improved retention rates in freshman and sophomore students, and important academic experience initiatives, including a centralized advising system and USC’s First-Generation Center, which provides resources to first generation college students.
Arnett was chosen as USC’s provost and executive vice president for academic affairs in 2022.
She previously served as dean of the University of Kentucky’s College of Public Health and was the associate dean and chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. She was also a past president of the American Heart Association.
University spokesman Jeff Stensland said that per her contract, Arnett will retain a full-time tenured faculty position in the Arnold School of Public Health while pursuing “other opportunities.”
Mary Anne Fitzpatrick, a Carolina Distinguished Professor in the College of Information and Communications and previous vice provost and dean at USC, accepted a two-year interim appointment in Arnett’s stead. She will begin Aug. 11.
