Administrators say discussions about benefit changes have been going on for nearly two years.
But staff members were not convinced that the changes would really happen. Staff members angry about the changes have written more than 150 letters, Barnhart said. He said he encouraged employees to send the letters to Senior Vice President for Administration Dennis Dougherty. Tuition assistance is a benefits program that allows staff members and their families to take classes at USC at reduced or entirely compensated rates. Under the old system, staff members could take six fully compensated units per semester from any department.