University Times

A facilities master plan committee and working group have been formed as part of the University’s strategic planning work.

In his Jan. 20 report to Senate Council, Chancellor Patrick Gallagher said the master plan committee will “develop a look ahead for the University and the neighborhood around the community, and give us a concept for our priorities and how we plan for facility needs at the University, so we can marshal resources and establish priorities.”

Provost Patricia Beeson and Chief Financial Officer Arthur Ramicone will co-chair the facilities master plan committee. Frank Wilson, University Senate president, and Tracey Olanyk, Senate plant utilization and planning committee co-chair, will represent faculty.

The other committee members are:

Arjang Assad, dean of the Katz Graduate School of Business/College of Business Administration; Rebecca Bagley, vice chancellor for economic partnerships; Scott Barnes, director of Athletics; Scott Bernatos, associate vice chancellor, Facilities Management; Kenyon Bonner, interim dean of students; N. John Cooper, dean of the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences; David DeJong, executive vice provost; Kristin Gusten, senior director of administration in the Office of the Provost; Kathy Humphrey, senior vice chancellor for engagement; Patricia Kroboth, dean of the School of Pharmacy; Jeffrey Masnick, associate vice chancellor, Health Sciences; Eli Shorak, associate vice chancellor for business; and Jem Spectar, president of Pitt-Johnstown.

DeJong, Gusten and Shorak were named to the working group, which DeJong said would provide critical input and support the committee’s efforts.

Other members are Dan Bartholomae, executive associate athletic director for compliance and administration; K.B. Bentrem, project coordinator on the provost’s office staff; Jaime Cerilli, director, Office of Space Management, Health Sciences; Owen Cooks, assistant vice chancellor for planning, design and construction; Jim Earle, assistant vice chancellor for business; Steve Wisniewski, associate vice provost for planning; and Laura Zullo, Facilities Management sustainability coordinator.

The committee will interact broadly across the University to develop priorities, Gallagher said. Its goal is to make a report to the Board of Trustees in February 2017. “It’s going to be exciting to see what they come up with,” he said.

Details on the ongoing strategic planning process are posted at www.impact.pitt.edu.

Senate President Frank Wilson commented that as the University moves closer to implementing new and renewed programs and initiatives as part of its strategic planning, “Our duty as the Senate is to demonstrate how to do this together: sharing the work and governance.”

Wilson cited as examples the addition of more direct student representation on the five strategic plan working groups, and the formal linking of the appropriate Senate committees with those groups.

He added that the upcoming work of the facilities master plan committee and the planned Senate review of the University planning and budgeting system (see Jan. 21 University Times) are ongoing practices that will help the University work more efficiently and effectively. “Both represent examples of how we accept the responsibility of keeping Pitt both physically and fiscally sound,” Wilson said.

The strategic planning process provided students, staff and faculty opportunities to actively participate from the beginning “and many did so,” Wilson said. “But this new phase represents, I hope, a deeper commitment to broader and more robust engagement by all of us.”

On a related note, Wilson said that the diversity and inclusion council that was convened in response to the chancellor’s call for a plan to make Pitt more inclusive (see Nov. 25 University Times) will present an initial progress report to the chancellor “very soon.”

“This is the kind of group I love to be part of,” Wilson added. “One that knows that the problems being faced are clear and the solutions aren’t, but one in which the people addressing those problems are motivated, filled with creative ideas and truly representative.”

He gave a shout-out to the group’s student representatives, “who are a breath of fresh air.”
“It’s a pleasure to be working with you,” he told the students.

—Kimberly K. Barlow