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August 28, 2003

Jean Spence has seen it all — 40 years at the Titusville campus

Regionals:SpenceForty years ago next month, when Pitt’s Titusville campus opened the doors to its first 50 students, Jean Spence greeted the new arrivals — in her slippers.

“I guess it’s funny now,” she says, reflecting on her continuing career as a staff member at UPT. “I had just had foot surgery, and a local newspaper wanted to photograph the campus’s opening. I said, ‘Fine, just don’t photograph my feet.’ But, there I was in the paper greeting everyone in my slippers. I don’t know what people must have thought!”

As an 18-year-old, Spence started as secretary in the Office of Business Affairs, handling student accounts and billing. For the past 35 years she’s worked her way up in the Registrar’s office, serving as the college’s registrar for most of the past decade.

Even after 40 years (which included marriage, two children and three grandchildren) Spence still loves working at UPT. “Pitt has been very good to me. It’s paid for the education of my two sons. The people here are great. We’re a very close community. What better place to work?”

The 59-year-old Titusville native has seen many changes over the years including the economic depressions that hit Pennsylvania industries in the 1970s and ’80s. The area lost several companies, including a steel manufacturer, an oil refinery and a bank headquarters, diminishing the population and threatening UPT’s existence.

“I can remember at least three times when it looked very bleak for us,” Spence says. “One year, right after the January holiday, we were told the campus would close at the end of the semester and that we were out of jobs.”

The Titusville faculty banded together to lobby the state legislature, Spence says. The result was a line-item budget appropriation that saved the institution.

“Another time, when there were rumors we would close, there was also talk that Penn State was interested in [annexing] us. I think people said, ‘Well, if Penn State wants them, they must be pretty good,’” she says, with a note of irony in her voice.

“It’s all economic. But now we have our enrollment in stable shape,” enough to feel job security at any rate. “When we see new buildings going up, it’s a good sign.”

Indeed, Titusville now boasts 10 buildings, up from one plus a carriage house at its founding. While still a two-year institution, UPT has been granting associate degrees since 1997, with its first class of 35 graduates. Now more than 500 are enrolled.

In addition to Allegheny County, Titusville draws many of its students from nearby New York state and Philadelphia. But the reach is expanding. “Right now, we even have a couple students from Florida. Now there’s culture shock!

“But growth can be an empty word. Real growth is not just new buildings, it’s growing as a person. It’s learning. It’s experiencing,” she says. “For example, we have a diverse student population, and not just African Americans but other minority students. And I think sometimes it’s difficult for students who don’t come from that kind of community to adjust to that. But that exposure helps you grow in a meaningful way.”
Spence herself has been largely responsible for much of the campus’s social growth.

“Four years ago I started the ESP program — the employee-student partnership, where staff are mentors for freshmen,” helping the newcomers get acclimated to the campus and to college life. “Both staff and students are volunteers. It’s been very successful.”

She says about 80 of last year’s 220 entering freshmen partnered with 16 staff volunteers. Statistics show that ESP participants do better academically than their counterpart freshmen who do not participate, Spence says.
She also helped launch the campus’s Adopt-a-Family project, raising donations and gifts for the area’s needy families at Christmastime. And UPT’s 60-plus program, a senior adult education project, also is her baby. “When I’m with people socially, I make a point to pitch the program. I think it’s a great community project,” helping town-and-gown relations, Spence says.

Her late mother-in-law, Florence Spence, was a noted 60-plus program participant throughout her 70s and into her 80s, enrolling in courses for 20 straight semesters.

Jean Spence helped start UPT’s Kids’ Night Out, a glorified baby-sitting service on Friday nights in the fall, when the area’s rabid football fans flock to high school stadiums. “For $5 you can leave your child in a safe environment, with staff volunteers watching,” and the parents can have a break.

“The staff here are terrific, including the younger staff. We cover for each other so that if someone gets a call, someone else can answer questions, instead of the caller getting nowhere,” Spence says.

“That wasn’t always the case, and I think it comes from the top, with the leadership of Dr. Worman,” Pitt-Titusville’s president. Michael Worman speaks to each employee group every semester, she says, reminding staff that service to students is their most important responsibility.

“Dr. Worman also has established half-hour weekly staff meetings, where we can share our concerns. And we build camaraderie with regular social events like potluck picnics in the summer.”

Outside work, Spence is a deacon at her Presbyterian church, where she maintains regular contact with some 20 parishioners, sending birthday and Christmas cards and get well greetings. “I’m not really a spiritual counselor. It’s more a way to maintain personal contact, which I think is important.” She also serves on the Titusville School Board.

“Titusville is a town of about 6,000, and we’re a small campus. I think one of the biggest advantages of our size is that you can see success right before your eyes. Students come back here — often — and tell us, ‘You really affected my life. You really helped me. Thank you.’ There are much closer relationships built here, I think, than in most places.”

—Peter Hart

Filed under: Feature,Volume 36 Issue 1

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