University Times

The University is developing the framework for two options for Pitt–Titusville’s future, which include partnering with education providers or closure, Lawrence Feick, vice provost for special projects, said at a Nov. 17 meeting of the University Senate budget policies committee.

Details of those options may be presented to the Board of Trustees at its February 2018 meeting.

Feick shared the names of educational providers that are being considered for transitioning the Titusville campus into a higher education hub, which is the preferred option. Those candidates include Pitt’s Manufacturing Assistance Center, Butler County Community College, rural regional colleges and Manchester Bidwell Corporation, whose president and CEO is Pitt trustee William E. Strickland Jr. (A&S ’70).

The research for the closure option involves looking into severance and shuttering costs, said Feick. Pitt–Titusville employs 24 full-time faculty members, 21 part-time faculty members and 32 full-time staff members.

Closing Pitt–Titusville, he said, would affect its workforce and also their contributions to the local economy.

“Closing the University of Pittsburgh at Titusville would have an economic impact on the county and city. Perhaps even more important, though, is the impact that the University has on the life of the community. The University is a city asset and one that the city promotes,” said Feick. “For example, the city references the fact that Titusville is a university town when they work to retain existing firms and recruit new firms to the city. Members of the community strongly believe that the presence of the University affects the overall attractiveness of the city of Titusville.”

This reconsideration of the Titusville campus’s future has become necessitated by financial and enrollment factors.

Pitt–Titusville’s direct expenses have exceeded its total revenue by almost $1.5 million, according to Feick.

The Titusville campus, which he described as Pitt’s smallest campus historically, has become even smaller. From fall 2009 to fall 2017, the full-time equivalent enrollment dropped from 497 to 271. That decline became less pronounced after Livingston Alexander assumed oversight of Pitt–Titusville in 2012 in addition to his leadership of Pitt–Bradford, said Feick.

The shrinking enrollment can be attributed, he said, to a decline in the area’s population and a surplus of competition. Also, two-year programs are losing their appeal nationwide, he said. The Titusville campus’s enrollment is composed entirely of undergraduates pursuing two-year programs.

Pitt’s other regional campuses will be discussed at future budget policies committee meetings.

In other business, the budget policies committee formed a subcommittee to look at possible additions to an existing survey of each academic responsibility center’s planning and budgeting committee. The subcommittee will possibly convene after the winter recess.

Contact:
Katie Fike, kfike@pitt.edu, 412-624-1085