By SUSAN JONES
Kathleen Buccigrossi, Pitt’s Clery Act compliance officer, told the Senate Campus Utilization and Public Safety committee last week that she is preparing to update the “Rights and Options Guide for Survivors of Dating Violence, Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking.”
The document is designed to help those who have experienced sexual violence or harassment figure out what their next steps are.
Buccigrossi said she will be revising the guide this summer, after new federal Title IX guidelines are released, which she expects to happen in May. She came to the committee to seek input on how to make the guide better and more useful.
The Biden administration’s Education Department first proposed to make changes to the Title IX rules in July 2022. They are expected to reverse regulations established during the Trump administration that narrowed the definition of sexual harassment and required schools to conduct live hearings with cross-examination for sexual misconduct investigations.
Pitt’s 11-page guide has a wide variety of information, from “What to do if you experience one of these crimes?” to “Warning signs of abuse,” “Preserving physical evidence” and a list of counseling, medical and other services.
Irene Frieze, a pro-tem member of the committee and a retired psychology professor, wondered if there was a way to put some sort of executive summary or bullet points at the beginning of the long document that would be easier for someone who is in a state of distress to digest.
“As academics we always like to have big documents, but I’m thinking somebody in that state is going to say, ‘Oh, wow, I don’t want to look at this,’” Frieze said.
Buccigrossi said she knows this is a lot of information to digest, and she thought the executive summary idea was a good one.
Rose Constantino, a mental health nurse, lawyer and an associate professor in the School of Nursing, urged Buccigrossi to lean toward using survivor instead of victim in the text wherever possible. “The survivors don’t really want to call themselves victims,” Constantino said. “The students that I talk to would rather be survivors of something.”
While the document is primarily aimed at students, it also contains information relevant to faculty and staff who have experienced harassment or sexual violence.
Anyone with suggestions on how to improve this guide can reach out to Buccigrossi at kab@pitt.edu.
Campus master plan
Gina Bleck, vice chancellor for planning, design and construction, gave some more details on the process to update the campus master plan.
The drive to revise the plan released in 2019 is based on external and internal forces. The pandemic is one of the biggest external drivers, she said. “(COVID is) a big one in terms of the pretty dramatic difference in how staff, particularly, work and the increase of hybrid work. It doesn’t seem like that’s going away.”
The steering committee, which began meeting earlier this month, also is looking into increasing the focus on diversity, equity and inclusion and on sustainability issues, Bleck said.
Internally, the changes in Pitt’s leadership also precipitated the fresh look at the 2019 plan. “And just the continuing effort to better the campus and to make better places for students, faculty and staff,” she said.
The 2024-25 plan will specifically address: accessibility, mobility, the public realm (the sidewalks and spaces that are part of campus but owned by the public), housing, wayfinding, student spaces and research.
The committee plans to engage broadly with Pitt stakeholders in forums and surveys. One survey will ask people to identify on a map where they think the heart of campus is and what their favorite place is on campus. This will allow the plan’s developers to “see where there’s convergence of activities and students and researchers for collaboration potential,” Bleck said.
The new plan also will focus on wayfinding, including making it more obvious when you are on or off campus, and creating more of a gateway experience.
They’ve already reached out to some departments for input, but “look for more coming in the fall,” Bleck said.
A draft plan should be ready by late summer/early fall of 2025, with a final plan coming in December 2025.
Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.
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