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September 28, 1995

External review team conducts interviews

The team of outside experts hired by the Board of Trustees to assess the current state of the University got an earful from Pitt personnel during the group's visit to the Pittsburgh campus Sept. 11-14, judging from comments by a random sampling of faculty and staff members who were interviewed by the team.

"We had quite a frank discussion. We certainly didn't pull our punches," said University Senate President Keith McDuffie.

McDuffie said he preferred not to reveal specifics about the interview involving Senate officers and a team member, but that the faculty leaders criticized Pitt's governance structure and some administrators' lack of responsiveness to faculty concerns.

Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Peter Koehler likewise declined to reveal specifics of his interview. "Suffice it to say that I was asked a number of very searching questions, penetrating questions, that indicated the team has done its homework about this university," Koehler said. "I think it was a good exchange, and I look forward to reading what they [the team] have to say to the board." At the trustees' request, Pitt hired the five-member team last month to assess the current state of the University, recommend strategies for its future and suggest qualities Pitt should look for in its next chancellor. The team was asked to examine Pitt's academic programs, finances, fund raising, public relations, University governance and other issues, including the role of the trustees themselves.

Board of Trustees chairperson J. Wray Connolly said the group will submit a report to the trustees in November or December. That report, which will be released to the University community, "will help us set a lot of our goals for the future, plus sharpen our focus on the kind of chancellor we need to lead the University," Connolly said. (See review team story in the Aug. 31 University Times.) Brian Hart, president of Pitt's Staff Association Council (SAC), said he was interviewed by team member James Koch, president of Old Dominion University. Koch's questions "ranged from the very general to the very specific," Hart said. "He took a lot of notes and seemed to be very attentive." The SAC president said he told Koch that many Pitt staff are frustrated with their low salaries and lack of opportunity for career advancement within the University. "I told him that staff morale is very low at this point, in part because of the lack of a salary raise this year and also because of the recent change in health care benefits" — a reference to the Pitt administration's decision to drop HealthAmerica, despite widespread opposition to the move from SAC and other campus groups.

"One thing I didn't do is get into a lot of recriminations against the past [O'Connor] administration. That's pointless at this stage," Hart said.

Adolf Grunbaum, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Philosophy and chairperson of the Center for Philosophy of Science, said he was interviewed by team member Nils Hasselmo, president of the University of Minnesota. "When I told him [Hasselmo] about the incompetence and extreme rudeness that one encounters in some of the administrative offices here, that seemed to be interesting to him, to put it mildly," Grunbaum said. "The general atmosphere at the University of Minnesota is considerably more collegial than it is at Pitt, although that's not saying much.

"I also told President Hasselmo that the University's guidelines for evaluation of administrators [which took effect September 1993] are a sham because they do not even hint that the evaluation process might result in the non-renewal of the administrator's contract. I said that, at this university, to get rid of some administrator who is an utter disaster takes more than an earthquake, and that's absolutely catastrophic for faculty morale. In general, I said, morale is lower — and cynicism is higher — here than at any point in my 35 years at Pitt. I find all of this appalling, and I made no bones about that to President Hasselmo. And I told him I do not wish anonymity." The external review team gave interviewees the opportunity to comment anonymously. The team plans to interview about 100 faculty and staff members, students, administrators, alumni, donors and community leaders, on and off campus.

This month's on-campus interviews — each of which lasted about 40 minutes — were set up by the Office of the Secretary. The team came up with its own list of interviewees, said Pitt Associate Secretary Mary Lou Rosborough. "Some people they recognized by name, others they chose by discipline. They provided us with the names, and we arranged the interviews," Rosborough said.

In addition to Hasselmo and Koch, team members include: Psychologist James L. Fisher, an expert on transformational leadership in higher education; Paula Brownlee, president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities; and Peter Buchanan, president of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education.

— Bruce Steele

Filed under: Feature,Volume 28 Issue 3

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