University Times

For the first time in 15 years, Pitt's Informal Program (PIP) has turned a profit.

How much money the program made in fiscal 1994-95 has not yet been determined, but PIP Director Ellen Caldwell says "we are definitely going to make a profit. I don't know what the final figures will be, but they look very, very good." Neither is Caldwell sure why, after so many years of unprofitability, PIP made money last year.

Apparently, though, the turnaround was the result of a number of factors, starting with an upsurge in enrollment.

For the first time in PIP's history, according to Caldwell, well over 1,000 people registered for classes during the winter term and approximately 1,000 for the spring term. PIP's enrollment usually hits the 1,000 mark only in the fall. Winter enrollment is normally 600-700 and spring enrollment 700-800.

"I don't know if winter enrollment jumped because the weather was mild, but people didn't know the weather was going to be mild when they registered," Caldwell muses. "For whatever reason, though, people were in a course-taking mode." Other possible reasons for PIP's sudden profitability may be its new course selection and an office staff reduction that cut the program's overhead costs. Caldwell says that Robert Comfort, interim dean of the College of General Studies, the area under which PIP falls, has been very supportive in allowing her to try out ideas.

"People are enjoying the courses that are offered," she notes. "Often they sign up for more than one and give gift certificates." The list of PIP's most popular courses is widely varied. Its most popular multi-part course is the history of art series.

"We use Ph.D. candidates from the history of art department and they are terrific," Caldwell says. "My two top stars, Alison McQueen and Ann Bertrand, have built up a great following." McQueen is in France and Bertrand in Boston working on their dissertations, so they won't be teaching this fall. But, Caldwell says, five new Ph.D. candidates have been hired to take their places and she has scheduled two new art courses, one on Mexican art and the other on photography.

Other popular offerings are current events classes, writing classes and Pittsburgh history classes. Nothing, however, tops the scotch tasting class conducted by Pitt biology professor Iain Campbell.

"The minute the brochure comes out, his class is filled the next day," says Caldwell, "and there is a waiting list of 30 people because everybody who takes it calls the next day and says they want to take the next one." One reason the class is so popular is Campbell's teaching ability. Caldwell says that Campbell, a winner of the Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award, could read the telephone book and make it sound interesting. "He's very witty. He's very bright. He's very knowledgeable." Another reason, though, is the party atmosphere surrounding the class. Campbell even makes his own shortbread to go along with the scotch. "I was a waitress once for one of his classes and I smelled like a distillery when I went home," Caldwell recalls with a laugh. "It was really fun." Among the more unusual classes PIP will offer this year is one on screen writing. Michael Hauge, author of "Writing Screenplays that Sell," is coming in from Los Angeles to teach the two-day class, Screen Writing for Hollywood.

The last time Hauge taught for PIP was about four years ago. According to Caldwell, people came to hear him from as far away as Washington, D.C., and St. Louis. On a more serious note, Rage, Fear and Fanaticism: The New Age of Terror is a new six-part class that will be offered this year. Along with faculty members from Pitt's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, the speakers' list includes Floyd Cochran, former spokesperson for the Aryan Nation, and Dennis Roddy, a reporter for The Post-Gazette who has written about the militia movement.

Other new classes include one on transcultural adoption, a tour of The Carnegie International, beginning tennis, writing a family history, A Scientist Looks at Scripture, and Religious Minorities and the Fabric of Society: Lessons from Southeast Asia.

PIP offers 50-70 classes each term, according to Caldwell, and generally about one-third of them are new. "The best compliment I get from people is that they read the brochure like a novel," she says. "That's why I like to keep it fresh and interesting and up to date with what's happening in the world." This year for the first time, too, PIP is entering into joint ventures with both the School of Law and the School of Medicine.

In conjunction with the law school, PIP will offer continuing legal education classes designed to help attorneys who practice in the state meet the continuing education requirements of the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

Through the School of Medicine, Peter Johnson, a surgeon and director of the Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative, will conduct a series of lectures for lay people on the new biotechnology and how it will affect people's lives.

Caldwell says she hopes to co-sponsor more continuing education classes with other departments and schools in the University.

Like the classes themselves, the people who enroll in them stretch across the demographic chart. They run from recent college graduates in their mid-20s to senior citizens in their 80s. About 90 percent of the people who register for PIP classes also hold at least a bachelor's degree.

Such interest by people in the community, Caldwell maintains, shows that PIP has been a worthwhile investment by the University even during the many years when the program did not make a profit.

"We offer the one venue at the University where alumni and the community can come and take classes for a reasonable price," she points out. "People are simply taking classes for the sake of learning, and that is a wonderful thing to be able to offer the community."

–Mike Sajna