By SUSAN JONES
A new initiative in the Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences and College of General Studies will provide financial and time resources for faculty and staff to explore innovative ideas to propel pedagogy, research, outreach, student services or “whatever they really want to focus on.”
The area of focus for the grants is wide open, said Dean Adam Leibovich, but the ideas have to be innovative.
“The idea is not to fund stuff that is sort of standard every day,” he said. “I was trying to make this as non-proscriptive as possible to allow faculty and staff to come up with their own ideas, rather than some directive from on high.”
The idea for the initiative — called DI2 — came out of realizing that especially since the pandemic people were overworked and tired, Leibovich said. The retirement packages Pitt offered to faculty and staff in 2020 followed by a slowdown in hiring left many long-term personnel shortages.
Even though the schools are both back to full strength, many still feel overtaxed by added responsibilities, he said. “At the same time, they are fantastic individuals with great ideas. Both the faculty and the staff are, from what I can tell, ready to try new things and implement new things.”
The program is open to all full-time staff and faculty in the Dietrich School and CGS. The deadline to apply is Sept. 27. The school has had one information session on the grant program and will have another online from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. June 17 (Zoom link here.) Awardees will be announced on Oct. 18. Find more details here.
The awards will be in three tiers:
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Launch Support — for short-term projects with budgets of $5,000 or less
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Major Development — for longer-range, bigger-budget projects, up to $20,000
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Moon Shot — for major innovative efforts that may not fit neatly into standard categories, with budgets up to $100,000
The higher amounts could be used for something like a new expensive piece of equipment for someone trying to break into a new area of research.
“One of the things that I’m hoping will happen is there will be groups coming together to work on things,” Leibovich said. This could include an interdisciplinary project over a two-year period, with workshops or conferences or other expenses. “There’s ways that things start to add up.”
Leibovitch said they have a certain amount of money set aside and he hopes to give it all out. He also wants to continue the initiative in the future. “Of course we’ll see how it goes and see if people are taking advantage of the opportunities and we are getting great new things out of them. I fully expect that to happen.”
As for time resources, faculty can ask for time releases, and staff could take time from their primary work to participate in a project.
Jessica Hatherill, Dietrich’s executive director for administration, said they want to encourage a team approach. Examples include faculty and staff who are working on undergraduate student-related issues partnering on a project about the transition from high school to first year of college or at high impact practices in the student services area that could help improve retention and degree completion rates.
The whole initiative ties into some of the leadership priorities that the Dietrich team came up with during a summer retreat last year and into Chancellor Joan Gabel’s reinvented Plan for Pitt, said Carol Mullen, director of communications and undergraduate recruitment. “That idea of constant innovation, pushing the boundaries, taking risks without fear is a signature kind of value that is articulated (in the Dietrich priorities).”
The money to fund the DI2 initiative came partly from Dietrich endowment funds and also was made possible by Pitt’s new budget model, which puts more control of tuition and other funds in the hands of the schools.
The Dietrich School had a one-time bump in money “because we had a good year,” Leibovich said. This includes still having a larger than usual number of students from the record-setting class that entered in fall 2021. “However, even without that one-time bump, we’re hopeful that the new budget model will allow us to continue to do things like this.”
Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.
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