By SUSAN JONES
Pitt Chancellor Joan Gabel knows that the uncertainty in higher education over the past several months has been stressful for many at Pitt, but she’s “extremely grateful for how people have leaned in and used the times to think creatively and have really come to the table as partners with a solutions mindset.”
In an interview with the University Times on Oct. 10, Gabel said she wanted to thank the Pitt community, “both for creating an environment of support, not just for me, but from what I can see for each other, and also acknowledge how events of the last few months have required people to do more and probably feel more too.”
Despite these uncertainties, Gabel said Pitt is in a good position, which includes higher than ever demand from students who want to enroll here.
“The strength of our story and what we offer our students and what we do as scholars is being seen and resulting in a unique set of opportunities that are coming at an interesting time, obviously, but are still there, and fortunately, we’re still in a position to capitalize,” she said.
“We’ve been working hard on storytelling about the amazing things happening here — that Pitt is a great place,” she said. “And we’re collectively doing better making sure people know that.”
The University’s largest incoming, first-year class this fall has “hit the ground running,” Gabel said, and the numbers for next year are looking strong too.
Growing student enrollment numbers is a goal of the Plan for Pitt, so she wasn’t completely surprised by the size of this year’s class. “But there’s a lot going on right now, and so some of our historical modeling is not as reliable as it would normally be. And so for this demand to then result in what I guess we would call stickiness — that we didn’t have a big melt; that the students are here and thriving — I would call that icing on the cake, rather than a total surprise.”
She gives credit to Matthew Sterne, vice chancellor for business services, and his team for being creative in finding housing for all the students, and to the first-year admitting schools that have “made sure all of those students are being well attended to.”
Deans, department chairs and everyone who manages scheduling “have used the full portfolio of tools to make sure that all the instructional needs are met. Even during the most constrained part of the hiring freeze, we were making exceptions as needs required. And making sure our students have an incredibly positive academic experience is a need.”
In the middle of a lot of uncertainty around research, Gabel said she doesn’t want to “lose sight of the fact that there are a lot of good things happening too.” She specifically cited the three-day conference earlier this week that brought together global thinkers at the intersection of health and AI (see related story).
In the face of financial challenges, including federal research funding cuts and the current federal government shutdown and state budget delay, Gabel said, “Our strategy so far has been to handle this incrementally.”
“We don’t want to undermine this really good momentum that everyone has worked so hard to achieve by doing something very abrupt. And so far, we’ve been able to handle things with very intentional, strategic belt tightening, rather than more wholesale options, and we’re hopeful that will see us through.”
Gabel spoke on a variety of other topics, including:
Campus master plan: “I think one of the wonderful things about the way master planning unfolded this time around is that there was a lot of community input, and people were engaged,” she said, “which is great because everyone’s experience at the campus varies a lot depending on their work and their own lifestyle and needs. … And also there was a lot of recognition of the historic beauty of the campus and how that’s such a tremendous feature.”
Student housing: The master plan includes a recognition that housing is short relative to demand, she said. Now the administration needs to look at different models and decide which direction to take and present it to the Board of Trustees. But that’s not a quick process and won’t mean new buildings going up by next fall.
Pay equity analysis: This study was one of the Plan for Pitt’s goals for 2025. Gabel said a third party, compensation consultant expert was brought in to review Pitt’s pay systemically. “And they completed that review at the end of the summer and did not find any systemic imbalances or issues,” she said. “There were a handful of individual questions that they had which have been reviewed and resolved.”
Town halls: Each of the four town halls, including the one held this week, has attracted more than 2,000 viewers. Gabel said the participation is very appreciated. “Not everybody likes every answer to the questions, but in a moment like this, where uncertainty is high, … it’s one of the most productive ways to disseminate information and create a platform for demystifying some of the things that are going on right now.”
She urged people to continue to send in questions before the town halls or after — every question gets a response, she said. While she and the other Pitt leaders can anticipate some of what will be asked, “there’s always an aha moment” from the questions.
Antisemitism working group: This committee that was created after several incidents on campus last year has been “working consistently since we charged them,” Gabel said, including through the summer. “They’re working in a brainstorm phase, so they’re working quietly right now as they navigate some pretty complex issues,” she said. “But a lot of confidence in the group who’ve been incredibly committed. And I’m sure we’ll see some recommendations from them soon.”
Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.
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