By SUSAN JONES
Despite being preceded by a faculty union rally and being interrupted four times by protesters on other issues in the meeting room, the Board of Trustees on Sept. 29 managed to elect a chair and a board secretary, hear the chancellor’s annual report and one from the alumni association and approve several building projects.
New chair
The Trustees’ first order of business was electing Louis Cestello to fill out the term as chair until the end of June 2024.
Cestello, PNC Bank regional president, has been a vice chair of the Board of Trustees since 2021 and stepped in as interim chair in August when Doug Browning told the Trustees that he was stepping down immediately as chair and as a member of the Board of Trustees because of “an unanticipated personal matter.”
Browning was first elected chair in June 2022 and re-elected for a second one-year term in June 2023.
David Chavern, chair of the Governance and Nominating committee, said of Cestello, “I want to start by thanking you for taking on the role of interim chair after Doug’s resignation. We all understand that this position involves a tremendous amount of work and really appreciate your efforts to keep things running smoothly.”
The board was interrupted several times by protesters (see related story), before voting unanimously to approve Cestello as chair.
Chancellor’s report
The meeting gave Chancellor Joan Gabel her first chance to present an annual report to the Trustees. She admitted that many of the accomplishments are from before she started at Pitt on July 17, but said her administration has made progress on some issues during her first 75 days, including dealing with the leadership change on the Board of Trustees and delving into reimagining the Plan for Pitt (see related story).
Some of the issues she addressed in her report included:
State budget: The administration has sent its budget request for 2024-25 to Harrisburg, despite not getting any funding from the state yet for 2023-24. Gabel said after the meeting that she’s very confident in Pitt’s financial position, but “what concerns me is that the way in which we make the university experience the most affordable is dependent upon the state support that we seek, and we haven’t received that support for this year. That doesn’t throw the operation of the institution or the budget of the institution into disarray. It affects the individual expenses of the family members who choose to send their children here. So that concerns me greatly.”
Affirmative action: “We’ve been working as a leadership team on the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling regarding admissions practices in order to ensure that we continue to fulfill our commitment to be a representative and equitable community while being fully compliant with new law.”
Provost search: The search process for a new provost is getting underway, with Anantha Shekhar, senior vice chancellor heading the search committee. Gabel said she hopes she can announce a new provost by the end of the spring semester. The provost, she said, “is a critical position, as you might imagine, the chief academic officer who will continue the momentum of the institution, and I say this with much appreciation to the current excellent leadership of interim Provost Joe McCarthy.”
Dean searches: Committees should form soon for three open dean positions in engineering, law and education. Gabel said they are trying to time those searches “so that ideally our next provost can participate in the identification of the ultimate deans of those schools. We’re optimistic about that timing and sequencing and very optimistic about the outcome of those searches.”
College cost transparency: As an executive board member of the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities, Gabel signed Pitt onto the College Cost Transparency Initiative, which aims to provide prospective students and their families with easy to understand information and clarity around financial aid.
After the meeting, Gabel said she thought this initiative was important because, “The process of navigating the expense of college is confusing, and it’s a huge investment. … And it’s an enormous choice that every family makes, and so the idea that we should be as clear as possible and also join in a national conversation around it and help by being part of what constitutes benchmarking is a positive thing.
“In fact, when we reviewed what we were already providing to students, we were in compliance. We didn’t have to change anything in order to comply with the call, but we wanted to sign on anyway to show how important we think it is across the country.”
Applications: Pitt had a record number of applicants for fall 2023 — 58,000 — which broke last year’s record of 53,000. Of those, most are Pennsylvania residents and nearly 40 percent identified as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, or People of Color), and the students comes from more than 40 states and 30 countries.
Regional campus enrollment: Student numbers on the regional campuses declined about 3.7 percent in fall 2022 and by a similar amount in fall 2023, if preliminary data holds. Gabel said the administration is taking several steps to address this, including new buildings at Bradford and Greensburg, and sports facilities to attract student athletes. Other initiatives include Frederick Honors College partnering with Pitt–Greensburg to support an honors program there; the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences partnering with Bradford to offer an EMT course after which a student can sit for national EMT certification; and Pitt Johnstown and the School of Pharmacy starting a program where first-year students are guaranteed admission to the PharmD program in their third year if they fulfill the requirements in their first two years.
Graduation rates: Four- and six-year graduation rates on the Oakland campus increased to record highs.
Gabel also thanked everyone who participated in the open-ended survey that was sent out to the Pitt community right after she started.
“I hope you see your stories and your experiences reflected in the future strategies of the institution,” she said. “That is certainly our intention. We’re open to feedback to make sure we get that right.”
After the meeting, Gabel said she feels very lucky to work with this board. “What I see here is a very committed, passionate group that really cares about the University of Pittsburgh; that wants it to be great; that wants our students to have an excessively excellent experience; wants to be a top notch research university; wants to serve the community.”
Construction projects approved
The board approved three renovation projects and the sale of one property that were previously voted on by the Property and Facilities committee.
The projects include:
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$75 million for a full renovation of Crawford Hall.
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$17 for the 11th and 12th floors of Chevron Science Center, the last floors to be renovated for the Department of Chemistry.
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$8 million for upgrades to the seventh and eighth floor auditorium in Alumni Hall and adjoining lobby.
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Sale of University of Pittsburgh Applied Research Center (UPARC) for $5 million pending finalization of a purchase and sales agreement.
Previously, the property committee would have had the final say on these projects. The resolutions approved by the committee state, “The Board of Trustees has delegated authority to the Property and Facilities Committee to review and approve: acquisitions or dispositions, in whole or in part, of real property; lease arrangements; and new and/or renovation construction projects undertaken by the University or entities under its control.”
A University spokesman said, “At a meeting on Sept. 18, the Property and Facilities committee of the board voted to recommend the approval of four projects to the full Board of Trustees. This change was made to provide trustees who are not on the Property and Facilities committee with greater insight and increased transparency into decision-making processes for major projects. This is not a permanent change and conversations are ongoing regarding internal governance protocols.”
Board secretary selected
The Trustees approved Paul Supowitz as interim secretary to the Board. Rosalyn Jones, secretary to the Board and an officer of the University since July 2021, left that position as of Aug. 18 to return to Washington, D.C., to care for her mother. Jones came to Pitt in December 2020 as associate vice chancellor and deputy secretary to the Board. Geovette Washington, Pitt’s chief legal officer, has been serving as interim secretary.
Supowitz has been at Pitt since 1997. He graduated from Pitt’s School of Law and practiced environmental law and litigation for eight years before joining Pitt’s legal department. Most recently, he’s been special assistant for strategic initiatives in the chancellor’s office. He served as vice chancellor for community and government relations from 2006-22.
As secretary to the Board, Supowitz will be an officer of the University. The secretary’s primary responsibility is as custodian of the seal and to provide professional staff support to the Board and its committees.
Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.
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