By SHANNON O. WELLS
When asked recently about the status of “transformative change” on campus regarding the Pitt’s Race and Social Determinants of Equity, Health and Well-being Initiative, John Wallace explained that while “transformative is a big word,” Pitt is “absolutely making progress.”
“We’ve really been at the work for a couple years,” said Wallace, vice provost for Faculty Diversity and Development, as a guest on the new “From the Office of the Provost” podcast. Wallace said Sandra Murray, professor in the School of Medicine’s Department of Cell Biology who has been here for more than 40 years, recently said that “the work that we’re doing is making Pitt feel like a psychologically safe space.”
“And so, for me, that was … undoubtedly the most significant accomplishment that I feel that we’ve made thus far,” Wallace added. “For someone who’s been there for over four decades, to still struggle with the institution and to say that the work we’ve been able to do in the last couple of years is making a difference for her — that’s a big deal.”
Wallace shared his observations in a conversation with recently departed Provost Ann Cudd during “Race and Social Determinants of Equity, Health and Well-Being Initiative,” the second installment of the provost office podcast series launched last spring. “From the Office of the Provost” highlights provost-initiated or endorsed programs, strategies and initiatives “that bolster and enhance the University’s strengths and vision for growth and transformation,” its mission statement says.
The series features guests from the provost’s office and across the University talking about their work, how Pitt got to where it is now as well as where it’s headed. General topics include, but are not limited to, maximizing student success, fostering a strong culture of diversity, improving access and affordability, supporting data-driven decision-making, achieving efficiencies and cost savings, and leading with ethics and integrity.
Episodes of the podcast can be listened to via digital platforms including Spotify, Apple and YouTube.
Joe McCarthy, who took over as interim provost after Ann Cudd departed at the end of June, said “From the Office of the Provost” allows the office to “provide our Pitt community members and stakeholders with a digestible account of some of the recent happenings across the University as well as the office’s efforts to enhance the University’s vision for growth and transformation.”
“The format is great because it’s highly portable,” he added, “so you can throw on a 15-minute episode on your commute to work and, for example, learn all about our student success programming or faculty diversity initiatives."
He credits the Center for Teaching and Learning for being “wonderful in supporting the podcast series and partnering with us in use of their studio space.”
The inaugural “From the Office of the Provost” podcast featured Cudd and McCarthy, then the vice provost for undergraduate studies, and April Belback, director of student success, talking on the topic “Student Success at the University of Pittsburgh,” including the new Student Success Hub.
McCarthy used his background at Pitt — since arriving in 1998 as a School of Engineering faculty member — to measure progress in enrollment diversification.
“For any of the listeners that have been here as long as I have, you know that the number of students and the student population in general has changed quite a bit over that time frame,” he said. “When I started at Pitt, the first-year class was 87 percent from the state of Pennsylvania, 80 percent of those students were white, and the six-year graduation rate at the time was 62 percent.
“In contrast, this past year, we had 54 percent of our incoming class from the state of Pennsylvania, 61 percent of the students identified as white, and our graduation rate was 84 percent. So over that time frame, we’ve become a much more national university. We attract a much more diverse group of students, and the students achieve at a dramatically higher level.”
He credited the Pitt Success Pell Match program with reversing a downward trend in enrollment from lower-income families since “maybe 2015 or so” and led to creation of the Student Success Hub, located in 217 Langley Hall.
“We actually hit a low of about 11 percent of the incoming class in 2015,” McCarthy said on the podcast. “And shortly after (Provost Cudd arrived), as part of Pitt’s push toward making a Pitt education more accessible and affordable for students … one of the things you challenged us to do was really try and reverse that trend, and so was born that Pitt Success Pell Match program, which has been really fantastically successful.”
In response, Belback added that The Hub is “always full of students, which is a welcome surprise, I think, and we love that,” she said. “So students can study in the Hub. We have a Study PALS program with a collaboration with New Student Programs and the Provost Academy …
“We’re finding that students come just find us by accident sometimes,” she added. “And they walk in and they’re like, ‘Oh, this is awesome.’ And then they never leave, almost. They come and see us every single day. So we love that. … We’re getting the word out there and hopefully, this (podcast publicity) will help, too.”
Now that he’s interim provost, McCarthy said he sees the “From the Office of the Provost” podcast as a dynamic tool for sharing information, promoting innovative educational initiatives and strengthening Pitt’s overall vision.
"We will continue to highlight the amazing work of experts within our office and across the University,” he said. “I look forward to our next episode, which will highlight the Educational Outreach Center and that team’s efforts to build more equitable pathways to college for high school students.”
Shannon O. Wells is a writer for the University Times. Reach him at shannonw@pitt.edu.
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