By SUSAN JONES
One of the key aspects of the Plan for Pitt 2028, which Chancellor Joan Gabel has championed since she arrived last year, is that each of the initiatives has target goals and deadlines, which can be found on a Progress Card on the chancellor’s website.
Several of the initiatives have deadlines in 2024, including some that are at or near completion, such as launching the Finish Line Grants and establishing a Times Higher Ed Impact ranking.
Others are well on their way, according to the Office of the Chancellor.
“These outcomes and markers feed into a bigger picture for the plan,” the office said in a statement. “For example, we are already working with students, faculty and staff, and leadership across the University on outcomes for 2025, 2026 and beyond, all mapped in a shared governance way. And in the coming meetings of the Senate or in Board of Trustees presentations, you will be hearing more about these initiatives and how they all tie in together.”
Below are the areas that are slated to launch this fall and where they stand. The initiatives each fall into the five pillars of the Plan for Pitt.
Support student success
Wellness Concierge: This program, which provides personalized, peer-led assistance through one-on-one meetings with trained Peer Wellness Coaches, is on-target to launch this fall. Students will soon be able to schedule meetings at the Wellness Concierge Program website.
WISHES Survey: The Wellbeing Improvement Survey for Higher Education Settings, which can help assess progress toward student wellbeing, is set to launch this fall and will serve as an integral tool for advancing student well-being efforts across campus.
Center for Excellence in Online Education: The initiative is set to launch this fall as “Pitt Edge: Center for Excellence in Digital Education,” led by School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences Dean Tony Delitto.
Propel scholarship
Forge Your Path for faculty: This initiative will launch this fall to create an intentional architecture to help faculty earn awards that align with their career progression. Right now, applications for these awards are not easily traced, and the University is working on collecting a baseline and launching a new enterprise system to track applications. There also will be a front-end training program, where faculty can train at all stages on how to best position to apply and win honorific awards.
Accountability and trust
Conduct administrative cost analysis: This cost analysis will be completed by the end of the calendar years. The University is in the process of joining an administrative cost benchmarking consortium to monitor these costs versus our peers and expects to have this data sometime in the fall.
Create brand and strategic communications platform: The University launched a brand campaign, “It’s Possible at Pitt,” in support of Plan for Pitt 2028 as part of Welcome Week, with the objective of instilling pride, enthusiasm and affinity with students, faculty, staff, alumni and the broader Pitt community.
It's Possible at Pitt
Launch Digital Future initiative: This initiative will launch in fall 2024 and aims to highlight, leverage and connect Pitt’s momentum and substantial resources in the digital landscape that are emerging or already activated.
Accelerate Brain Institute: This initiative has evolved into a “Translational Neuroscience Initiative.” This broadens Pitt’s collective effort beyond the Brain Institute into a larger initiative with the potential for far greater impact. It will enable a board multidisciplinary effort with enhanced synergistic success to attack the origin, progression and reversal of nervous system disorders.
Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.
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