By SHANNON O. WELLS
Chancellor Joan Gabel had a pretty solid excuse for missing the Feb. 20 Senate Council meeting in Posvar Hall: She was in Harrisburg testifying before the House Appropriations Committee alongside other Pennsylvania higher education leaders.
The testimony at the state Capitol comes in the wake of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s 2025-26 state budget address on Feb. 4 before a joint session of the General Assembly.
His proposed budget keeps funding for the state-related universities — Pitt, Penn State, Temple and Lincoln — at the same level as last year, with the addition of $60 million for Pitt, Penn State and Temple to be distributed based on recommendations of the Performance-Based Funding Council, which is expected develop a funding formula by April 30.
A hearing at Pitt on Feb. 19 followed hearings in late January at Penn State and Temple, noted Provost Joe McCarthy, who delivered Gabel’s report to Senate Council.
“While the details are still to be determined on the performance-based funding, we remain optimistic about the outcome, and we believe there is a path forward for more stable and predictive appropriations that benefit both the state and our students,” McCarthy said.
Regarding the federal budget and related executive orders coming fast and furious from the White House — including one calling for drastically reduced funding for indirect costs for National Institutes of Health research grants (see related story) — McCarthy said the University administration is “closely monitoring” developments.
“We’ve established a process to track and review policy directives and executive orders as well as guidance issued by agencies as they move toward implementation of those orders,” he said.
“In partnership with the University leadership, our Government Relations and Advocacy team remains actively engaged in legislative, regulatory and policy discussions that impact Pitt’s research portfolio, operations and community.”
Acknowledging the “many open questions” about the changes, along with a “strong desire for information about potential impacts,” McCarthy said Pitt wants to “make sure that we are thoroughly reviewing the changes before sharing specifics, particularly as some orders work their way through judicial review, with appreciation for your patience.”
On other topics, McCarthy said the search for the next School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences dean is beginning. Amy Seybert, dean of the School of Pharmacy, chairs the search advisory committee. Elections for faculty members to serve on the committee are underway.
Also, the search advisory committee for the University Center for International Studies is complete. “My office will be working on an announcement shortly on the composition of that committee and will begin to engage with the broader community to begin the work on that search following spring break (in early March),” McCarthy said.
McCarthy offered a “loud shout out” to his Swanson School of Engineering colleague Fang Peng, RK Mellon Endowed Chair professor, who was recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering. “This continues an excellent trend among Pitt faculty of doing really well on the National Academies front,” McCarthy said.
Senate Council president report
Senate Council President Robin Kear reiterated what she shared in her Feb. 12 report to Faculty Assembly (see related story) regarding the barrage of executive orders from the White House, including those that threaten federal research funding.
“Not too much has changed. We are still in incredibly uncertain times, with few or hardly any reassurances to be found,” she said to Senate Council.
“I know that you are receiving updates by email from our senior leadership and are likely to be following the federal government developments closely on your own, the ones that affect our university, and potentially yourself.”
In more encouraging news, Kear said invitations for the Spring 2025 undergraduate commencement on May 4, have gone out to University deans, on their way to faculty. The event will take place at 2:30 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena in downtown Pittsburgh to accommodate a larger crowd and the University's largest graduating class ever. RSVPs are due April 11.
“As I’ve said many times, (commencement) is the culmination of all this effort, and it is a really nice thing to see. If you haven’t seen that in a while, it is uplifting, which is a very nice thing these days,” she said.
Staff Council report
Staff Council President Lindsay Rodzwicz started her report to Senate Council by thanking Provost McCarthy for his update on the federal executive orders.
“We appreciate the broad communication from the administration to date and the website information that is available,” she said. “We’ve reiterated to our staff colleagues the message of encouraging patience in this dynamic situation … but we do continue to hear concerns from staff regarding the potential impact on Pitt’s research and education, along with the potential impacts on our people and programs.”
Rodzwicz noted that Staff Council discussed a proposal on involuntary separation of staff regarding “process, communication and support for affected employees” at its general meeting on Feb. 20.
The topic, she said, has been discussed “for some time within our staff relations committee as we continue to receive a growing number of concerns about the inconsistency of the current involuntary separation process.”
The proposal requests the creation of a working group dedicated to review that policy and procedure surrounding involuntary separation, focused on “providing standardization and a transparent process that is supportive of effective employees and supervisors.”
In other Staff Council news, Rodzwicz said Staff Council will participate in Pitt’s Day of Giving on Feb. 25. The staff emergency fund, in its short existence, has helped 138 employees, faculty, staff and postdocs, “handing out more than $140,000.”
“While I recognize there are many competing worthwhile causes during Pit Day of Giving, I hope that many of you in the room and online might consider donating to support our employees that are experiencing a financial crisis,” she said.
Staff Council also will participate in the Student Government Board’s Spring Safety Fair from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 25 in the William Pitt Union.
“You’re welcome to stop by and see us,” she said of the Staff Council table. “And if anyone has any safety concerns on campus, they can always share those virtually with us through our virtual safety crawl on the Staff Council website.”
In other news, Staff Council continues to receive questions about staff unionization, Rodzwicz said, encouraging those interested to stay updated by visiting the University's staff unionization website.
“We’ve been hearing several concerns from members in the bargaining unit and have been directing them to the (United Steelworkers website).”
Shannon O. Wells is a writer for the University Times. Reach him at shannonw@pitt.edu.
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