By SUSAN JONES
Senate Council started the new semester by approving two new standing committees to help oversee the reformed general education requirements being finalized now.
Belkys Torres, associate vice provost for curricular innovation, reprised the presentation she gave to Faculty Assembly on Sept. 9 about what the provost’s Gen Ed Task Force is proposing. The new curriculum structure, which Pitt hopes to implement in fall 2027, would include a minimum of 40 credits with required courses in historical thinking and analysis, quantitative reasoning, scientific literacy, social systems and human behavior, writing, communication and interpretive arts and humanities, as well as several flexible requirements.
Members of the two new standing committees approved at the Sept. 17 Senate Council meeting — one on general education assessment and one on general education curriculum — will be elected during normal Senate voting in the spring.
Chancellor’s report
Provost Joe McCarthy gave the chancellor’s report because Chancellor Joan Gabel was at the investiture of Duquesne University’s new president, David Dausey.
McCarthy gave updates on several University activities:
While this year’s incoming class is smaller than last year’s record-breaking one, it’s still the third highest for first-year students and second-highest if transfer students are included. The final census numbers will be released next month. He complimented Kellie Kane, interim vice provost for enrollment, and the entire team at the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid for their hard work.
Applications for next fall are 7% ahead of where they were at this time last year. In total, Pitt received 74,000 applications for admission for the 2026-27 academic year, which shows, McCarthy said, that there is “significant demand for a Pitt degree.”
This year’s Welcome Week was a big success, McCarthy said, from move-in, to the activities on the Cathedral lawn to Convocation. He gave credit to Carla Panzella, vice provost for student affairs, and the Business, Hospitality and Auxiliary Services team.
Pitt will receive a little more than $2.6 million from the state in performance-based funding, in addition to the $151.5 million it has received annually since 2019.
Other updates
Post-doc association: President Mono Bhattacharjee said one of their priorities this year is to create a stronger community with post-docs who are geographically scattered across campus. One of the other areas they want to work with Pitt’s administration on is housing support for international post-docs. Bhattacharjee said many come with no U.S. Social Security number, credit history or work history, which can make finding housing difficult. They are talking to other universities to see if they have found solutions to this problem.
Staff Council: Caitlin McCullough, Staff Council parliamentarian, said that more than 1,500 people attended Pitt Day at Kennywood, despite the rain, and that next year’s event is set for June 26, 2027. She also reported that the group welcomed 29 new members this fall, and that they hope to have results soon from their spring Safety Crawl.
Susan Jones is editor of the University Times until Sept. 30, when she is retiring. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.
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