Figure 9
The Pitt Promise

B.    Student Services

Almost all academic and administrative offices interact with students and provide services to them. The University has endeavored to improve its service culture throughout its units and to broaden the understanding of all faculty and staff that students are in some sense "customers." The University has undertaken a wide range of initiatives to achieve this goal.

1.    Improvement of Pittsburgh Campus Student Services

Student service improvements
In 1996, a formal collaborative effort between three major student service areas (Admissions and Financial Aid, Student Financial Services, and University Registrar) was initiated. Referred to as the High Quality Student Service Project, now the Integrated Student Services Project Team of the Enrollment Management Committee, the effort was intended to create a seamless system of services across those units. Among the improvements that have occurred in these three areas as a result of this successful collaboration and of the efforts of the individual offices are:

• distribution of online registration capabilities to the majority of academic units, thus enabling approximately two-thirds of the student population to register for classes at the time of their advising appointment and eliminating the need to process forms at the Registrar's Office;
• deployment of Financial Aid staff to Student Financial Services offices during peak billing periods, in order to service students with financial aid problems without sending them to another location on campus;
• training of personnel in all departments to apply consistent situational service response skills;
• improved and expanded web sites that provide comprehensive information regarding services and service options within those departments, as well as providing another way of querying those offices regarding specific problems or information;
• use of focus groups and point-of-service comment cards to obtain student feedback regarding their perceptions, experiences, and needs;
• streamlining of the course withdrawal process for Arts and Sciences students;
• implementation of Electronic Funds Transfer to improve the loan process, by providing students access to their loans more quickly; and
• implementation of a web site that permits students to view their grades, class schedule, student account information, and service hold information; additionally, credit card payment capability is available and more features are to be added in the future.

The Division of Student Affairs articulated its mission and goals to more clearly define its role in 1997. The mission statement reads as follows:

The Division of Student Affairs augments and complements the academic and service mission of the University. Its primary purpose is to provide a safe and enriching co-curricular environment that maximizes student learning and promotes student development.

In addition, over the past several years, the Division has worked with the Organizational Development unit of the Department of Human Resources to conduct a series of workshops and learning experiences directed at improving the service culture in Student Affairs. Through the creation of a common language, shared views, and service-driven goals, a more supportive environment and strategic directions for this division have been built.

In July 2000, a new permanent Vice Provost and Dean of Students was hired for the Pittsburgh Campus. This new hire represents a restructuring of the position of Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. The goal of the restructuring was to optimize the management of Student Affairs functions, formulate its goals in better alignment with those of the University, foster a service culture in all of its activities, and adopt the "improvement-through-reallocation" approach that has served other units in the University well in recent years.

The Division of Student Affairs has also made a commitment to assessment. The intent is to have an internal and external assessment of each Student Affairs unit conducted on a five-year cycle. To date, the assessments have been completed for the Office of Disability Resources and Services, Residence Life, Placement and Career Services, and the Counseling Center.

Progress has been made over the past few years to improve service and to forge an expansive partnership with Academic Affairs to enhance, promote, and support student learning. Progress can be measured by the number of new initiatives throughout this Division. The University has emphasized the improvement of services to its students and has worked to increase integration between student and academic affairs. Appendix I is the 2000-01 Student Handbook.

Office of Student Activities
The Office of Student Activities is actively involved in providing extra- and co-curricular programs that complement the academic, intellectual, and personal development of students. The goal of Student Activities is to involve as many students as possible in some manner of meaningful extracurricular life by the time they graduate. From orientation through the recording of activities on their Student Development Transcript (record of out-of-classroom experiences), efforts at educating the total student are documented as part of achieving goals of student development.

In conjunction with the Office of Admissions, Student Activities has been very active in the recruitment of prospective students through the presentation of workshops focusing on the transition from high school to college and "Marketplace" activities addressing the social, developmental, and community service aspects of University life. Working with New Student Programs, staff have been involved with parent panel discussions and student information sessions. At the beginning of the school year, new students are invited to attend a Student Activities Organizational Fair and two welcome programs for freshman women and men: "Lantern Night" and "Night of the Panther." These latter programs have involved a number of University administrators and alumni leaders and are designed to make new students feel welcome and a part of the University community. Student development activities begin with The Freshmen Emerging Leader Program, and continue through programs and workshops with the Greek leadership, Black Action Society, Student Government Board, Pitt Program Council, The Pitt News, and over 200 clubs and organizations.

Special relationships have been developed with the Athletic Department and Alumni Relations in the presentation of programs and the sharing of services to students. Today's undergraduates are the alumni leaders of the future. Mutually sponsored activities - such as Homecoming, the Blue and Gold Society, student ambassadors selection - have brought the Alumni and Student Activities staff together over the past 10 years in a concerted effort to improve the undergraduate living experience. Intercollegiate athletics play a key role in the life of students, both as participants and as spectators. The building of school spirit and fan involvement has been a vital part of this working relationship.

In conjunction with the Student Government Board, Student Activities established a Pitt TV Channel to improve dissemination of information to students. An electronic calendar of events was introduced in fall 2000 to better inform the University community of a wide variety of campus programs.

Disability Resources and Services
Disability Resources and Services represents a significant new initiative for the University. Since becoming its own department in 1996, the number of students serviced has increased from approximately 300 to close to 800 per year. The primary goal of the office is to provide students with disabilities reasonable accommodations that will assist them toward academic success. The office reviews the documentation of a student's disability to determine eligibility for services and conducts an in-depth interview to arrive at reasonable accommodations.

Disability Resources and Services assists students in a variety of ways, including: academic advising to address disability-related issues; ensuring accessible housing; accessible transportation throughout campus; arranging for sign language interpreters; and providing text (Brailed material) in an alternate format. As with most University students, any of these issues can impact retention when problems arise.

In addition to serving as advisor to students, the office also provides consultation, information, and guidance to faculty and academic departments with respect to teaching, advising, registering, and evaluating the academic performance of students with disabilities enrolled in their programs. In just a few years, another dimension has been the extension of help to include not only students with physical disabilities, but also those with hidden disabilities, such as Attention Deficit Disorder and Learning Disabilities.

The office services all five campuses of the University. Staff make routine visits to the regional campuses and are available for ad hoc consultations. Other services include hosting two one-day conferences for Western Pennsylvania disability service providers in higher education in 1999, conducting numerous Americans with Disabilities Act training workshops for local school districts and intermediate units, and hosting alternate monthly roundtable discussion sessions for the Western Pennsylvania Consortium on Higher Education and Disability.

Office of International Services
The Office services all of the nearly 200 foreign undergraduate students in the University and works with the graduate schools as needed to provide services for nearly 1,400 foreign graduate and professional students. The Office provides information on and assistance in compliance with federal regulations, general counseling, liaison with sponsor agencies, and support for foreign student organizations. Staff plan and execute three orientation programs each year. The largest and most formal program is in August for approximately 250 new foreign students. As a follow-up to this orientation session, two additional sessions are held in October to discuss culture shock and adjustment issues.

Office staff collaborate with Residence Life on the International Living Community in Bruce Hall, acting as resources for several student organizations formed on the basis of nationality, religion, and/or geographic region of the world. International Services assists these groups in securing space and services and also advises several of them.

The Office also assists the University Center for International Studies in conducting International Week activities each September. The week's events include food, dance, film, recreation, volunteer opportunities, information sessions, a job fair, and other activities with a global flavor.

University Student Judicial System
The mission of the office is to provide fundamental due process in administration of the Student Judicial System and the Student Mediation System. Furthermore, the office is responsible for providing administrative assistance regarding University compliance with the Buckley Amendment. The office also provides annual training sessions at each of the regional campuses. The structure developed at the University has become a national model for many institutions of higher education.

Learning Skills Center
The mission of the Learning Skills Center is to assist students in developing the skills, strategies, and behaviors to perform as confident, independent, and active learners. The Center provides support services for approximately 3,400 Pittsburgh Campus students annually. The Center is a partner with the faculty, staff, and administrators in upholding the mission, academic standards and requirements of the University. This is accomplished through collaborating on student learning and retention projects, advising on the design and implementation of paraprofessional training programs, giving consultations on learning strategies for specific subject matter, and encouraging student referrals to the Center's staff and programs.

The Learning Skills Center consists of five components with the following functions.

• Study Skills -- The Study Skills Workshop and individualized study skills assistance; study skills diagnosis and referral; the Academic Intervention Program, which is a joint retention program with the College of Arts and Sciences to provide early intervention for students experiencing academic problems; and study skills paraprofessional training.
• Mathematics -- individual and group tutoring for math courses up through first-level calculus; management and supervision of Math Undergraduate Teacher Assistant Program, supporting five algebra and trigonometry courses; services for building self-confidence in math and reducing math anxiety; and a training course for preparing Math Tutors and Undergraduate Teaching Assistants.
• Reading -- assessment of student reading skills; improvement of comprehension skills; help in increasing reading speed; and verbal preparation for graduate admissions exams.
• Technical and Data Support Component -- supporting technology for office operations; creating data systems; and generating statistical reports and maintaining the Center web page.
• Supplemental Instruction -- providing study groups for courses with high failure and withdrawal rates and a training course for Supplemental Instruction Leaders.

New Student Programs
The Office of New Student Programs is a coordinating agent for facilitating student entry and orientation to the Pittsburgh Campus. Initial contact with new students begins with their receipt of Transitions: An Introduction to the University for New Students and Their Families. This magazine introduces new students to academic, student, and campus life issues and services. On campus programs consist of seven two-day summer Advising/Testing/Registration sessions beginning in June each year. New Student Programs co-sponsors the selection and training of forty "Freshman Peer Counselors," upper-class students who serve as orientation assistants during the sessions. These sessions are followed in late August with one comprehensive Orientation program of a more social nature culminating in Freshman Convocation, the Chancellor's Picnic (co-sponsored with the Offices of Alumni Relations, Institutional Advancement, and Special Events) for new students and their families, and a Freshman Pep Rally.

In 1997, Student Affairs developed a Student Affairs Referral Guide to be sent to parents/caregivers of new Pittsburgh Campus students along with a welcoming letter. The Guide was intended to give parents/caregivers information that they might be able to use if their sons or daughters called home with problems of any kind. The feedback from parents/caregivers on this was very positive and in 1998 the New Student Programs Office incorporated this material in a nicely packaged Family Guide.

In previous years, the centrality of this office in University recruitment and retention efforts was greatly understated. Consequently, the reorganization of New Student Programs that began in 1998 centered on creating a highly visible operation that would be recognized for quality and responsive cross-functional programming addressing the academic and developmental needs of new students. New Student Programs conducted a comprehensive self-assessment, including a survey of the parents/caregivers of current freshmen in the fall of 1998. This was coupled with a two-day site visit by a professional evaluator from the National Orientation Directors Association.

Beginning in fall 2000, New Student Programs was renamed the First Year Experience Program. Several freshman peer counselors were hired to serve as mentors who will be in contact with 2000-01 freshmen throughout their first year regarding educational, personal, and social issues. A search is underway for a director.

At the regional campuses, student affairs staff members take primary leadership for orientation, with substantive involvement from academic affairs in both planning and implementation. In most instances, students come for orientation during the summer, and participate in programs lasting from one to two days. This is followed by a brief fall orientation immediately prior to the start of classes. Special freshman courses are available in the fall term at some regional campuses to assist new students in making a successful transition to college.

Placement and Career Services
This office provides comprehensive career planning services to Pittsburgh Campus undergraduate students (with strong collaborative ties to students at the Johnstown and Greensburg Campuses), graduate students, and alumni. The office is committed to helping students discover and further their career aspirations. This goal is achieved by providing career counseling and advising in a developmental framework by gathering, analyzing, and disseminating information relevant to the job search process, and by creating and promoting opportunities for students to connect and interact with people, organizations, and events that may assist them in this process. The office uses a conceptual framework to work with clients to help them progress through four stages of career development:

• self discovery;
• career exploration;
• gaining experience; and
• implementing the plan.

The response to undergraduate services has been very positive. In particular, freshmen have been eager to take the assessment inventories to start the process of self-discovery. With the assistance of Freshman Studies (FS1) instructors and faculty, students begin to experience self-discovery exercises in a classroom setting.

Additionally, an on-campus-recruiting program hosts nearly 400 companies and provides interviewing opportunities with regional, national, and international companies. The office utilizes technology by providing access to full-time and part-time jobs through its Web page. Specialty workshops and academic outreach are two prime components of the service and advisors have given presentations in academic departments in conjunction with faculty members.

Among recent specific accomplishments are:

• the Opportunities Job Fair in fall 1999 included 120 companies and nearly 1,000 students participated. The International Job Fair attracted 17 employers, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies and 173 students. The Technology Job Fair attracted 65 employers and 500 students.
• in conjunction with the College of Business Administration, the all-day Business Seminar attracted over 80 business students and speakers from industry.
• students had the opportunity to visit with admissions representatives from 80 universities at the Graduate School Fair.
• career advisors participated in a year-round training program to develop skills in assessment, counseling, and interaction with students.
• nearly half of the FS1 classes toured the office and participated in self-discovery exercises.
• a Career Bazaar featured the services of the office to the student body.
• Diversity Week featured five days of speakers on topics including minority issues, gay-lesbian job seeking, women in the workforce, international students, and disabled students' job search strategies.
• Creative Careers Seminar brought together colleges in the Pittsburgh area with artists, writers, producers and other creative types.
• the Placement and Career Services web page has been hit over 100,000 times since its debut in the fall of 1997.
• in cooperation with the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Nursing, internships are provided on the Services' web server. Also, the most recent Internship Job Fair attracted 117 employers, a 46% increase over the previous year.

The Pitt Pathway
The year 1997 saw the establishment of a Career Development Committee, which was charged with developing a comprehensive career-planning program. The program was to have multiple points of service and provide all interested students with an expanding base of knowledge about themselves and the world of work. The Committee established The Pitt Pathway, a four-stage developmental model that assists Pittsburgh Campus students in their career development beginning in their freshman year. The beauty of The Pitt Pathway concept is that multiple service providers assist students in their career development and inform them about available options. Career resources on campus include academic advisors, career advisors, career counselors, the Co-op office, faculty members, and the Internship Office. Led by staff in the Placement and Career Services and the Counseling Center, The Pitt Pathway is an example of a Student Affairs-Academic Affairs partnership.

Residence Life
Residence Life strives to provide a safe, comfortable, student-centered living environment that supports residential student pursuits of academic and personal growth, leadership, and development, in a caring, responsible, and diverse environment. Residence Life provides live-in staff and programming opportunities for the approximately 5,200 undergraduate students who reside in the 11 residence halls on the Pittsburgh Campus. The Director, Assistant Directors, Resident Directors, graduate student assistants, and 102 undergraduate Resident Assistants provide programming and social mentoring are provided with the overall goal of supporting the academic mission of the University and enriching the residential experience. A community environment is fostered where civility and respect are the norm and community standards are enforced in partnership with resident students.

During FY 2000, 732 programs were implemented, attended by 20,428 students. Program types included educational, drug and alcohol, diversity, and community service, among others. Fall 2000 was the beginning of the Academic Enhancement program in the residence halls. New staff members provided workshops, collaborated with the Learning Skills Center and the First Year Experience Program to provide academic support and encouragement.

Residence Life also provides advising to the National Residence Hall Honorary and the Resident Student Association. In addition, a number of annual programs are supported, including the Hand-In-Hand Festival - which has paired University students with over 300 physically and mentally challenged children for a day of fun, games, entertainment, and food for 23 years - and the award-winning Undergraduate Railroad Program on diversity.

Special Projects
Special Projects is a new office within the Division of Student Affairs. Its mission is to act as a service entity in support of long-standing and new initiatives within and outside the Division of Student Affairs. An important part of this office's service mission is to identify the segments of the undergraduate student population whose particular needs have not been adequately or consistently addressed.

Since its inception in 1998, Special Projects has concentrated on the University's commuter student population with particular focus on freshman commuters. Responsibility centers across the University have been polled in an effort to gather information about current practices and existing services for commuters to determine where service gaps occur, and to encourage collaborative programming to fill those gaps.

A coffee hour, entitled "Just for You," is held weekly throughout the term for commuter and transfer students, and information and follow up assistance is provided. The first Commuter Student Day, held in February 2000 and co-sponsored by the College of General Studies Student Government, was devoted to providing information and services specifically for commuter students. Two T-shirt designs were created to enhance the presence of commuters on campus, and were recognized with two awards by the American College Personnel Association.

Student Health Service
The Student Health Service provides high quality primary health care, pharmacy, and health education services to students attending the Pittsburgh Campus. Additionally, the Health Service also cooperates with and services other University units where appropriate.

Within FY 2000, the Student Health Service:

• clinicians cared for 9,288 individual students who made 28,290 appointments in the various clinics (general medicine, women's health, nutrition, dermatology, and orthopedics);
• pharmacists dispensed 31,733 prescriptions to 28,000 customers via its pharmacy operation; and
• health education staff offered 502 hours of health education programming with 3,124 students in attendance.

Effective July 2000, in cooperation with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Health Insurance Program, the pharmacy began providing prescription services for faculty, staff, and their families, in addition to the student population.

University Counseling Center
The Counseling Center consists of three major components: personal counseling, career counseling, and a pre-doctoral internship program. Individual and group personal counseling is delivered by a staff of psychologists, social workers, and counselors who respond to personal problems and those of a more generic nature, such as homesickness and relationship concerns. The staff is supported by limited psychiatric assistance for students who need psychotropic medication. The Center's philosophy is to deliver short-term care. Individuals requiring more extensive treatment can be referred to outside services based on their ability to pay and the level of treatment needed. The Counseling Center provided 6,507 individual counseling sessions for 1,205 different students for personal, career, and psychiatric services in 1999-2000.

The Center is accredited by the International Association of Counseling Services. The staff are highly credentialed individuals, well trained to address the increasingly diverse counseling needs of the student body. The Center's Internship Program is a significant strength. By virtue of its accreditation by the American Psychological Association, the program attracts top doctoral candidates from institutions across the country. The Center has high status nationally because it serves as a central data bank for counseling centers in the United States and Canada.

Specific programs target special groups like the over-thirty undergraduate, the 17-20 year old student, and the minority student. The students in these populations may need additional or different kinds of support to have a successful college experience. The Sexual Assault Services Office has a group specifically designed for survivors of sexual assault so that they can cope with the effects of trauma and remain in college.

The Counseling Center helps train all Resident Assistants and College of Arts and Sciences advisors. Its staff regularly consults with Residence Life, the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, International Services, Disability Services, the Student Health Service, and the School of Nursing, among others. The Center is asked by faculty to coach them in talking with distressed students or to help them to deal with disruptive students in the classroom. All these are sensitive issues and how the University responds to them can make the difference in what students will tell others about their experience at the University of Pittsburgh.

During each summer advising/testing/registration session for new students, the Counseling Center facilitates, in cooperation with the Office of New Student Programs, a group for parents/caregivers of freshmen. Called "Letting Go," these sessions explain to parents/caregivers the developmental issues of the freshman year and how parents/caregivers can support the efforts of their children toward independence and responsibility. Parents as well as young adults need to make the transition to college and this necessitates changes in the parent-child relationship. The "Letting Go" sessions offer a safe environment for parents/caregivers to express their anxieties as their son or daughter leaves home. These sessions also allow the Counseling Center staff to form a bond with parents/caregivers and introduce them to some of the experienced professionals in the Division of Student Affairs who can assist their students. Additionally, the Counseling Center Staff includes a psychologist who helps address the increasing demand for services and the increasing complexity of client problems.

Sexual Assault Services
The Office of Sexual Assault Services provides direct service for students on the Pittsburgh Campus who have experienced some form of sexual assault. Through the counseling, advocacy, and referral services provided by the office, many students who otherwise would have terminated their studies at the University make the decision to remain instead.

Sexual Assault Services also sponsors Peers2Peers. Peers2Peers is a volunteer student outreach program created to educate students and assist with retention efforts by the University. Via Peers2Peers and the 60 programs presented by the volunteer students each academic year, many students become aware of Sexual Assault Services and, therefore, the help available to them on campus.

Sexual Assault Services also sponsors a mock sexual assault trial during Freshman Orientation in late August. Incoming students learn about the importance of communication, dating behaviors, and the risks associated with drinking. This knowledge helps increase student awareness of personal safety and the campus resources available for victims of sexual assault and sexual/peer harassment.

Emerging Leaders Program
The purpose of the Emerging Leaders Program in the Office of Student Activities is to teach skills that will help freshmen develop competencies enabling them to assume leadership roles in campus organizations, and to enhance their personal development. First developed as a pilot program in 1979, the Program has grown to 154 students completing all program requirements in 1999-2000. Objectives include: providing students with the opportunity to understand and hone personal leadership attitudes, knowledge, skills, and behaviors; imparting knowledge about the theory, principles, and practice or leadership and management; and assessing personal strengths and weaknesses. Among the topics covered are communication skills, team building, assertiveness, problem solving, ethics, motivation, managing stress, and planning/delegation.

In conclusion, the large and diverse undergraduate student body on the Pittsburgh Campus needs a complex of student services. The goal is to provide high quality service to further the education of all students. Changing the service culture throughout the University is an ongoing process and will result in great improvement in the delivery of services. Integrating student and academic affairs is essential to improving the student experience. Substantial progress has been made. The restructuring of the Vice Provost and Dean of Students position should provide an important next step in the process.

2.    Student Life at the Regional Campuses
While there is some integration of student services across campuses, geographic limitations restrict the level of service that can be provided at the system level. Each of the four regional campuses provides comprehensive student life programs striving to make campus life as comfortable, supportive, and student-friendly as possible in an ongoing effort to provide the best possible student environment. How this goal is accomplished varies from one campus to another, including some of the following examples.

Johnstown Campus
There are more than 70 student organizations on the Johnstown Campus, offering a varied and enjoyable life outside the classroom. Some -- like the Student Senate, the Black Action Society, or Class Officer positions -- develop leadership qualities and responsibility. The many professional and departmental organizations explore the opportunities and demands of various careers. Other clubs give students an opportunity to perform community service or to pursue religious interests.

A wide range of new activities has been implemented at the Johnstown Campus to improve student life. New offerings include indoor and outdoor recreational activities and intramural sports, such as aerobics, tai chi, weightlifting, and ice skating. Orientation programs have been added dealing with issues of socialization, alcohol education, and personal safety. A free shuttle service now provides students with weekend transportation to movie theaters, restaurants, and shopping malls.

Commuter students are now provided with rooms within the residence halls during day hours. The rooms provide students with refrigerators, microwave ovens, study desks, and storage for their books. In addition, an ongoing comprehensive renovation of the residence halls includes brighter and more comfortable common areas and better-equipped recreation facilities.

Five fraternities are active on campus, four of which have national affiliations. There are also five sororities with Johnstown Campus chapters, four of which are national or international. The Office of Student Life coordinates and helps direct student activities. Additional services are available to students through the Campus Ministry, Career Services Office, the Personal Counseling Center, the Learning Resource Center, the Office of Public Safety, Housing and Residence Life, and the Student Health Center.

Greensburg Campus
The most important student life-campus environment initiative at the Greensburg Campus has been the launching of the Academic Villages. The Villages correspond to the three academic divisions at the Campus: Humanities, Behavioral Sciences, and Natural Sciences and New Technologies, plus an International Village. The Villages has become the main device for linking the classroom and extra-curricular activities. They are designed to promote an atmosphere in which the classroom experience is extended and expanded. By fall 2001, each Village will have its own living unit(s), where are resident are Village-affiliated. In addition, Village Hall and the Lyceum serve as meeting places for the residential and commuter students and student organizations affiliated with their Village. Programming has included lectures, debates, films, plays, art and craft activities, and day and overnight trips.

Leadership training and experience is one of the most important goals on the Greensburg Campus. The increasing number of sports teams and student organizations has created more leadership opportunities. In addition, the Edge Leadership Institute focused on developing each student's leadership abilities, scholarship, and citizenship. The Student Services staff organized the Leadership Resource Center, which makes available to students relevant articles and videos on the subject. There is also an Edge Seminar that helps students prepare for career decisions. Another initiative to encourage and recognize leadership is the Student Involvement Transcript, which tracks and records students' participation in leadership, diversity experiences, and community service. Finally, student leadership is recognized at the annual Leadership Banquet.

A number of honor societies are being chartered. The Freshman Honor Society was chartered by Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society in 2000. Two discipline-based societies for social sciences and for service are in the process of receiving certification. The Senior Honor Society is seeking to meet the chartering requirements for Kappa Phi Senior Honor Society.

Titusville Campus
The Titusville Campus recently set record enrollment levels and residence hall utilization, in part due to student life enhancements. After lean budgetary years, staffing in student affairs areas grew. A new Food Committee offered more choices in food plans and meals. An increase in the modem pool improved remote network access for commuter students living off-campus. Substantial facilities improvements created more modern lecture and laboratory space, a new distance learning classroom, and improved access to Student Accounts and the Registrar.

Despite its size and remote location, Titusville offers a range of student activities, including musical concerts, a monthly comedy show, specialty dinners, dances, and family weekends, where students' families come to visit. Titusville students work in and raise funds for local schools. Weekly van trips provide students access to shopping, movies, and trips to Erie and Pittsburgh. The departments within the Division of Student Affairs include: Food Service, Residence Life and Housing, Counseling and Student Development, Health Services, Student Activities, Student Union, Campus Safety, Conference Management, Parking Services, Intercollegiate Athletics, Judicial Affairs, and Intramurals/Extramurals.

Bradford Campus
The Academic Development Center provides peer tutoring in a variety of subjects; trains the peer tutors; provides academic advising for at-risk students; conducts workshops on time management, study skills, editing, and stress management; coordinates intrusive advising and teaches mini-courses for first-year students on probation; and is involved in the retention activities on campus. Three new national honorary societies have been added, bringing the total number available to students to six.

The Center for Leadership and Service Learning was developed in 1996 to serve as a catalyst in leadership development and in identifying service learning opportunities on campus and in the community. As a result of these efforts, a large number of Bradford Campus students volunteer their time in a variety of settings among the various non-profit organizations. This office also develops leadership training programs and sponsors conferences to further enhance students' leadership skills.

With over 35 clubs and organizations, a campus newspaper and radio station, 11 intercollegiate sports for men and women (NCAA Division III, Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference), and many recreational opportunities in the Allegheny National Forest region, the Bradford Campus provides a vast array of opportunities for its students to have a well-rounded college experience.

One of the unique challenges facing the University is the unification of its five campuses into a system, while at the same time preserving the strengths of each. The Pittsburgh Campus offers students a comprehensive program on a vital urban campus. The regional campuses offer students a more intimate campus setting with close cooperation between academic and student affairs, and are able to develop programming that may be difficult at the Pittsburgh Campus due to its size. Each campus of the University must continue to support the others and learn from each other.

3.    Graduate Student Life
This self-study is focused on the undergraduate student experience at the University and what measures have been taken to make the experience more educationally productive. The self-study is not directed at a very large part of the student population - the graduate and professional students. The department, program, and school primarily determine the experience of graduate and professional students. Faculty and staff in these programs and departments determine the major academic life of the student, from recruitment through graduation. The school administration provides resources and sets policies and priorities.

However, the larger University plays a role in some aspects of a graduate student's life and educational experience. These aspects have been improved by many of the new initiatives aimed initially at undergraduates. The safety initiatives are particularly of value to graduate students, who often work in remote areas of the campus late at night. The programs of Pitt Arts are very attractive to the mature students and are eagerly used by graduate students. The Graduate and Professional Student Association works with the Pitt Arts staff to provide free tickets to additional cultural events. The new recreational facilities are open to graduate as well as undergraduate students, and are used extensively by them. The improved transportation services, particularly the free bus passes to all registered students, are especially important to graduate students, who have very limited access to residence hall housing. The increased activity in the Placement Office will assist some graduate students, particularly master's students, in finding jobs after graduation. Graduate students also have access to the Student Health Service and pharmacy services.

The initiatives to improve instruction benefit graduate students taking formal classes. The expansion by CIDDE of the program for orienting and training Teaching Assistants and Teaching Fellows has helped graduate students both to succeed in their teaching assignments and to prepare for a future career in teaching.

There have been some initiatives that benefit graduate students solely. For example, a primary concern of graduate students is good academic advising. The University Council on Graduate Study responding to this need prepared and issued a policy document Elements of Good Academic Advising in January 1999 that has had a very positive reception in academic departments who are implementing it.

The Graduate and Professional Student Association, following an infusion of additional funding when the Student Activity Fee was raised, has had a stronger voice with the central administration and has also been able to provide services to graduate students. Besides organizing well-attended social events, they have provided limited but welcome travel funds. The need of faculty and staff for a better child care facility resulted in a state-of-the-art University Child Development Center, welcomed by graduate students, which offers scholarships to needy students. The nationally-acclaimed program, Survival Skills and Ethics Workshops, started 15 years ago and has grown in the last 10 years to include participants from the entire University. It consists of eight intensive workshops offered during the fall and spring terms that involve a combination of lectures, reading, written exercises, and practical experiences to enhance the professional development of graduate and professional students, postdoctoral fellows, residents, and junior faculty. The Graduate and Professional Student Association and the University Council on Graduate Study have identified the following areas that continue to need more attention: housing, funding for professional travel, child care, and more assistance with career placement.

Graduate students are more dependent than undergraduates on the quality of the technical infrastructure provided by the University and on the scholarship, research capability, and current knowledge of its faculty. The University's commitment to maintaining an outstanding library (both electronic and paper) during the 1990's has been crucial to graduate students' success. The provision of state-of-the-art computing infrastructure has been of primary importance to graduate students. Recruitment and retention of the best faculty has also been a primary endeavor, resulting in an overall strengthening of graduate and research programs.

C.    Diversity Issues

Given its metropolitan location and commitment to an international presence, the University has long been aware of issues related to race/ethnicity and gender, and has been sensitive to the needs of its diverse student body. The following is a very brief discussion of just a few of the programs aimed at promoting the successful participation of minority students and women in the undergraduate programs of the University.

Compared to its peers, the University has a rich diversity among its student body and faculty (see Figures 10 and 11). The University has students from every county in Pennsylvania, from every state in the United States, and from more than 110 different countries.
 

1.    Minority Student Issues
Following a 1997 comprehensive review of its initiatives devoted to the recruitment, retention, and graduation of historically under-represented students, particularly African Americans, the University renewed its commitment to ensuring accessibility within an educational setting in which high academic attainment and institutional satisfaction were widely shared values. The Deans Council adopted as specific recommendations formulated by its Ad Hoc Committee on Minority Students:

• the graduation rate for minority students should be the same as for majority students;
• the average QPA for minority students should be the same as for majority students;
• obstacles should be identified and addressed that may restrict minority students' access to majors in which they are under represented;
• placement of minority students into jobs and graduate and professional schools should be at the same as for majority students; and
• the development of programs that prepare students for professions in which African-American students are presently most under represented should be encouraged.

Pre-college programs include high school programs, such as Investing Now, the Minority Research Apprenticeship Program, the Medical Explorers Program, and Upward Bound, and summer college programs, such as the Pre-Freshman Summer Program, QUEST, and the Summer Premedical Academic Enrichment Program.

Investing Now, created in 1988, is an academic enrichment and support program for African American high school students funded by the School of Engineering and operating in partnership with the Pittsburgh Public Schools. The primary goals are to: encourage and support students' enrollment and achievement in advanced mathematics and science courses; increase the number of African American students who enroll in college and pursue mathematics and science-based majors; ensure that participants make informed college choices and are well-prepared for matriculation at the University or other selective colleges and universities; and support and encourage parents/caregivers in their role as advocates for their children. In addition to activities within the School of Engineering, students participate in hands on science workshops in biological sciences, chemistry, and physics, as well as in the Schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy. The program serves approximately 200 ninth through twelfth grade high school students annually. From 1994 to 1999, more than 97% of the participating students enrolled in college after graduation; more than half were honor or high honor high school graduates and chose an engineering, mathematics, or science-based major in college.

QUEST is a science/math program for incoming African American and Hispanic students to Arts and Sciences. The purpose of QUEST is to provide selected students with an experience intended to stimulate interest in mathematics and the physical and biological sciences. Generally, students selected for the program have been enrolled in strong science and math high school academic programs, attained math SAT scores above 500, and have expressed interest in an eventual career in research. The program admits 20 students each year and each receives a full scholarship for the summer experience to cover the costs of tuition and room and board. Each student is assigned a paid internship in a University research project . Since its start in 1990, over 85 faculty have participated as mentors for the research program, including diverse departments such as: molecular genetics and biochemistry, pharmaceutical science, neuroscience, human genetics, epidemiology, cell biology, chemistry, physics and biological science. QUEST students have been awarded Brackenridge Fellowships for Research, the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, a Marshall scholarship, and many other prestigious distinctions. QUEST students have also made presentations at research colloquia throughout the United States and abroad.

Undergraduate programs consist of:

• undergraduate recruitment programs through Admissions and Financial Aid and include the Engineering Future Minority Engineers Weekend and the Nurse Recruiting Coalition;
• undergraduate merit-based scholarship programs, such as the Challenge Grant and Scholars Program, Donald M. Henderson Engineering Scholarship Program, Helen Faison Scholarship Program, Robert Lavelle Scholarship Program, and the New Careers Educational Program;
• need-based financial aid programs, such as the College of General Studies Financial Aid Program, Nursing Scholarship for Disadvantaged Students, and the Provost's Emergency Funds for Disadvantaged Students; and
• academic support programs, such as the Arts and Sciences Summer Undergraduate Research Consortium, the College of Arts and Sciences' FOCUS Program, Pitt Engineering IMPACT program, Student Support Services Project, the Graduate Opportunities Conference, and the University Challenge for Excellence Core Programs.

FOCUS is administered by the College of Arts and Sciences and is intended to provide continuing social and academic support for African American and Hispanic students over the course of their undergraduate study. In 1999-2000, 66% of the African American and Latino first year students participated in FOCUS. There are 21 faculty mentors, 18 graduate group leaders, and 44 undergraduate leaders, in addition to the program staff. Students who participated in FOCUS attained higher grades on the average than non-participants. The average QPA for FOCUS participants has risen from 2.48 to 2.62. FOCUS students are taking on a leadership role in campus activities such as Student Government Board, Freshman Peer Counselors, Pitt Pathfinders, and Blue and Gold Society. FOCUS students are taking advantage of the availability of opportunities such as Semester-at-Sea and Study Abroad, with at least two FOCUS students on the last four voyages of the S.S. Universe.

The University Challenge for Excellence Core Program is an undergraduate unit in Arts and Sciences that develops, implements, and evaluates instruction programs and activities designed to enhance the academic development of undergraduate students who have been traditionally underrepresented in the University community. The core approach is based on development of educational courses synchronized with advising, counseling, tutoring, and peer collaboration. Currently, 185 students enroll each year, serving a total of more than 600 students. The Program has 17 staff members in administration, instruction, counseling/advising, and support positions.

F.R.E.E.D.O.M. (Fundamental Resources for the Educational Enrichment and Development of Black student Mentors) was founded in March 2000 by a group of students concerned about the low African American student retention rate and student satisfaction at the University. High rates of institutional satisfaction, improved African American student retention and graduation rates equal to or greater than the institutional norms, high academic attainment, student possession of a greater sense of self, high rates of students going on to graduate and professional schools, community involvement, societal leadership, and the acquisition of sound employment are all goals of the project. F.R.E.E.D.O.M. mentors receive specialized training from divisional, school, and office directors and deans associated with student life at the University. The mentors assist their peers by providing outreach services to students experiencing difficulties with financial aid, housing, academics, personal issues, educational policies, and other significant issues classified as "outside the classroom." Activities since the inception of F.R.E.E.D.O.M. include the establishment of a cultural, educational enrichment, and development camp, an after school program for historically under-represented youths, as well as a book club for students.

2.    Gender Diversity
More than half of the enrolled undergraduate students at the University are women and are academically successful. The persistence and graduation rates are higher for women than for men. The percentage of women among seniors honored as University Scholars in spring 2000 was 63%, while half of those initiated into membership in Phi Beta Kappa were women. Women have been awarded the prestigious Marshall, Rhodes, and Truman fellowships.

There are still few women majoring in science and engineering fields: only 24% of the engineering students enrolled in fall 2000 were women. However, this represents a significant increase over the 18% proportion in the early 1990's. The dynamic Organization for Women in Science and the Society for Women Engineers are run by students who work to enhance the status of women students in these disciplines.

More than half the enrolled graduate students and just under half the enrolled first professional students are women, numbers that have slowly increased during the 1990's. Women are awarded more than half of the master's degrees and almost half of the doctoral degrees. There are, of course, still some fields in which the percentage of doctoral degrees awarded women is low (less than 25%), and recruitment of women graduate students is a priority in these departments.

The percentage of faculty who are women, particularly at senior ranks, is considerably lower than the percentage of students who are women. In the fall of 2000, only 20% of the tenured faculty, 37% of the tenure stream faculty and 40% of the non-tenure stream faculty were women. In the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, 29% of the tenured faculty, 45% of the tenure stream faculty and 51% of the non-tenure stream faculty were women. These numbers show that there is a shortage of faculty to mentor women students and serve as role models. Increasing the numbers of women faculty in the tenured and tenure stream ranks has been a high priority for the deans of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering, particularly.

The University has introduced programs and services to make it a friendly place for women students. The Pittsburgh Campus has a strong and stable Women's Studies Program, with a director who is also a full professor in the Department of Sociology. The Program offers a certificate at the undergraduate level and has introduced a certificate at the graduate level. These programs enable students in a variety of programs to take Women's Studies as enrichment to their major course of studies. Besides its courses, the Women's Studies Program provides a series of lectures and other events to enrich students' lives.

Services that impact women are: the improved safety measures that have been introduced as part of the plan to improve services for all students; the establishment of a Sexual Assault Services Office in Student Affairs; and the University Child Development Center on the Pittsburgh Campus, a modern child care facility that offers scholarships to students. The sexual harassment policy is rigorously enforced and educational programs have been made available to help faculty and staff understand it. A brochure, "Sexual Harassment Complaints: Guidelines and Responsibilities: University Administrators," prepared by the Sexual Harassment Task Force in 1997 has been widely distributed. The policy on faculty-student relationships, approved in 1996, prohibits intimate relationships between a faculty member and a student whose academic work, teaching, or research is being supervised or evaluated by the faculty member. This policy has the effect of preventing situations leading to sexual harassment.

The Faculty Medical and Family Leave Policy, implemented in 1995, regularized the process for medical leave for pregnancy, introduced family leave, and permitted extension of the tenure clock upon the adoption or birth of a baby, all of benefit to women faculty. Because the University has a reputation for leadership in the area of family-friendly policies and practices, the Sloan Foundation in 1997 invited it to participate in the pilot phase of the new Sloan Family Leave Fellowship, open to both tenure stream men and women in the sciences. Three faculty have been awarded these fellowships.

The Provost's Advisory Committee on Women's Concerns, formed in 1983 and composed of women faculty, staff, and students, has been concerned with a number of issues in recent years, including the appointment of women as senior administrators, the introduction of mentoring programs for junior faculty, and sexual harassment prevention and education. The Committee meets annually with the Provost to report on its activities and to make recommendations to him for action.

3.    Faculty Diversity Seminar
In May 2000, the sixth annual Faculty Diversity Seminar was held to assist faculty in making their courses more inclusive in terms of gender and race both in content and pedagogy. Faculty coordinators selected eight faculty members from a pool of applicants nominated by their respective dean or department chair. The seminar began with a keynote address from a nationally prominent scholar in the areas of diversity and curriculum transformation. Afterwards, participants discussed courses faculty wanted to redesign and received feedback from the seminar director and fellow participants. Participants were also assigned an instructional designer to provide in depth consultation and support as they redesigned their course syllabus.

The remainder of the two-week program was devoted to intensive reading and discussion. Topics included the social construction of race and gender, classroom climate and pedagogy, syllabus design and evaluation, the issue of diversity on the Pittsburgh Campus, and the intersection of race and gender. The Faculty Diversity Seminar was the recipient of the 2000 Chancellor's Affirmative Action Award.

4.    Creating an Integrated and Vibrant Student Community
On the Pittsburgh Campus, there is tremendous student diversity within the undergraduate student community. Formal (African American student leader focus groups, Student Leadership Forum, Provost's Office Focus Groups) and considerable informal student feedback indicate, however, that many students tend to stay in their respective identifying subgroups, thereby missing the benefits of diverse interactions. Moreover, this tendency is antithetical to the integrated and vibrant undergraduate student community administrators wish to nurture and students desire.

Some of the identifiable groupings of Pittsburgh Campus students are as:

• racial, with the African American and White populations playing dominant roles;
• residence, with groupings based on in- and out-of-state, subsets of Pennsylvania, subsets of Pittsburgh, and on- and off-campus;
• religion;
• citizenship, particularly American and international students;
• Greeks and non-Greeks, fraternities and sororities;
• athletes, particularly those in major sports;
• gender and sexuality;
• academic majors, definitions by schools, colleges, and majors;
• working and non-working;
• Honors College students;
• transfer students; and
• nontraditional students.

Under the leadership of the Enrollment Management Committee, a Working Group was created in 2000. The Working Group is charged with: consulting widely with individual students, student group leaders, and others as necessary regarding the nature of this phenomenon; and based on their findings providing the Provost with recommendations for fostering an integrated and vibrant undergraduate student community.

Chapter IV The Student Experience -  Success/Satisfaction Initiatives

A.    Enrollment Management Committee

In the early 1990's, most institutions of higher education experienced declining enrollments as the economy declined and the graduating high school class nationally fell. These trends made the University acutely aware of its need to improve its service, particularly to undergraduate students. In addition to improvements in the campus environment and to the academic programs offered, the University also pursued improvements in student recruitment and retention, or what has more broadly become known in the higher education literature as enrollment management.

1.    Evolution of the Enrollment Management Committee
Institution-wide focus on enrollment management resulted from a 1992 report submitted to former Provost Donald Henderson by an ad hoc Committee that he appointed to review the matter. The report recommended that the Provost establish a University-wide Enrollment Management Committee. Pursuant to those recommendations, an Enrollment Management Committee was established later that year to advise the Provost on enrollment management issues. Because of the large number of issues that could conceivably fall under the rubric of enrollment management (recruitment, admissions, retention, enrollment patterns, affirmative action, remedial education campus climate, etc.), the Committee spent most of the first year forging a manageable agenda for the pursuit of clearly defined goals. Once the goals were promulgated, priority issues for action had to be identified.

Priority issues fell into two broad categories: recruitment and retention. To explore these broad issues in a systematic and effective fashion, the Committee was divided into seven action-oriented subcommittees: Student Opinion; Admissions and Financial Aid; Housing; Student Affairs; Diversity; Academic Affairs; and Planning and Budget, each of which was responsible for examining recruitment and retention issues in those respective domains. In addition, the heads of responsibility centers were contacted to ascertain what they were doing in terms of enrollment management.

Following extensive discussions, data collection and analyses, the Committee identified a wide range of priority issues that led to the realization that a more appropriate structure was needed to improve University-wide communication and coordination among those units that impact enrollment. This shift in orientation was grounded in the realization that enrollment management was a shared responsibility. Consistent with that reality, the Committee advanced the following recommendations: (1) the establishment of a senior-level decision-making administrative structure; (2) the implementation of the overall University enrollment goals, principles, and management practices promulgated in its 1994 "Principles and Procedures for Enrollment Planning" document; and (3) the development of unit-specific enrollment management goals. Once the Committee clearly articulated its purpose and objectives, it could bring to the awareness of the wider-campus community the importance of enrollment policies and practices.

Academic years 1995-1998 represented a watershed period in enrollment management activities on the Pittsburgh Campus.

• The Provost's Office collected data from the deans on all existing and planned enrollment management activities, which were summarized in 1996 in the "Report on Undergraduate Retention: A Summary of Current Activities Reported by the Deans."
• The Enrollment Management Committee gathered institutional data related to enrollment management.
• The Provost's Office funded a number of retention initiatives.
• The Board of Trustees directed Chancellor Mark Nordenberg to develop and recommend a plan and timetable for addressing four areas of undergraduate education - academic standards, basic skills and general education requirements, quality of student life, and diversity.
• The Committee developed an action agenda for enhancing undergraduate education, which was submitted to Provost in 1996.

• improve the collection, analyses, and uses of student retention data;
• promote assessments of current institutional retention data with the intent of developing predictive values for specific retention factors;
• advance the cultivation of a genuine University learning community by creating stronger linkages between academic and student affairs, and providing more opportunities for student involvement at the University;
• improve efforts to recruit and retain minority students, particularly African Americans;
• enhance student support services;
• provide more timely academic performance feedback for first-year students and monitor more effectively their academic progress;
• facilitate the achievement of the University's recruitment and retention goals by enhancing institutional financial aid packages and accommodating student housing policies; and
• enhance the extent to which enrollment management is a central, ongoing, high priority University activity.

• inter-unit collaborative efforts, such as the activities of the Integrated Student Service Project Team (which consists of the Directors of Admissions and Financial Aid, Registration, and Financial Services), the Experiential Education Working Group (with representation from the College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business Administration, Schools of Engineering, Information Sciences, and Nursing as well as the Office of Placement and Career Services), and the Freshman Peer Counselor program requiring the collaboration of the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid and Student Affairs;
• unit-specific efforts such as Library Services;
• research and development efforts such as the University Center for Social and Urban Research longitudinal study and the Alumni Satisfaction Survey;
• work in progress such as the Freshman Year Experience review.

B.    Recruitment and Admissions

1.    Improving the Likelihood of Student Success
One goal of improving the undergraduate student experience is to attract higher quality students to the University. This section details the results of the efforts described above on the University's recruitment and admissions.

Effective management of undergraduate enrollment cohorts
From 1990 to the present, the University significantly altered its undergraduate enrollment philosophy by managing more effectively its enrollments on all five campuses, and by moving from a "selective" to a "highly selective" student body. After several years of undergraduate enrollments exceeding budgeted figures, cohort enrollment management issues shifted from concerns with financial shortfalls to matters relating to enhancing applicant pools and academic profiles of admitted students, and increasing retention, enrolled student satisfaction, graduation, and alumni satisfaction. Clearly, recent attention to the undergraduate experience has influenced the decision making of potential students, as applications to the Pittsburgh Campus increased from 7,825 in 1995 to 13,565 in 2000. Another important reflection of these efforts is the upgrading of the University from "Medium" to "High" selectivity by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Expanded Honors College offerings
In the past decade, the University Honors College has become a center of excellence in the University. The Chancellor's Scholarship competition brings hundreds of applicants to the University from almost every state and many countries around the world. Though only a few eventually receive the full Chancellor's Scholarship, many are still attracted to the University.

Contributing to the success in attracting top quality applicants is the past record of Honors College students in receiving international recognition for their scholarship. One Honors College student received a coveted Marshall Scholarship in 2000, one of only 40 winners nationwide and one of only six garnered by public institutions. The Honors College helped a University students win one of these 40 awards in each of the past three years. Over the past 15 years, the University leads all Pennsylvania institutions in winning Rhodes and Marshall Scholarships. The University is now also one of very few institutions to have produced both African American Rhodes and Marshall Scholars. The number of University undergraduates invited to interview for Rhodes and Marshalls (seven) set a new record in 2000.

The University was once again a major winner of Goldwater Scholarships, capturing three in 2000. Funded by Congress, the Goldwater Scholarship is the nation's premiere undergraduate award in the fields of engineering, mathematics, and natural science. Honors College students in recent years have been named Beckman Undergraduate Research Scholars, National Science Foundation Fellows, and McCracken Fellows, and have won Udall and Truman Scholarships.

A new policy effective in 2000-01 provides for the extension of merit scholarship aid for a fifth year for certain Bachelors of Philosophy (B. Phil.) students pursuing an M.A. or M.S. The B. Phil. degree already involves a distinctive level of professional accomplishment including the approval of a faculty committee following public defense of a thesis. The new option will help attract undergraduates to the University with serious interest in academic disciplines.

The Honors College is already permitted to extend merit scholarship aid to a fifth year for students undertaking a joint undergraduate degree. This policy has proven to be a very appealing option, setting the University apart in the recruitment of outstanding students who appreciate breadth in undergraduate education.

The University Honors College has an aggressive program of communications with potential and current students. Throughout the year, the Honors College works closely with the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid in recruitment programming for high school students visiting the Pittsburgh Campus. The new Honors College Handbook is designed for a wide range of constituencies, including undergraduates, high school recruits, and parents/caregivers. A new newsletter serves the University community every fall and spring term. A new Honors College web page is more professional and comprehensive than previous efforts. In addition to extensive links to national and international scholarship competitions, the site includes a course suggestion page for feedback from students about their courses. The Three Rivers Review is one of the University's most successful student publications, soliciting creative writing from undergraduate students throughout Pittsburgh. In 2000-01, the Review staff will host a new writing workshop to be held on the Bradford Campus.

The Johnstown Campus has established an institutional chapter of the Phi Kappa Phi national honor society and increased the number of departmental honor societies. Discussions are underway regarding expansion of academic co-curricular activities and a more formal structure for academic service learning opportunities as well.

Improved marketing of the University image
In 1999-2000, consultants worked with a University leadership team researching the University's image among potential students and their parents/caregivers, the communications sent by the University to key constituencies, especially prospective students, and the University's ranking in U.S. News and World Report's "America's Best Colleges" report. The primary purpose of this research was to understand what factors contribute to the way the University is perceived, learn what key sources shape perceptions, profile the characteristics of potential students, analyze student and parent perceptions of competitor institutions, and compare various subsets of students and parents/caregivers.

A total of 521 students from the University's inquiry pool was interviewed by telephone, focusing particularly on high-achieving students and minority students. In addition, the parents of 284 students were also interviewed. The overall themes that appeal to students and are actual or potential strengths of the University were identified as its location, its ability to prepare students for their future, its faculty, its affordability, and its academic resources. The Honors College was cited as a particular strength in the eyes of prospective students. A range of specific recommendations were also made about enhancing the information about programs of interest sent to high-ability and minority students and their parents/caregivers early in the college choice process.

The consultants' report also examined the University's competitive positioning relative to 12 peer institutions. Recommendations derived from this analysis including focusing attention on the safety of the City of Pittsburgh, taking full advantage of the University's affordability and excellent health sciences programs, reinforcing the recognition that the University provides excellent support of new students, continuing investment in the Honors College, taking a strategic stance toward rankings to enhance perceptions of quality and prestige, increasing efforts to enhance student quality, and improving retention and graduation rates.

In part based on the findings of this study, the University has improved its utilization of marketing and communication strategies to position the University in relation to its competition, including significant enhancements to web-based communication and marketing.

Admissions programming and communication
Significant improvements in on-campus programming opportunities have occurred, including an overnight visitation program and chartered buses from targeted areas. To provide visiting students and their parents/caregivers with a more positive image of the University, the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid was moved to attractive new quarters. In addition, the University has increased high school visitations and expanded the University's recruiting territory. As the profile of the University's student body improves, it is becoming the choice of more top quality students. However, guidance counselors, teachers, parents/caregivers, and students are still not sufficiently informed of recent improvements. In the coming years, more communication will be needed to bring their perceptions up to date with the University's accomplishments.

Student financial aid
The University provides a variety of academic scholarships to full-time undergraduate students. These scholarships are offered to recruit and enroll highly-motivated, academically superior high school students. Based purely on academic merit, they are offered without regard to family financial circumstances to attract young scholars who are considering the University for their undergraduate education.

An aggressive scholarship program allows the University to encourage pre-college age students to aspire to be the best and to position itself with the greater community as an institution that values academic achievement. A highly visible academic scholarship program helps to get out this important message to a wide population, enhancing the University's ability to recruit, enroll, retain, and graduate a very diverse student population.

The academic scholarship program at the Pittsburgh Campus is complementary in its goal to the University Honors College. Together, the two programs help to build a vibrant community of high achieving young adults. Scholarship support is critical in recruiting, enrolling, and retaining these students. The accomplishments of these young people include strong performances coupled with admissions to competitive graduate programs and awards from prestigious national scholarship and fellowship programs, including Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Mellon, Goldwater, and the National Science Foundation.

For lack of a student management system, the College of General Studies has too often been unable to adequately award available financial aid dollars to nontraditional students. Students who identified themselves to the financial aid coordinator were the ones who benefitted most from the resources. A database is being created that will help determine the use of financial aid monies. Because nontraditional students do not generally meet the criteria for need-based aid, a series of aid funds for specific categories of students will be developed, such as first generation college students or women reentering the workforce after an absence.

Alumni involvement in recruiting
The Pitt Alumni Recruitment Team is an effective organization that assists the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid in helping students through the college selection process. By involving alumni in the college admissions process, the University can elevate recruitment efforts to a more personalized, nationally visible, and distinctive level. Team members have participated in both on-campus and off-campus programs.

During the 1994-1995 school year, there were 295 members, and the active Team membership participated in 76 programs. By 1998-1999, membership had grown to 725 and they had participated in 294 programs. Past participation has included recruitment programs, on-campus programs, hotel programs, and college fairs/nights. The Pitt Alumni Recruitment Team now has representation in 33 states.

Transfer students
The Transfer Student Working Group of the Enrollment Management Committee was asked to review the academic status of transfer students, the support services provided, best practices and models at comparable institutions and then develop a comprehensive University-wide strategy for enhancing the recruitment, retention, and graduation of transfer students. Various undergraduate units have articulation agreements with other schools (which can be viewed on the Internet at http://www.pitt.edu/~academic/aastatement.htm), including the following.

• The College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Business Administration each has articulation agreements with five community colleges: the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC), Beaver County Community College, Butler County Community College, Westmoreland County Community College (WCCC), and Harrisburg Area Community College.
• The College of General Studies has articulation agreements with 15 colleges: CCAC, Beaver County Community College, Bucks County Community College, Butler County Community College, Community College of Philadelphia, Delaware County Community College, Harrisburg Area Community College, Lackawanna Junior College, Lehigh- Carbon Community College, Luzerne County Community College, Montgomery County Community College, Northampton Community College, WCCC, Harcum College, Keystone College, and Cuyahoga Community College.
• The School of Education has articulation agreements with California University of Pennsylvania, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, Geneva College, Carnegie Mellon University, and Westminster College.
• The School of Engineering has articulation agreements with 14 colleges: CCAC, California University of Pennsylvania, Clarion University of Pennsylvania, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, Gannon University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Allegheny College, Chatham College, Duquesne University, Seton Hill College, St. Francis College, St Vincent College, Thiel College, and Valley Forge Military College.
• The School of Information Sciences has articulation agreements with CCAC, Beaver County Community College, Butler County Community College, WCCC, Harrisburg Area Community College, and Lincoln University.
• The School of Dental Medicine has articulation agreements with Harcum College, Montgomery County Community College, Community College of Philadelphia, and WCCC.
• The School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences has an articulation agreement with CCAC.
• The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford has an articulation agreement with the Jamestown Community College (New York) and the Pennsylvania School of Optometry.
• The University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg has an articulation agreement with WCCC.
• The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown has an articulation agreement with Cambria County Area Community College, Allegany College (Maryland), WCCC, and the Pennsylvania School of Optometry.

The Transfer Student Working Group's Recommendations for Short-Term Implementation are:

• orientation programming should be developed for transfer students;
• units should be more proactive in pursuing formal articulation agreements with community colleges;
• the University should establish a policy on articulation agreements so that units would have a standard or model to follow;
• channels of communication should be kept open among units serving transfer students;
• a group such as the Transfer Student Working Group should have permanence;
• a one-credit class for transfer students who have shown academic difficulty during their first semester should be created; and
• community college transfer students should be required to successfully complete their Math and English skills requirements prior to transfer.

The Bradford Campus holds orientation sessions for transfer and nontraditional students. Many of the transfer students are nontraditional and part-time students who benefit from the very active Nontraditional Student Association. To further recognize these students, Bradford has implemented an annualized part-time Dean's List, established a chapter of Alpha Sigma Lambda (a national honor society for nontraditional students), and begun a newsletter for nontraditional and part-time students.

In recent years, more attention has been given to policies and practices related to transfers within the University system. In addition, the issue of admissions referrals from the Pittsburgh Campus Office of Admissions and Financial Aid to the regional campuses has been addressed. At various times in recent years, the regional campuses have availed themselves of these referrals, particularly in the enrollment of minority students.

College Transition Program
The Office of Disability Resources and Students developed a college transition program that was initially piloted in 1997 and had a positive impact on quality point averages. In the summer of 1998, in collaboration with the Commonwealth's Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, the Office offered the program to high school students in two separate venues. The first was a three-night, four-day, federally-funded residential program at the Greensburg Campus with a target population of deaf students. The second was a commuter program developed with state and community agencies and offered at the Pittsburgh Campus. In June of 1999, the Office hosted a transition program called "Make the Grade" for students with all types of disabilities at the Greensburg Campus.

Enhancement of quality of Pittsburgh Campus freshmen
A key component for enhancing the quality of the freshman class is the significant increase in applications. As mentioned before, it is worth noting that there were 7,825 and 13,565 applications for the fall 1995 and fall 2000 classes, respectively, reflecting a 73% increase in applications over six years. The increased applicant pool significantly improved the University's selectivity resulting in a decline in the acceptance yield from 79% in fall 1995 to 62% in fall 2000. In turn, enrollment increased 22% from fall 1995 to fall 1999 (2,424 to 2,951). Simultaneously, there have been gains in combined SAT scores from 1995 to 1999 (1139 to 1189) which compare favorably to Fall 1999 State and National averages of 993 and 1,016 respectively. In terms of enrolled students being in the top 10% of their high school classes, there was a gain from 21% to 33% during this same period. It is particularly worth noting that there have also been continued gains in the percentage (14% to 23%) of the freshman class regarded as "honors eligible" (1270+ SAT and ranked in the top 10% of the high school class). The Chancellor's Scholarship competition remains the University Honors College's most intensive initiative in the recruitment of outstanding students to the University.

The University continues to be successful in recruiting economically and educationally disadvantaged students, particularly those who have been historically under-represented. With regard to African American students, the Fall 1999 class was one of the largest in the past two decades (315 students). Moreover, it was the best class to date in terms of SAT scores and class ranks (1049 SAT and 24% in the top one-tenth of their high school class). Following a comprehensive review in 1997, the University committed itself to enhancing access and academic success for under-represented students. The enrollment of increasing numbers of students selected as Faison, Henderson, and Lavelle Scholars provides clear evidence of the University's ability to be successful in the most competitive market. Despite slight declines in 2000-2001 in recruitment this population, initial indications for the fall 2001 recruiting class are strong.

Another initiative aimed at attracting top freshmen who otherwise might not have attended the University is the establishment of a growing number of guaranteed admissions programs in the College of Arts and Sciences. Under these programs, qualified incoming freshmen are guaranteed, if they do well as undergraduates, admission to one of the University's professional schools on graduation, such as the School of Medicine.

Nontraditional student recruitment
The College of General Studies has established the following goals relative to the recruitment of nontraditional students:

• maximize the tools available to gather data to create benchmark information regarding new student enrollment and retention;
• use an integrated marketing campaign to create a high profile for the College of General Studies with potential audiences;
• apply academic success standards to the student body to build credibility within the institution and create a student environment that fosters success;
• create models of nontraditional student services which will attract new audiences and provide greater productivity; and
• in cooperation with the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid, gain a better understanding of the financial needs and patterns of students to create a framework for evaluating financial aid services.

In addition to this ongoing direct mail program, opportunities available via the web for individuals to contact the College and receive information are being expanded. Students can now apply online as well as communicate directly with an advisor via email. New interactive components of the web site are being rolled out that will allow students to actively search a credit transfer database, identify the individual graduation requirements of particular programs, and even fax their registrations.

This information system on new students also offers the opportunity to segment student inquiries according to specified criteria. For the first time, the College can communicate with specific groups of inquirers and publicize Open House events to targeted groups of prospective students. This ability to drill down to various levels of specificity among inquirers means recruiting efforts can be tailored more effectively.

The College of General Studies, like any school, loses a percentage of its admitted population prior to registration. The current enrollment rate for those admitted is 77.7%. For nontraditional students, the issues that contribute to their failure to register are financial, family-related, or work-related. Informational materials have been developed to deal with these transition issues and will integrate pre-enrollment phase mailings and in-person contacts into student development operations. General Studies students are notoriously late in registering each term, which seriously disadvantages them in course selection. Educating them about the process and guiding them through the registration experience is critical to ensuring that first-time registrants feel positive about their academic program and schedule. It is critical that students understand the policies and procedures of the University and the College, and equally critical that they know where to turn if problems arise. In 1999-2000, the College launched a new student orientation program designed to meet those needs. These programs are scheduled frequently and flexibly, and all new students are required to attend. Those who cannot find a workable time receive a one-on-one orientation.

2.    Enhancing the Freshman Year
Clearly, admitting higher quality students serves no purpose unless efforts are made to help them through the all-important freshman year. The University has placed special emphasis on the freshman year in its attempts to help retain students and improve the overall student experience.

Pittsburgh Campus Freshman Year Leadership Team
From the point of admissions through the completion of the first academic years, the intent is to proactively integrate first-year students into the campus community, with units working together across academic affairs, student affairs, and support service offices. Thus far, new strategies have included: the freshman socialization funds project, to which $200,000 is allocated annually ($50 per full-time freshman) for the program; enhancement of the Advising, Testing, and Registration sessions including offering weekend sessions, improvement in the quality and timely dissemination of information, satellite testing, and meaningful programming for parents/caregivers, etc.; and the pilot project for the issuance of mid-term progress reports for specific College of Arts and Sciences courses.

To further advance the work of the Team, the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs is chairing the group, whose membership has been revised to reflect all of the relevant support services, student affairs, and academic affairs offices. The long term goals of the Team are to:

• create a learning environment that fosters student satisfaction and academic success, through careful intervention and timely and appropriate action during the freshman year;
• create a strong and ongoing linkage between academic and student affairs with respect to the freshman experience; and
• make the student-academic affairs linkage seamless in terms of the delivery of student services.

The purpose of FS1 in the College of Arts and Sciences is to:

• provide an extended orientation to the services and programs available to students;
• increase a student's knowledge of what it takes to succeed at the University; and
• provide an opportunity to connect to a faculty or staff member and the University.

• using a college syllabus;
• history of the University of Pittsburgh;
• setting goals;
• differences between college and high school;
• policies, procedure, and guidelines of the College of Arts and Sciences;
• academic integrity (required);
• plagiarism;
• orientation to the library;
• orientation to the computer network;
• time management (required);
• study skills (required);
• getting to know the professorate;
• sexually-transmitted diseases, AIDS, sexual assault, alcohol (required);
• stress/anxiety;
• finances;
• student auxiliary services;
• diversity (required);
• critical thinking;
• academic major and career planning;
• getting ready for finals.

The College of Business Administration initiated a freshman studies course in fall 1997. The course, entitled "CBA Orientation," was designed to help new students successfully launch their preparation for a career in business while enhancing the skills necessary to succeed in coursework. Academic habits, skill building, career and major exploration, communication basics, and business vocabulary development are the primary focus of the course.

The Bradford Campus began offering a freshman studies program, called the Freshman Connections Program in 1983, with an aim toward integrating students into college life and promoting students' academic success. It was renamed the Freshman Forum in Fall 1990, and Learning Clusters in Fall 1994. Each Learning Cluster focuses on an academic topic (e.g., The Civil War, The Seneca Nation) and the students choose the topic of most interest to them. In addition to study in the topic area, students are required to participate in a variety of extra-curricular activities and receive information on stress management, time management, study skills, health and alcohol issues, and more.

Freshman Honors in Engineering Program
Created by the Honors College, the Fessenden Honors in Engineering Program enables the top five percent of entering freshmen to take an all-honors, first-year curriculum together as a group. Two of the Honors College courses in this curriculum, English literature and philosophy, are open only to Program participants. Beyond course work, the Program group meets weekly over lunch in a seminar run by upperclass Program alumni to discuss general principles of engineering educational philosophy and, especially, the nontechnical and humanistic aspects of engineering.

Freshman Engineering seminar/mentor experience
The Freshman Engineering Seminar has been substantially redesigned in an effort directed at reducing attrition. This non-credit, mandatory experience was tailored to fit the perceived needs of freshman engineering students, with sessions directed at such major issues as:

• adjustment to college life;
• time and stress management;
• overview of the different fields of engineering; and
• special opportunities (e.g., co-op, international studies, undergraduate research, etc.).

Supportive peer groups have been formed that extended beyond the classroom, including freshmen to freshmen, freshmen to mentor, and mentor to mentor interactions. Through sharing the engineering curricular experiences, all groups appear to spend more time together inside and outside of the classroom perpetuating an excitement and a desire to learn and succeed.

Support systems created through peer relationships have been especially effective with students whose "life-tasks" make attending college a difficult experience. Commuters, students who must work to pay for college, as well as under-represented populations appear to positively respond to the interactions the freshman seminar creates.

An additional academic community developed when student services staff and faculty collaborated in supporting the freshman seminar activities. Although the relationship between faculty and staff was not a primary driver in implementing the new seminar, an additional benefit was realized within the positive examples that were set through such productive interactions.

A freshman engineering weekly planner for use in the mentor sessions was created and implemented for the1998-99 academic year. The specially-designed planner provides freshmen with a system for organizing their time and contains pertinent information about University support resources, as well as information about each of the different engineering programs. This enables students to make a more informed departmental choice in the spring.

Freshman initiatives at the Johnstown Campus
As part of an overall effort to reduce the transition anxiety of entering freshmen, the Johnstown Campus adjusted its summer new student orientation program and established an "Introduction to the Collegiate Experience," which takes place during the two days immediately prior to the start of the fall term. Activities include a convocation ceremony for students and parents/caregivers, academic advising sessions, instruction on computing resources, the first session of "The College" (a required, non-credit orientation class), and other activities designed to help entering students.

"The Freshman Network" was established in 1996 to coordinate new and ongoing services enhancing the freshman year experience. The Network provides new students with an identifiable site on campus for information and referral. A monthly newsletter mailed to all freshmen and their parents/caregivers provides practical information about a wide variety of topics and promotes awareness of the total college experience. An Academic Source Book was produced in 1999 containing detailed information about academic advisors, directories and maps, course requirements for all majors, a set of 100 frequently-asked questions, and other information helpful to freshmen.

As a result of these and other initiatives, a record number of admission applications were received in recent years. The freshman applicant profile consistently shows that about 80% of incoming freshmen graduate in the top half of their high school classes, with close to one-third graduating in the top 20%. The average SAT score is above national averages and 35-40 points above the average for Pennsylvania.

Attention paid to the freshman year is already reaping benefits in terms of increased retention and student satisfaction. The University is committed to continuing to address the unique concerns of these students, so that the greatest benefit can be derived from increasing selectivity.

C.    Retention and Enrollment Management

The next logical step following the recruitment of higher quality students and facilitating their success in the freshman year is the general improvement of retention at all levels, principally assisted by vigorous enrollment management efforts. The University and individual units have implemented a broad range of initiatives aimed at improving retention of all undergraduate students.

1.    Retention Successes and Challenges
Retention rates for the first four years of undergraduate enrollment are higher now than at any time in the 1990's. In particular, retention rates for minority students are higher than at any time for which the University has records. These successes directly reflect the emphasis the University has placed on continued success of students through their undergraduate years.

The most recent available retention statistics for the University include the fall 1998 first-time, full-time freshman class. The one-year retention rate of 85.1% is higher than at any point in the 1990's. Retention rates after two and three years are 74.1% and 69.6% respectively. The four-year graduation rate is 38.0%, also the highest in the last decade. Graduation rates after five and six years are 56.1% and 62.7% respectively.

The one-year retention rate for minority students is currently 84.0%, which is the highest since 1985, the earliest year for which data exist. The four, five, and six year graduation rates for minority students are 27.1%, 42.2%, and 52.0%, respectively.

College of Arts and Sciences student retention programs
The College of Arts and Sciences recently initiated a major effort to improve academic outcomes by earlier identification of problems, effective intervention that improves outcomes, and the provision of stronger academic support services. This initiative involves both policy changes and supporting programmatic efforts as summarized below.

• Mid-term progress reports for first-year students -- To ensure that students receive timely and accurate information about their academic progress, a pilot program was initiated in fall 1998 that generates mid-term progress reports for selected freshman classes, including students in the Arts and Sciences, Engineering, and Business Administration. Building upon the success of that program, in collaboration with the other undergraduate schools, an expanded mid-term progress pilot program was instituted in 1999 for students in 36 Pittsburgh Campus courses with high freshman enrollment. Under this program the Office of the Registrar contacts faculty members who teach key skills and gateway courses in a process that mirrors normal grading procedures, except that results are made available to schools in master lists banded according to student performance. This allows access to information with regard to the progress of students while there is still time to intervene and help students to pull together a problem course or term.
• Revised Academic Standards Policy stipulating that students who earn less than a 2.0 quality point average in two consecutive terms may be subject to academic suspension -- This policy has been implemented for the 1999-2000 class. The previous policy allowed four terms with a quality point average below 2.0 before a student was subject to suspension. The objectives of the change are to provide a short-term focus to induce students in academic trouble to address their problems, and to provide a mechanism to suspend students whose performance is far out of step with their potential and reasonable progress objectives.
• Intervention Programs -- To be effective and fair, policy changes such as the two discussed above must be complemented by programs that provide support for the students impacted by the policy changes. Many student support services exist at the University, but students need to know of their availability and in many cases students need to be persuaded that they should take advantage of these services. Intervention programs offer an excellent approach to this task, and two programs have now been implemented based on programs that were shown to be effective in identifying and resolving academic issues confronted by University students. Students select the program most appropriate to their needs in consultation with advisors and Deans.

    In the Intervention Workshop, some students meet with College Deans in small group sessions to review past performance, develop improvement plans, and learn about University resources available to help with individual problems. In addition, in the one-credit seven-week Intervention Course, other students participate in a course designed to provide a more structured environment and support system. The course focuses on issues that give students the tools for success in courses such as improved study skills and habits, better knowledge and understanding of available learning and support services on campus, and help with the development of a peer network.
• Support Programs -- A third approach to improving academic outcomes beyond policy changes and intervention programs involves academic support programs designed to provide stronger academic support than that available through the current advising systems. Three new programs of this type were recently implemented, based on successful pilots: Case Management Advising is a proactive model using an electronic information system to enhance the interaction of advisors, academic support services, and faculty members to improve advising for undergraduate students and identify strategies for better academic performance; the one-credit Health Focus Course is a collaborative effort with the Partners in Education Consortium, representing all of the health sciences schools at the University. The course is designed to assist students with an identified career interest in the health sciences to assess themselves, their career goals, and their abilities. The course provides an opportunity to acquire a realistic introduction to the variety of health science careers, their requirements, and their practitioners. Students meet others of similar interests, practicing professionals, and faculty engaged in medical research; and an Algebra Workshop was initiated for students who have been unsuccessful in completing the algebra requirement. Students who would otherwise be suspended because they have not completed this requirement are now allowed to continue in the program on condition that they take this workshop simultaneously with the algebra course. The no-credit course is taught in the Learning Skills Center and preliminary results provide encouraging indications with regard to the success rate for students who adopt this strategy.

• using new data sources to accurately track student retention for the three most recent academic years;
• identifying institutions against which the College can benchmark its efforts;
• using the College's new student information system to assess yields related to the enrollment of new students;
• developing new intervention strategies for students who are on probation;
• using a limited amount of student financial aid to encourage students who have left the University to return and complete their degrees; and
• working with the School of Engineering to develop a plan of action for students who transfer from Engineering to General Studies due to less than adequate academic performance.

In addition, the procedures for monitoring academic progress, placing students on probation, and, when their records warrant, taking more severe action, are being revised. Students whose grade point averages are approaching 2.0 are being informed, although they may not yet be on probation, that they must demonstrate improvement. In addition, students who are on probation are given a set of guidelines spelling out conditions for their continued enrollment in the College and the impact of their performance on their financial aid awards.

The College is also developing the Center for Nontraditional Student Success and Development to provide opportunities for students to grow to their full potential. The Center will serve as a primary location for students in need of academic, financial and/or career information. The Center will house a growing library of reference material for student use, in addition to providing computer based testing and interest inventory assessment. Students on probation will be encouraged to use the resources and to take advantage of workshops and assessment tools that are available. Regular workshops will be held for students with topics that include study skills, financial planning for education, career identification, and job search skills.

Student leadership development
With the intent of developing an optimal set of leadership development opportunities for undergraduates on the Pittsburgh Campus, the Enrollment Management Committee's Student Leadership Development Working Group was appointed. The objectives are to ensure that: students will increasingly become self-directed learners; students will become increasingly integrated into the life of the University; and the leadership skills honed by University students will not only serve them well in their academic pursuits, but will sustain them as responsible professionals in the workplace.

Given the foregoing objectives, the Group was asked to: assess existing leadership opportunities at the University; benchmark efforts with other comparable institutions; develop strategies for expanding those services that currently work well; formulate plans for establishing innovative programs; and develop a mechanism for ongoing assessment. Various alternative strategies are being reviewed.

Learning Skills Center -- Supplemental Instruction
The Learning Skills Center received special funding from the Provost's Office to establish a Supplemental Instruction Program. Through this program, College of Arts and Sciences, School of Nursing, and College of Business Administration students enrolled in 32 sections of courses with historically high failure rates have access to Supplemental Instruction. The students who participate in these study groups score a half grade point better on average than students who do not participate in Supplemental Instruction. This is an important intervention and the program is expected to grow.

Comprehensive Undergraduate Bulletin
Students unfamiliar with the organization of a university can suffer tunnel vision or become confused when considering the rich academic choices available across schools. For the first time in recent institutional history, the Pittsburgh Campus undergraduate academic programs and regulations governing most programs have been collected and described in one combined bulletin (see Appendix J).

The combined bulletin provides students and their advisors with one up-to-date document covering all programs and academic requirements in the undergraduate schools, thus facilitating more efficient and accurate decisions regarding students' academic history such as registration, course selection, and planning for potential transfer to another school. The combined bulletin is now on the Web at http://www.univ-relations.pitt.edu/bulletins/undergrad/ with links to information such as tuition, fees, and the academic calendar.

School of Engineering retention activities
Beginning in 1993-94, a major effort was directed toward retention of freshman engineering students. These initiatives have attracted national attention and earned the School a national advising award, and led to a significant reduction in freshman engineering attrition from a high of 25% to the current low of 16%.

These retention efforts included a major revision of the freshman engineering course sequence (supported in part by funding from the National Science Foundation). It was felt that most entering engineering students had little idea what engineering is about, what engineers do, nor appreciated how engineering differs from science and mathematics. As a result, too many students were becoming impatient, or drawing improper generalizations from their introductory course material, and thus leaving engineering. If incoming students' expectations could be identified, then ways could be developed to satisfy them as part of the educational process, thus increasing retention of talented students, as well as the heterogeneity of the student body and the engineering profession.

The School developed two problem-based learning courses, Engineering Analysis and Engineering Computing, that are taught in an active learning environment and are required of all freshman engineering students. The re-designed courses reduced student withdrawals from these introductory engineering courses from 24% to 12%. New methods of instruction and course content also led to improved faculty and student satisfaction, as confirmed by attitudinal surveys.

The Freshman Engineering Tutoring Program was reorganized for fall 2000. Several workshops were developed that assisted with the academic success of the freshman class. These workshops were designed to address academic problems that freshman students might bring to college. Four additional workshops were conducted during the Spring Term addressing Goal Setting, Time Management, Note Taking/Outlining, and Critical Thinking/Problem Solving. Also, tutors conducted an additional session in the residence hall on test preparation during finals week. Overall, the Tutoring Program experienced an increase of 90% in student visits compared to the same time period the previous year. From 418 surveys received, 398 (95%) students would recommend the program.

Over the past eight years, typically 20 to 22% of Engineering freshmen were placed on probation after the fall term. These students account for almost half of the attrition during the freshman year. In addition, the data indicate that no more than 20% of these "first term probation" students will graduate in engineering. Consequently, the School has specifically targeted this group of students, designing a program of three weekly sessions that focus on improving students' study and time-management skills. The students focus on the reasons for their poor academic performance.

In 1993-94, the School developed the Pittsburgh Freshman Engineering Attitudes Survey that is now used by over 20 engineering programs. Using data from this survey, models have been developed to better identify those students most likely to be placed on first-term probation and those most likely to leave engineering in good standing. This will enable freshman program staff to design interventions for these students.

The Pittsburgh Freshman Attitudes Survey is administered first during orientation and then a second time at the end of the freshman year. Students who transferred out in good academic standing demonstrated: statistically significant decreases over this period in their general impressions of engineering; enjoyment of math and science courses; confidence in chemistry; and perception of the engineering profession. In contrast, they reported increases in family pressure to study engineering. These results also have been used to improve the freshman engineering seminar structure and content.

School of Social Work retention activities
The School has a strong history of retention success, with a graduation rate of over 95%. The School has a mentoring program in which seniors provide peer mentoring for juniors. The undergraduate student organization provides regular input to the faculty and administration as a way of continually improving the quality of the program and of addressing any concerns or suggestions students may have.

School of Nursing retention activities
The School has established a mentoring/support group, providing peer, faculty, and alumni support and guidance to students regarding academics, University life, social adjustment, and progression toward graduation. Peer and faculty tutoring also enables students to successfully complete their rigorous science curriculum. The School also provides active support and funding for professional student organizations at the state and local level for student leaders.

School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences retention activities
The School has improved its advisory process, enabling advisors to identify students early who need assistance in their academic work. A faculty member, as part of his or her workload, serves as a student liaison, thus encouraging dialogue and communication between the School and the student. The School has also introduced technology as a method of enhancing retention, utilizing interactive instructional tools that help students retain knowledge and skills.

Johnstown Campus retention activities
In order to provide a supportive environment for students, especially those in their first year, the Johnstown Campus is engaged in three interrelated projects. First, the Freshman Network program coordinates critical support areas for students. In particular, the Freshman Network Newsletter serves as a key piece in communicating with and advising freshman students and their parents/caregivers. The multi-divisional staff members on the steering committee will continue to refine Network activities as well as develop more constructive links with other retention-oriented endeavors.

One such prospect is the freshman orientation course, "The College," which is taught voluntarily by a wide variety of staff members, including a new multicultural component. Johnstown is also expanding its efforts to improve advising on campus. Making use of pre-audit sheets now used by the Registrar's Office, a new academic source book has been created that allows students and faculty to quickly and easily tally up credits and appropriate course work for all majors, minors, and concentrations.

A further enhancement to the advising program is the "Dr. Advisor" project, a web-enabled student advising resource comprised of several static and interactive components. Dr. Advisor provides an online, interactive version of the Academic Source Book and includes:

• an active, unofficial degree audit component with which students can explore degree requirements of their selected major or other program options;
• relevant directories with email connections;
• campus maps;
• a frequently-asked questions section with keyword search capability;
• a QPA section with QPA calculator capability; and
• an email feedback section.

The Learning Resource Center expanded its services for all students, not merely those identified as "at-risk." An active peer tutoring program is used by a wide range of students, and a successful "supplemental instruction" project was introduced in 1999-2000. These activities are certainly, in part, responsible for recent improvements in student retention. The average freshman retention rate for the past four cohorts is 80%, and the average six-year graduate rate for the past four cohorts is 61%. These programs enhance an already extensive effort including newsletters, summer orientation for parents, and student life programming.

Greensburg Campus retention activities
The Greensburg Campus has initiated several activities in recent years to improve student retention. The academic advising system was revised and a career counseling/placement center established. A mid-term grade system for freshmen and continuing students on probation was created. A new freshman seminar program was established, as well as several chapters of various disciplinary honorary societies and a campus honors convocation.

Bradford Campus retention efforts
The Bradford Campus has a long standing commitment to providing students with support that will improve retention. The Campus began mailing mid-term grade reports to all freshman students in Fall 1994. Students with mid-term grades below a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 are required to attend a six-week academic development course taught by the Director of the Academic Development Center and the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs.

Since the early 1990's, faculty and staff retention teams have met to review retention efforts and revise plans for retaining students. Recently, a team including all academic department chairs and program directors met to consider specific departmental as well as college-wide changes that could be made to improve retention. In addition, at the end of each term, faculty advisors contact all students who are not registered for the following term. This provides information on late registrations and non returning students.

Every semester, all students and their advisors receive a copy of their "Graduation Audit Form." This form has all graduation requirements in General Education, major, minor, and electives sorted under the appropriate heading in accord with their stated major, minor, etc. For each course entry, the form shows the course number and title, number of credits, grade, and term the course was taken (or its designation as a transfer course). In addition, the form provides the cumulative grade point average as well as the grade point average in the major. Blank areas in the form indicate to the student those requirements not yet satisfied. Through the Graduation Audit Form, students and advisors have a clear picture of a student's status and academic progress. Students and advisors receive this report each and every semester of enrollment.

Through University-wide and unit-specific activities, the University is committed to improving the retention of undergraduate students to their ultimate graduation. At a time when the expectations of students, parents/caregivers, community leaders, and legislators is for colleges and universities to do everything to facilitate student success and satisfaction, the University will continue its efforts to raise retention and graduation rates.

2.    Unit-Level Enrollment Management Activities
The Enrollment Management Committee's Steering Committee was established in 1998 to promulgate a more focused enrollment management agenda. Under its leadership, several new working groups were formed to examine other important aspects of enrollment management, such as: transfer students, non-traditional students, student leadership, and campus safety.

To better understand what units are doing with respect to the recruitment, retention, and graduation of undergraduate students, meetings were held with deans of units with undergraduate programs, as well as with the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs over the 1998-99 academic year to discuss their respective unit enrollment management practices.

The discussions reaffirmed the reality that the long-term success of enrollment management ultimately rests with the units themselves. Because units are already engaged in a number of activities to improve the quality of academic support services, the opportunity to enhance existing services and engage in collaborative partnerships across units portends well for attaining the goal of service excellence. What the information demonstrated was that all units have enrollment structures and/or processes designed to manage the recruitment, retention, and graduation of undergraduate students.

College of Arts and Sciences
The College of Arts and Sciences has established a Strategic Enrollment Management Team comprising representation from key areas: Information Systems, Student Records, Advising, Case Management, and Academic Administration. The Team meets on a regular basis to plan, monitor, and evaluate the efforts of student services in recruiting, retaining, and graduating students. A Strategic Thinking Group provides broader discussion and consultation. The Team is responsible for designing, coordinating, monitoring, and evaluating a systematic and strategic enrollment system in the College of Arts and Sciences that results in effective programs and activities supported by appropriate policies and procedures that positively impact the recruitment, retention, and graduation of students.

Some of the College's past accomplishments include:

• welcome letters sent to new students by the Associate Dean to convey academic expectations for students and the services available to assist them;
• introduction of mid-term progress reports in Fall 1999 for freshmen enrolled in 32 courses;
• enhanced training of undergraduate teaching assistants for Freshman Studies 1;
• utilization of CourseInfo in all Freshman Studies 1 sections as of Fall 2000;
• continuing conversion of advisors to full-time status;
• hiring of a Freshman Intervention Coordinator to respond to Freshman Hotline inquiries and provide professional support services to freshmen experiencing academic difficulties;
• implementation of a variety of intervention activities (one-credit courses for freshmen and transfers on probation, workshops with College of Arts and Sciences deans, and individual academic counseling) to encourage academic success;
• institution of new Academic Standards Policy that obliges entering students to achieve a 2.0 quality point average in two consecutive terms or face academic suspension;
• bi-annual publication of the "CAS Update" to inform parents/caregivers and students of College policies and procedures;
• appointment of an Assistant Dean for Freshmen to enhance services to entering students; and
• collaboration with the Learning Skills Center to offer a no-credit "Math 010 and 020 workshops" for students who have been unsuccessful in fulfilling the Algebra requirement.

College of Business Administration
Enrollment management in the College of Business Administration is accomplished through its Undergraduate Committee (faculty) and the coordinated efforts of its three divisions -- Admissions and Recruitment, Academic Advising, and Leadership Development Programs. Together they work to attract and retain students of high potential and motivation, and to implement the goals and objectives as set forth in the College's strategic plan. During the 1999-00 academic year, the College continued to exceed its enrollment and revenue targets in both the Fall and Spring terms, and to improve its freshman-class quality as illustrated by an increase in average SAT scores from approximately 1145 to 1171.

College of General Studies
Enrollment management issues for the College of General Studies differ from other undergraduate academic units for, in addition to its credit-based programs, the College offers credit non-degree programs and non-credit programs. A large and diverse group is charged with setting priorities for enrollment management activity and acting as a sounding board on issues related to enrollment management.

In the past year, activities involved:

• bringing online an information system for new students that can support a robust student recruitment program and facilitate improved correspondence with students;
• expanding the College web site, including online application capability and direct email communication with advisors;
• developing new informational materials for nontraditional students facing transition issues, such as financial, family-related, or work-related problems;
• improving retention efforts by utilizing better management information, benchmarking data, and intervention strategies;
• improving the procedures for monitoring students' academic progress;
• creating a series of financial aid funds for specific categories of students to make more effective awards; and
• exploring ways in which student service, personal development, and teaching/learning are intertwined, with a goal of developing a summative outcomes assessment model.

School of Engineering
The School of Engineering has an enrollment management team comprising the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, the Director of Freshman Programs (and three support staff members), and the Director of IMPACT (and three support staff members). The primary responsibilities of the team are student recruitment, student retention, mentoring, advising, and improving student quality and diversity. Its recent accomplishments include:

• the development of an integrated freshman curriculum;
• increased enrollment of 50% in the Freshman Class from fall 1996 to fall 1999;
• increases in the number of African American direct admits -- from seven in fall 1998 to 18 in fall 1999; and
• increases in the total number of African American students enrolled from 96 in fall 1998 to 113 in fall 1999.

School of Information Sciences
The School of Information Sciences Bachelor of Science in Information Science program does not have a formal enrollment management team. A program committee:

• evaluates all applicants according to established admission policy and procedures;
• monitors recruitment policies, procedures, programs, open houses, and literature;
• oversees program philosophy, plans, structure, relationships, literature, outcomes, research directions and initiatives, reading lists, and faculty requirements;
• recommends to the information science faculty changes in the program;
• evaluates current curricula to determine if it meets the philosophies, requirements, directions, plans, structure and outcomes recommended by the program;
• devises and implements plans and guidelines for proposed courses, course changes or curriculum changes; and
• evaluates courses for form and content structure.

School of Nursing
Enrollment management in the School of Nursing involves the faculty, department chairs, a recruiter, an assistant dean, an associate dean, and the Dean. The key members of the enrollment management team are also members of the Dean's Council. The Dean's Council assists the Dean in allocating resources, sets enrollment targets for each program or major, and conducts annual reviews of the student and faculty full-time equivalents annually. The School has a very comprehensive recruitment and evaluation plan. The retention rate for freshmen is 92%.

School of Pharmacy
The School of Pharmacy's enrollment management practices are designed to achieve a 100% graduation rate (present rate is 95%) and to produce graduates who are highly satisfied with their experiences at the School of Pharmacy and are outstanding professionals and loyal alumni. Enrollment goals are set by the Dean with input from the Associate Dean for Student and Academic Affairs, the Assistant Dean for Finance, and the Director of Student Affairs. The School seeks to enroll 85 to 90 students in each of the four years of the program (approximately 350 students). The School's enrollment management structure is best described as one of "shared responsibility."

Administrators, faculty, staff and alumni are actively engaged in a number of activities (formal and informal) which are intended to create an atmosphere where the individual students' needs are recognized and met. The Admissions Committee is charged with making enrollment decisions consistent with the mission, values and goals of the School and the University. The Dean's Advisory Board, comprising class representatives from each of the professional years of the curriculum, meets with the Dean monthly and with the Board of Visitors annually. The Advisory Board has raised concerns about student safety on campus and, with the Dean's encouragement, surveyed students about safety issues and designed an informal program for entering students. When students expressed a desire for space for relaxing and collaborative activities, and the space was made available, the Dean's Advisory Board was asked to provide input on furnishing the new Pharmaceutical Care Learning Center. Most recently, the Dean's Advisory Board designed and administered a survey to solicit student opinion on faculty advising, which was the impetus for the faculty-designed student advising program.

There are various other collegial activities that provide opportunities for interactions among faculty, students, staff and alumni, such as a "Back to School Picnic," a Pharmacy Week" event, a "Rho Chi Initiation Banquet," and a Leadership Retreat, to name a few.

School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
The School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences does not have a formal enrollment management structure. In the area of recruitment, a Recruitment Advisory Committee was established in 1998 consisting of faculty and staff representation from the Dean's Office Student Services area. Admission to the programs is quite selective. The reputation of its programs has attracted exceptional students from Pennsylvania as well as from out-of-state. The graduation rate is close to 100%. The School has developed a new undergraduate program in Rehabilitation Sciences which is expected to increase enrollment significantly.

University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown
The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown established a Strategic Planning Committee for Enrollment Management in 1987, chaired by the Academic Dean and charged with the responsibility of coordinating activities related to the admission and retention of students. In 1990, the activities of the Committee were incorporated into the long-term planning agenda of the University, and the Committee was eventually absorbed into the Budget Advisory Group. Today, the Offices of Admissions, Financial Aid and the Registrar are grouped together administratively to coordinate enrollment management efforts with the oversight of the Assistant Vice President for Enrollment, who reports to the Vice President for Academic Affairs. The Faculty Senate maintains a standing committee called the Admissions and Student Affairs Committee which meets periodically each term to discuss issues and policies related to enrollment management. The Freshman Network Steering Committee oversees the activities of the Freshman Network and other freshman integration efforts. The Johnstown Budget and Planning Committee incorporates enrollment planning into long-range planning exercises, and includes an enrollment agenda in each year's strategic planning update.

University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg
The Enrollment Management Advisory Committee at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg consists of the Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Vice President for Administration, the Dean of Student Services, the Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, the Registrar (who also serves in the capacity as Assistant to the President for Minority and Diversity Affairs), and the Coordinator of the Learning Resources Center. The general charge to the Committee is to examine and monitor various aspects of campus life to improve student recruitment and retention and to improve the level of service provided for students by all of the operating units. In addition, there are a number of working groups, composed primarily of faculty and student representatives, that are focused on specific topics or issues. Recent accomplishments include:

• the establishment of a College Skills Program for high-risk students;
• establishment of a Learning Resource Center that offers a variety of support services;
• expansion of the intramural athletic program and other types of student programming;
• diversity training sessions;
• extended library and computer learning center services and hours;
• a special orientation session for transfer students;
• programs to enhance the freshman year; and
• funding from two foundations to increase the number of cultural programs offered.

University of Pittsburgh at Bradford
Enrollment management at the Bradford Campus is based upon the premise that the campus exists as a Community of Learners and, as a public institution serving Northwest Pennsylvania, efforts should be made to provide the opportunity for a college education to any deserving student. Specifically, this means that:

• faculty and staff work cooperatively to create a campus environment that is characterized by excellent teaching, diverse co-curricular activities, and high quality student and customer service;
• careful attention is given to the maintenance of the physical plant, which serves as a catalyst for the many activities that take place;
• institutional financial aid is used as a tool to benefit students and maximize enrollment;
• students' needs come before the needs of other constituencies; and
• strategies, planning and decisions should be data-driven as opposed to instinct-driven.

An Enrollment Management Working Group, composed of the directors of admissions, athletics/recreation, financial aid, registrar/assistant dean of academic affairs, and associate dean of academic affairs, meets on a regular basis to discuss issues and implement policies and procedures that make a positive impact on enrollment. Likewise, a Retention Committee, composed of the registrar/assistant dean of academic affairs, several faculty members, and the directors of the academic development center, admissions, and student activities meets to discuss issues and make recommendations. These groups are supplemented by the work of the Enrollment Task Force, a committee of the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford Advisory Board.

The wide range of enrollment management initiatives in recent years has helped the University move from a "selective" to a "highly selective" institution. The success in this area indicates the degree to which academic and student affairs are cooperating in recent years. The University will continue forging this union in the coming years to achieve even greater student success and satisfaction.

Chapter V Management Initiatives Supporting Academic Goals

In response to various external and internal forces in the past 10 years, the University has instituted a number of administrative and institutional initiatives. For the most part, these initiatives have taken place since the current senior leadership took office, including the new Provost in fall 1994 and the new Chancellor in fall 1996. These initiatives have also been facilitated by the improved management decision-making environment created by the Planning and Budgeting System. Therefore, while some of these initiatives may be too new to evaluate thoroughly, they form the foundation that will steer the University into the 21^st century.

A.    Board of Trustees Leadership

As noted in the beginning of Chapter II, in the fall of 1995, the Board of Trustees embarked on a program of self-education designed to produce a better sense both of the University's existing condition and of its future prospects. At the conclusion of that process, the Board formally adopted a series of position statements, broadly charting a course for the University. Two of the five position statements, directing the pursuit of higher levels of operating efficiency and effectiveness and that the University secure a more adequate resource base, recognized the basic fact that the University can never hope to achieve its full potential without maximizing resources and applying them effectively.

The text of the former resolution cited operating principles that should guide efforts within the University, including:

• University programs should always be of top quality, even if that means offering fewer programs;
• to preserve valuable resources, the University must avoid duplicative efforts and maximize efficiencies in other ways;
• the administrative structure should be built around clear lines of authority and responsibility, including fiscal responsibility at all levels;
• information systems responsive to management must be put into place to facilitate both planning and assessment and to foster accountability; and
• capital projects must be carefully assessed and maintenance, renovation, and construction plans tied to the needs of the academic programs.

"...report to the Board on steps that can be taken to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the administrative areas to the 'best of the best' within American colleges, universities, and businesses."

A University-wide special retirement plan for tenured faculty was successfully implemented. Creative and committed efforts to streamline operations and reduce costs have occurred in many areas. Noteworthy examples of reductions in personnel budgets as of September 1999 included Facilities Management ($1.5 million), the University Library System ($900,000), Computing and Information Services ($650,000), and Finance ($600,000). As a result of these and other developments, the University's bond rating has been upgraded twice and now equals that of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Several other significant efforts will be detailed in this chapter that have relevance to enhancing the student experience at the University. These include the development of a 10-year facilities plan and the preparation of a comprehensive technology plan, which will guide major resource allocation toward identified academic priorities for years to come.

The second relevant Board of Trustees resolution dealt with securing an adequate resource base. This resolution has been addressed in a number of ways, including:

• all-time record donations from individuals and foundations;
• a 10-fold increase in voluntary giving by Trustees over a four-year period;
• improved support from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in terms of ongoing appropriations and one-time support for special initiatives; and
• the launching of a substantial capital campaign in fall 2000 with a goal of raising $ 500 million over six years.

B.    Academic Planning and Budgeting Process

Much of the success achieved in recent years was enabled by rooting new initiatives in the goals and objectives of the annual planning process. Initiated partly in response to an environment of fiscal constraint, the planning and budgeting process helped units make difficult resource allocation decisions and enabled funds to be available to improve the student experience.

1.    Long-Range Planning and Budgeting Parameters
The Planning and Budgeting System created a University Planning and Budgeting Committee composed of faculty, staff, students, and administrators. Early in the Committee's deliberations, members expressed concern over the magnitude of the financial challenges facing the University. In 1993-94, a subcommittee led by a professor of Economics created an elaborate model of long-range planning and budgeting parameters with the purpose of simulating the impact of major budgetary decisions on the future financial health of the University.

The results of the study shocked the Committee as the projected deficits were far in excess of anyone's worst estimates. Regardless of any issues members had with the methodology, the message was clear - the University had to make fundamental changes in the way it financed its operations and in the quality of management decision making. The subsequent actions, outlined throughout much of this chapter, were a direct result of this study and helped ensure that the study's ominous projections were not realized.

2.    Annual Planning and Budgeting Process
Working within the new Planning and Budgeting System, the Provost embarked in 1995 on an effort to tie academic unit planning more closely to budgets. This activity emphasized the setting of ambitious goals in each unit and then reallocating resources to meet those goals in the service of the University's mission. Each year, over a five-year period, every school, regional campus, and unit reporting to the Provost was required to set out an action plan to improve its most important programs and then demonstrate a willingness to move its own budgetary resources to support that plan. Specifically, each unit was mandated to reallocate 2.5% of its budget each year internally (totaling a 12.5% internal reallocation over the five years). In addition, each unit designated 2.5% of its budget to a central reallocation pool, which was distributed at the beginning of the subsequent fiscal year by the Provost in support of priority goals.

This forced alignment of planning and budgeting led many units to reexamine their basic missions and their visions for the future. Linking planning and budgeting in this way, painful as it was in many instances, has ensured that each unit will be healthy long into the future. This process has resulted in the redistribution of nearly $11 million to date, helping guarantee that the highest quality programs will be preserved, but also has enabled many of the more promising programs to move into the top rank.

As this process progressed, it became clear that a greater and clearer understanding of expectations was needed both by the academic units and by the University administration. The Provost had committed to maintaining the current array of schools, and the planning and budgeting efforts were helping set long-term financial support levels. To best achieve the goals set for the University, agreement also had to be reached on human resource and performance levels.

3.    Setting Target Faculty Sizes and Enrollment/Production Figures
Part of the Provost's area planning and budgeting effort was the identification of target faculty sizes for each unit, setting a number of faculty positions that units could plan on year after year. This effort adds accountability to the budgeting process and provides substantial stability to units in that they can now confidently plan, knowing the instructional staff available to them in the future.

Recent planning exercises have helped units identify their highest priorities and recognize areas of strength and weakness. As a result, all of the academic units have agreed with administration on a base target faculty size needed to support essential programs, maintain strong areas, and provide the means to help improving areas reach their potential.

In concert with the setting of faculty target sizes, each unit reporting to the Provost has also agreed to target enrollments and/or tuition revenue. These targets are used to guide resource allocation decisions and establish clear goals for units to achieve. Some portion of new tuition revenues generated is returned as an incentive for units to grow to their optimal enrollments. These funds have allowed units, such as the School of Information Sciences and the regional campuses, to enhance existing programs and create new programs in response to student needs.

Work still remains to encourage every unit to set academic priorities and allocate resources in the way best suited to achieving the University's goals. However, the University is certainly better poised now to face turbulent change and challenges in the higher education environment than it was 10 years ago.

C.    Facilities Planning

One of the greatest challenges facing the University in achieving its goal of improving the undergraduate student experience was that of the physical limitations of the Pittsburgh Campus and the manner in which facilities decisions had been made in the past for the entire University. It was clear that decision making needed the support of a guiding plan and a vision of how the physical plant contributed to the student experience.

1.    University Facilities Plan
A Facilities Planning Committee was appointed by the Chancellor in 1995 and charged with the evaluation of the University's capital priorities. The committee began with a review of all existing University-owned and occupied space. Based on that review, the Plan placed high priority on the effective and efficient use of current space, the preservation and modernization of existing buildings over new construction, and the acquisition of property only in instances in which the University has a clear programmatic need. In addition, rental properties would, to the extent possible, be utilized only to house externally funded projects for limited periods of time, when adequate space for such projects cannot be found in campus facilities.

The Facilities Plan: 1997-2007, adopted in 1997, resulted from a comprehensive review of all University facilities (see Appendix K). The plan was formulated to provide appropriate physical facilities to support the programs of every campus of the University, with the greatest emphases placed on improvements to teaching and learning facilities, such as classrooms and libraries, and to projects designed to enhance the quality of student life. The following brief summary presents the major components of the plan, much of which focuses on the dramatic changes and significant expenditures occurring on the Pittsburgh Campus. However, the plan also includes more than $42 million of expenditures on the regional campuses, as discussed later.

Reflecting the most urgent needs of the University, considerable importance was placed on improvements designed to create a more positive environment for undergraduate students, such as recreational and athletic facilities and improved residence hall environments. The determination of facility priorities set forth in this plan was based on guiding principles that clearly express the centrality of the University's academic mission, the academic priorities expressed in Toward the 21^st Century, and the objectives contained in the University's Master Space Plan.

Of course, no planning document is static, and initiatives are constantly being updated. While the dynamic nature of the plan has required some changes, these fundamental ideas were among the planning principles which emerged as the basis for the recommendations which follow.

Deferred maintenance and renovation
Of particular concern to the University was the preservation of its existing physical plant. Its Education and General (E&G) facilities alone, totaling 5,500,000 gross square feet, have a replacement value of approximately $1 billion. In the early 1990's, eminent universities were experiencing crises as buildings built in 1960's expansions fell into disrepair. The University heeded the warning provided by these lessons and strove to avoid repeating other institutions' mistakes.

In order to assess with accuracy the magnitude of its deferred maintenance needs, the University engaged architectural consultants to perform a comprehensive building-by-building assessment of its E&G buildings. The assessment documented the existing condition of each building and determined the extent and estimated cost of the University's deferred maintenance. The Division of Facilities Management also reviewed the condition of the E&G facilities to estimate the cost of upgrading them to contemporary condition. The assessment provided a context within which to determine the relative value of investments in renovations in different facilities.

The University has pressed annually for inclusion of these renovation and restoration projects in the Commonwealth's facilities budget. The extent that these projects are funded has a significant impact on the proportion of the total cost of the Facilities Plan that has to be borne by the University's E&G budget. Even if significant new Commonwealth facilities funding were not forthcoming, the University would have to continue to invest substantial resources in the preservation and enhancement of its existing facilities.

Facilities Management has developed a Condition Assessment of all facilities, including Educational and General as well as housing, at all campuses. From FY 1996 to FY 1999, $24 million was invested in preservation projects and $42.5 million in renovations to academic as well as housing facilities.

In addition to preservation projects, the University must annually undertake renovation projects both to maintain existing facilities in good condition and to provide adequate support for programs. The specific programs and facilities which will benefit from these expenditures are determined through the University's annual Planning and Budgeting System.

Academic facilities
The Plan recommended that the following four projects, which will significantly strengthen the academic programs of the Pittsburgh Campus, be undertaken as quickly as possible:

Renovation of the Masonic Temple -- The best use of the Masonic Temple was determined based on the following criteria: which programs of highest priority can be adequately housed in the facility; how can the type of space in the facility be effectively used and its quality and distinctiveness preserved; and can the renovations required to meet these goals be done in a cost-effective manner? As a result, the Plan proposed that the Masonic Temple be renovated to house the following University activities: the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid, the Offices of Alumni Affairs and Governmental Relations, the Center for Instructional Development and Distance Education, the Center for Executive Education of the Katz Graduate School of Business, and the Institute for Politics. Renovation of the Temple was completed in 2000 and all of these programs now occupy new quarters there. In addition to these operations, a much-needed 350-seat science lecture hall was located in the Temple.

    The Temple has 150,000 gross square feet with 98,000 net square feet of space. Nearly all of the original assembly rooms have been preserved and utilized as assembly or program spaces. Retaining them for these purposes dramatically enhances the ability of the University to host such events. Particularly noteworthy among the spaces in the Masonic Temple are the ballroom, the first and third floor lobbies, and the 1,000-seat auditorium.

Continuation of the Classroom Renovation Project -- Based on projected increases in utilization, the University's 355 classrooms, seminar rooms, and auditoria and 249 instructional labs were judged generally adequate in number to accommodate the instructional needs of the University. By centralizing scheduling of classrooms in the University Registrar's Office and by effectively using the scheduling software recently purchased, classroom utilization is expected to increase significantly. Although the number of classrooms is adequate, once appropriate utilization rates are achieved, a number of specialized classrooms incorporating sophisticated technology and additional instructional computing facilities will be required.

    A highly successful renovation project initiated in 1992 and completed in 1997, resulted in the renovation of 60 classrooms and six auditoria at the cost of $5,200,000. The renovated classrooms are in excellent condition and will require only periodic equipment updating. To remedy the remaining classroom deficiencies in a systematic way, the plan includes, on the basis of its highly successful classroom renovation program, a baseline for classroom appearance and technology.

Construction of the Multipurpose Academic Complex (MPAC) - The University is proceeding with the construction of the $32.4 million MPAC building (due for completion by January 2002), bounded by Forbes Avenue, Bouquet street, and Oakland Avenue. The building will contain approximately 248,000 gross square feet, including a first floor of 16,000 net square feet for retail space. MPAC will house the Departments of Psychology and Computer Science in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. A significant benefit of the relocation of these departments will be the ability to expand the instructional facilities of the FAS Departments of Biological Sciences, Neuroscience, Chemistry, Physics, and Geology and Planetary Sciences into the spaces vacated by these two departments.

    In addition, one entire floor of the MPAC will be dedicated to housing a portion of the College of Business Administration. A prominent location, within an important new facility, will provide the College with both the visibility it needs to attract students and the specialized facilities it requires to meet its programmatic requirements. The building will also house a Law Clinic and provide nearly 100 parking spaces.

Construction of an Addition to the Hillman Library and of a High Density Storage Facility and the Renovation of the Hillman Library -- Since the completion of the Hillman Library in 1967, the University Library System has not added any additional space, despite significant growth in its collections and services. The Hillman Library, originally built to accommodate a collection of 1,000,000 volumes and to seat 2,000 readers, today houses 1,800,000 volumes. The Hillman collection grows by 50,000 volumes annually, and it has completely filled its off-site storage facilities at the University of Pittsburgh Applied Research Center. The Plan proposed several steps to help alleviate the overcrowding: 1) renovations and additions to an existing warehouse on Thomas Boulevard, scheduled to be completed in Fall 2001, to be converted to a high density "Harvard Model" book storage facility; 2) renovation of the current Hillman Library; and 3) construction of a 100,000 gross square foot addition to the Hillman Library. Studies of issues related to technology and traditional library space have concluded that there will be a continuing need in the research university for a physical entity called a library.

Since the approval of the Plan, the University has renovated three existing apartment buildings (Oakwood, Forbes-Craig, and Mayflower), that originally housed graduate students, to accommodate a total of 180 beds for undergraduates in apartment-style housing. The University has also built Bouquet Gardens, a complex of eight garden-style apartment buildings that house 496 students. Each apartment accommodates four students in individual bedrooms, two full bathrooms, kitchen, and dining and living areas. There are 1,000 total square feet of space in each apartment. After the completion of the Petersen Events Center, housing for an additional 400 students will be built on the Upper Campus on the site of the former Pitt Stadium.

At the time of the plan, limited academic programming was conducted within the residence halls, and academic, social, and recreational space was highly limited. The plan recommended an aggressive program to make the residence life experience richer and more academically oriented. The establishment of living/learning centers and special academic interest housing within the residence halls has created an environment that has a more positive effect on students and makes residence life more attractive to larger numbers.

The University will closely monitor the increases in demand for housing to determine when the construction of additional housing is appropriate. Such additional housing will be built in increments of 50 two-bedroom apartments in low-rise units. This type of housing is most in demand by upper-division students, and, should demand for undergraduate housing ever slacken, could readily be converted into graduate housing. This incremental approach limits the extent of the University's financial exposure, as well as providing housing only as it is needed, reducing the possibility of significant vacancies.

Efforts to make the residence halls more physically attractive, particularly those with smaller living areas, are urgently required to reduce their current undesirability. To that end, the University anticipates spending $13,000,000 to renovate existing residence halls and dining facilities over the next four years.

The Facilities Plan also recommended active involvement in the creation of quality housing partnerships with established Oakland property owners and community-based organizations to identify and market appropriate housing units within the Oakland neighborhood for graduate students.

Recreational and athletic facilities
The recreation and athletic facilities on the campus have become increasingly inadequate to support either the general recreation needs of the students or the athletic programs of the University. Despite a significant increase in the overall enrollment on the campus, particularly in the resident population, and the addition of a number of intercollegiate athletic teams over the last two decades, the number of athletic and recreation facilities had at the time the plan was formulated actually declined. Outdoor tennis courts and field space had been lost to construction, and only one new facility - the Cost Center - had been added in the last 30 years.

Based on a thorough review of existing recreation and athletic facilities, the committee that developed the Athletic and Physical Activity Master Space Plan proposed a comprehensive program for the construction of additional space and the renovation of existing space. Among the recommended priorities were:

• the construction of an addition to Fitzgerald Field House;
• the construction of an outdoor playing field for intramural sports, recreation, and basic physical activity;
• an additional lower-campus recreational facility in Bellefield Hall;
• replacement of the current floor surface in the Cost Sports Center;
• construction of the Petersen Events Center to house men's and women's basketball and improved recreational facilities; and
• extensive renovations of Fitzgerald Field House and Trees Hall.

The University made the decision in 1999 to move the football program to the new stadium being constructed for the professional Pittsburgh Steelers as of 2001. This decision allowed the demolition of the 74-year-old Pitt Stadium and the construction of the new Petersen Events Center on that site. Construction is well underway and scheduled for January 2002 completion. The Center will provide a state-of-the-art 12,500 seat multi-purpose arena for basketball, commencement exercises, concerts, meetings, and other athletic and non-athletic events. The building will have a total of 430,000 gross square feet of space and also include an auxiliary gymnasium, a food court, a student recreation center, and space for the Pitt Band, Athletics Office, and Office of Academic Support for Student Athletes.

The razing of Pitt Stadium has permitted the development of 11 acres in an unprecedented opportunity to advance the University's goals and improve the campus environment. The development will change a previously isolated part of the Pittsburgh Campus into an integral part of everyday student and University life.

Regional campuses
The University's regional campuses -- Bradford, Greensburg, Johnstown, and Titusville --together enroll approximately 5,500 full-time equivalent undergraduate students. Total enrollment is expected to increase to at least 6,750 full-time equivalent students by 2007, at which level they will account for some 30% of the total undergraduate University enrollment. In general, the regional campuses have excellent facilities which, because of their relatively recent construction, are in good repair and adequately support existing programs. As a result, significant expenditures over the next decade for preservation and deferred maintenance will not be required, nor will extensive renovations to existing facilities be generally needed, although a program of scheduled maintenance is being pursued. The emphasis on each regional campuses will be on providing the academic and auxiliary facilities required to support a student body of the size projected.

For example, at the Bradford Campus, much recent activity has involved renovating existing facilities. The townhouse apartments (200 beds) were renovated at a cost of $2.2 million and the original garden apartments (124 beds) were renovated at a cost of $800,000. Improvements were made to the student game room and the dining area. Another example of recent activity is the new $5 million Broadhurst Science Center, opened in 1998 on the Titusville Campus. The 32,000 square foot structure houses biology, chemistry, psychology, geology, physics and computer laboratories; faculty offices; plus two demonstration/lecture halls and one general classroom, all with multi-media video capability. The building also features a 417-seat theater/auditorium.

The Facilities Plan, like any planning document, must adapt and change in response to opportunities and circumstances. As the University's programs evolve, the plan will be modified through periodic reviews of its individual components. These reviews will continually analyze unforeseen opportunities and changing external factors. Careful ongoing appraisal will be required to maintain the appropriate balance between the execution of the Plan and the vitally important operation of the University's academic programs.

2.    Other Major Capital Projects
In the flurry of activity initiated by the approval of the Facilities Plan: 1997-2007, other capital projects have arisen that met the criteria set forth in the Plan. Many of these projects have direct or indirect impacts on student life.

New capital projects
In order to increase the availability of research space, the University acquired a building shell of 44,000 gross square feet constructed by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on the South Side, and is in the process of fitting out the interior of the building to accommodate the McGowan Center for Artificial Organ Development. The $10.5 million needed for the project is being funded by the Commonwealth and private grants. The space allows expansion of the University's medical research programs and increases its presence on the South Side, where athletic practice fields have already been constructed.

Improvements in campus climate also include vigilant maintenance and renewal of utilities infrastructure and cost savings through energy conservation. Planning, replacement, and extension of the high-voltage electrical, central chilled water, and central steam distribution systems on the Pittsburgh Campus are crucial to support the aggressive renovations and new construction discussed in previous sections. Electricity deregulation in Pennsylvania and the increased availability of sophisticated building controls systems have created many opportunities for energy conservation. Since 1998, the University has undertaken the following:

• development of a Pittsburgh Campus comprehensive Utilities Master Plan to identify existing conditions and make recommendations for replacements and development, many of which have a payback of five years or less and are already being implemented;
• installation of a new 2,000 ton chiller in Posvar Hall and connection of several major buildings, eliminating four inefficient chillers that also contained refrigerants harmful to the environment;
• replacement of the last section of the 40-year old direct burial steam line loop to provide considerable reliability to the steam supply to medical and research buildings on the mid- and upper campus, and to extend service to the new Petersen Events Center and other new buildings;
• construction of a new chilled water facility within the Petersen Events Center that will supply much of the upper campus and eliminate five inefficient old chillers;
• replacement and expansion of the 15- year-old Trane/Tracer System with a state-of-the-art central control system, providing considerable savings in energy and human resources; and
• replacement of all natural gas emergency generators with larger capacity, code compliant diesel generators, improving the reliability of the electrical supply to academic and research facilities.

• demolition of Pitt Stadium to allow the development of five acres of additional green space for the upper campus, providing much-needed active and passive recreation spaces;
• development of a comprehensive landscaping master plan that has provided the basis for relandscaping Pittsburgh Campus green spaces with more sustainable, environmentally-friendly species;
• provision of considerable walkway lighting, benches, and trees to improve the safety as well as the aesthetics of the campus (the lighting program won an award from the City of Pittsburgh Historic Review Commission); and
• implementation of a comprehensive exterior signage system giving the University a much stronger identification within the urban fabric of the City and improving way-finding throughout the campus.

• a $5 million sprinkler and alarm system in Benedum Hall, the Chevron Science Center, and the Information Science Building, which also brought the outdated central security system up to date;
• a total of $ 5.5 million in University funds spent upgrading fire alarms systems in several buildings, including Public Health, Clapp/Langley/Crawford, and Thackeray Hall;
• sprinklers in housing projects; and
• $7 million in University funds for ADA compliance, including the addition of an elevator to the Heinz Chapel that won a design award from the City of Pittsburgh Historic Review Commission.

The regional campuses were also part of the classroom renovation initiative. Each campus decided which facilities needed renovation. In the late 1990's, the four campuses received more than $497,000 for classroom renovations. In the coming years (FY 2002 to FY 2004), the regional campuses are slated to receive another $620,000 for further renovations.

The classroom renovation initiative covers infrastructure upgrades (painting, window treatments, lighting, seating, chalkboards, acoustics, etc.) and technology enhancements (projectors, screens, telephone lines, computer ports, etc.). Classroom selection is based on several criteria: a high level of utilization by undergraduates; a history of a high level of technology usage; distributing modern classroom facilities throughout campus buildings; and an initial emphasis on larger, lecture-style rooms because of their potential impact on greater numbers of students. From 1998 to 2000, this new initiative has resulted in the renovation of 23 classrooms and two auditoria.

The Facilities Plan will continue to guide capital project spending for the next several years. This guidance will occur directly, supporting projects specifically included in the Plan, as well as indirectly for projects that meet the spirit of the Plan.

3.    Capital Project Funding
A substantial challenge to the University's new planning and budgeting processes was funding the one-time and ongoing operational costs associated with the projects in the Facilities Plan: 1997-2007. This challenge was met successfully, in part through assistance from the state and the current capital campaign.

Commonwealth funding
An important basis for the successful implementation of the Facilities Plan: 1997-2007 was a recent history of heavy Commonwealth investment in capital projects. Originally, more than 20% of the Facilities Plan ($110.9 million) was projected to be funded from state support. This commitment came, however, only after a time when funding procedures and changes in capital priorities produced unfortunate delays. Over time, the estimated costs of new projects rose, making capital planning difficult.

In 1998, the Commonwealth made a capital funding commitment of $138 million to the University, of which $38 million has already been released for the Petersen Events Center. The remaining $100 will be released at a rate of $20 million each year for the ensuing five years.

Capital campaign
The University launched the public phase of a capital campaign in October 2000, which will clearly have a major impact on educational and student life facilities. Consistent with the Facilities Plan, the capital campaign will raise funds to support the systematic renewal of existing facilities and, to a limited degree, new construction. A major goal of the campaign is to secure the capital needed to redesign current facilities and design new ones with an eye toward encouraging collegiality and collaborative work and incorporating new technologies into the classroom. Discovery Weekend kicked off the campaign and included a State of the University address by the Chancellor (see Appendix L and URL address http://www.alumni.pitt.edu/State_of_Univ.html). See section V.E.1 for more details on the goals of the campaign.

Several decades ago, like many colleges and universities of the day, The University of Pittsburgh expanded its physical plant without adequate financial safeguards. The ensuing fiscal crisis still resides in the institutional memory and has, at least to a small degree, contributed to the responsible conduct of current facilities planning, maintenance, and construction.

D.    Technology Planning

Following the model of the Facilities Plan: 1997-2007, the University faced the challenge of ever-changing information technology needs, both for the management of institutional data and the provision of services to students, faculty, staff, and administrators.

1.    Information Technology Steering Committee Efforts
In 1995, the Chancellor charged the Information Technology Steering Committee (ITSC) to recommend policies to address the University's growing needs in computing and information technology and position the University to maintain and enhance its role as a leader in the wide variety of disciplines and professions currently affected by technology.

The ITSC proceeded, under the leadership of the Provost and with help from a wide variety of faculty, staff, and administrative experts, to assess the then current uses of the University's technology budgets and to inventory the needs of faculty, staff, and students for access to technology. The inventory resulted one year later in comprehensive reports from four subcommittees on Faculty Access, Student Access, Networks and Libraries, and Management Information Systems. At the same time, a more formal commitment was made to the faculty desktop computer program and the Ubiquitous Network Access software environment

During the period of 1998-2000, funds for many of the important identified activities were provided through internal reallocations. Even with aggressive reallocations, many needs are far from satisfied. To address these needs and supply a sufficient budgetary margin to ensure high quality service, a carefully constructed plan was formulated and submitted to the University community for review in late 1999, and a final report was approved in spring 2000 (see Appendix G and URL address http://www.technology.pitt.edu/itplan/index.html).

Given the volatility of technology and prices, the most important element of the plan is that it provides a framework for further decision making, which clarifies the responsibility of the central University budget to provide the necessary environment for the operation of programs. Also clarified are the responsibilities of the schools and other units to meet the special needs of their individual missions and the responsibilities of individual faculty, staff, and students as they plan to use University resources in their work. Such clarity will allow individuals and units to react confidently to opportunities, to make better choices in allocating their scarce resources, and to form cooperative consortia as needs arise.

Some highlights of the plan include the following.

• All new computer ports will be 10/100 megabytes to eliminate the need to upgrade hardware as users demand more bandwidth. A new cost structure to pay for installation and maintenance of ports will be instituted.
• An agreement with an Internet Service Provider will offer an option for individuals requiring a higher level of service and availability than can be offered through the University's modem pool.
• The network infrastructure will be fundamentally upgraded to Gigabit Ethernet, with sophisticated network management and tracking tools installed to increase reliability.
• A centralized software distribution system will be established for faculty. Access to this system will require the acquisition of one of three recommended computers. There will be no cost for access to the software for faculty. The distribution program will be available to staff, but a cost model will be developed to recover software and proportional server costs.
• The University will centrally fund software used to develop and access enterprise systems.
• Software site licensing services will continue to pursue site licenses for software that is heavily used throughout the University.
• A new facility will be identified for faculty presenting research and course materials to colleagues. Campus computing labs currently are used for these purposes.
• A faculty instructional development lab, a new facility, will provide hardware, software and access to technology specialists to assist faculty with the application of instructional theory, learning theory, information technology, and multimedia technologies for instructional development projects.
• Current University standards for classroom renovations call for telephone and network port installation and terminals. Guidelines and methodologies will be formulated that will allow portable computer connectivity for faculty in these classrooms.
• University libraries will continue to provide a balance of traditional research and instructional materials and an expanding digital library collection. The Endeavor Voyager library management system will include electronic journal acquisition, which is a high priority for faculty and students.
• The Help Desk has evolved into a 24-hour-a-day service. New goals include increasing staffing and technical expertise levels and integration with other units providing information technology support.
• Development of the Expert Partners program, to help units that hire their own information technology staff, will be continued. This program provides access to industry support and training programs and links to other University information technology resources.
• A University-wide strategy for use of the web will be developed, including strategy for e-commerce and web support for administrative applications.

2.    New Information Systems
A universal challenge facing all institutions of higher education is to maintain and upgrade computer systems that manage the essential financial, student, human resource, and other data needed for daily operations and compliance reporting. In a volatile market and extensive competition, the University has methodically worked to improve its institutional information systems in recent years.

A component essential to the success of the Planning and Budgeting System and related management decision making in recent years has been high quality information. In the mid-1990's, the University recognized the need to upgrade its various administrative information systems to better support the demands of administrators and planning and budgeting committees. Consideration was given to the long-term financial commitments necessary and the time needed to identify vendors, purchase and install equipment, train users, etc. At the suggestion of the Board of Trustees, the University committed to an aggressive upgrade of its financial systems as a first step.

PRISM
The University's Technology Plan will build upon recently implemented renovations in the University's information technology infrastructure. The University's new Oracle-based financial system, Pitt's Real-time Integrated Solutions for Management (PRISM), went online in 1997. Three integrated applications (accounts payable, general ledger, and purchasing) made up the nucleus of the system. This system allows employees throughout the University to enter and approve purchase orders from their desktops, thus reducing paper flow and facilitating the ordering and receipt of goods and services. The system also permits the monitoring of purchase commitments and available budgets online.

Human Resources
The Human Resources Information Systems Project includes an update of the existing financial information systems (general ledger, purchasing, and accounts payable) and the implementation of a human resources and payroll system for the University. This is the University's first automated human resources system, and the current payroll system is over 20-years old. The project goals are to bring the financial systems, human resources and payroll system up to the latest release of the Oracle applications and to automate and streamline, where needed, the human resources functions at the University and to update the existing payroll system. Implementation of the new system is expected to result in:

• improved customer service and responsiveness;
• elimination of redundant and non-value added activities;
• reduced service costs; and
• improved data availability.

Central to this is the replacement of the current Alumni Development and Donor System (ADDS) with a client server system from Business System Resources named Advance C/S. The project is well underway, with the first phase (consisting of Prospect Management), in service with approximately 40 end users. Currently, the Institutional Advancement team is working on the second phase of the project, which consists of converting additional biographical data from the existing system into Advance C/S. In addition, reporting requirements are being defined and automated interfaces to the existing systems are being developed. The third and final phase will consist of converting donor and gift data from the existing system into Advance C/S. This phase will include the development of appropriate reporting capabilities and automatic interfaces to the General Ledger. The third phase is planned for implementation toward the end of FY 2001.

Student information system
In 1997, the University created a team to examine the needs of the University relative to its student information system, and to secure bids from qualified vendors to meet those needs. Months of process mapping ensued, and an extensive analysis of needs resulted in a profile that was submitted to potential vendors. During the reviews, it became apparent that the University would be on the cutting edge of systems development, and many vendors promised more than they could reasonably deliver.

After a painstaking review, the University chose a vendor for a conference room pilot, and worked for the following six months to implement the initial phases of the project plan. As time passed, however, it became increasingly apparent that the vendor would be unable to fulfill the needs of the project. Because of the risk of devoting substantial funds to a fruitless effort, the project was suspended. Since that time, other universities who continued to work with this vendor and other similar vendors found that the promised product was substantially "vaporware," a lesson learned only after millions of dollars were invested.

While the University waits for industry to catch up to the needs of higher education clients, the benefits accrued during the process have helped the University reengineer some processes and refine its needs. The urgency for a new student system, however, remains undiminished as many of the rewards of assessment activities remain out of reach until new technologies can be applied to student databases.

Much work remains and will continue into the future in order to keep the University's information systems up-to-date in addressing identified needs. Constant diligence is necessary to avoid the problems other institutions have experienced in this volatile area and to most wisely invest limited resources.

3.    New Computer Services and Initiatives
Concurrent with the need to maintain modern, adequate institutional information systems are the demands for other computer/information-related projects that support academics, research, and administration. In recent years, the University has implemented a number of projects to improve computing services, particularly in support of the goal of improving the student experience.

Reorganization of computing services
In 2000, the University reorganized its computing services units. The intent of the reorganization was to make more effective use of staff, minimize duplication of effort, and fix responsibility for primary services. The reorganization was designed to facilitate a team approach to solving problems and to enable computer service staff to respond more aggressively to the needs of the University and the user community.

Distributed student registration
In 1994, a registration/advising prototype was developed by the Information Architecture Group and piloted in the School of Information Sciences. This prototype, which came to be known as PittSTAR (for Pitt STudent Advising and Registration), was a user-friendly alternative to the on-line student system, which required highly trained and experienced staff to use the existing transaction screens. While it enables online registration, PittSTAR requires students to consult with an advisor prior to registering. PittSTAR operates in a Windows environment and uses a Graphic User Interface presentation, which offers icons for various registration and advising transactions.

Currently, almost 500 faculty and staff in 16 academic centers or service units on the Pittsburgh Campus use PittSTAR to serve students. For spring 2000 registration, approximately three-fourths of all students were registered through PittSTAR in the various units, rather than going to the Registrar's Office.

Student information web site
In 1998, the University initiated a student information web site (http://student-info.pitt.edu/). In a little over a year, the following capabilities have been added to this web site: class schedule, grades, student account inquiry, credit card payment, and service hold notification. Soon to be added to the production environment is financial aid tracking. The next round of features to be added are: on-line address change, on-line admissions application, financial aid packaging, required text list for student schedules, and each student's complete academic transcript. In its first two years, this web site has had 1.5 million hits.

Internet2
Internet2 is a collaborative effort to develop advanced Internet technology and applications vital to the research and education missions of higher education. Over 150 U.S. universities, working together with partners in industry and government, are leading the Internet2 project. Internet2 is working to enable applications such as telemedicine, digital libraries, and virtual laboratories that are not possible with the technology underlying today's Internet.

The University of Pittsburgh is an active member of the Internet2 Project and is working with leaders in industry and government to develop new networking capabilities and advanced applications to enable research and education into the 21^st century.

Participation in national advanced networking projects
The University is participating in two advanced networking initiatives called Project Abilene and vBNS (very high performance Backbone Network Service). Project Abilene will develop an advanced backbone network to connect regional network aggregation points called gigaPoPs. Its main objectives are to support the demands of advanced research applications, to enable the testing of new advanced network capabilities, and to conduct network research including alternative network designs.

VBNS is a nationwide network utilizing MCI's network of advanced switching and fiber optic transmission technology. These technologies enable very high speed, high capacity voice, data, and video signals to be combined and transmitted on demand.

Accounts management and central directory services
The need to replace an outmoded computer accounting system was the catalyst for the University's Accounts Management and Central Directory Services initiative. This multi-year project established new procedures and a central process for assigning and administering University computer accounts. Beginning with the Fall 2000 term, incoming students received their computer accounts automatically, prior to arriving on campus. Web-based tools were built to allow students, faculty, and staff to monitor and self-administer their computer accounts. Concurrently, a central directory service was established for the entire University community. The central directory is updated nightly and provides basic information on University computer account holders and serves as an electronic directory.

Residential Networking (ResNet)
All Pittsburgh Campus undergraduate residence halls are equipped with one Ethernet network connection per student (nearly 6,000). This network provides students with a 24-hour a day, seven-day-a-week direct connection to PittNet. Computing Services and Systems Development provides resident students with high quality computer support through the Residential Networking (ResNet) Program. Twenty-three Residential Consultants (ResCons) offer live-in, on-site technical support to students using ResNet. The current connection rate at the Pittsburgh campus is nearly 70%.

The Regional Campuses provide similar support programs to their resident students. For example, the Greensburg Campus supplies a University computer in each student residence hall room. The Bradford Campus has installed one computer port per bed and cable television in each residence hall bedroom. The Johnstown Campus has wired all residence halls with a ratio of one port per pillow.

Email kiosks
The University is in the second phase of a project deploying 100 email and Web-browsing kiosks throughout the Pittsburgh Campus. These devices will provide authenticated access to the University's network, including email services, Student Information Services, and the Web. To date, the project has installed 35 kiosks in residence hall lounges, lobbies, cafeterias, and high-traffic student areas. Student feedback has been positive, and use of the devices is expected to offset usage in the Campus Computing Labs.

Technology help desk and Knowledgebase
Computing Services and Systems Development established the Help Desk in 1997, initially operating during standard business hours. The effort was successful, but was unavailable to users after 5:00 p.m.. In fall 1998, the Help Desk moved to a 24-hour per day, seven day per week schedule to provide more service to the student population. The Help Desk is staffed primarily by full-time analysts and part-time students. One valuable component of the Help Desk is the enormous amount of information (problems and solutions) generated on a daily basis. To leverage that information, the University has implemented a Knowledgebase for capturing and standardizing information that can be instructive and offer solutions the University computing community. The Knowledgebase is a searchable resource available through the Web, which encourages users to explore self-help solutions.

Internet service provider, virtual private network, and modem pool
The University operates a modem pool of nearly 800 modems (v.90. 56 kbps). The pool is available without charge to off-campus students, faculty, and staff. To provide a wider range of connectivity options, the University entered into an agreement with a regional Internet Service Provider for discounted dial-up access and Digital Subscriber Line services. Unique to the agreement is a virtual private network (VPN), which will extend restricted resources to University users connecting via the regional ISP. Students and faculty who use the regional ISP/University VPN will have access to library resources, databases, and course materials that they would not be able to access using another ISP.

Information technology development in the University Libraries
In 1996, the University Library System undertook a major re-engineering effort in technical services. Taking advantage of newly emerging vendor services and systems, results included:

• a reduction in the time it takes to purchase and process materials;
• the elimination of many long-term backlogs of materials to be processed;
• a reduction in staffing by approximately 50%; and
• the subsequent reallocation of $1.1 million from technical services to new initiatives within the system, primarily in the development of information technologies.

One important technological development has been the continued growth and expansion of the Internet. This has included increased network bandwidth to accommodate data formats such as sound, graphics and images. Along with Internet backbone growth has been the development of coordinated application software to take full advantage of infrastructure enhancements.

Another development in recent years has been the shift in computing models. Efficient communication networks have facilitated open systems and interconnectivity of disparate systems. Standards for open architecture allow for seamless connectivity between formerly different interfaces in a way that allows for user-friendly connections. This computing model, called client-server, allows more powerful functionality to reside on client desktops.

Based on these technological developments, libraries have actively pursued ways to integrate technology to provide enhanced information services for library users. For instance, several technology factors come together in the tangible process of creation of library web pages. The World Wide Web allows a set of protocols and conventions for retrieving and presenting information in a variety of formats in a single, consistent user-interface. In the University Library System, the library's home page is seen on all library devices as a starting point for user research. The home page provides seamless links to the library's catalog and other major library catalogs, electronic abstracting and indexing serves, a wealth of full-text journals and books, instructional pages, and individualized assistance.

Client-server architecture is behind the new integrated library system. In 1999, the libraries implemented Endeavor Information System's Voyager integrated library system. Unlike the previous mainframe system, the new one provides an improved, graphical user interface. Users can view their circulation records and renew their own books. The system provides improved integration with other networked information resources, and users can directly link into full-text journals from the catalog. The system provides new functionality for library staff and is compatible with the University's accounting and student systems.

Meanwhile, the publication environment has been changing in ways that can greatly improve access to materials. Electronic dissemination of formerly print-only publications is allowing libraries to provide access to some materials 24 hours a day/seven days a week. This allows libraries to reach users who may not set foot in libraries, but who are increasingly demanding remote, flexible, graphical ways to access information resources. The University Library System has subscribed to many full-text electronic journals, including those published by Elsevier, Academic Press, Springer-Verlag and Johns Hopkins University Press. Many other online indexes include quick access to full-text articles in major newspapers, broadcasts, and general news and science magazines. Altogether, the libraries at the University subscribe to over 400 online databases, 3,000 electronic journals, 110,000 electronic books (via netLibrary and Bell and Howell's Early English Books), all of which are delivered via a single Web interface to users' desktops and computer labs. The digital library developments at the University can easily be described as among the most advanced in the country.

The National Digital Library initiative, the Making of America project, and other large digitization projects have laid the groundwork for library involvement in digital publishing. The System has established the infrastructure of staff and equipment to mount major digitization projects. Experimentation with digitization has led to implementation of several digital projects. The Historic Pittsburgh Project employs digitization standards. The project brings together early works on Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania, including a large collection of detailed maps. The books and maps are fully searchable and easily viewed and printed. The University Library System's Digital Research Library program provides staffing and the technology infrastructure to undertake large-scale digitization projects. Several are in the planning or pilot stages in addition to the Historic Pittsburgh Project.

New technologies call for changes in information management in libraries. The System has made an investment in technology expertise, and in library equipment and tools. The library needs to make a financial commitment to cycling new equipment in every 3-4 years to keep it up to the newest standards. The System is also centrally managing software available on both public and library staff computers.

Finally, in the future the advent of changes in the current model of scholarly communication brings an opportunity to create radical changes in libraries with regards to information. If the scholarly communications process is predicated on electronic repositories of preprints and referred manuscripts and distribution without print records, then libraries will be able to facilitate the acquisition of and access to this knowledge in new ways.

Development of the University's web site
The Internet is a crucial tool to provide information about the University and its programs to external and internal audiences in a convenient and attractive format. It can produce a positive image that persuades students to enroll in the University, addresses questions and concerns of the parents/caregivers of prospective students, and highlights the research strengths of the university, among a variety of other benefits. A good web site requires not only a home page that is attractive and easy to use, but also easy access to a depth of current information about units of greatest interest to users.

In June 1995, major responsibility for the development of the web site was assigned to the Provost's Committee on the University's Presentation on the Web. Chaired by the Vice Provost for Graduate Study, the Committee was charged with developing policies on the organization of the information presented on the Web, encouraging the presentation of information on the web, and developing the University's home page. The Committee led the development of the new home page in fall 1995, of a new design mounted in fall 1997, and a refreshing of the home page in fall 1998. The Committee also strongly recommended that new pages be designed and mounted in 1999.

In fall 1999, the Provost decided that the design of the home page and top level pages would be assigned to the new Director of Public Affairs, in order that these pages be state-of-the-art and designed by professionals well versed in marketing philosophy and techniques. The content of the site and the structure of the links remain the responsibility of the Office of the Provost. In addition, an advisory committee would be retained, chaired by the Vice Provost, to advise on the design, content, and structure of these pages. With this new structure, and with a commitment by Computing Services and Systems Design (CSSD) to invest in state-of-the-art equipment, the web pages will remain competitive with the best of the University's peer institutions.

All schools and departments now realize that they need good web sites to attract students to their programs. They are struggling to find the means to design and to maintain their web pages. Service units of the University know that communication via the web helps to improve the service they provide. They, too, are struggling to design pages and to keep them current. The Office of University Relations has supplied design assistance to units and CSSD has offered classes in web design. Both units are exploring how to improve their service as the demand escalates. Finally, CSSD is working to provide network hardware and software to enable units to mount pages easily, using the newest technology.

The University has been and will continue to be a leader in developing computer solutions to information challenges. As a leading research university committed to excellence in undergraduate education, the University is committed to providing state-of-the-art resources to students and faculty.

E.    Financial Planning and Operational Management

Other initiatives have been an integral part of recent planning and budgeting with direct impacts on the resources available to academic units and consequently available to serve students. Prior to the Planning and Budgeting System, such initiatives occurred on an ad hoc basis, often precluding consideration of long-term impacts. Under the System, however, open and rational discourse on major financial issues and management concerns has occurred, involving administrators, faculty, staff, and students.

1.    Financial Planning Issues
The University is strong financially, due in great part to many of the initiatives outlined in the document (see Appendix M). In recent years, several important financial projects with large-scale impacts have been undertaken, some with intensive involvement not only of the Provost (as chief academic officer), but of the University Planning and Budgeting Committee, among others.

Ongoing impacts of faculty retirement plan
In recent decades, the University had employed a number of window-type early retirement plans. With the federal removal of mandatory retirement in 1994, a University committee was subsequently appointed to make recommendations with respect to retirement policies. The Committee reviewed the literature on the subject and analyzed current employment patterns. The Committee made a wide variety of recommendations that helped guide decision making in recent years.

In 1998 and 1999, the University implemented a special retirement program for tenured faculty. The objective of this program was to increase the University's flexibility to meet the changing academic needs of the 21^st century. Providing opportunities to tenured faculty to retire allowed the University to fill those vacancies with promising new scholars who have received state-of-the-art training in disciplines that will shape the future.

The plan generated a high rate of participation and had its greatest impact precisely in the academic units where faculty movement was most desirable. Although the plan carried with it short-term costs that presented their own challenges, it has better positioned the University, both financially and academically, to effectively pursue its objectives.

Goals of University's capital campaign
University and community leaders agree that the coming years are a pivotal time for the University. To continue the University's ascension to the top of the academic ranks, and at the same time continue to serve as an excellent and affordable higher educational resource for Western Pennsylvania, will require a major capital investment. The Campaign for the University of Pittsburgh rose out of a two-year planning process led by the Chancellor and involving campus leaders and key representative constituents. Throughout, they focused not only on enhancing high quality academic programs, but also on managing existing resources as effectively and efficiently as possible.

Among the goals of the Campaign are:

• enhancing the University's undergraduate programs and reinforcing the strength of its graduate and professional programs - so that students are as prepared as they can be for the future that awaits them;
• building the University's endowment to attract and retain the finest teaching faculty and students, break down barriers to education for deserving applicants, and support academic programs that advance knowledge;
• revamping existing educational and student life facilities and investing in new special purpose facilities and technologies - so that the University can offer students and scholars an enriching and productive intellectual environment; and
• investing strategically in key programmatic activities to enhance education, research, economic development, and community initiatives.

Revenue and Cost Attribution Methodology and Study
In 1994, a subcommittee of the University Planning and Budgeting Committee produced the first Revenue and Cost Attribution Study. The report has been updated every year with the same basic underlying principles and consistent attribution methods (see Appendix N). The primary purpose of the study is to identify and categorize revenues and expenses for the University's major responsibility centers. The study is not aimed at changing the University's method of budgeting for units, but rather at providing meaningful data to assist in the overall operational and long-range planning and budgeting process.

The study seeks to present financial information in a way that will be useful for the process of establishing University priorities and for overall planning. The model enhances both internal analysis conducted at the unit level, and examination of relative claims on resources across the University as a whole.

The study attributes both direct and attributable indirect costs to each major academic unit. In this way, the study helps one understand the behavior of costs and revenues and may be used to assess the nature of cost and revenue patterns. The study can also be used to develop estimates of charges to be used in future budgets.

Commonwealth funding of special initiatives
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania annually provides a significant appropriation to the University. As noted in section V.C.3, the Commonwealth has also contributed substantial funding in recent years to the University for new buildings. In recent years, as the Commonwealth experiences increased demand on resources, it has called for greater accountability from recipients of public funding, asking for demonstrations of cost efficiency and responsible resource allocations. It has become increasingly aware of particular concerns of citizens and has been receptive to requests on the part of the University for one-time funding focused on those concerns.

For FY 2001, for example, the Commonwealth approved funding for three of these initiatives.

• Information Technology for the 21^st Century ($2.5 million) - development and implementation of a comprehensive information technology strategy that will allow the University to replace and upgrade its core technology infrastructure, provide state-of-the-art instructional facilities, and expand central file storage capability.
• Laboratory Improvements and Equipment, Phase II ($2.5 million) - continued laboratory renovation and procurement of state-of-the-art equipment in those disciplines that have the greatest potential to contribute new knowledge, new products, and innovations for the 21^st century economy.
• Preparing Graduates for the 21^st Century ($1.0 million) - curricular and programmatic enhancements to ensure that all University students graduate with a set of competencies that prepare them for work and civic leadership in an information age.

2.    Strategic Partnerships
A significant management trend in recent years has been outsourcing. While outsourcing may have limited uses, the University has found that the financial savings derived from outsourcing are often more than offset by loss of service quality and control. An alternative to outsourcing is to build strategic partnerships with service providers and customers, so that total control over productivity is not lost.

Management partnerships
In recent years, the University has made great effort to improve operational efficiency and effectiveness by creating strategic partnerships with a wide range of entities. These partnerships range from the agreement with the Port Authority that allows students to ride buses free of charge to many cooperative ventures with corporations. The important element in these initiatives is that the University has maintained control of the crucial elements of design, implementation, and operation of affected processes while still benefitting from external expertise.

As another typical example, Sun Microsystems and the University established a partnership in 1999 to build and operate the first Authorized Academic Java Center (AAJC) in North America. The AAJC offers the Sun Java curriculum to University undergraduate and graduate students in preparation for Sun Java certification. Demand for the program has exceeded the number of available seats in each class and has enrolled nearly 300 students during its first five terms of operation.

Partnerships with local communities
As the foremost institutional citizen of the Oakland section of Pittsburgh and of the cities with regional campuses, the University plays a leadership role in the ongoing development and improvement of its home communities. The prosperity and success of these communities are clearly linked to the University's and will continue to be into the future. In recognition of this mutual dependence, the University is committed to working with the residents of these communities and the organizations that represent their interests.

During the 1960's, 1970's, and 1980's, the University's relationship with adjacent neighborhoods was often contentious. A root cause was the collision of the University's need to expand its physical facilities and the community's desire to preserve residential spaces. Residents have been fearful of "institutional creep" into their neighborhoods. Previous master planning efforts failed to actively engage broad-based internal and external constituencies, forcing communities to "react" to specific proposals, usually in a negative manner.

In the early 1990's, when the University sought City approvals related to the construction of Sutherland Hall, dissenting voices from the community were heard again. The University responded by involving community representatives in the creation of a Master Space Plan being submitted to the City Planning Commission for approval. In drafting this document, a Community Input into the Master Plan committee was formed to provide a formal forum for community participation. During the course of several outreach meetings, a broader list of issues arose that prompted a further series of meetings between the University and community representatives. In the ensuing years, a meaningful relationship developed between the new leadership at the University and organizations such as the Oakland Community Coalition.

Over the past several years, no other single institution has made a larger investment in improving both the physical facilities and the quality of life in Oakland than has the University. Many of these efforts have been an outgrowth of the Facilities Plan developed following a comprehensive review of physical plant needs on all of the campuses. The impact of the initiatives contained in the plan on the community was considered and solutions to community concerns were incorporated. An example of this approach is the housing policy, which calls for providing residence hall facilities on campus for as many undergraduate students as possible, while working with the surrounding neighborhoods to ensure the availability of attractive housing options for graduate students. The recently-constructed $14.5 million Bouquet Gardens, comprising seven 64-bed and one 48-bed apartment style student residences in South Oakland, exemplify this policy. Another example of the benefits of these improved relations is community involvement in the University's grant application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for funding to establish a Community Outreach Partnership Center Program.

The University's commitment to being a good neighbor and developing an even stronger and more livable Oakland goes beyond its investment in physical facilities. Other steps the University has taken include:

• moving fraternities to on-campus locations and stepping up enforcement of student and fraternity codes of behavior in off-campus areas;
• reducing the number of cars by developing the most extensive shuttle system in the region and providing mass transportation access through the Port Authority bus system;
• playing a leadership role in the development of the Oakland Business Improvement District and other community organizations, and supporting them both financially and through donated services;
• jointly funding an additional housing inspector to address the enforcement of housing codes in Oakland;
• partnering with community organizations to provide job training and placement, literacy programs, child care, small business development, computer training, mentoring, youth programs, recreational opportunities, and human services;
• participation in beautification and clean up projects in conjunction with the United Way Day of Caring, Adopt-a-Block program, and University initiatives, such as the mini-park at Fifth and Bouquet; and
• maintaining greatly enhanced lines of communication with organizations and residents to ensure good relations.

• direct access to the finest sports medicine care in the world, as the UPMC Health System, internationally renowned in sports medicine, offers a 35,000 square foot clinical, teaching, and research facility, a 100,000 square-foot center for patient rehabilitation, a therapeutic pool, complete radiology and laboratory services, and a high-tech motion analysis lab to assess the extent of injury and recovery;
• two grass practice fields (with lighting for night workouts), and an indoor practice facility featuring a three-lane track and a revolutionary playing surface that provides all of the safety and playing characteristics of natural grass; and
• the Duratz Athletic Complex, a 58,000-square-foot training center that serves as the day-to-day home of all football operations, featuring expansive training rooms, team meeting and film-viewing rooms, and weight rooms;

3.    Service Culture
The University has an established history of continuous improvement and quality initiatives. In recent years, the University has placed significant emphasis on activities that direct attention to the needs and satisfaction of the consumers of its programs, specifically in the areas of strategic planning, training, systems development, team building, benchmarking, process mapping, and linkages among units. This "customer" focus has led to a number of new activities and programs that specifically target undergraduate students.

Service skills
Departments throughout the University have shown their commitment to improving service by investing time and resources to develop service skills for staff and faculty. Participants learn how to meet and exceed student needs, solve problems effectively, and address unique or exceptional service requirements. In addition, participants practice how to handle difficult or emotional situations.

A critical component of the training involves a three- to four-hour facilitated session with supervisors to stress the importance of their role in supporting the service culture in their department. The program builds leaders' awareness of their role in creating and maintaining a service culture. Over 400 staff and faculty members from units across the University have participated in this program during 1999-2000, including the Office of the Provost, the Athletics Department, the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, the Finance Office, Student Financial Services, the School of Information Sciences, the Office of Human Resources, and the Bradford Campus.

Integrated Student Service Project
The Integrated Student Service Project Leadership Team had its beginnings in March, 1996. A team comprised of the heads of three major student service areas (Admissions and Financial Aid, Student Financial Services, and University Registrar) was formed and a major service improvement initiative was begun. Initially, the Team examined ways to improve student services in their own areas, but the group's focus evolved from efforts at individual service improvement initiatives to a more unified approach.

The Team looked at ways to address the shortcomings of the existing student service process and to reduce the steps it takes to navigate the system. The Team started with the development of a Unified Student Service Plan -- which included Mission, Vision, Values, and Critical Success Factors -- and several Action Initiatives. From there, the Team continued to implement service improvements (both high- and low-tech in nature) among their several offices and in conjunction with other departments within the University.

The Team used (and continues to use) a number of methods to identify and implement various service improvements. Among those methods were:

• operational reviews of departmental procedures, using both internal and external reviewers;
• mapping the major processes of the departments, for the purpose of identifying opportunities to improve service delivery;
• staff input regarding the identification of service improvement opportunities, the development of training curricula, the implementation of service improvements, etc.; and
• creating a point-of-service feedback form, available at all the offices, to obtain quantitative data regarding service delivery.

Process improvement
Throughout the University, many organizational leaders and staff members have recognized the need to improve student service processes, and have implemented process analysis and process improvement initiatives with the assistance of the Office of Human Resources. These efforts have resulted in improved quality of service, increased speed and flexibility and innovation in providing service to students, and improved communication processes and procedures.

Process improvement initiatives at the University have directly impacted the student experience. Key results include:

• increased availability and flexibility of advising and other critical resources for students;
• enhanced access and efficiency of student financial services, education benefits verification/information, and tuition billing assistance/problem solving;
• improved classroom/testing scheduling processes; and
• improved communication processes and tools throughout the academic and student service areas.

Performance management system
In the last two years, several University departments have implemented a new performance management system designed to improve the criteria and process for managing and measuring performance of staff members. In the new system, performance criteria for each employee are aligned with the goals and priorities of the University. Service orientation is a critical piece of these new performance criteria. Approximately 150 supervisors of 700 employees in seven Pittsburgh Campus responsibility centers and one regional campus have implemented this new system. Several more implementations are planned. The key enhancements of this system include:

• managing and measuring employee performance on an ongoing basis instead of once per year;
• improved performance criteria, including an emphasis on how employees perform as well as what employees achieve;
• improved skills for supervisors in regards to setting expectations, tracking performance, providing feedback, and reviewing performance accurately; and
• improved employee performance appraisal tools and processes.

Improvement of management skills of academic administrators
One important goal in recent years has been the improvement of management skills among academic administrators, such as department chairs. The University initiated an annual orientation session for new department chairs in the mid-1990's. These proved to be so successful that, in 2000, the first retreat for all new and current department chairs was held. After remarks by the Chancellor and the Provost, participants engaged in plenary sessions on "Strategic Planning at the Department Level" and "Managing Relationships with Constituencies." Breakout sessions included:

• Personnel Issues Confronting the Department Chair - sexual harassment, productivity of tenured faculty, assigning new jobs to staff, and dealing with tenure denials;
• The Chair's Role in Faculty Development and Evaluation - collegiality, relations between chairs and faculty, support mechanisms for faculty, faculty career progression, and dealing with performance improvement plans;
• Building the Resource Base of the Department - flexibility in allocation of departmental budgets, external funding sources and ways to utilize supplemental funding, and other creative ways to augment or reallocate base and supplementary resources; and
• Building Departmental Consensus and Fostering Change - including different constituencies, reacting to disciplinary change, balancing planning versus opportunism, leading faculty to a vision, facilitating change, and responding to shifting demographics.

Council of Deans working groups
With the new spirit of openness enabling the sharing of information and facilitating participation in University governance, the Council of Deans created Working Groups to provide more in-depth input into management decisions. These Working Groups permit the Council to be more effective in influencing general policy creation and include:

• Business and Finance -- effecting change in business and finance policies and expanding understanding between academic and administrative management;
• Undergraduate Education -- identifying actions to improve the quality of the learning environment for undergraduate students;
• Library and Information Technologies -- exploring issues that affect policies and practices, the effectiveness of the library system, and major capital expenditures or reallocations;
• Institutional Advancement -- reviewing Institutional Advancement's programs, staffing, and structure to facilitate communication, provide counsel, review publications, and monitor alumni activities;
• Service Culture - developing an inventory among units that experimented in building a service culture to be published and shared among all deans and directors, followed by some case studies being written, and celebrations of excellent service initiatives; and
• Ad Hoc Issues -- addressing issues such as the cooperation between programs, instructional technology use and distance education, better publicity for programs, and improved financial aid.

Chapter VI Assessment at the University of Pittsburgh

A.    General Overview of Assessment

1.    Assessment Philosophy at the University
No major research university can survive and thrive without having substantial assessment and evaluation activities and responding meaningfully to concerns raised or opportunities identified. The University has a rich history of various assessment activities, from standardized freshmen and graduating senior surveys to rigorous reviews of academic programs. And, of course, having such a broad range of disciplines requires the University to participate in numerous accreditation reviews, self-studies, and site visits every year.

Like the emphasis on the student experience, the University approaches assessment from the point of view that assessment is a comprehensive effort that includes a wide range of activities at different levels. At the University level, assessment takes the form of student attitude and satisfaction surveys, broad assessments of student achievement, ongoing academic program evaluations, and review and approval of new academic program initiatives. Throughout the past decade, the University has made extensive use of external consultants and review teams to analyze processes and structures and to provide suggestions for improvements. An example is marketing assessments that have been conducted that have led the University to using the "City as Our Campus" approach, which has been partly responsible for successes such as the Pitt Arts program.

At the unit level, schools and campuses are responsible for assessing student achievement within their coursework, evaluating student satisfaction with unit-level services, and reviewing and modifying curricula to keep pace with student needs and the demands of each discipline. In addition, many of the units within the University maintain regular compliance with dozens of discipline-specific accrediting bodies, whose assessment requirements typically exceed those of the general education program. A critical assumption on the part of the University is that units know best how to assess the quality of their programs' outcomes, so long as the units are held accountable for their overall performance.

2.    Institutional evaluation efforts
With the advent of the Planning and Budgeting System in 1992, the University was able for the first time to connect planning, budgeting, and evaluation (see section I.B.3). Prior to that time, each of these activities had occurred in somewhat of a vacuum, and it was not until the external environment presented harsh realities that merging them became essential. With the Planning and Budgeting System, each level of the institution, from the program to the department to the school or college to the Senior Vice Chancellor area to the Chancellor became accountable to every other level. As literally thousands of faculty, staff, students, and administrators became involved in unit-level planning and budgeting, assessment of the effectiveness and efficiency of programs and processes became more common and more utilized.

The cooperative effort of faculty, staff, administrators, and students resulted in Toward the 21^st Century, which has provided guidance for University decision making (see Appendix C). With the appointment of a new Chancellor, Provost, and Senior Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences, the direction of the University has become more defined. In particular, the five-year effort by the Provost's area units to examine and set priorities and then to reallocate significant resources to fund those priorities is substantial evidence of an institutional commitment to assessment and change.

A perfect example of the ever-growing and improving nature of the University's assessment activities arose with the release of the findings of the first National Survey of Student Engagement. The survey report, produced by the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research and Planning, is titled The NSSE 2000 Report: National Benchmarks of Effective Educational Practice. The report revealed that the University is on a par with peer doctoral-level institutions on most measures. These findings strongly corroborated assessment results in recent years, thus providing a strong validation for these efforts.

Interestingly, the NSSE 2000 Report revealed only one measure that had practical significance to the University. This measure dealt with the large number of University students working for pay off-campus. Under the auspices of the Enrollment Management Steering Committee, all existing student work research data are being reviewed. In addition, a systematic review is being conducted of the merit financial aid made available to "high-achieving" juniors and seniors. This episode is indicative of the University's commitment to ongoing assessment and to its active use of assessment findings to improve processes and services that affect student learning and achievement.

3.    University Assessment Plan
The University's Assessment Plan is presented in outline form in Appendix O. This Plan is one of the important fruits of the University's self-study effort. As the working groups examined the wide range of new initiatives leading to the improvement of the undergraduate experience and the success of the Planning and Budgeting System, it became apparent that these had resulted from assessment activities. That is, they were the result of planning in consultation with faculty and other groups, followed by assessment of outcomes, then new initiatives, and subsequently improvement.

The University developed and implemented an assessment process that evaluates its overall effectiveness in achieving its mission and goals, its assurance that students and graduates achieve the appropriate learning and other outcomes, and its efficiency in using available resources. Therefore, this assessment plan has its foundation in the University's mission, goals, and objectives. The objectives articulated in the Plan were developed with the participation of faculty and administrators and use both qualitative and quantitative means of assessment.

The first statement defining the mission of the University is to "provide high-quality undergraduate programs in the arts and sciences and professional fields, with emphasis upon those of special benefit to the citizens of Pennsylvania." As summarized earlier in this self-study,Toward the 21^st Century, developed with the widespread involvement of faculty, staff, students, and administrators and accepted by the Board of Trustees in 1994, enabled the University community to work toward consensus of its goals. In 1996, the Board passed a set of resolutions further enhancing these goals. Built upon this foundation, the objectives of the University Assessment Plan focus on student life, learning, and teaching, and include the following:

• Establish priorities and allocate limited resources through processes that facilitate clear accountability for management decisions.
• Promote a quality of life for student that catalyzes their social and intellectual growth.
• Recruit, retain, and graduate a high quality student body.
• Maintain an ongoing process of curricular renewal to ensure that all undergraduate students succeed in society.
• Maintain a faculty who are effective educators and leaders in their disciplines.

Earlier in this self-study, reference was made to the extensive work of the Enrollment Management Committee (section IV.A.). It is through this Committee and its many working groups that a wide array of faculty, staff, and administrators contribute to the ongoing assessment efforts of the University. The director of outcomes assessment on the Pittsburgh Campus and chair of the Committee is the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs. In this capacity, the Vice Provost has