Pitt hired two new student experience leaders

The University of Pittsburgh Division of Student Affairs announced two additions to its leadership team.

Lorraine Craven fills out the division’s senior leadership team as assistant dean for student experience. In this position, Craven will provide strategic leadership for the student experience team and will oversee the offices of new student programs and second-year experience, off-campus and commuter outreach, parents and families, and residence life. She begins effective Sept. 20.

The Pittsburgh native is a seasoned student affairs leader, with an 18-year career in higher education, including the areas of academic affairs and enrollment management. Most recently, she served as the chief student affairs officer and director of student services and engagement for the Penn State Greater Allegheny Campus. A few of her accomplishments in this role include launching the Greater Giving Program, a comprehensive plan that addressed student care and advocacy in which more than 35% of the student body participated within the first year. She also established a diversity, equity and inclusion department that provides programs, mentoring, support for international students and guidance for student organizations that focus on racially diverse topics. 

 Prior to her time at Penn State Greater Allegheny, Craven served as director of the Eagle Elevation Leadership Center at North Carolina Central University and as director of first-year and transfer student experiences at Slippery Rock University. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in history and a Master of Education in higher education administration from the University at Buffalo. She is a member of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators and the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

Jayne Pizzuto also joined the division as director of new student programs, effective Aug. 21. In this role, she will lead the planning and execution of Welcome Week, Panther Connect and Online Orientation, and will serve as a key leader on Team Student Experience, partnering with Residence Life, the Office of Off-Campus Living and Parent and Family Programs. Pizzuto will also coordinate and oversee the First Six Weeks programming for new and transfer students and will support and lead a staff of student affairs professionals and New Student Ambassadors.

Pizzuto comes to the University of Pittsburgh from Slippery Rock University, where she most recently served as assistant director of student engagement and leadership. In that role, she had direct oversight of fraternity and sorority life, student organizations and major campus programming, including Week of Welcome and Homecoming. Key accomplishments at Slippery Rock included developing a five-year strategic growth plan for the fraternity and sorority community, designing an annual leadership abroad program, implementing a comprehensive online student engagement platform and expanding Week of Welcome programming to 14 days.

Pizzuto earned her PhD in higher education administration from West Virginia University, her MA in higher education at Slippery Rock University, and her BA in elementary education at Westminster College. Her areas of interest in research and practice include strategic planning of large-scale programming and creating trauma-informed transition programming for students of all identities, as informed by her research into college transitions for survivors of school shootings.