Forging Ahead Through the Pandemic

At the Feb. 26, 2021, meeting of the Board of Trustees, Chancellor Patrick Gallagher discussed some of the University’s greatest challenges and successes since the group’s last meeting in September. Below are select highlights.

On the work of the Ad Hoc Committee on Fossil Fuels:

It was very obvious through this process—and I could tell that the board could sense this—that it is hard to overstate the deep importance and urgency that our community feels about climate change and the impact it's having on all of us.

I want to acknowledge and appreciate those who participated in this process, whether

your views prevailed or not. It's through participation, persuasion and education that we make a difference. And I think that your advocacy, your effort and your hard work have made a difference here today.

On COVID-19 vaccination efforts:

Pitt is deeply engaged in the vaccination efforts in the region—putting boots on the ground and needles into arms, if you will.

We have vaccinated more than 2,000 residents from the Hill District and Homewood—individuals who are older or have health risks that put them in an early priority group.

I can’t say enough about the way the Pitt community made those clinics a success—from the staff at the Community Engagement Centers to the students and faculty from the health sciences schools who administered the shots. Nearly 200 staff and volunteers from Pitt mobilized to provide these vaccinations.

On Pitt philanthropy:

The pandemic didn’t stop people from giving, but it clearly reshaped their priorities and the makeup of our donor pool.

We saw the number of donors—including smaller dollar donors and alumni donors—grow.

In fact, year-to-date fundraising for fiscal year ’21 is significantly ahead of fiscal year ’20.

Organizations with good fundraising outcomes have commonalities. They demonstrate leadership on and responsiveness to urgent societal needs, such as public health, social justice and equity. They focus on how they impact their communities. And they transition quickly to sophisticated digital strategies to communicate with their constituents.

On trends in graduate and professional education:

As work becomes more specialized and affected by technology, the demand for educational degrees and certificates and continuing professional education will continue to grow.

Today, distance and virtual learning platforms are making ongoing education more accessible for in-career or changing career students. Nationwide, we were already seeing increased demand for online and hybrid programs targeting working professionals.

On the need for growing graduate and professional enrollment at Pitt: 

The quality and breadth of our graduate and professional programs—not only our undergraduate programs—drives our global reputation as a comprehensive, research-intensive university.   

Our undergraduate, graduate and professional programs inform the composition of our faculty and our curricula. To maintain a preeminent faculty body with deep strengths in scholarship and research, we must balance these programs well. 

There is exciting work on this front that is already underway, and you will hear more about it in our next strategic plan, which we plan to share with you in June.