University of Pittsburgh - Owl Yearbook (Pittsburgh, PA)

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volved in a number of studies; for example, there are student committees studying the future student union facilities, new residence halls, curriculum and social regulations. I want to find new ways for collaboration with students. OWL: This year we have seen a conflict of political interests among the state legislators which resulted in financial difficulties for Pitt and other state-related institutions. Will this situation l e a recurring one and what will he the consequences? POSVAR: The state relationship has produced certain instabilities in the last two years. We saw this in the budget problem of this past year—an impass between the legislators and the Governor that resulted in delays of appropriations for the University. I think we can expect more of the same until Pennsylvania finds a means to provide a broader base of revenue for all public education. But I also believe that within a year or two, the state will pass into a new period of fiscal responsibility and better long-range financial planning. When this happens, we will have more clear-cut criteria for preparing our budgets. Having said this, I would like to stress the great advantages of the state-related status of the University. I think it gives us the l est of both worlds—support from both the private and the public-sectors. I think our mixed support will become a model for universities around the United States. In our case, one of the major portions of our budget—ranging from one fourth to one third—comes from the state in the form of tuition subsidies for Pennsylvania students and for basic educational facilities. Another fourth to a third comes from the Federal Government. Another major portion comes from the students in the form of fees. And we get a very large share of our budget from private sources—both foundations and individuals. This mixed support is comparable to the kind you find at Harvard, a “private” school, and Michigan and Gal-ifornia which are “public schools. Our situation boils down to this: we get a secure financial base from the state and our private support gives us the quality increment—the essential extra amount we need to support superior programs and special professorships and facilities. OWL: There has been much discussion concerning the cosmopolitan atmosphere at Pitt. Years ago it was known as a “streetcar university . Now that the out-of- state ratio has l een decreased there are fears that Pitt will return to being a commuter college. Arc we regressing and will Pitt retain its cosmopolitan atmosphere in the future? POSVAR: We are progressing, not regressing. The drop last year in the out-of-state ratio does concern us, and I’ll get to that in a moment. But more significant is the continual rise in the caliber of the admitted students during the past five years. Along with this, their diversity has increased tremendously: we have a much higher percentage of students who are children of blue collar workers and children of people who did not go to college themselves; in these respects we now have a more heterogeneous student body than before. The reduction of the out-of-state ratio we hope to correct as much as we can. The drop last year was due partly to a dormitory shortage. But as important as the out-of-state ratio is the out-of-city ratio. The ratio of Pittsburgh students will l egin to decline as we gain more facilities. I say percentages will decline; absolute numbers of Pittsburghers will increase somewhat. Where 6

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OWL: During the ten years Edward Litchfield was Chancellor of the University, he had a plan of what he wanted it to become. Do you have a plan and, if so, what is it? POSVAR: We have been working on a master plan for the entire University. I think it will be the first comprehensive plan involving large scale participation that has developed in the history of the University. Dr. Litchfield’s goals were very commendable; now, we must embark on a similar period of growth. However, we are currently in a period of more competitive resources. Because of this, we must make our plans in greater detail and must have more widespread faculty support. Since the quality of our faculty is more outstanding today than it has ever been, its support and involvement will be stronger and more valuable than before. This faculty is capable of bringing the institution to greatness. The master plan will be based, first, upon discussions of the style, goals and character of the University. We have asked the faculties of the schools to consider what the nature of each discipline or field should be in the next twenty years and how we can anticipate these developments at Pitt. We shall stress quality. We do not plan to add a number of new programs or schools because we already have an adequate range of academic activities. Rather, we plan to consolidate our superior programs and strengthen our weaker ones. Quantitatively, our growth will respond to the needs of Pennsylvania and our society. Numerically, I'd say this will be approximately fifty percent in the next dozen years. At another level, we have worked with architects to develop a master physical plan for the campus which will set forth our environmental needs for the next ten to twenty years. At yet another level, we have taken up a study of resource management. We intend to set up a long range planning and programming-budgeting system comparable to those adopted by federal government agencies during the past ten years. We also want to develop a complete management information system that will store data, help to schedule classes and instructors, record registration payments and so on. We hope that these systems will enable us to provide more efficient and economical service to everyone. Of paramount importance in our planning is student affairs. We want to avoid what might Ixj called the “Berkeley syndrome” —the sense of frustration and loss of identity which occurs in a bee-hive social environment. We want to establish learning-teaching-living units. These subdivisions of the undergraduate programs will provide a more healthy environment for learning and will give the students a tighter sense of l elonging and loyalty. Fraternities achieve something of the same purpose now. Dr. Critchficld’s staff is already at work; sometime within the coming months, the results of these studies will emerge and will be incorporated into the master plan. OWL: Will students be involved in this planning in the coming months? POSVAR: Yes. We particularly need student ideas and counsel in the areas that most affect them: student life and curriculum. Some students already are in- 5

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the out-of-state student come from also is important. Not much is added to the cosmopolitan flavor by getting students from easter Ohio or southern New York. We stand to gain a great deal more by bringing students from Texas, California and foreign countries, and, even more important, black students from ghetto neighborhoods. Now I think we tend to overlook one vital element in the cosmopolitan character of the University. and that is faculty. If the faculty comes from a variety of institutions—as ours does—then the learning experience will l e much more cosmopolitan. We have a very low percentage of Pittsburgh Ph.D’s on our faculty; our ‘‘inbreeding ratio” is very low. So, I would say that in balance, among major American universities we arc comparatively heterogeneous and are getting more so. Last summer, we had a faculty turnover of only eight or nine percent which is one of the lowest— perhaps the lowest—of any large university in the United States. That is a very optimistic indicator. In general, let me stress that this university is now on a threshold of a decade of vigorous growth. OWL; How do you view the role of the regional campuses? POSY A R: To Ixj justified, our regional campuses must be an integral part of the University. They are going to be brought up to the full academic standards of the main campus and they will serve as geographically dispersed locations for different kinds of programs. OWL; There has been some talk that the campuses will be used as undergraduate schools and that the Oakland campus will become a graduate school. POSVAR: You mean exclusively, no. They will remain undergraduate schools. They will permit us to expand our graduate programs in Oakland, but we expect that the numerical majority of students on the Oakland campus will always be undergraduates. OWL; The Chancellor of a University has many diverse roles. How do you view your relationship with the undergraduates? What is your role? POSVAR: I have a number of what you might call constituencies. A position like this is more similar to an office in government than it is to an office in a business corporation. Our publics include, of course, the community, the state legislators, the Governor and the trustees—the final authority in the University. But the faculty also is a public: they are the essential means to the accomplishment of all of our missions. Above all, the students are a public. They are the reason for the 7