University of Pittsburgh - Owl Yearbook (Pittsburgh, PA)

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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

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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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existence of this place. I want my relationship with the students to be a close as possible. Mv attention necessarily is divided by all of these responsibilities but I can’t begin to do my job adequately unless I have a close sense of student attitudes, aspirations and needs. OWL: The records of Pitt’s athletic teams has been weak and unimpressive in the past few years. Do you see any changes in the athletic program or do you have any plans for resolving these problems? POSVAR: Yes. I do. The major intercollegiate teams of the University are in a phase of building, and building in a healthy way, I think. We are developing a concept here of good athletics with good academic abilities. There are some athletes who can’t get admitted to Pitt. If they did come here, they would not be able to pass the program and that wouldn’t be fair to them. But we are building our athletic teams and we do intend to compete favorably on the national scene. I think you will see a marked improvement in our football performance next year. We also have improved hopes for wrestling, swimming and basketball. One of the brightest prospects is track. I would like to lav special stress upon the role of student support in successful athletic programs. A student who does not attend the game has no right to criticize the performance of the team. Student support shouldn’t wane when the team is losing. During the past football season, our team was badly defeated by certain great football powers, but I didn’t see the players quit except at moments in one or two of our worst games. I have never been associated with a school—even a school with winning records— in which I have seen a team with greater persistence and spirit than our young football team showed this past year. They deserve all the support the students can give them. OWL: Many of the coaches put much of the blame on the trimester system and shortness of time for a student to be here. Therefore, they feel students do not want to go out for sports. The coaches can’t get good teams as a result. They also place the blame on the high academic standards. They are trying to get them lowered officially or unofficially through the admissions office. POSVAK: This is not what the coaches or the Director of Athletics have told me. They are free to come here at any time to express their points of view. I have heard unqualified support for our academic standards from our coaching staff and the coaches have told me they want the standards to remain. I make this point emphatically. Lowering academic standards does not produce better athletic teams in football or in any sport. We are talking about a few players a year who can’t l e admitted. It is possible to find equally good players who are good students; our coaches are doing this. OWL: Why is the alumni endowment so small? POSVAR: Let me correct a matter of terminology here. No distinction has been made between the endowment made by alumni and that made by other private sources. The endowment of this University is approaching 90 million dollars. A major portion has been contributed by Pittsburgh citizens who have had some direct or indirect connection with the University. However, it is generally recognized that the alumni spirit and support have not been good. One of the variety of reasons for this is the rapid change that has taken place in the University in the past two decades. We intend to work hard to develop stronger alumni spirit. The place to begin is with our future alumni, our students. OWL: The recent changes in the selective service system will have a great impact on education. Does Pitt plan to take a stand on the issue? 8