The Senate of the University of Pittsburgh is an official University body for shared governance. Through its various organs, it considers and makes recommendations concerning educational policies and other matters of University-wide concern.
The Senate shall foster discussion and maintain adequate communication channels among students, staff, faculty, administrative officers, and the Board of Trustees on all matters affecting the welfare of the University or its constituent members.
Chancellor Gallagher announced on April 7, 2022 that he will step down as Chancellor during the Summer of 2023. The Board of Trustees is managing the search, which will be chaired by Trustee Eva Blum with Anatha Shekhar, Senior Vice Chancellor of the Health Sciences as the committee’s vice chair. As outlined in the Guidelines for Search Committees for Senior Academic Administrators, the Senate is tasked with selecting five faculty members to serve on the search committee. The five faculty are to be distributed across the University with one faculty member coming from each of the following areas: Arts & Sciences, Professional Schools in the Provost’s area, School of Medicine, the other Health Science Schools and from the regional campuses.
The Senate sent a Read Green on August 9th asking for nominations. The Senate announced the slates and petitioning process via Read Green on August 24.
The final slate of candidates and directions for voting will be sent to eligible voters on September 6. The election will be held electronically beginning on September 6 and will end on September 15.
The votes are in and the five elected faculty to the Chancellor’s Search committee are:
School of Medicine: Sarah Gaffen
Regionals: Jeff Guterman (Bradford)
Professional Schools of the Provost's area: Larry Feick (Business)
A&S – Lara Putnam (History)
Other schools of the Health Sciences: Debbie Miller (SHRS)
1578 faculty voted in the elections - the breakdown is as follows:
Arts & Sciences 367 voted – 52% participation
Health Sciences 325 voted – 55% participation
Professional Schools 307 voted - 54% participation
Regionals 116 voted - 49% participation
School of Medicine 463 voted – 19% participation
Senate Leadership
If you have any questions - please reach out to any of the Senate Officers
President - Robin Kear, Faculty Librarian, ULS, rlk25@pitt.edu
Vice President - Kristin Kanthak, Professor Political Science, kanthak@pitt.edu
Secretary - Penelope (Penny) Morel, Professor School of Medicine, morel@pitt.edu
Immediate Past President - Chris Bonneau, Professor Political Science, cwbonneau@pitt.edu
