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University of Pittsburgh |
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Office
of the Provost 809 Cathedral of Learning Pittsburgh, PA 15260 To send me email
click here: jdl1@pitt.edu
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Academic Planning |
University Planning and Budgeting Committee (UPBC)
The University Planning and Budgeting Committee advises the Chancellor in the development of University operational and long-range plans and budgets. UPBC work includes: developing planning parameters and planning information; reviewing planning proposals for major program changes; and drafting proposed University plans and budgets for the Chancellor's consideration. The UPBC also reviews policy matters including the University mission and goals, facilities management plans and budgets, and other matters of University-wide concern.
Members of the UPBC include the Provost (Chair), senior vice chancellors and chancellors who report directly to the Chancellor, and representatives of the Pittsburgh Campus and regional campus faculty, staff, deans, and students.
You can read University Planning and Budgeting Committee minutes on the Web or as they are published in the University Times.
Planning and Budgeting System (PBS)
The Planning and Budgeting System is the central collegial process for responding to the challenges and opportunities facing the University. PBS facilitates academic, research, service, and support activities of the University by ensuring full access to relevant planning information and by providing and rational, clear, and consistent framework for planning and budgeting decisions. Under PBS, wide participation by faculty, staff, students, and administrators takes place at every organizational level. For details, read the Planning and Budgeting System document.
As a part of the ongoing planning and budgeting process of the University, units will prepare proposals for new student majors, programs, departments, etc. Proposals must be prepared for review and approval according to the Guidelines for the Review of Academic Planning Proposals.
Middle States Self-Study
Improvement of the Undergraduate Student Experience: Setting a Course for the Futureis the most recent decennial report to the MIddle States Association of Colleges and Schools, submitted in February 2001. This extensive document examines the current state and future of undergraduate education at the University of Pittsburgh.
Toward the 21st Century
In October 1994, the Board of Trustees approved the a document outlining the mission and five-year goals, strategies, and evaluation criteria for the University. This document, entitled Toward the 21st Century, details a wide range of objectives for the remainder of the 20th century and the strategies by which the University intends to achieve them. The first truly comprehensive strategic plan of the University, this document represented a year-long effort of Planning and Budgeting Committees throughout the University.
As part of the approval process, the Board of Trustees adopted a new Mission Statement for the University of Pittsburgh in February 1995, which supersedes that published in Toward the 21st Century.
The Society for College and University Planning (SCUP)
The Society for College and University Planning is the leading organization focused on planning in higher education. Planning is essential to the health, vitality, and quality of higher education, especially during times of significant change. The purpose of SCUP is to promote the advancement and application of effective planning in colleges and universities.
The Association for Institutional Research (AIR)
The major purpose of the Association for Institutional Research is to benefit, assist, and advance research leading to improved understanding, planning, and operation of institutions of postsecondary education. AIR encourages the development and application of appropriate methodologies and techniques to further such research, analysis, and planning. AIR also encourages the collection, interpretation, exchange, and dissemination of information on colleges and universities.
The University of Pittsburgh Staff Association Council (SAC)
The Staff Association Council of the University of Pittsburgh is one of the oldest groups promoting university staff interests in the country. In 1971, the group was developed to provide a means of communication between staff personnel and other members of the University community and administrators. The group also served as a center for dissemination information of interest to staff employees. Over the years, SAC has been instrumental in the creation of staff fringe benefits, improvement of policies and procedures affecting staff, and promotion of staff interests in areas such as human relations, safety and security, and salary and job classification. Today, SAC represents the staff of the University on all major governance bodies and search committees.
Unitarian
Universalist Links
Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religion born of the Jewish and
Christian
traditions. We keep our minds open to the religious questions
people
have struggled with in all times and places. We believe that
personal
experience, conscience and reason should be the final authorities in
religion.
In the end, religious authority lies not in a book or person or
institution,
but in ourselves.
We uphold the free search for truth. We will not be bound by a
statement
of belief and do not ask anyone to subscribe to a creed. Ours is
a noncreedal religion.
We believe that religious wisdom is ever changing. Human
understanding
of life and death, the world, and its mysteries, is never final.
We celebrate unfolding truths known to teachers, prophets, and sages
throughout
the ages and of all cultures.
We affirm the worth of all women and men. We believe people
should
be encouraged to think for themselves. We know people differ in
their
opinions and life-styles and believe these differences generally should
be honored.
We seek to act as a moral force in the world, believing that ethical
living
is the supreme witness of religion. The here and now and the
effects
our actions will have on future generations deeply concern us. We
know that our relationships with one another, with other peoples,
races,
and nations, should be governed by justice, equity, and compassion.
Each Unitarian Universalist congregation is the fulfillment of a long
heritage
that goes back hundreds of years to courageous people who struggled for
freedom in thought and faith. On this continent we go back to the
Massachusetts settlers and the founders of the republic.
Outstanding
Unitarians and Universalists include John Adams, Clara Barton, Oliver
Wendell
Holmes, Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Susan B.
Anthony.
Not as famous but equally worthy are the thousands of men and women in
our congregations leading vital, dedicated, and useful lives. (Adapted
from text written by Marta Flanagan)
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High School Level Religious Education Curricula
As teacher of the high school religious education class at the First Unitarian Church for many years, I have written several Unitarian Universalist religious education curricula. These curricula cover materials such as Asian religions, moral issues, and our Western religious heritage and are available for other churches to utilize.
The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA)
The Unitarian Universalist Association, located in Boston, maintains a homepage containing a wide array of information on Unitarian Universalism.
Ohio-Meadville District Young-Religious Unitarian Universalists (YRUU)
The Ohio-Meadville District (OMD) of the UUA has a very active Youth-Adult Committee that sponsors conferences and other activities for youth in Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and much of Ohio. Training opportunities are regularly available for adults intererested in becoming credentialed Youth Advisors.
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If you like games and comics, Phantom of the Attic on South Craig Street in Oakland is the place for you. I have shopped at the Phantom since it opened and think it is one of the best hobby stores anywhere. Jeff Yandora and his staff are some of the friendliest folks around and I highly recommend stopping by and seeing them. |
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If horror literature is more to your liking, you cannot do better than the works of Howard Phillips Lovecraft. H.P. Lovecraft wrote some of the most chilling and well-crafted stories of suspense and ultimate evil ever conceived. His Cthulhu Mythos stories, in particular, rank Lovecraft among the greatest American story tellers. The best source for Lovecraft literature is Arkham House press. |  |
Family Links
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My daughter Ashley is a
Kindergarten
teacher living out in Anacortes, Washington. She earned her
Master's of
Arts in Teaching at the University of
Pittsburgh in 2006, and graduated from Pitt in 2005 with a B.A. in
English
Literature and a Certificate in Children's Literature. She sang
with the world-renowned Heinz Chapel
Choir. She acted in four musicals at
Woodland
Hills High School, two of which won the Gene Kelly Award for Best
Musical. In
2000, she was nominated for the Best Actress Kelly Award for her
portrayal
of Anna in The
King and I. |
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My son Tyler is a senior at the Ohio
State University,
where he is majoring in political science. He
is an avid
fan of Pittsburgh sports (Steelers, Penguins, and Pitt Panthers).
He likes rap music, discussing philosophy and politics, and his
Scottish heritage. He was
Che Guevara in the Woodland Hills High School
production of Evita
in 2002 and was Cornelius Hackl in the 2003 production of Hello
Dolly, which won the Gene Kelly Award for Best Musical. |
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Last updated on January 29, 2009