Recruitment, Budgeting Survey Updates Shared With Senate Committee

Amanda Brodish described the Pittsburgh campus’s Class of 2022 as “the biggest class ever, the brightest class ever and the most diverse class ever.”

Brodish, senior data analyst in the Office of the Provost, presented an undergraduate recruitment update to members of the Senate budget policies committee at that committee’s May 18 meeting. She elaborated on an enrollment forecast that Marc Harding, vice provost for enrollment and chief enrollment officer, had presented at the May 16 Senate Council meeting.

According to Brodish, this year’s incoming freshman class will probably not have to be supplemented by the waitlist because the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid received more paid deposits than expected. Normally, a fraction of incoming students will choose during the summer not to enroll, creating a void for members of the waitlist to fill.

Out-of-state students compose about 42 percent of the Class of 2022. Members of what are regarded as underrepresented populations represent about 14 percent of the class.

At all regional campuses, deposits for the freshman class fell, said Brodish. The most significant declines were at Pitt–Johnstown, where deposits fell by about 10 percent, and at Pitt–Titusville, where deposits fell by one-third. “That’s not surprising given … what’s going to be the future of the Titusville campus,” she said. The Titusville campus is transitioning from a regional campus to a higher education hub, which will feature educational offerings through partnerships with outside providers including a training center and community college.

Because the regional campuses continue to recruit for the incoming class during the summer, Brodish said those numbers may adjust.

In addition to the undergraduate recruitment update, Brodish also presented the statistics for freshman-to-sophomore retention. The Pittsburgh campus’s freshman-to-sophomore retention rate of 93.8 percent is “the highest it’s ever been,” she said. The freshman-to-sophomore retention rate rose at all of the University’s regional campuses except for Pitt–Johnstown. The Johnstown campus’s rate fell by less than 1 percent.

Planning and Budgeting Committee Survey

Thurman Wingrove, controller in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, shared the results of a survey of members of planning and budgeting committees (PBCs) at the unit level. The survey examined committee members’ participation in the University’s Planning and Budgeting System process.

The survey, which had a 46 percent response rate, indicated that 72 percent of respondents thought their unit’s planning and budgeting process was highly effective or effective.

The survey’s procedure and results — not including comments from respondents — are available as a PDF.

This survey was administered after the Senate budget policies committee decided at its April 2016 meeting to address concerns that PBC members lacked all of the available information necessary for effective committee work.

Stephen Wisniewski, vice provost for data and information, shared the provost’s office’s proposed actions for the PBCs:

  • Distribute data reports.
  • Develop best practices.
  • Host a meeting for committee chairs and appropriate administrators to review the purpose of the committees, the best practices and the reports.

Contact

Katie Fike, kfike@pitt.edu, 412-624-1085