By SHANNON O. WELLS
When it comes to discouraging news in academia regarding the future of federal funding grants, the hits, as they say, just keep on coming.
In her report to Senate Council at its April 17 meeting, Chancellor Joan Gabel shared the latest in indirect funding cuts likely to affect research endeavors at Pitt and other universities and the legal ways institutions of higher learning are responding.
On April 11, “as has become practice of Friday night executive orders,” Gabel noted, members of Pitt administration heard that the Department of Energy (DOE) took action to cut the indirect cost rate for all their research grants to 15%. This follows similar action by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in February.
“From Friday night to Monday morning (April 14), all of the professional associations that represent universities that have research funding” — including the American Council on Education, Association of American Universities, and Association of Public Land Grant Universities — worked “with several representative schools to file litigation Monday morning for a temporary restraining order,” she said.
The restraining order was granted on April 15.
The cycle, Gabel noted, “in most ways, is very similar to the NIH cycle … There are some legal intricacies that are different about the Department of Energy proposal to reduce their indirect funding than the NIH proposal from defending the point of view: The lawyers had differences they had to address. But from the receiving end, it’s a similar situation, except, of course, that our DOE funding is significantly smaller than the NIH funding.
“Nonetheless, we’re working closely with those national organizations, for which many of us sit in leadership positions,” she added, noting she serves on the board of all three. “And the decision to push back on this, even though the total impact on most institutions was relatively small, was fervent in order to send a signal about the ongoing effort to reduce research funding.”
Gabel said the litigation should be considered part of the “overall push” in support of Pitt’s research mission.
“That’s certainly how we approached it, as the national organizations speaking on behalf of the representative institutions, of which, obviously we are one.”
Striking a balance
Gabel also spoke of the “significant amount of concern right now” for international scholars and students. “I want to express how strongly I agree with this concern, having been an international student myself, overseas, back in the day, and understanding the extent of that vulnerability.”
She said that the number of people in the Pitt community impacted by visa revocations by the U.S. State Department has grown to six — two undergraduates, one graduate student and three recent graduates.
Acknowledging concerns about federal law enforcement coming onto campus, Gabel said “we’re not aware of any federal law enforcement on our campus for enforcement purposes. But we have given very clear instructions to deans, the campus presidents, all the center directors, for what to do if this happens.
“We are tracking this very closely and trying to be as proactive as possible in the support we provide, and then reacting in the unfortunate case that this happens,” she added.
Staff Council President Lindsay Rodzwicz followed up Gabel’s remarks with a question regarding the uncertainty regarding federal executive orders.
Expressing appreciation for what the chancellor shared, along with pertinent information that’s gone out to faculty and staff, she added there’s a lot of uncertainty with the “dynamic situation” and how “at a high level, we have to balance fears and concerns with information.”
Acknowledging some uncertainty of “What does (all this) really mean?” Rodzwicz asked if there’s an “opportunity, perhaps in the bigger picture of budget, to help staff understand what those potential impacts might be … with concerns over our international students and potential people coming to campus, how that information makes its way down to those sitting at a front desk of what to do, if the worst might happen, and if ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) might show up, what to do.
“I think as things evolve, there might be a way to further communicate out some of that information.”
Thanking Rodzwicz for the question, Gabel said this is “a very intense area of discussion” on how we “strike a balance between the anxiety caused very rationally by uncertainty for everyone, with full recognition that there are members of our community where that is legitimate, particularly high level of anxiety,” she said.
“There are certain things that are changing so rapidly or about which we don’t have complete information … so providing certainty, nothing would make me happier, actually.
“Sometimes I think knowing what you’re dealing with is better than not knowing,” Gabel added. “We often just don’t have the complete picture, and so giving a step-by-step is difficult … At the same time, if you’re hearing themes in the community that you represent, maybe there are certain things we could say more clearly …
“We are absolutely open if you would like to bring forward what you’re hearing so that we can do as much as possible, given the information that we have right now.”
Antisemitism report card
In other news, Gabel shared that the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released its second-annual Campus Antisemitism Report Card, which marks the first time the University was included in the grading. She explained that the ADL takes in “a lot of” information universities voluntarily provide, then conducts its own review.
“They have a proprietary process, so you can provide information at their request,” she said. “They also look at whatever it is they choose to look at in their own assessment. They have a formula, and the formula is not public.”
The league gave Pitt a “D” grade, an assessment with which University leadership disagreed.
“In no way indicating that we don’t think we have work to do. We have our working group established for that very reason,” she said, noting that the ADL provides a grace period during which additional information can be submitted. “They were actually very gracious during that period, so we were one of the schools that provided additional information.”
Based on that effort, the ADL revised Pitt’s grade to a “C.”
“I’ve said I’ve never been so happy to get a ‘C’ in my life, but I am glad to see them recognize our effort, because a lot of people are working very hard in this space,” Gabel said. “But I also think it’s important for us to recognize that in this and in a variety of examples of identity-based hate, we have more work to do.”
Workplace survey
Gabel said more than 40% of eligible employees participated in the recent Pitt Workplace Survey, which is part of the employee engagement element in the Plan for Pitt. The survey closed April 14.
“And for those of you who do surveys as part of your work, that’s a very high response rate. So we’re delighted,” she said. “And now we set a baseline with recognition that this will show us where we have opportunities.”
She said Staff Council started talking to her about doing a survey “when I was announced as the person in this job. Gabel acknowledged that “it’s an interesting time to do a survey on how people are feeling,” and she’s “very interested to see what the results show.”
“So thank you to everyone who responded and participated and supported it. When we have results and the action plan resulting from those results, we will be reaching out,” she added, thanking the Human Resources team, along with Victoria Lancaster in Finance and Operations, “who really got us going on that work.”
Admissions and commencement
Gabel concluded her report to Senate Council with what she called a “big shout out” to Vice Provost Mark Harding and his team in the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid.
“We crossed the 62,000 applications mark this year, which is tremendous,” she said. “They have been working hard on the heels of, who can forget the FAFSA pleasure that was last year, and so making sure that the very high touch, very personalized machine continued in the way that it has.
“I mean, we can all see all the tours on campus today,” she noted. “So, very grateful to them.”
Gabel also congratulated students graduating at Spring Commencement on May 4.
“May the fourth be with you,” she quipped to the graduates of Pitt’s largest-ever class. “We’re super delighted to celebrate with our graduates and their families and friends.”
Reassurances
In her report, Senate Council President Robin Kear reiterated much of what she shared during the April 9 Faculty Assembly meeting while offering further acknowledgment of the uncertainty many in the Pitt community are feeling in the prevailing political climate.
“I know there are innumerable items of change coming from our federal government … whether or not you’re ignoring it or reading it or consuming it or obsessing over it, however you get your news — and these things affect us as individuals.
“They affect our families, our friends, our neighbors, those that are in health care,” she said. “And it affects us as a higher education institution, of course, and I have been hearing anxieties from many corners of campus. …
“I am sorry to say that I believe this is just our new reality for now and for quite some time. And as you know, these changes have a real, tangible impact on our research discoveries, our colleagues, career trajectories and their personal and our institutional economic realities, right?
“I know this is a very difficult and uncertain time for many of us,” Kear added, “and I will continue to be open to hearing those as I have been, and just trying to talk through them as we can.”
Shannon O. Wells is a writer for the University Times. Reach him at shannonw@pitt.edu.
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