By KRISTIN KANTHAK​​​​​​​

For the fourth year in a row, Pitt volleyball made an appearance in the NCAA tournament final four. And although they did not come out with the win, their dominance throughout the season provided entertainment and inspiration for Panther fans and volleyball aficionados alike.

A recent ESPN article about the team outlined the history of the Dan Fisher era, starting with the coach’s debut at the helm of the University of Pittsburgh’s volleyball team 12 years ago. Four seasons into Fisher’s tenure, the team made the NCAA tournament for the first time in a long time. They made it to the second round, a feat they repeated until 2021, when they made the Elite Eight. They are now consistently among the best collegiate volleyball teams in the nation. Every year, they get a bit faster, jump a bit higher, dig a bit deeper, hit a bit harder. It’s inspiring.

The business of the University Senate is not nearly as exciting to watch as a perfect Rachel Fairbanks set or a stunning Olivia Babcock kill. But just as the team is expanding its time in the tournament, the Senate is focused on expanding its footprint to ensure that it represents and serves as many members of the Pitt community as possible.

Like Coach Fisher, we recognize that this is a multi-year process. Last year, the University Senate moved to an “opt-out” process for part-time untenured faculty. Previously, these faculty were presumed not to be members unless they specifically opted in to membership. That is now flipped — they are considered, unless they choose otherwise, to be members of the University Senate, able to vote in all Senate elections and serve in most Senate capacities.

More recently, in another attempt to expand the Senate’s level of representation, the Senate amended its bylaws to allow the creation of affinity groups. These groups — informal committees comprised of faculty, staff, students and others — will allow members of the Pitt community with some shared interest to see that interest represented in the Senate.

Affinity groups already exist in Pitt’s Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and the Senate designation is available to those groups, as well as any other groups that express interest in the designation. Potential affinity groups must have a member of either the Faculty Assembly or a standing committee to serve as their spokesperson. The process of being certified as an affinity group is easy — groups must simply express their interest in writing to the Senate Executive Committee (the Senate president, immediate past president, vice president or the secretary). The full Faculty Assembly will then vote on the creation of the affinity group.

Shared governance is important to us all. But shared governance requires participation and representation. It requires the Senate to work to expand its level of representation, not simply stand by waiting for stakeholders to come to them. Taking a page from Dan Fisher and his Pitt volleyball team, we must continue to get better year over year. Remember that all Faculty Assembly and Senate meetings are open to the public. We even have cookies. And as the Pitt volleyball team says after every victory: HAIL! (clap) TO! (clap) PITT!

Kris Kanthak is vice president of Senate Council and associate professor of political science.