Pitt has established a resiliency steering committee which will help implement reopening for the fall semester. The panel will work to ensure University-wide coordination and communication of health guidance and standards.
The committee is a key piece of the three reopening postures and universal health rules for the fall that Chancellor Patrick Gallagher announced Tuesday.
The three postures, which closely mirror Pennsylvania’s red-yellow-green reopening phases, provide common operating standards to plan for safe operations during the pandemic. Pitt’s Emergency Operations Center, in collaboration with the chancellor’s Healthcare Advisory Group, will monitor different criteria and recommend whether the University should switch between postures.
The 22-member committee includes various top administrators and staff, with one faculty member and no students. Students were also not present on the top-level committees that helped for the fall semester in May, but were on several subcommittees. Two students were added to subcommittees following backlash about not enough student representation in the decision-making process.
Eric Macadangdang, the president of Student Government Board, said efforts are in the works to add student representation to the committee.
University spokesperson Kevin Zwick did not directly answer questions about why no students were on the committee, but said faculty have a “crucial role” in implementing decisions and this is why University Senate President Chris Bonneau is on the committee.
“Bonneau’s status… helps to ensure the faculty are well informed of anticipated changes and how we’ll support them as we carry out our educational and research mission while helping to keep the Pitt community safe and healthy,” Zwick said.
Bonneau , a professor of political science, declined to comment on whether students should be added to the committee.
The committee’s members are:
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