Faculty Assembly President Robin Kear opened Wednesday’s Faculty Assembly meeting by addressing a federal proposal to cut the National Institutes of Health’s funding, money which supports over half of Pitt’s research projects.

“We are in incredibly uncertain times right now with few reassurances to be found,” Kear said. “We must try to work together and do the best that we can for our students.” 

President Donald Trump’s proposed NIH funding cuts target indirect cost reimbursements, which support lab maintenance and administrative expenses. Pitt is ranked sixth nationwide for NIH funding. NIH is Pitt’s largest federal research sponsor and provides nearly $700 million annually. 

“A significant reduction of these funds will result in irreparable harm to University operations,” Chancellor Joan Gabel said in a statement on Tuesday. “Much is at stake with the proposed cuts to indirect costs.”

Faculty Assembly also discussed Trump’s rollback of Biden-era gender equity rules requiring fair name, image and likeness opportunities under the Title IX Act. Under the rollback, university athletics programs are no longer required to ensure equal pay across genders.

“I’ve been trying to follow this [issue], and there’s no textbook to help understand what’s going on in collegiate athletics,” Mike Epitropoulos, chair of the University Senate’s Athletics and Recreation Committee, said. “What’s going on is like prophecy. None of us know or understand what’s coming next.”

Faculty Assembly’s immediate past president Chris Bonneau also addressed the NIL changes, stating that the University’s next steps remain uncertain.

“How the University will implement this [change], or what that means going forward, is a whole other mess of issues that will be coming out,” Bonneau said. 

Kear added that Pitt administration is “working very hard to understand these impacts,” but does not currently have any updates for the University community. She encouraged community members to follow the research office’s webpage for the latest updates on NIH funding at Pitt.

“Last month was a very different time. What a difference a few weeks can make for us,“ Kear said. “I can assure you that the [University] Senate is working closely with senior administration as our environment changes almost daily. Senior leadership does not have much to say beyond updates through email.”

The Assembly then heard a report from Anthony Delitto, associate provost for digital education, about Pitt EDGE, an office that aims to develop online and hybrid graduate degree programs. 

“Pitt has decided to move into the online space, which we’ve been doing at the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences for five or six years,” Delitto said. “We hope to take [SHRS] infrastructure and generalize it for the entire university.”

The Pitt EDGE initiative follows Gabel’s emphasis on expanding graduate enrollment as a key priority in the Plan for Pitt. Delitto sought to develop Pitt’s own online learning platform rather than relying on external vendors like Coursera and Noodle, which, according to Delitto, has saved SHRS over $33 million.

“All the [external vendors] wanted us to enter into revenue-sharing programs, which means they take about two-thirds of any tuition gained,” Delitto said. “That just didn’t make any financial sense to us.” 

In the past three years, SHRS has successfully launched seven new online and hybrid graduate programs. In the fall of 2026, Delitto said he plans to expand Pitt EDGE’s online learning model to all graduate programs at Pitt, including marketing and recruiting efforts for these programs.

“We really envision ourselves as being the University’s internal online program manager,” Delitto said. “We think it’s really critical to centralize these processes. The efficiencies we gain by centralizing will be immeasurable.” 

Alan George, director of Pitt’s National Science Foundation Center presented an overview of the Pitt Space Initiative, which launched in 2024. This initiative offers academic programs in space engineering, conducts research and launches space missions in collaboration with other universities.

“Our focus is on space research and workforce development, so educating and training the next generation of space scientists and engineers,” George said. “We’re using this initiative to create new academic programs, and we’ve introduced four new courses this school year.” 

Pitt Space is developing several new degree programs, including a 10-credit graduate certificate and a 15-credit undergraduate minor in space engineering. 

“We’re sticking with tried and true disciplines, like electrical engineering, and adding space engineering on top of that,” George said. “This cross-disciplinary ‘add-on’ approach makes us unique.”

George plans to offer both degree programs to students in the fall of 2025. Since the initiative’s launch, students have already formed several clubs, including the Robotics and Automation Society and the Society of Astronautics and Rocketry. 

“Many space agencies want to look at Pitt because of the kinds of graduates we develop and send into the workforce,” George said. “Pitt is becoming the newest space university in the country. We’re leveraging all the expertise on campus and building up from there.”