Pitt: “Bon voyage” to Semester at Sea

After nearly 24 years of cooperation with Pitt, the company that co-sponsors Pitt’s Semester… After nearly 24 years of cooperation with Pitt, the company that co-sponsors Pitt’s Semester at Sea program filed a lawsuit against the University, claiming a breach of contract.

The Institute for Shipboard Education (ISE) filed the suit in response to a recent announcement from the University that it would end its role as Semester at Sea’s academic sponsor.

“Unfortunately, changes in the world have made it more challenging for ISE to manage the non-academic aspects of the program,” Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs Robert Hill said in an e-mail to The Pitt News yesterday.

From Pitt’s perspective, Hill said, ISE has not met those challenges because of changes within the Semester at Sea program itself.

ISE’s management team ended its affiliation with the Seawise Foundation, the company that “supplied both the ship that housed the program and a level of proven maritime management expertise,” Hill said.

He added that during the program’s last spring voyage, the new vessel suffered noticeable damage as it unsuccessfully tried to pass through a storm in the Pacific Ocean.

The Semester at Sea program has not been immune to tragedy and controversy for Pitt students in the past.

In 1996, five Semester at Sea participants died while on the voyage in a bus accident in India. Four of them — Virginia Amato, Jenna Druck, Cherese Laulhere and Sara Scheme — were enrolled at Pitt.

A few months ago, some students complained that a professor, while on Semester at Sea, created an uncomfortable environment by stimulating a debate on racial issues.

Prior to Pitt’s pullout, ISE and the University had developed an ongoing discussion about a possible redefinition of the relationship between ISE and Pitt. The discussion also engaged the process of purchasing a new ship. But no resolution was ever found.

Aside from legal and managerial issues, other problems have accumulated at Pitt.

Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor James Maher said in a confidential letter to Pitt faculty on May 27 that the University staff and faculty involved in this summer’s upcoming voyage would have to take an unpaid leave if they still wanted to take the trip.

“We will not have anyone on the soon-to-commence voyage in any role that represents the University of Pittsburgh,” Maher said.

Because of the loss of staff and faculty, ISE lawyers have expressed concern in the lawsuit that this decision “will negatively affect the quality of the Summer 2005 program and even possibly prevent it from happening altogether.”

Negotiations continued, but as of yesterday, nothing was resolved.

Although the University will make faculty and staff take an unpaid leave of absence, Pitt will still certify academic credits for students on Semester at Sea.