Faculty Assembly President Robin Kear and Vice President Kris Kanthak discussed two documents intended to help Pitt become more equitable and uplift marginalized communities at last week’s meeting. Kanthak said the provost’s recommendations in the documents “give credit” to those who haven’t received it before.

The Faculty Assembly met on Wednesday to discuss the current travel policy, academic freedom and campus safety.

In its Wednesday virtual meeting, Faculty Assembly discussed Pitt potentially removing its mask mandate and voted on a budget policy recommendation and a resolution banning external interference on what can or cannot be covered in courses.

Robin Kear, the president of Pitt’s Faculty Assembly, said at a Wednesday meeting that she can’t wait until there are no more vaccine updates.

Pitt’s Faculty Assembly met on Wednesday afternoon to discuss how Pitt will move forward with teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to approve two draft policies from the Benefits and Welfare committee.

Pitt’s Faculty Assembly met Wednesday afternoon in a hybrid fashion to discuss the faculty union vote, union contract negotiation and a report from the Senate Budget Policies Committee about Pitt's partnership with the Outlier program.

Pitt’s Faculty Assembly this week discussed performance criteria for faculty members, formed an ad-hoc committee on dependent care and talked about efforts to explore the possibility of a COVID-19 vaccine requirement.

Chancellor Patrick Gallagher said Thursday that Pitt’s new COVID-19 testing program for the academic year is estimated to cost between $20 and $50 million in order to test unvaccinated students weekly, starting on Monday.

Dr. John Williams, head of Pitt’s COVID-19 Medical Response Office, said Wednesday that with high vaccination numbers and the COVID-19 positivity rate at less than 1%, the University is in a “great place” for the start of the fall semester.

John Williams, head of Pitt’s COVID-19 Medical Response Office, said vaccines are important so students can return to their normal routines as the CDC releases more liberal guidelines for vaccinated people.