Provost Division Year in Review

Academic Year 2022 - 2023

We are proud to present an overview of the Provost Division’s contributions to the university’s mission and strategic priorities over the past academic year. In collaboration with partners across the university, we continue to further the future of education, research, creativity and entrepreneurship here at CMU.

Established the Rales Fellows Program.

Worked with partners across the university to develop a vision, plan and budget to secure a major gift from the Rales Foundation to establish a $150M initiative to create the CMU Rales Fellows program aimed at broadening access to graduate education. Dr. Moisés Padilla joined the university as the program’s executive director and will bring in the first cohort next fall.

Celebrated the first cohort of Tartan Scholar graduates.

The Tartan Scholars program, launched in 2019, graduated its first cohort of 56 scholars in May 2023. Made possible by support from a five-year gift from the Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh, the Tartan Scholars program focuses on connection, communication and coaching and strives to close the opportunity gap by providing a rich network of academic, social and financial support.

Expanded holistic support for doctoral students.

Established a Parental Accommodation Program for student gestational parents that gives fully enrolled, stipend-supported, Ph.D. student parents time away from their academic responsibilities with continued stipend support. This program expansion builds on strategic investments made by the university to advance the holistic graduate student experience.

Increased the student minimum wage and minimum rates.

Enacted an updated student minimum wage for hourly positions, as well as a new minimum wage for hourly grader and hourly teaching assistant positions across the institution. We continue to prioritize support for our students who make valuable contributions to the mission of the university.

Developed and socialized Bridging to Inclusive Excellence: A Carnegie Mellon Framework for Inclusive Excellence.

In partnership with the Academic Diversity Officers and DEI leads, the creation of this framework serves as a foundation for unit DEI strategic plans and connects them to the broader university goals. The framework has three core concepts: Building a Diverse Community, Cultivating an Inclusive Culture, and Promoting Values and Accountability. The framework will serve as a guide to our community for years to come. 

Strengthened our community through celebrations to increase the experience of equity and inclusion.

Several university-wide events brought the CMU community together, provided educational opportunities and lifted our DEIB values. These included the MLK Keynote Address with Majora Carter, a Juneteenth Keynote with journalist Wil Haygood, the Second Annual Juneteenth Reception with Sankofa, a Pride Month lecture with author Hugh Ryan, and Heading Right to the Point: Discussing the Power of Representation with Dr. Wanda Heading-Grant and author and CMU alumna Jewell Parker Rhodes.

Distributed Tartan Voices 2023 Survey - Our Community, Our Experience, Our Voice. 

The Tartan Voices 2023 survey was an opportunity for students to share their experiences on campus with the day-to-day environment to help university leadership comprehensively understand students’ sense of belonging and the climate for maintaining a diverse and inclusive campus community. The survey incorporated campus DEIB indicators researched and developed by the National Institute for Transformation and Equity. The results of this study will inform educational initiatives and planning in our continued efforts toward creating a campus environment that engages and supports students across all backgrounds and experiences.

Received the 2023 INSIGHT Into Diversity Higher Education in Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award.

INSIGHT Into Diversity annually recognizes colleges and universities demonstrating an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion in their communities. The efforts of our community to advance the core values of DEI, evidenced in the areas of mentoring, teaching, research, hiring and promotion, recruitment, retention, and many other campus initiatives, gained us this national recognition.

Launched the “Addressing Antisemitism: Cultivating Understanding & Awareness” Event Series.

Hosted by the Office of the Vice Provost for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer, this multi-event series aims to foster awareness and understanding of antisemitism through elevating critical consciousness of our CMU community and extending it beyond – acknowledging how antisemitism manifests in our spaces and spheres of influence and learning tools and strategies to dismantle it.

Improved bias training for search committee participants.

This training was updated to include increased reference to how bias is developed, including personal identity, dominant social norms and social systems. It is now better aligned with training outcomes and includes more opportunities for participant engagement.

Expanded the Office for Institutional Equity and Title IX.

The Office of Title IX initiatives changed its name to the Office for Institutional Equity and Title IX, reflecting its expanded mission, purpose and services as it now receives reports on discrimination beyond those that fall solely under Title IX. This change increased the clarity of processes related to reports of alleged discrimination and bias for any protected class as noted in our Statement of Assurance.

Offered unique undergraduate research opportunities to build transferable skills and experiences.

The Summer Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship (SURA), which creates accessible summer research for students who have had little to no research experience, was launched and attended by 281 students. Also this year, the Highway to Undergraduate Research in the Academic Year (HURAY) pilot program launched, creating paid research positions. Of the 31 student participants, 96% expressed interest in continuing research and participating faculty shared that they made progress in their research as a result of working with a HURAY student. Additionally, we piloted an Undergraduate Researcher Mentoring Institute to help graduate and postdoc mentors enhance their effectiveness in undergraduate researcher mentoring.

Established the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs to support the student holistic experience.

Reporting dually to the Office of the Vice Provost for Education and Office of the Vice Provost for Research, this team provides campus-wide services to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. The office has developed and implemented a Postdoc Orientation, as well as woven their participation into the existing Incoming Faculty Orientation. 

Utilized surveys, questionnaires and community feedback to better understand and meet student needs.

Gathered student feedback through an Enrolled Student Survey, an Admitted Student Questionnaire for Undergraduate Admission, and created focus groups and new programming to enhance and celebrate the postdoctoral experience. The feedback received from these surveys will continue to inform strategic decision making to enhance the student experience.

Launched three new online graduate-level certificate programs.

Combining our strengths in learning science and a rich ecosystem of educational technologies, CMU launched graduate certificate programs in artificial intelligence, 3D bioprinting and biofabrication, and computational data science. Over the past year, we built the infrastructure and financial model for this program, designed the curriculum, and collected data to launch and deliver this new offering to working professionals who want to deepen or expand their knowledge to include modern methods and apply that new knowledge at work. 

Officially instituted the 14-week semester.

The 14-week semester aims to better meet the needs of student health and well-being by offering more time for rest and restoration throughout the semester. It includes a week-long Fall Break, a time meant for rest and restoration during which faculty should refrain from assigning homework or large projects.

Formed the Academic Freedom and Freedom of Expression Implementation Steering Committee.

This committee was tasked with addressing the Commission on Academic Freedom and Freedom of Expression recommendations across three focus areas: Reviewing Policies and Building Institutional Expertise; Evaluating Hiring Practices and Training Resources; and Developing Education and Growing Engagement.

Enhanced data quality to support assessment of the Core Competencies Initiative (CCI).

Deployed working group recommendations to enhance awareness of CCI learning experiences for student and educators, including the implementation of a new CCI-based course tagging process so CMU course tags accurately reflect CCI foci, the deployment of an enhanced CCI-based tagging process for CMU student organization activities, and the development of a CCI learning activity registration form to gather  participation data on other curricular and metacurricular experiences that help students learn and practice the core competencies. 

Offered innovative educational programs to impact the community and enhance CMU student learning.

Assisted faculty in developing innovative educational programs, such as the Inside Out Prison Education Project, and transitioning CS Academy to a model that will allow competency-based academic credit to be earned through examination.

Implemented new Policy to Provide Phased Retirement Option for Teaching Track Faculty.

Implemented in April 2022, this policy was brought to life in close coordination with the Faculty Senate. It provides an option by which eligible teaching track faculty can voluntarily enter a period of phased retirement.

Expanded faculty mentorship and career opportunities.

Established a new Mentoring Advisory Council and a portfolio of workshops on mentoring to help build networks that support individual needs. Partnered with the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD) to offer virtual workshops and mentoring sessions, as well as to provide scholarships for junior faculty to attend NCFDD Faculty Success Program to develop skills to increase scholarly productivity while achieving work-life balance. To date, 49 faculty have participated in the program.

Offered faculty-specific training opportunities.

Offered training to address timely topics such as foundational training Academic Freedom and Freedom of Expression, as well as workshops, consultations and training about the use of generative AI in the classroom. Launched a project to develop data science training for educators and secured an Institute of Education Sciences grant to develop online resources and in-person workshops. Coordinated these online data science resources with online grad programs for reuse.

Formalized the Dual Career Program to support faculty and staff partners in finding employment in Pittsburgh.

In partnership with Human Resources, we formalized this program to provide additional resources to partners of eligible CMU faculty and staff. This resource supports our goal to attract and retain world-class faculty and staff, as well as to make CMU an inclusive place to work.

Obtained enterprise contract to post all faculty positions in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

This contract allows all faculty and staff jobs to be automatically posted at no cost to the unit. Posting to the Chronicle satisfied the Program Electronic Review Management (PERM) labor verification process requirements, an often cost-prohibitive process for work visas and employment-based green cards.

Launched Core@CMU redesign process with CMU-Q pilot.

Collaborated with faculty experts and university stakeholders to transform the current Computing@CM course into Core@CMU, a re-envisioned university-wide required course for all undergraduate students that provides a tangible on-ramp to the Core Competencies Initiative including baseline assessment data to inform future decision making. The initial phase at work was launched with a pilot at CMU-Q and subsequent phases will support a summer 2024 launch for the incoming first-year Pittsburgh class.

Launched a working group on the transparency for international educational agreements.

Defined the scope, gaps and solutions regarding the need for a transparent and coordinated point of contact and entry for CMU colleagues as well as other institutions or partners who are investigating international educational inquiries, partnerships and arrangements and/or are implementing and managing such agreements and opportunities.   

Secured Middle States accreditation for non-Pittsburgh locations.

Took required substantive change actions to sunset the Adelaide, Australia additional location in a compliant and transparent manner. Coordinated and prepared substantive change petition related to the physical move in NYC of the MS in Computational Finance.

Prepared a timeline for the Middle States 2026-2027 self study.

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) is a global institutional accreditor recognized by the United States Secretary of Education since 1952. Most recently accredited in 2018, CMU will undergo a self study as part of the 2026-2027 accreditation process. 

Completed assessment projects to support academic programming and student success.

In collaboration with the Division of Student Affairs and the academic colleges, completed important survey research projects to support academic program development and student success initiatives, including surveys on academic calendar changes, academic advising, first year experience, enrolled student satisfaction and the Tartan Voices 2023 survey.

Developed and deployed dashboards to support informed, timely and strategic decision making.

Transitioned TartanDataSource reports to Tableau and published for the university community in an easily accessible and user-friendly with enhanced insight development capabilities, including masters program analytics and student assessment findings. 

Supported the organization's financial health and the future of educational initiatives.

In partnership with the Finance Division, updated the CMU's budget model by rebalancing tuition-based revenue incentives across colleges between undergraduate, graduate and online program tuition for the next five years. This creates a financial pathway for CMU to fund future strategic priorities.

Hosted the second annual CMU Data Analytics Day and Iron Viz Challenge.

Organized and hosted CMU Data Analytics Event to bring attention and focus on developing data analytics capabilities and collaboration to support decision making processes. Debuted the IronViz competition that generated excitement and friendly competition among the analytics community.

Provided critical analysis to guide university decision making.

Designed, implemented and provided full analysis of 2022 CMU Return to Work faculty and staff survey to guide the university’s return to work approach. Collaborated with Enrollment Services and Computing Services to evaluate graduate admission data integration requirements and proposed a plan to develop an integrated data collection process (GRAAD). Completed university carrying capacity analysis addressing faculty, staff, space and classroom implications due to enrollment growth and changes.