Volume 4, Issue 1 - September 2026
"Highlighting Excellence in Action at the Dietrich School and CGS"
Advising Model Relies on Strong Relationships
As the Dietrich School continues implementing Pitt's shared advising model, Jill Harvey is focused on one thing: building relationships.
Harvey—who joined the Dietrich School this spring as Director of Advising for Declared Majors after 22 years at the Swanson School of Engineering, most recently as Director of First-Year Advising—is helping departments and programs prepare for a model that pairs professional staff advisors with faculty mentors to support student success. Her work comes at an important stage in the school's transition, as academic units develop faculty mentoring plans and consider how the new structure will work within their own cultures and disciplines.
Biological Sciences, Geology and Environmental Science, Neuroscience, and Psychology have had staff advising in place for at least a few years. By the beginning of the Fall 2026 term, staff advising was also fully in place in Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics and Astronomy, and Statistics, as well as Africana Studies, Economics, History, Political Science, and Sociology. This achievement completes the transition to professional staff advising in both the Natural and Social Sciences divisions.
During AY27, staff advising models will continue to be implemented with the expectation that professional advisors will be in place across all Humanities units by the start of Fall 2027.
Throughout September, the Dean's Office hosted workshops to assist departments and programs in exploring mentoring models and implementation strategies. Draft faculty mentoring plans are due December 1, with full implementation of the shared advising model expected by Academic Year 2027-28.
For Harvey, the planning process is less about creating uniformity and more about identifying ways advisors and faculty mentors can collaborate effectively.
"I've been basically just asking the DUGS and chairs I’ve met what their expectations are for advising going forward," Harvey offers. "What do they hope to see? What kinds of communication do they hope to have with the advisor? What kinds of referrals would they like to see to a faculty mentor?"
Those conversations reflect Harvey's belief that successful implementation starts with listening.
"Relationship building has been at the center of this whole process from the beginning," she says. "I've been trying to do more information gathering than talking."
A key focus of her work has been reinforcing that faculty mentors and professional advisors play distinct but complementary roles.
"They bring very different skills and experiences and expertise to their roles," Harvey says. "A faculty mentor and an academic advisor don't make each other redundant."
She points to the unique strengths each brings to students: faculty members offer deep disciplinary knowledge, while advisors provide an understanding of University processes, student development, and consistent availability. Both are essential to student success.
Harvey has also emphasized that while students should receive a consistently high level of support across the Dietrich School, individual units should shape mentoring relationships in ways that fit their own cultures.
"We have to respect that the advising flavor is going to look a little bit different from department to department," she says. "Probably the faculty mentoring flavor is going to be a little different from department to department."
As planning continues, Harvey sees her role as helping nurture the connections that will make the model successful. The details may differ across units, but the goal is shared—creating a stronger support network for students.
Says Harvey, “I’m interested in being a partner. I care about how advising impacts students in the Dietrich School and everybody I’ve been speaking with feels the same way. That’s the commonality that grounds us. We all want this to be a good experience for our students.”
Staff Members Honored for Leadership, Mentorship and Service
Several Dietrich School staff members were recently recognized for their outstanding contributions to the School community through the 2026 Orosz Award for Excellence in Emerging Leadership and the Dean's Achievement Awards. Together, the honorees exemplify the Dietrich School's leadership priorities through their dedication to colleagues, students and the broader University community.
Chloe Newbill, laboratory manager for the Neuroscience for Health Equity Lab in the Department of Psychology, was named the 2026 recipient of the Orosz Award for Excellence in Emerging Leadership.
The award recognizes staff members who have worked at Pitt for fewer than five years and demonstrated exceptional leadership while performing their responsibilities with a high degree of excellence. Established in honor of the late Michael Orosz, a longtime staff member in the Department of Biological Sciences, the award celebrates emerging leaders whose contributions strengthen the Dietrich School community.
Newbill's nominators highlighted the dedication, care and professionalism she brings to her work, citing her positive impact on team morale and the welcoming culture she has helped create within the lab. One nominator described her as "a standout colleague who leads not through authority, but through example, generosity, and genuine investment in the people around her."
The Dean's Achievement Awards honor staff members whose work advances the School's mission while helping make the Dietrich School and College of General Studies destination workplaces.
Kelly Lloyd, director of faculty affairs in the Office of the Dean, received the Dean's Outstanding Achievement Award. Nominators praised Lloyd's decades of service, extraordinary institutional knowledge and ability to navigate complex faculty affairs matters with expertise and patience. One colleague described her as "a mountain of information" whose guidance has benefited generations of staff and faculty.
The Dean's Achievement Award in Mentoring was presented to JC Bardzil, technical director in the Department of Theatre Arts, and Wynn Maloney, assistant director of academic and administrative operations in the Office of the Dean. Bardzil was recognized for creating an environment where students and staff are encouraged to grow and succeed. As one nominator noted, "JC does not just manage projects: he mentors people." Maloney was honored for fostering professional development and creating opportunities for staff to connect, share expertise and build confidence.
The Dean's Achievement in Workplace Culture Award was awarded to Cheyenne Rhone, academic administrative coordinator in the Department of Psychology. Nominators praised her positivity, thoughtfulness and ability to build meaningful connections across the department and school.
Offers Dean Adam Leibovich. “We celebrate this year’s extraordinary honorees. We know that their achievements reflect the culture of excellence, service and care that exists throughout our community."
Building AI-Aware Teaching Across the Dietrich School
As generative artificial intelligence continues to reshape higher education, Dietrich School faculty are coming together this fall to explore how AI can be used thoughtfully and effectively in the classroom. A faculty reading group led by Annette Vee, associate professor of English and composition studies, is examining The Norton Guide to AI-Aware Teaching, a new book she co-authored that places pedagogy, rather than technology, at the center of conversations about AI.
The book rejects both strict AI bans and blind adoption. Instead, it advocates for an "AI-aware" approach that begins with a simple question: What are students supposed to learn? From there, instructors can determine when AI supports learning goals and when it may interfere with them.
"The principle here is to get teachers to rethink what their learning goals are, what AI can do, how students are already using it and then recalibrate so we can get back to the learning that is really core to our mission," says Vee.
The reading group, which began in September at the time of the book's release, is part of the Dietrich School's broader effort to help faculty feel informed, prepared, and supported as AI becomes increasingly embedded in academic and professional life. Participants from a range of disciplines are exploring practical strategies, discussing challenges and sharing perspectives on how AI is affecting teaching and learning in their fields.
According to Hannah Johnson, the Dietrich School’s Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Advancement, creating opportunities for these conversations has become a priority. The school has worked to engage faculty around emerging AI issues through initiatives such as AI in the Disciplines, now entering its third year, while also fostering connections across departments and units to share ideas and address common challenges.
One of the most valuable aspects of these discussions is the chance for faculty from different fields to learn from one another. Vee notes that AI provides a rare opportunity for cross-disciplinary conversations about teaching.
"Faculty have really appreciated the cross-field conversation," she said. "We're a giant research university, and we can be a little siloed. AI is helping us have conversations about teaching across disciplines in a way that is certainly welcome now."
The conversation will continue on October 7, when Vee hosts a faculty workshop, Integrating AI to Support Learning Goals, focused on practical approaches instructors can adapt to their own courses. Interested faculty can register for the virtual program using this link.
Ultimately, these efforts are about more than classroom policies. They reflect a commitment to helping students navigate AI thoughtfully during their time at Pitt and beyond. As Vee explains, the goal is to build more robust structures that help students make informed decisions about when to embrace AI, when to resist it, and how to use it responsibly as they prepare for an increasingly AI-enabled workforce.
Associate Deans Modify Responsibilities to Meet Evolving Needs
As the Dietrich School continues to respond to the evolving needs of its faculty, staff and students, Dean Adam Leibovich is implementing an updated leadership structure for the school's associate deans. Building on adjustments made when he began his deanship in 2023, the changes refine areas of responsibility across the leadership team and introduce a new Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Student Appointments/Representation position.
The updated structure reflects an ongoing effort to ensure that School leadership is aligned with current priorities. "As the issues facing our school and our community of learners have continued to evolve, and now include the additional complexities of unionization, it's become evident to me that it's once again time to not only update our current team's focus areas, but to add a new associate dean role to our leadership structure," Leibovich indicates in a recent message to faculty.
Rather than signaling a major shift in direction, the reorganization builds on systems and partnerships already established over the past three years. Leibovich notes that he is "grateful for the partnership and flexibility" of associate deans Adriana Helbig, Hannah Johnson, Todd Reeser, Natasha Tokowicz and Jonathan Woon, adding that he looks forward to continuing those collaborations in their updated structures.
The revised portfolio assignments are designed to bring greater clarity and focus to key areas of our mission. Todd Reeser will serve as Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Governance, overseeing matters such as faculty evaluation, workload policy, teaching assessment and governance-related processes. Hannah Johnson, as Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Advancement, will focus on tenure and promotion, mentoring, faculty development and interdisciplinary initiatives. Natasha Tokowicz will serve as Associate Dean for Faculty Recruitment and Belonging, leading efforts related to hiring, retention, faculty climate and leadership development.
Adriana Helbig will continue as Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies and CGS, overseeing undergraduate education, curricular innovation and academic support, while Jonathan Woon, as Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Strategic Initiatives, will continue guiding graduate recruitment, professional development and strategic projects across the school.
Together, these refinements are intended to strengthen support for faculty and students alike, ensuring that leadership resources are organized in ways that best advance teaching, research, mentorship and student success across the Dietrich School.