Dear Graduate and Professional Students,

I am writing about a very important opportunity for you to give input about the direction of the University of Pittsburgh and decisions we will make over the next five years.

How do you think Pitt should change its approach to graduate education? How should Pitt invest in further enhancing services available to students? What areas of research and teaching will be more important in five years than they are today?

By now you may have read Chancellor Gallagher's message announcing that Pitt has launched a new strategic planning process this semester. I am co-chairing the steering committee charged with developing this plan which will result in a new Plan for Pitt 2025—a strategic plan that will set the University’s priorities and trajectory for the next five years.

The first phase of this process is to gather community input. A number of workshops are scheduled this month to engage the Pitt community in the process. Two of these workshops are intended specifically for graduate and professional students, but feel free to attend any workshop.

• Tuesday, January 14, 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the O’Hara Student Center, Dining Room
• Tuesday, January 21, 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.at the Thomas E. Starzl Biomedical Science Tower, S120

I hope you will join us and share your thoughts. The more graduate students attend these workshops, the more clearly your ideas and concerns will be reflected in the plan. In addition, ideas can also be submitted through the Feedback & Input Form, emailing the Plan for Pitt, or reaching out directly to me.

Thank you—and I look forward to your feedback.