Bill Schackner stories, Page 9

The University of Pittsburgh on Tuesday named Marnie Oakley as its new dean of the School of Dental Medicine. Oakley is a doctor of dental medicine, educator and administrator who has held positions at Pitt for almost three decades, most recently as the dental school’s interim dean. A national search...

Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court has issued a split opinion in a case with implications for faculty cuts imposed at 10 state-owned universities since 2021 and any future professor layoffs. In an opinion that partly affirmed an arbitrator’s earlier decision, the court said Friday that the State System of Higher Education failed...

University of Pittsburgh trustees on Friday elected a new chairman, received their first full report from Chancellor Joan Gabel on university progress and approved $100 million in campus building renovation projects. Board members meeting in the William Pitt Union in Oakland also encountered protests. They ranged from a boisterous but...

PennWest University announced that it is embarking on a search for a successor to president Dale-Elizabeth Pehrsson, who stepped away from the job in February, effective immediately. “When I say embark, I mean we’re at the very, very beginning stages. We will communicate more as we go along,” PennWest Council...

Marin Exler, who grew up in Crafton, held no illusions that her college education would be free, nor did she procrastinate paying down the debt of almost $120,000 that she incurred at Case Western Reserve University. She worked multiple campus jobs, made bigger-than-required loan payments after graduating, refinanced double-digit interest...

Dale-Elizabeth Pehrsson announced in February that she was leaving PennWest University’s presidency, but in the seven months since, Western Pennsylvania’s largest state-owned university has yet to begin seeking a permanent successor. Now, the person serving as its interim president, R. Lorraine “Laurie” Bernotsky, could be poised to leave too. State...

The University of Pittsburgh says it’s willing to freeze in-state tuition for the 2024-25 academic year, provided the state delivers a larger-than-usual state appropriation that year: a 9.25% increase. The dollar request was conveyed to state officials in a letter of intent Friday. An in-state freeze would apply to thousands...

The linguist and administrator who will oversee Penn State University’s 20 branch campuses starting Oct. 1 has talked about their importance as educational game-changers for students and economic anchors for the communities in which they’re located. Margo DelliCarpini also has seen how competitive the higher-education market can be when it...

West Virginia University Libraries, already hit this year with a 30% cut in its operating budget, now faces up to $800,000 in personnel cuts under measures announced Wednesday to shore up the university’s deficit-plagued finances. The action is outlined in one of the letters delivered by the provost’s office to...

Owners of an unfinished 10-story luxury student high-rise in Oakland that is weeks behind its planned opening are giving tentative move-in dates between late September and later October — starting with the lowest floors. In the meantime, the owners of Here Pittsburgh say they are providing alternative housing for 463...

An expected decision by West Virginia University’s governing board on which academic programs to cut has come into sharper focus as a potential vote of no-confidence in president E. Gordon Gee looms Wednesday. The preliminary recommendations from WVU administrators involving two dozen academic departments were made public Aug. 11. They...

Hailey Garza, a Carnegie Mellon University sophomore, envisioned herself this fall in luxury high-rise student housing just off campus on Forbes Avenue — a complex with a 24-hour fitness center, coffee bar and hot tub. Instead, she’s in Shadyside — in a basement Airbnb that sometimes has a subterranean smell...

The Community College of Allegheny County will offer free, for-credit courses in computer information technology starting next week at its Homewood-Brushton Center. The menu of 12- and 14-week, in-person courses have two start dates: next Tuesday and on Sept. 18, officials said Thursday. Costs for tuition, fees and textbooks are...

West Virginia University administrators reversed course Tuesday on two world languages, saying they will now recommend to the board of governors that Spanish and Chinese continue to be taught in person. But administrators said their final recommendations will include asking the board on Sept. 15 to eliminate foreign language majors...

Students attending Pennsylvania’s state-owned universities can now earn tech industry-recognized certificates during their undergraduate studies through a new partnership with Google, Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Tuesday. The initiative is intended to move students more quickly and less expensively from campuses into good-paying, high-demand jobs. It also would help employers meet...

E. Gordon Gee says he’s not afraid to walk the campus of West Virginia University these days, unpopular president or not. “I am not someone who has fear,” he said. ”What I do fear is whether or not I’m doing the right thing, especially in the golden years of my...

New University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Joan Gabel minced no words when it came to her assessment of Athletic Director Heather Lyke. “Heather is without question one of the best athletic directors in the country,” Gabel recently told the Tribune-Review. “She’s been recognized as such (for) wins on the field and...

The University of Pittsburgh says it is installing panic buttons in numerous classrooms ahead of Monday’s fall semester start, among other upgrades, after active shooter hoaxes in April drew heavily armed police to campus and terrified students. The changes follow a “major review of the procedures, policies and tools” for...

Early in E. Gordon Gee’s second stint as president of West Virginia University, things seemed almost chummy between the slightly built leader obsessed with bow ties and the university that gave him his first presidency decades ago and then hired him back for an encore. For Gee, 79, West Virginia...

West Virginia University says it intends to restructure a large administrative unit on the Morgantown campus as part of its continuing review and transformation efforts. It was not known if or how many jobs would be impacted, beyond a vice president who is retiring and will not be replaced. Changes...

Christian Adams arrived at West Virginia University this month to begin his second year of work toward a degree in Chinese studies, only to receive devastating news. His undergraduate major is being yanked out from under him, eliminated along with dozens of other academic programs, including every foreign language taught...

A father and son devoted to one another in life will be mourned together this week as Plum residents grapple with the loss from a devastating house explosion nine days ago. Funeral arrangements have been released for Keegan William Clontz, 12, and for his father, Casey Thomas Clontz, 38. They...

Six years after he was killed in a traffic stop gone horribly wrong, the memory of fallen New Kensington police officer Brian Shaw is still alive. That fact was driven home — loudly — by the rumble of more than 700 motorcycles passing through the Alle-Kiski Valley on Saturday in...

Overstuffed move-in carts, frazzled parents and traffic lined up outside dorms are making a comeback this week and next as Western Pennsylvania college students arrive for fall semester classes. Campuses, meanwhile, are trying to curb stress among the new arrivals. Some initiatives to soothe the psyche are as involved as...