Office of the Provost Senior Staff Restructured at Pitt; Jack L. Daniel Named Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies and Dean of Students

October 31, 2002

PITTSBURGH—University of Pittsburgh Provost James V. Maher announced at the meetings of the academic affairs and student affairs committees of Pitt's Board of Trustees earlier today that he had restructured the senior staff of the Office of the Provost, reducing the number of vice provost positions from six to five.

In making the announcement, Maher said that the restructuring would "focus the efforts of my office, improve coordination of the functions for which I am responsible, and realize significant savings in administrative costs. I believe that merging the responsibilities held within the vice provost for academic affairs and vice provost for student affairs positions, for example, will both provide better service to students and make it possible to coordinate student and academic affairs more effectively than ever before."

As part of the restructuring, Maher named Jack L. Daniel vice provost for undergraduate studies and dean of students. Pitt vice provost for academic affairs since 1992, Daniel has served as interim dean of students since July 2, 2001; he also is a professor in Pitt's Department of Communication.

"I am pleased to announce that Dr. Jack L. Daniel has agreed to become the newly titled vice provost for undergraduate studies and dean of students, effective November 1, 2002," Maher stated. "Throughout his career, Dr. Daniel has focused on continuous improvement of undergraduate education, facilitating efforts to provide students with exemplary educational opportunities, both inside and outside of the classroom."

Daniel's new position will combine duties previously divided between senior staff charged with managing academic affairs and student affairs and has been designed to "strengthen the necessary connection between student and academic life," according to Maher.

"Dr. Daniel's new title also captures his responsibilities for undergraduate enrollment management efforts at the University while making permanent his role as dean of students, a position he has filled on an interim basis with great skill and effectiveness. I have the greatest confidence that Dr. Daniel will continue to provide thoughtful academic and student life leadership to the University of Pittsburgh," Maher added.

"In 1960, the University of Pittsburgh gave me the chance to enroll as an educationally disadvantaged student on its Johnstown campus," said Daniel. "By providing me that opportunity, the University changed the course of my life. Assuming the leadership role for both the curricular and extracurricular aspects of the undergraduate experience at Pitt will allow me to give back to students in particular and the larger University community in general.

"People often ask me about 'vision' for Student Affairs. My vision is nothing less than to have Student Affairs become a unit of externally verifiable excellence, a jewel in the University's crown of truly outstanding student services, a paradigm that other institutions of higher learning will seek to replicate," Daniel added.

As vice provost for undergraduate studies and dean of students, Daniel will oversee undergraduate admissions and financial aid at Pitt and chair the Provost's Advisory Committee on Undergraduate Programs and the Enrollment Management Committee, among other duties.

Daniel earned the Bachelor of Science degree in psychology at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown in 1963. He received both of his graduate degrees, in communication, from the University of Pittsburgh's Faculty of Arts and Sciences--––the Master of Arts in 1966 and the Ph.D. in 1968. Daniel joined the Pitt faculty in 1968 as an assistant professor of communication and was named chair of the Department of Black Studies in 1969. In 1974, he was appointed associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; in 1978, he was appointed associate dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. He became assistant provost for undergraduate programs in 1984 and associate provost in 1987. He also served as interim dean of Pitt's College of General Studies from 1997 to 1999.

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