UPG's retiring president guided campus through changes
When Frank Cassell interviewed for the president's job at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, he took to heart a particular challenge.
"They felt the next president here had to work very hard to link the campus to the community," Cassell recalled of his interviewers.
Ten years later, Cassell leaves UPG knowing that the branch campus in Hempfield Township is much more active.
"I think UPG today is a much more known entity, much more known in the community, much more integrated than it was in the past, and I think that's because of Frank and his wife, Beth," said Westmoreland County Judge John Driscoll.
Cassell officially leaves UPG at the end of June, 10 years after arriving on campus, having moved up the ladder at universities in Illinois and Wisconsin.
When he arrived, Cassell found a campus with few resident students and few student organizations.
"It really has been a period of transformation for the campus. It is a very different place than it was 10 years ago," Cassell said.
There are 14 new buildings. Every laboratory and every classroom has been remodeled.
"All are indicative of a campus that was undergoing tremendous growth and development over that period," Cassell said.
The college enrolls 1,700 students, up from slightly more than 1,000 when Cassell took over.
The number of students living on campus doubled, up to 600.
"We knew the type of campus we were trying to build needed to have a larger population of resident students," Cassell said. "That made a huge difference in terms of campus life."
There are about 36 student organizations on campus, Cassell said. About six existed in 1997.
Cassell said he challenged faculty, staff and students on four cardinal points -- academic excellence, leadership, public service and global awareness.
He urged students to take on public-service projects. He wanted them to study abroad before graduation.
"We've come a long way, but I can't say every student has done all these yet," Cassell said.
Providing leadership
Norman Scanlon, chair of the behavioral sciences division and former vice president of academic affairs, said Cassell is a great leader.
"He took some time when he first arrived to sort of get a feel for the campus and get an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the campus," he said. "Out of that he kind of distilled a vision of where the campus might go and actually was able to persuade and lead the faculty and staff in those kinds of directions. He actually was able to bring about some significant changes in the 10 years he was here."
One of those was the Academic Villages.
The villages link learning, housing and activities in four areas. The villages offer activities geared around their themes for students and the greater community throughout the year.
Lecture series begun on campus bring the public to UPG, but there's outreach as well.
Two private groups, the Smart Growth Partnership and Westmoreland Heritage, both operate out of offices at UPG.
Smart Growth looks at development in the area, while Westmoreland Heritage is working to promote historical tourism, something close to Cassell's heart because he's a historian of the colonial period by training and holds master's and doctoral degrees in history from Northwestern University.
"We really set out to make UPG a center of community activity," Cassell said.
That has paid off in fundraising. More than $10 million has been raised for campus projects and scholarships in Cassell's tenure.
"You can't raise money around here unless you're perceived as being a real part of the community," Cassell said. "Without that fundraising, there wouldn't be the campus you see here today."
Connecting overseas
Some of that fundraising has focused on international travel. UPG offers scholarships to help fund every student's first trip to study abroad.
Cassell said while about 60 to 90 students every year take advantage, he's disappointed that more don't.
"The problem has not been entirely money," he said. "The problem has been these are young people who have never traveled abroad or been out of Western Pennsylvania and whose families have never been outside of Western Pennsylvania."
One way to bring an international flavor to campus has been La Cultura -- a series of yearlong events with lectures and classes geared around a particular culture at a particular time in history. The event culminates with a fundrasing dinner every year.
Scanlon said it's those innovative ideas that UPG will miss once Cassell leaves.
"Sometimes institutions are just blessed with getting the right person at the right time in their development, and I think that was certainly the case 10 years ago when Frank came," Scanlon said.
But soon Cassell and his wife will make their way to their new home in Sarasota, Fla.
"We will be back here frequently," he said. "Although we've lived several places, this is really our home where we have any roots, where we know the most people."
Driscoll believes people in the area were lucky to know Cassell.
"I just think in certain ways there's nobody that's come to our community that's been like Frank," Driscoll said. "We'll be feeling the benefit of his presence for a long time to come."
