A Brief History

Pitt-Johnstown was founded in 1927 as a two-year college of the University of Pittsburgh. For almost 20 years it held classes in the Johnstown High School building in the Kernville section of downtown Johnstown. After World War II, the Johnstown College moved to the Moxham section of town where the number of courses and students increased. In the early 1960s, community leaders worked with the University of Pittsburgh to build a new campus in Richland Township, a Johnstown suburb. The new campus opened in 1967 with two classroom buildings, five dormitories, and a student union. Degree-granting status was awarded to Pitt-Johnstown by the University of Pittsburgh in 1970. The campus has grown significantly since that time, with five academic buildings, a library, an expanded student union, a sports and aquatic center, a wellness center, a conference center, a chapel, a performing arts center, and a large cluster of dormitories, lodges, townhouse apartments and other student resident housing. Pitt-Johnstown now offers more than 46 baccalaureate and associate degree programs.

Academic Calendar Year

Pitt-Johnstown operates on a modified trimester calendar. The standard school year includes a 15-week fall term (September to mid-December) and a 15-week spring term (January to mid-April). Optional summer term offerings from 5-week to 15-week sessions allow students to accelerate their degrees.

Accreditation

The University of Pittsburgh, including Pitt-Johnstown and other regional campuses, is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and by the Commission on Higher Education. The engineering technology programs at Johnstown are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, http://www.abet.org. Programs in education are accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education. The Respiratory Care program provides classroom and up-to-date clinical education as required by the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care, 1248 Harwood Road, Bedford, TX 76021-4244, 817.283.2835, www.coarc.com.

Degrees Offered

Pitt-Johnstown offers Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in more than 45 areas. Additionally, Pitt-Johnstown offers several associate degrees in the allied health area.

Description of the College

The Johnstown campus is one of the East's most attractive campus settings; the college occupies 650 acres in a suburban, wooded setting. This makes Pitt-Johnstown, physically, the third largest campus in Pennsylvania. It is located eight miles outside Johnstown, Pennsylvania (metropolitan population of 110,000); 70 miles east of Pittsburgh; and 175 miles north of Washington, D.C.

The college offers more than 46 academic majors, with minors available in most of the major fields, as well as in other areas of arts and sciences. The average class size is 25–30, and the student to teacher ratio is 18:1. The college is strictly undergraduate, and all courses are taught by college faculty. The 145 full-time faculty members have outstanding credentials and remain active professionally. There are more than 19,000 Pitt-Johnstown alumni living around the globe.

The 38 campus buildings include resident housing, classroom buildings, a performing arts center, sports center, library, student union, wellness center, and outdoor recreation areas. Other features include a 40-acre nature preserve, more than 15 intramural activities, more than 80 student organizations, and NCAA Division II men’s and women’s sports.

Facilities and Resources

The campus has six academic/administrative buildings: Biddle Hall, Krebs Hall, Engineering and Science Building, Blackington Hall, Nursing and Health Sciences Building, and the Living/Learning Center. Each building contains classrooms, laboratories, faculty offices, and/or administrative offices. Additional facilities include a music room, greenhouse, computer labs, auditoriums, smart classrooms, and conference rooms.

The Owen Library holds more than 146,000 monograph volumes and more than 10,000 microforms. As part of the University Library System (ULS), the Owen Library supplies access to more than 5 million monograph volumes, 40,000 electronic full-text journals and over 500,000 electronic books.  PITTCat+, the University of Pittsburgh’s online library catalog, offers access to materials held in all University libraries, as well as to online journal, newspaper and magazine articles, e-books, digital images, and streaming video and audio files. Most material held within the ULS is available for loan within the Pitt system. The ULS provides access to more than 400 additional general and subject specific databases supporting the research needs of faculty, staff and students. Owen Library offers wireless laptops and IPads for short period multi-day loans. There are computer stations for research needs as well as a computer lab. Wireless Pittnet is available in the library building.  There is seating for study at tables and individual units, as well as lighted study carrels.

Campus-wide computing labs for student use are available. Labs primarily contain Windows -based PCs, along with application servers, laser printers, scanners, and advanced graphics devices. The labs can be used to work with software, such as word processing and programming languages, or to access network services, such as online card catalogs, electronic mail, and the Internet. There are more than 200 computers available on campus for student use.

The Student Union, located in the middle of campus, houses the Student Life Office, Health and Wellness Services, Residence Life, RealWorld Career Services, International Services, and the Bookstore. Also included are a full-service mail room, a 400-person cafeteria, a food court including the Brioche Doree, and a dining/entertainment venue known as the Mountain Cat Club. The union also holds "The Zone," a hi-tech game room, and many organizational offices.

The Living/Learning Center, completed in 1994, is a 400-person residence unit, which includes a full-circuit weight training room, sauna, an aerobics room, and a smaller student cafeteria, The Varsity Cafe. The Living/Learning Center is not only used as a residence but also as a conference center throughout the year. With several meeting rooms, the facility can accommodate groups of 20–300 people.

In addition to the residence units in the Living/Learning Center, the campus offers the choice of single gender and coeducational housing. The campus has six residence halls, seven small-group lodges, 46 townhouse-style apartment units, and an apartment complex.

The Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center (PPAC) is a 42,000-square-foot multipurpose facility; it was completed in 1991. It contains a 1,000-seat concert hall, a 200-seat studio theater, and supporting operational spaces. Performances include Pitt-Johnstown theater department productions, music department concerts, and national touring troupes. The PPAC is also home to the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra and the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Johnstown. Additionally, the River City Brass Band of Pittsburgh performs a complete season of concerts at the Center each year. The art gallery displays at least eight exhibitions a year as well as work produced by Pitt-Johnstown students.

The J. Irving Whalley Memorial Chapel was constructed in 1991. It is nondenominational and seats 250 people. Weekly Catholic mass and Protestant services are held, as well as personal conferences.

University Square is an outdoor green space that features a gazebo and seating areas in a park-like atmosphere.  The facility provides a central meeting place for students and other groups and takes advantage of Pitt-Johnstown's lush, pristine surroundings.  In addition to hosting a number of student events, the area also hosts Homecoming activities and is the location for Pitt-Johnstown's annual Light Up Night. 

The Sports Center and Zamias Aquatic Center provide recreational facilities for more than 15 intramural sports, as well as intercollegiate activities. The building houses the Athletics Hall of Fame, a 25-meter indoor swimming pool, a workout room with free weights, and locker rooms with showers. Adjacent to the Sports Center is the Pitt-Johnstown Wellness Center, a 40,000-square-foot facility containing cardiovascular and strength training areas, a three-lane, elevated running track, two multi-purpose courts for basketball and volleyball, a 30-ft. climbing wall, and a 1,000-square-foot professional-grade dance studio.

Special Programs

Special opportunities include internships, the President’s Scholars program, independent and directed studies, a self-designed major, an ESL program, an International Studies Certificate, participation in the RealWorld Action Program, and the Academic Success Center.

Statement of Academic Purpose

The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown strives for academic integrity by employing skilled and professional faculty to ensure that a valuable and marketable education is adopted by all students.