August 19, 2026
Dear Colleagues,
Over the past several months, many of you have asked thoughtful questions about the direction of hybrid centralization for graduate and online enrollment management. I want to provide an update.
When we first introduced hybrid centralization, the goal was to build a model that brings University-wide coordination together with the deep expertise each of our 13 graduate and professional schools brings to its own programs. That work has continued, and it now has a fuller shape: what the Center for Excellence in Digital Education (Pitt EDGE) is calling our Coordinated Enrollment Management Model.
Under this model, Pitt EDGE operates as an internal enterprise resource partner for enrollment management — supporting recruitment, digital advertising for academic programs, organic enrollment marketing, and enrollment nurturing across our online, hybrid, and residential master's and professional programs. Just as importantly, this model brings a more strategic, coordinated approach to enrollment growth, including a process for centralized marketing investment directed toward the programs and schools with the greatest opportunity to grow.
Schools will continue to own program design, academic substance, and admissions; EDGE will build and maintain the shared infrastructure that would be difficult for any one school to build alone.
One piece of that infrastructure is Slate, our new CRM platform. As implementation moves forward, the expectation is that schools will adopt Slate as our shared enrollment system, so that we are all working from the same data and the same playbook.
Admissions and application review, led by Graduate Studies, will also move through Slate, giving one consistent system from a student's first inquiry through the admissions decision. As this work deepens, Pitt EDGE, Graduate Studies, and Pitt Digital will be working closely with you to help you prepare for Slate — from data and process changes to training and timing — so that the transition fits your school's realities.
I want to thank everyone who has already been working on the Slate implementation process and taking part in the Slate Implementation Discovery Tours.
As this process moves forward, some top-of-funnel enrollment-related work will be transitioning to EDGE, which we believe will benefit all schools by bringing more resources to bear and helping alleviate workload for your teams. Details of these changes, including the differences between PhD and master's/professional processes, will be communicated as we continue to engage in realizing this model.
To that end, Pitt EDGE will be reaching out to schedule tours with each dean over the coming weeks. These conversations are meant to walk through the Coordinated Enrollment Management Model in full and to address any concerns that arise.
Please share this communication with relevant staff, administrators, and leaders in your school. Thank you for your continued engagement as this important work moves forward.
Regards,
Joe
Joseph J. McCarthy
Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor
William Kepler Whiteford Professor
University of Pittsburgh