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March 5, 2015

2 officers named senior vice chancellors

Kathy W. Humphrey, senior vice chancellor for engagement and chief of staff, has been elected an officer of the University and two current officers, Chief Financial Officer Arthur G. Ramicone and General Counsel P. Jerome Richey, were named senior vice chancellors at the Feb. 27 Board of Trustees meeting.

Ramicone’s new title is senior vice chancellor and chief financial officer; Richey is now senior vice chancellor and chief legal officer.

Chancellor Patrick A. Gallagher said the changes are meant “to consistently use the term senior vice chancellor to identify that layer of the University management with broad leadership responsibilities for the University, including oversight over other vice chancellor and associate vice chancellor positions.

“We think that with this change we will be clearly identifying, both for the University community and for external stakeholders, who the senior officers are of the University,” Gallagher said.

Humphrey, formerly vice provost and dean of students, took on her new role in the chancellor’s office Jan. 14.

Her position includes working on internal and external relations, focusing on strategic initiatives, partnerships, business engagement and government interaction. Humphrey also has administrative oversight of the Office of Community and Governmental Relations, the Office of University Communications and the Office of the Secretary.

“Particularly in light of the fact that it includes support for the Office of the Secretary, I found it appropriate for her to be considered as an officer of the University,” Gallagher told the board, adding that University bylaws specifically identify officers of the corporation and provide for the board to elect one or more senior vice chancellors as University officers.

The board’s compensation committee, which approves University officers’ salaries, in a separate Feb. 27 meeting set Humphrey’s salary at $395,000.

More changes are yet to come in the University administration. In his Feb. 18 letter to the University community, Gallagher announced his intention to create a new position, vice chancellor for economic engagement, “to support our community efforts to drive and shape the economic ‘ecosystem’ in our region.”

In other business:

The board amended the University bylaws to create a governance and nominating committee, which will incorporate the responsibilities of the board’s nominating and conflict of interest committees.

The committee has authority for establishing criteria for electing trustees.

The new committee’s mission statement outlines its responsibilities to:

• Assist in educating board members.

• Develop a process to assess board and committee performance.

• Plan for leadership succession.

• Review and update University bylaws.

• Develop and recommend board governance guidelines.

• Establish board conflict of interest policy and procedures.

• Identify and recommend candidates for election to the trustees and for positions including chairperson, chairperson-elect, vice chairpersons, trustees of the University of Pittsburgh Trust board and University directors of the UPMC board.

The board also approved a resolution delegating to the student affairs committee the authority to approve increases to mandatory student fees. The committee recommended the change in a Feb. 9 meeting. (See Feb. 19 University Times.)

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Pitt Alumni Association President Jeff Kondis presented an overview of alumni association activities and bioengineering faculty member William Federspiel, co-founder of ALung Technologies, made a presentation on the respiratory dialysis product his Pittsburgh-based company has developed as an alternative to mechanical ventilators. The carbon dioxide removal technology assists patients who have acute respiratory failure.

—Kimberly K. Barlow