In an interview this week, Provost James Maher talked about Pitt grading policies and practices. "I don't think there would be anything to be gained from my office accusing certain professors or academic units of inflating grades," Pitt's chief academic officer said. "My approach is to press faculty, generally, to keep looking at their grading, […]
2 legislators say they will look into additional costs for Petersen center >
April 18th, 2002Two state legislators plan to press Pitt's administration for more details on financing of the Petersen Events Center, following reports that the University is seeking an additional $10 million on top of the $53 million that the state already has committed to the project. Pitt had hoped to inaugurate "The Pete" by holding April 28's […]
Teaching ethics in the classroom >
April 18th, 2002What is the litmus test to determine if an action is unethical? “Ethically, I can’t kill you, but I can take your job,” Pitt professor Steve Farber pointed out at last month’s conference on ethics sponsored by Pitt’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA). “Taking your job certainly has an adverse effect on […]
Teaching ethics: Do students benefit from adjunct faculty members' real-life experience? >
April 18th, 2002Panelists at a recent conferences on ethics agreed that in theory professionals from the working world can add significantly to the in-class experience of students by discussing real-life events and ethical dilemmas. In practice however, the panel agreed, the system of employing adjuncts was rife with pitfalls. "Ideally, every course that touches on professional ethics […]
MPAC: A look inside Pitt's first "green" building >
April 18th, 2002Pitt is about to open its academic "greenhouse," with more than 150,000 gross square feet of energy-efficient offices, labs and classrooms. Over the next few months, several Pitt academic units are expected to move into the new Multi-Purpose Academic Complex (MPAC), according to Facilities Management officials, who led the University Senate plant utilization and planning […]
Study shows almost 1/3 of non-medical faculty received raises below inflation rate last year >
April 18th, 2002Nearly one-third of Pitt's 1,652 full-time, continuing faculty members outside the medical school got salary raises last summer below the previous year's 3.4 percent inflation rate — even though their supervisors judged that they had done not only "satisfactory" but "meritorious" work. Meanwhile, 378 of the 1,652 faculty members got raises of more than 6 […]
Provost explains change in computer port policy >
April 18th, 2002As the University replaces its old, "thin-wire" computer ports with new ones that will deliver billion bit-capacity service to every campus building, Pitt personnel will no longer be permitted to connect more than one computer to a port. At Senate Council on April 14, Provost James Maher cited two reasons for the University's new, one-computer-per-port […]
Arts & Sciences faculty to review proposed curriculum reforms >
April 18th, 2002Arts and sciences faculty will consider modified College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) general education requirements at a meeting tomorrow, 1:30-4 p.m., in the William Pitt Union Assembly Room. If faculty approve the modifications and related administrative changes, the revised curriculum would apply to students entering CAS next fall. The current CAS curriculum was adopted […]