University Times

Pitt's first Teaching Excellence Conference will be held March 31 and April 1 in the UPMC conference center on the 11th floor of Scaife Hall. Registrations will be accepted on site for workshops that aren't filled. For more information, call the Office of Faculty Development or see the March 16, 1995, issue of the University […]

Three faculty members from Pitt's Greensburg campus have been cited for excellence in teaching, professional development and service. Lillian Beeson, Alicia Covarrubias and Mary Beth Spore were selected for the awards by colleagues who themselves have won University-wide honors in the same areas. Beeson was named UPG faculty member of the year for her excellence […]

During an unusually rancorous and well- attended University Senate meeting yesterday, faculty and staff members attacked — and Pitt administrators defended — Chancellor J. Dennis O'Connor's decision to give Blue Cross of Western Pennsylvania exclusive rights to Pitt's employee health insurance business. (O'Connor announced the $66 million, three-year contract in a March 27 letter to […]

Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic's (WPIC) John Merck Multiple Disabilities Program has received an $80,000 grant from the Jewish Healthcare Foundation of Pittsburgh to improve and further develop the Merck After School Program (MAP) at Wightman School Community Center in Squirrel Hill. The program, which provides specialized treatment to children who have both developmental disabilities […]

In an effort to prevent an expected revenue shortfall of approximately $5.7 million in the last quarter of the current fiscal year, Chancellor J. Dennis O'Connor yesterday, March 29, ordered both an immediate freeze on hiring and a tightening of controls on expenditures. The hiring freeze will extend through June 30, the end of the […]

Chances are good that Pitt full-time staff will soon have the option of reducing their appointments from 12 months to nine months a year — specifically, Aug. 15 through May 15. Such a reduction would entail a proportionate cut in salary and vacation, but the staff member would retain medical coverage and most other benefits […]

Letter from the chancellor March 27, 1995 Dear Faculty and Staff Colleagues: As you know, issues relating to the health care benefits of faculty and staff at the University of Pittsburgh have been intensely reviewed and discussed in recent months. After carefully considering input from various University constituencies, I have decided to eliminate HealthAmerica as […]

Chancellor O'Connor's decision to make Blue Cross of Western Pennsylvania the exclusive provider of employee health insurance at Pitt means that 5,100 University employees, spouses and children currently enrolled in HealthAmerica will have to switch to the Blues effective July 1. For many of the employees and their families, the change will mean finding new, […]

A new toll-free voice mail system will allow faculty and staff to change their medical insurance options from any telephone in the continental United States during Pitt's next medical insurance open enrollment period, April 17 through May 26. Medical insurance changes will take effect July 1, 1995 and can't be altered again until July 1, […]

Blue Cross of Western Pennsylvania issued a brief written statement following Chancellor J. Dennis O'Connor's announcement that Pitt will give Blue Cross exclusive rights to employee medical coverage here. Officials from HealthAmerica, which will be eliminated under the Blue Cross agreement, condemned the deal. They said the Pitt administration never seriously considered their bids and […]